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amzi focus israel
supports Messianic Jews and Christian Arabs and theirs nongovernmental organisations (NGO)
promotes Reconciliation and the witness of the Jewish Messiah
informs about the Messianic movement and the situation in the Middle East.
„amzi focus israel“ promotes the witness of the Gospel to Jews and Arabs. We want to raise awareness of this work by providing regular prayer requests and news updates. We support brothers and sisters in Israel, Palestinian territories in making Jesus, the biblical Messiah, known to their own people.
Up-to-date reports can be found in our periodical „focus israel“ in German or in our weekly Prayer Mail in German, English, French, Italian, Hungarian, Russian, Japanese (order through gebet@amzi.orgxxx - without xxx).
We also help to find a place for volunteers in Israel.
amzi was founded as an association in St. Chrischona (Bettingen near Basel) in 1968, and in Germany in 1985. The members of the Governing Board are from different churches. The work is supported by prayer and donations. amzi forms part of the St. Chrischona Union and has contact with many other churches and organisations. Through its membership of the Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism, amzi enjoys regular exchanges with other groups and people world-wide. amzi is a member of the Swiss Evangelical Alliance.
amzi focus israel - Vision since 1837
amzi is part of “Pilgermission [pilgrim mission] St. Chrischona”. Our special concern is to serve our brothers and sisters in the Middle East through prayer and financial support. This vision began at the very beginning of our denomination. In 1837, Chrischona sent somebody to the Middle East to find out whether it was possible to build a colony to go and share the Gospel with the people of the Middle East. This turned out to be impossible due to the political situation. When this changed in 1840, Chrischona sent the second and third student of its newly founded theological education institution to Palestine. Their names: Conrad Schick and Ferdinand Palmer. Together with other brothers who followed they tried to survive, though life was very hard and supplies from Europe were insufficient. In the end, they all had to join other organizations.
Though Chrischona didn’t have the money, they sent people with a great impact to the Land.
Conrad Schick was the architect of New Jerusalem and got an honorary doctor’s degree from the University of Tübingen (Germany) for his archaeological research.
Ludwig Schneller was the builder of the biggest orphanage for Arabic children.
Johannes Frutiger developed the biggest retail business (C.F. Spittler & Cie.) in the Middle East and made emigration to Palestine more attractive. He was the founder of a bank and financed the building projects of Conrad Schick as well as the railroad to Jerusalem. Together with Conrad Schick he constructed Mea Shearim, Menachem Yehuda and other important buildings.
Christoph Hoffmann and the Templers had a relation to Chrischona too, though they evolved in a different theological direction.
There was even an Apostle road, which started in Jerusalem, to take the Gospel through Ethiopia to all Africa. Martin Flad from Chrischona founded the Messianic movement within the Falasha in Ethiopia.
The men’s selfless service helped develop the infrastructure in the Middle East. The impulses for this came from Basel, where already in 1812 a Jewish school was founded to teach Jewish children on the initiative of Christian Friedrich Spittler and others.
If projects or ministries already do exist, it is characteristic for Chrischona to cooperate with them. That is the same today; Chrischona has connections to different denominations all over the world. In Israel and the neighbouring territories, amzi networks with all brothers and sisters, both Messianic Jews and Christian Arabs. It’s our concern to build bridges between the different traditions to live our faith. In his last prayer, Jesus prayed for unity in Christ, the Messiah. I am committed to esteem one another in love and respect. There is only one Messiah: Yeshua, Jesus, the Jewish Messiah.
Acts 15 is a special challenge for all of us. Do we have the greatness to allow ourselves to express our faith in different traditions and ways? Theologically, we have to go back to this point. We have the freedom to live our faith in our Jewish or non Jewish traditions without denying the other his freedom as unbiblical. The challenge is to respect the different traditions and consider them as enrichment.
God Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one. Nothing the Son does is contrary to the Father and the Holy Spirit. The same, everything the Holy Spirit does is in accordance to the Father and the Son. We as human beings can hardly imagine this unity. Even as a very good married couple, we will have dissensions now and then. God is different. He is one. This unity is the picture, which touches me and which Jesus’ prayer was all about. Are we ready to be one in the spirit even if the outer appearance is different? We understand our ministry as part of this vision. We would like to connect people from Europe and from the Middle East, Christian Arabs and Messianic Jews. This unity is our God’s desire.
We as amzi pray and support our brothers and sisters and motivate others to pray for them as well. We do this through writing about their concerns in our magazine and in our weekly prayer e-mail, which is translated into German, English, French, Russian, Italian, Hungarian and Japanese. We also translate and mail several newsletters of different ministries and publish our own magazine every second months.
We are grateful for everyone who shares this vision and cooperates with us. It’s not our job to start ministries in our own name, but to support existing ministries. This kind of ministry is unusual to a lot of people, but that’s our vision.
Email: info@amzi.orgxxx (without xxx)
amzi prayer requests and news updates from Israel
March 5th 2010
Heavy rains
The past weekend’s heavy rains have added 11 centimeters to the lake Kinnereth from Thursday to Monday. With that the sea level rose to the former low “red line” on Monday for the first time since July 2008. The low red line used to be the point of no return for Lake Kinnereth until the past five years pushed the water level even lower and the Water Authority created the “black line,” the point where irreversible damage begins to occur at a rapid pace.
To get to the ideal level the Kinnereth still needs another four meters.
One of the dangers of low water levels in the coastal aquifers is the possibility that the fresh water could mix with sea water and thus become undrinkable, which has actually occurred in a few instances.
February 25th 2010
Petition against Yad LeAchim
The Jerusalem Institute of Justice has drafted a petition to the Israeli Attorney General on February 22nd, requesting that Yad LeAchim be dismantled, based on concrete proof of their illegal activities in connection with the harassment and persecution of Messianic Jews.
From the petition:
“The Organization's [Yad LeAchim’s] publications, as reported in the media, have an aggressive and sensationalist character directed against Reform Jews, the Kabbala Study Center, members of ethnic minorities, Jehovah's Witnesses, Protestant Christians, New Age groups, Messianic Jews and others. … [They] stir up intolerance, hatred and xenophobia, while denying the legitimacy of different opinions, views and beliefs. … Yad LeAchim is a fundamentalist Haredi (ultra Orthodox) organization, with antidemocratic interests. … The Organization makes an outrageous comparison between the activities of Christians and Messianic Jews in Israel and the actions of the Nazis in the Holocaust: http://www.youtube.com/wathc?v=JalknTM_caM&feature=related. As we know, the power of life and death is in the tongue. Anyone who compares the activity of Messianic Jews in Israel to the actions of the Nazis in the Holocaust should not be surprised when their ranks produce someone like Jack Teitel, who freely attacks anyone he perceives as a "danger" to be eliminated Jack Teitel was producing the bomb who hurts Ami Ortiz a messianic boy of 16.”
Full petition: http://jij.org.il/articles/JIJ-AG%20Request_ENG_.pdf
February 12th 2010
Connected to Yad L’Achim?
The Hebrew daily Ha’aretz reported on Wednesday that suspected Jewish terrorist Yaakov (Jack) Teitel recently told his interrogators he was an active member of anti-missionary group Yad L’Achim for five years. Teitel was charged last November with murdering two Palestinians and attempting to murder three people, including leftist Hebrew University Professor Zeev Sternhell and Ariel teenager Ami Ortiz. Ortiz, from a family of Messianic Jews, was gravely wounded by a bomb packaged inside a Purim gift basket in March 2008. Teitel admitted to placing the bomb, and called the Ortiz family “missionaries trying to capture weak Jews”.
The ultra-Orthodox group L’Achim has gained notoriety in recent years for its actions against Messianic Jews, whom it perceives as a “sect” seeking to convert Jews to Christianity. Teitel admitted he was connected to the organization during an interrogation several weeks after his arrest, saying he had been involved in “rescue operations” to deliver Jewish women who were living with Arab men. Yad L’Achim is denying that Teitel was connected to their organization.
February 5th 2010
Sea of Galilee
January 2010 was a blessed month in Israel concerning rain. After a two-month strike the Water Authority revealed the level of the lake at the end of January. Since December 3rd the level had risen by 87 centimeters.
Now the level is at –213.40 meters below sea level. The ideal level is –208.74 meters below sea level. Every centimeter equals 1.7 million cubic meters of water.
January 29th 2010
Needy children
63% of needy families are unable to buy medication. 62% of the needy families are unable to supply their children with a nutritionally balanced diet.
A report from “Latet”, which covers 2009, determines that dental care for needy families is in the realm of luxury. 75% of children from these families receive no dental care whatsoever. 25% of children from families receiving food donations from various organizations are obliged to work in order to help support the family. The most distressing fact is that 6% of these children revert to stealing food in order to survive. One eighth of the needy families report that at least one of their children has violent behavioral problems due to their situation. Research finds that poverty in school children leads to derision and social rejection within the school framework. The connection between poverty and deterioration to crime is obvious.
Jerusalem Institute of Justice
January 22nd 2010
Fatwa condemning Gaza smuggling tunnels
Sheikh Mohammed Bin Salman Abu Jamea, a leading Islamic scholar, has issued a fatwa against Gaza smuggling tunnels at the request of the Palestinian Authority. The fatwa condemns Palestinians working in the smuggling tunnels that run under the Philadelphia corridor between Egypt and Gaza, based on an objection to the high numbers of Palestinians who have died in the tunnels over the last year.
In Sunni Islam any fatwa is non-binding, whereas in Shia Islam it could be considered by an individual as binding, depending on his or her relation to the scholar.
January 15th 2010
Israeli water consumption down nine percent last year
By promoting a conservation campaign, Israeli water consumption decreased by nine percent in 2009, the Mekorot Water Company said in a new report. In addition, the amount of water drawn from Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) was significantly reduced by drilling new wells and cleaning up polluted ones. One well in Jerusalem produced an extra 45 million cubic meters of water after being repaired. In related news, Jordanian and Syrian companies are implementing the Yarmouk River Basin hydro geological study “which seeks to identify the causes of depletion and pollution of the basin's water resources," Jordan Valley Authority Secretary General Musa Jamaani told The Jordan Times on Monday. The Yarmouk River Basin is a main tributary of the Jordan River.
ICEJ
January 8th 2010
Children in Israel
A report about the situation of children in Israel showed that 34 percent of the children were affected by poverty in 2009. In 1980 it was 8 percent.
Another survey points at the fact that the number of violent crimes against children has risen from 26 to 212 from 2005 to 2008. In the same time the number of minors participating in crimes has doubled.
At the end of 2009, 14.855 children without citizenship were living in Israel, that’s a 17 percent rise from 2001. About 74 percent of these children are living in East Jerusalem. The others are children of foreign workers or refugees, or they come from mixed marriages of Israeli Arabs and Palestinians. The children of illegal workers aren’t included in these numbers.
December 18th 2009
High school students don’t like Bible study
According to a report from December 14 in Haaretz, while “studies have shown that students in junior and senior high school have negative attitudes toward their Bible studies,” new research “is the first to examine the attitudes of children in grades 4-6. The study covered about 450 children in six public, secular Jewish schools. The data shows that the students have a ‘moderately positive attitude’ toward Bible studies. Most of them said the classes were not boring and that it developed their thinking, contributed to general knowledge and was important at a national level.
‘Bible stories, and not the rich language, are what attracts the students,’ Ben-Ayun explained. ‘Here is where the breakdown begins that appears in the higher grades, because the language of the Bible is a significant component in the subject, and one cannot deal with the opinions, ideas and stories without being in control of this language ... You can't achieve comprehension without knowing the language and you have to begin with this in the lower grades.’”
HaGefen Publishing is working on a new Bible in a Hebrew that is easier to understand.
December 11th 2009
Egypt building iron wall on Gaza border
Egypt has begun constructing a massive iron wall along its border with the Gaza Strip in a bid to shut down Palestinian smuggling tunnels that bring weapons, terrorists, drugs, food, medicine and gas into Gaza. The wall will be nine to 10 kilometers long, and will go 20 to 30 meters down into the ground, Egyptian sources said. The new plan is the latest move by Egypt to step up its counter-smuggling efforts. Although some progress had been made, the smuggling market in Gaza still flourishes. Egyptian forces demolish tunnels or fill them with gas almost every week, often with people still inside them, and Palestinian casualties in the tunnels have been steadily rising. It’s said in the media that Hamas does benefit from the smuggling through raising taxes on contraband goods.
December 4th 2009
Israeli settlement freeze
The newly announced Israeli settlement freeze is having an adverse affect that its protagonists in Washington probably didn't bother to consider - it is leaving hundreds and perhaps thousands of Palestinian Arabs without jobs.
Unemployment in Palestinian-ruled areas is already sky high, and international peace brokers insist that one of the keys to forging a lasting peace agreement is improving the quality of life of average Palestinians.
Most unskilled laborers in Palestinian society rely on Israeli construction for employment. By demanding a halt to Israeli construction, the international community believes it is solving one problem one the road to peace, but is simultaneously exacerbating the problem of Palestinian poverty, which is so often held up as the reason for Palestinian violence, which is a far bigger hindrance to peace.
Many Israelis are expected to lose their jobs as a result of the settlement freeze, too. Developers have already bought numerous plots of land in Judea and Samaria, and engineers, architects, contractors and carpenters are counting on those projects going forward. But in accordance with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's announcement last week, any project for which the foundations have not already been laid is now frozen for at least 10 months.
The Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria are the fastest growing in Israel, meaning that a disproportionate percentage of construction takes place there. Halting that construction will have a major impact on the Israeli construction industry and all those who rely on it.
Israel today
November 20th 2009
Safety and corruption
Two surveys lately showed interesting results. 500 Israelis were asked about their biggest worries, and the answers were: increasing violence (81%), not being able to get old with dignity (62%), getting dependent economically from somebody else (60%). 68 percent think Israel is the best country to live in, that’s 10 percent less than in 2008. 53 percent think their government will be able to protect them in a threatening situation.
In a study that was released on Monday as part of the Sderot Conference for Society, general corruption in the Israeli establishment and among its high-ranking officials was found to be the main reason most people do not feel proud to be Israeli. According to the data 73 percent of the public said the unacceptable levels of corruption in the political establishment made them less proud to be Israeli. 67 percent considered the level of corruption high or very high. 29 percent think that the police is corrupt, 61 percent think that political parties are corrupt.
November 13th 2009
Israeli businesses rapped for not hiring Arabs, haredim, Ethiopians
One of the greatest obstacles to economic growth in Israel is the low participation of minorities in the labor market, Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said on Tuesday after an academic study reported that most Israeli employers are significantly discriminating against Israeli minorities. “There is a real concern about the awkwardness of shaking hands with a haredi [ultra-Orthodox] Jew, telling army stories in front of an Arab and the 'coarse' Israeli mentality in front of the Ethiopian," Steinitz said. Kiryat Ono Academic College found that 83 percent of employers prefer not to hire Arabs, 58% refused to hire haredim, while 53 percent rejected Ethiopians in banking, media, advertising, finance, accounting and the public sector. Advancement in the workplace revealed far more inequality for the three groups. Cultural differences were cited as the reason for the exclusion of minorities in the workforce. In related news, the unemployment rate rose 0 .5% in September, the Israel National Employment Service (NES) reported on Sunday.
From ICEJ
November 6th 2009
Heavy rain
The heavy rains of the past week caused some flooding and made Lake Kinnereth rise seven centimeters since last Friday. But there is a need of another 5.53 meters up to the ideal water level, so it needs a lot more rain. Hillel Glasman, who oversees streams on behalf of the Nature and Parks Authority, said: “The flow is slow but clear in the streams of the western Galilee, and you can see water beginning to flow in the streams of the eastern Galilee. The rainfall has reached a level that will now allow water to flow in the Jordan and Iyun rivers.”
October 30th 2009
Situation of the Palestinian refugees
There was as lengthy article in “The Independent” newspaper on October 22nd.
“It is a cynical but time-honoured practice in Middle Eastern politics: the statesmen who decry the political and humanitarian crisis of the approximately 3.9 million Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in Gaza ignore the plight of an estimated 4.6 million Palestinians who live in Arab countries. For decades, Arab governments have justified their decision to maintain millions of stateless Palestinians as refugees in squalid camps as a means of applying pressure to Israel. The refugee problem will be solved, they say, when Israel agrees to let the Palestinians have their own state.”
“In 2001, [the estimated 250,000 to 400,000] Palestinians in Lebanon were stripped of the right to own property, or to pass on the property that they already owned to their children – and banned from working as doctors, lawyers, pharmacists or in 20 other professions.”
While [the estimated 450,000] Palestinian refugees and their descendants inside Syria are not allowed to vote or hold Syrian passports, they are free from the overt discrimination … Palestinians are barred from buying farmland and prohibited from owning more than one house.”
“Jordan is the only Arab nation that has integrated large numbers of Palestinians as full-fledged citizens. This is due not only to the unification of the East Bank and West Bank of the Jordan River valley under Hashemite rule between the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 until Israel's occupation of West Bank in 1967, but also to the luck of having had an enlightened monarch committed to the compassionate treatment of the estimated 100,000 refugees who crossed the Jordan River during the nakba in 1948. Israel's occupation of the West Bank following the 1967 war triggered a second exodus of 140,000 refugees into Jordan. …Today, almost 2 million of Jordan's 6 million people are registered Palestinian refugees, the largest concentration of current and former refugees in the Palestinian diaspora – and increasingly, tensions have deepened between the Palestinians and the "East Bank" establishment. This summer in Amman, ambiguous declarations by the recently appointed minister of the interior, Nayef al-Kadi, who is widely perceived to be anti-Palestinian, led many Jordanians of Palestinian origin to fear they would be stripped of Jordanian identity numbers.”
Full article: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/no-way-home-the-tragedy-of-the-palestinian-diaspora-1806790.html
October 23rd 2009
Messianic Jews in media
In a follow-up article to one printed in Haaretz on October 2, Yuval Azulai noted (Haaretz, October 16) that one of the people whose case he had cited - Pnina Conforty - this week received anonymous telephone death threats. When Pnina complained to the police, they took the case seriously and asked her to keep them informed about any further phone calls she receives. She told Haaretz that she is convinced that the threat came on the heels of the paper's exposé – but is also sure that God will protect her.
In a further response, Segal Rozen of the Center for Assistance to Foreign Workers in Israel wrote a very sympathetic letter to the paper, published on the same day: “I wish to thank Yuval Azulai for his balanced, important, and enlightening report - the first following a number of tendentious pieces inciting against Messianic congregations in Israel. Although I am not acquainted with the heroes of the story, for the past several years I have had a close working relationship with a number of Messianic Jews. The first person I had the honor of meeting is a teacher by profession, who has volunteered for many years at a refuge for battered women. We met when the 'Center for Assistance to Foreign Workers' in Israel was seeking accommodation for immigrant workers who were the victims of violence or white slavery: the only place willing to take these women was the Messianic Jewish refuge. Several years later, when the State of Israel decided to arrest Sudan refugees but to release their wives and children onto the streets, this person agreed to accept more and more Sudanese women and children (Christians and Muslims), to the point where they completely filled the refuge. The costs of supporting these refugees were borne by the Messianic Jewish community. … Not once has one of them ever vocally expressed any concern regarding the level of my belief in Judaism or suggested that I take an interest in their faith. At the same time, the contentment their faith gives them makes it completely obvious to me why some of them wish to share this happiness with those whom they understand to be seeking such a quality.”
From Caspari Center
October 16th 2009
Lengthy article about anti-missionaries
In an extremely lengthy article published in Haaretz (October 2), Yuval Azulai suggested that the Israeli Ministry of the Interior works hand in hand with the anti-missionary organization Yad L'Achim, making use of details and acting against Messianic Jews on the basis of information supplied by its members. The multi-headlined article (“Birthpangs of the Messiah: All Israelis are brothers - forget it!”; “Not to believe”) noted immediately underneath that: “The Ultra-Orthodox organization 'Yad L'Achim' locates 'Messianic Jews' (who accept Yeshua as the Messiah), collects information about them, and passes it on to the Interior Ministry. Clerks from the office ask them [Messianic Jews] in for questioning and turn their lives into a bureaucratic nightmare. Alongside this are also cases of harassment against them, dissemination of rumors, and attacks on their livelihood.”
It continued by stating, “In most cases, those involved are Israelis, citizens of the State to every intent and purpose: they serve in the army, educate their children according to the values of the State and Zionism, send them to regular schools, work for their living, mostly in the free professions, pay taxes, love the State, swear loyalty to it and are dedicated to it, are moved by the raising of the flag and the singing of the national anthem - but despite all this, feel like a persecuted minority ... Documents which have reached Haaretz point to the possibility that a relationship of cooperation exists between Yad L'Achim and clerks in two offices of the Interior Ministry. In one case, strong verbal affinities can be found between the terminology used by the head of the Population Registry in Tel Aviv [part of the Interior Ministry], Amos Arbel, and that used by R. Lipshitz [the director of Yad L'Achim].”
The article surveyed the cases of two citizens brought into the Interior Ministry for questioning about their religious beliefs, despite the absence of any criminal, civil, or other charges – which in most countries would be considered to constitute a clear violation of their privacy and freedom of religion.
From Caspari Center
May 7th 2009
Palestinian sentenced to death for selling land to Jews
In the first case of its kind, a Palestinian Authority “military court” on Tuesday of last week sentenced a Palestinian man to death by hanging after finding him guilty of selling land to Jews. The verdict came shortly after the PA's chief Islamic judge reminded West Bank residents of the existing fatwa (Muslim religious decree) banning the sale of property to Jews. “The Jews have no rights in Jerusalem,” sheikh Tayseer Rajab Tamimi proclaimed before warning that “land dealers” and other middlemen who engage in “suspicious real estate deeds” commit a “grave sin” and would be punished in accordance with Islamic teachings. The Palestinian Authority also passed a decree banning such sales when it first took over parts of the West Bank in 1995. The three-judge panel issued the guilty verdict unanimously, ordered the defendant's money and property confiscated and pointed out that the defendant did not have the right to appeal. The death sentence, however, must be approved by acting PA President Mahmoud Abbas. Although the PA has never officially executed Palestinians accused of selling land to Jews, scores of suspected “land dealers” have been kidnapped and murdered by Palestinian security personnel or members of armed groups in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Source: ICEJ
Link of the week
Mischa from Israel Chai, Haifa (in Russian and German)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eloryb6mTsA
April 30th 2009
Bible verse billboards and book fairs
Palestinian Bible Society
As part of our Bible proclamation, a number of billboards carrying Bible Verses have been placed in the cities of Bethlehem and Ramallah. This comes during the special time of Easter. The billboard reads: “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, He has risen!” (Luke 24:5-6).
In addition to this, around 7500 items (Bibles, Children Coloring Books, Audio and Video cassettes) have been distributed throughout our centers. This is one of the largest distribution activities to take place in Palestinian Bible Society during the Easter Season.
Also during the last month, the Palestinian Bible Society in Bethlehem participated in the Arabic Book Fair that was hosted in the “Peace Center”, near the main Nativity square. Palestinian Bible Society has been very active lately in such activities and the response from the community has been very positive. We have been working on bringing in new Arabic Christian material and this has proved very popular and has been well received by the visitors to the book fairs. Most importantly we continue to give the Bible its rightful place among all these books, as The Book of Life.
April 24th 2009
Economic crisis in Israel
The global economic downturn has begun to hit Israel hard, with 20,072 employees getting pink slips in March alone, an all time record for job losses in a single month. Since Israeli companies starting shedding jobs in earnest six months ago, around 100,000 workers have joined the ranks of the unemployed. Although some of these jobs can be explained by seasonal layoffs and a small percentage of the laid off workers have found new work, the numbers are still grim and have many worried. The unemployment rate in Israel has hit 6.8%, and the Bank of Israel forecasts that it will exceed 8% by the end of the year, with a large number of job cuts set to be announced immediately after Passover. The hardest hit sectors are high tech and manufacturing, which rely heavily on exports. Plans to help stimulate the Israeli economy include massive new government infrastructure projects, including water desalinization plants, transportation upgrades, new power plants and natural gas drilling. Meanwhile, the new Netanyahu government has committed to a social aid package developed by Welfare and Social Services Minister Isaac Herzog which will give a boost to Israeli non-profits that are struggling to help the poor and homeless during the current economic slump.
From ICEJ
April 17th 2009
Musical opens hearts
Rachel Netanel, Beit Netanel, Jerusalem
Wednesday we had a musical show about the life of Yeshua at Beit Netanel to celebrate Mimuna (at the end of Pesach). We had to move into the house because the weather was very windy. So we put all furniture outside, but there still wasn’t enough space for all guests. See some photos on my website http://www.rachelnetanel.net.
Some days before, I took two women to see another performance of the same musical. They hadn’t heard the story of Yeshua before and were very impressed. One of them was so much touched that she then helped me with the preparations for the Mimuna party.
The musical was in English, so I explained my guests in advance the whole story and that Yeshua is the Jewish Messiah. After the show ten people asked for prayer. She is suffering from cancer and has a hard time. Please pray that God will comfort her and give her a new perspective. The guests stayed until 1 o’clock in the night.
Books for Sudanese youth
David Zadok, HaGefen Publishing
Over the recent year or two, Israel has had an influx of Sudanese refugees, who have risked their lives to escape the war and bloodshed in Sudan. They have gone through harrowing experiences, and many have lost members of their families. The children have spent so much time on the run that they lack basic schooling. Their mother tongue is Arabic, yet they hardly read in Arabic. Now, in Israel, they are learning to communicate in Hebrew and have been attending Israeli schools where they learn to read Hebrew.
Many of these have expressed a deep desire to learn the scriptures, yet cannot read them in their mother tongue. Their level of Hebrew is also not equal to reading the scriptures in its original masoretic text. Through an initiative of some young people and with the cooperation of two churches, HaGefen Publishing was able to provide them with 15 sets (45 books). The books were received with great joy.
Link of the week
Beit Al Liqa’, Beit Jala / Bethlehem (Johnny and Marlene Shahwan) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_s_6KRCNJc
April 8th 2009
Free movement for Christians to holy sites during the Easter holiday
The IDF and the Civil Administration, under the directive of the Minister of Defense, Mr. Ehud Barak, began implementing a series of goodwill measures in order to allow freedom of religious practice for residents and visiting Christians in Israel and the Judea and Samara regions during the Easter holiday. These measures were initiated on April 1, 2009 and will continue to be in effect until May 15.
The goodwill measures include approval for the unlimited entrance of Palestinian Christians from Judea and Samaria into Israel for participation in religious ceremonies and family visits during the holiday. At this stage, the Civil Administration has already issued close to 10,000 permits for this purpose solely in the Bethlehem district. In addition, the IDF has approved streamlined procedures for the entry of worshippers, organized tours, religious workers and media personnel into Bethlehem and Jericho.
In 2008 a record number of approximately 1,300,000 tourists visited Bethlehem.
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Link of the week
Homepage about Rami Ayyad, bookshop manager of the Bible Society in Gaza, who was killed in October 2007
April 3rd 2009
Vast majority of Palestinian youth oppose violence
A recent survey released by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) found that nearly 70 percent of Palestinian young adults believe the use of violence to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not very helpful compared to a mere 8 percent of the 1,200 respondents, ages 18 and over, who believe violence is an important tool needed to resolve the conflict. When asked to define their identity, 47 percent identified themselves as “Muslims”, compared to just 28 percent that claimed “Palestinian”. The study also found out that more than 80 percent of those interviewed are “depressed”, including almost 40 percent claiming to be “extremely depressed”. Depression was much higher (55%) in the Hamas controlled Gaza Strip. Unemployment rates for Palestinian youth range from 35 percent in the West Bank to 51 percent in Gaza, according to the poll.
ICEJ News
Link of the week
Choose your virtual tour through Israel www.goisrael.com/vt
March 27th 2009
It makes a difference
When young man received the Lord, he wasn't really aware of the price young believers often pay when they choose to follow Yeshua. His friends, especially his best friend, refused to accept the change that took place in his life and in his heart. He was not the same and it bothered them. One day, one of his best friends saw him at the park and started teasing him until things got out of control and he punched him in the face, breaking his nose. He was taken to the hospital where he had to be operated.
When it came to dealing with the cause of his hospitalization, he told his friend that he had made the decision not to press charges and simply decided to forgive and put this incident behind him. His attitude came as a big shock to his friend. However, the Lord wasn't finished with him. Not long afterwards he came to the man with an astonishing confession that... he himself had now received Yeshua as His Lord!
Arabic homepage with over 12.000 users a day
We are happy that our Arabic homepage www.linga.org with Christian songs, teachings and articles has over 12.000 users a day. Five believers try to answer all the questions coming in from Arabic countries, and from Arabic speaking people around the world. Thank you for your prayers.
Link of the week
Shabbat Shalom and other Songs with pictures http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCMBkxr2WSc
March 20th 2009
Smaller food packages for the poor
4,000 out of 25,000 Amutot (Charitable Organizations) in Israel are in danger of total collapse, according to the latest survey. This number includes a lot of non-profitable organizations that distribute food to the poor. At the same time a number of the poor applying for help has been increasing. Charitable organizations cannot provide even basic food items that have been requested and are trying to minimize food packages.
from “Yediot Aharonot” Newspaper
Link of the week
Elham, a former Muslim women's journey from Islam to Christ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH_bUNDNRj4
March 13th 2009
Man wants to pray to Jesus
Elizabeth Atteih, Book and Bible Shop, Haifa
A man came into the book shop and asked for a prayer book. I asked him: “What kind of book do you mean – the Bible?” “No”, he replied, “I already have a New Testament.” Then I said to him: “What then exactly are you looking for?” “I want to know how to pray”, he answered. “At the Festival of Festivals (around Christmas time) you distributed packs of books explaining the Christian faith. I read them all and my heart was deeply touched.” I answered that it was indeed wonderful that the books moved him so but that we did not have a prayer book as such. But I arranged a meeting for him with Pastor Najeeb, my husband.
After this meeting, Najeeb told me: “It was a very special meeting and I felt that this man was really seeking the Lord. We talked about salvation and he asked how he could receive this salvation. He also saw that in our books was very much love and that was what touched his heart. Then he said: ‘What should I do in order to receive Jesus?’ I told him what the Bible says and read to him Romans 10:8-10. We then prayed together and he prayed the sinner's prayer.” Praise the Lord!
A storm of sympathy
Leah Ortiz, Ariel
Last week, the story about Ami and the attack against our family was aired in a program on Channel 2 Israeli TV called “Fact”. It was ½ hour long and very moving. They covered the story of the incident with much sensitivity.
The next day, David was with Ami in Petach Tikva, around 20 minutes drive from Ariel. They had errands to run, and afterwards were eating falafel. A man with a kippa recognized them from the TV, came up to Ami and exclaimed: “You are a hero! Keep overcoming, never give up!” David took our car for an oil change and when the people in the car garage saw him, he said it was like a storm broke out! The Israeli's there expressed anger over what had happened, over the opinion of the anti-missionaries, and really tried to encourage him. People continue to stop us wherever we go, in Ariel and outside of Ariel, to offer their support and love. One night we went out to dinner in Tel Aviv and a woman came over to us and said: “Excuse me for having the nerve to do this, (and she looked Ami in the eye), but I am so ashamed that this happened to you in our nation, and I pray that you will only succeed in life.
Thank you for all your prayers during the past year.
Israel – a young population
The figures published by the Central Bureau of Statistics show that Israel’s population is young compared to western nations. In 2007, 28.4% of Israelis were under 14, as opposed to only 17% in western countries. Likewise, 9.8% of Israel’s population was aged 65 and over, as opposed to 15% in the West.
Israel’s population stands at 7,337,000 people, including 5,542,000 Jewish Israelis (75.5 percent) and 1,477,000 Israeli Arabs (20.1%). Among Jews, 38.5% (2.2) million originate from a Europe or North America. 15% of Jews, numbering 871,000, are of African origins while 11.9% are from Asian countries. A total of 34.6% of Jews are native born whose parents were also born in the country.
Link of the week
Flash Flood in Nahal David http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDWFJwOB8Q0
March 6th 2009
Late rain
This had been Israel’s driest winter since records were kept beginning in 1920. And then it happened. There were several days of almost nonstop rain. It has raised the level of the Sea of Galilee over 21 centimeters (8.3 inches) in four days. In Beersheva, it was 66% of the normal amount of rain, in the center of Israel about 80%, and in the Galilee up to 100%. However, to put the water problems in perspective, the Sea of Galilee is still 5.13 meters (17 feet) below where the water level should be. There will be a little more added relief as the meter and a half of snow on Mount Hermon begins to melt.
Link of the week
Stan Meyer’s testimony http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3n5Y0hOtz0
February 20th 2009
“Talking Bible” is a blessing
Victor Kalisher, Bible society
We have been providing the MegaVoice units (“talking Bible”) through congregations, Eben Haezer old age house and many others. I wanted to share this email with you with some feedback we received from Peniel congregation: “Thank you for the MegaVoice units you have sent us. We are using the Arab ones for Sudanese refugees which came into our fellowship and gave their lives to the Lord. One sister got a MegaVoice when she was in hospital. As she was visited in the hospital, she was found covered, with the sheet laid over her head. As she uncovered her head, it was clear why she laid in bed like this – she had the MegaVoice’s ear buds plugged in and she was listening to the message of the word of God in privacy. It is very important for these people to have the opportunity to be built up in their faith by listening to the word of God. Thank you for being a blessing.”
Children’s prayers for rain
Marlene Shahwan, Beit Al Liqa’, Beit Jala
We recently made two very good experiences in our Children’s hour – twice the same: Because of the long drought that we are having we have been praying for rain very intensively together with the children. And both times there was some rain two days later. So the children learnt: God answers our prayers. Rain is still a big prayer request for us.
Link of the week
Yoel Ben David’s testimony http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TM_jq80_XDM
February 13th 2009
Hamas accused of eliminating opponents
Amnesty International on Tuesday accused Hamas of waging a campaign to kill or maim scores of Palestinian opponents in the Gaza Strip since the end of December. Report issued by the human rights group says that at least two dozen men have been shot dead by gunmen from the Palestinian militia that governs the Gaza Strip since December 27. “Scores of others have been shot in the legs, knee-capped or inflicted with other injuries intended to cause severe disability, subjected to severe beatings ... or otherwise tortured or ill-treated. Hamas forces and militias in the Gaza Strip have engaged in a campaign of abductions, deliberate and unlawful killings, torture and death threats against those they accuse of 'collaborating' with Israel, as well as opponents and critics,” the report added. According to Amnesty, the victims included members of Abbas' Fatah party and of the PA security forces. Palestinian human rights groups and victims first made such accusations at the end of last month, saying the Hamas rulers of Gaza were persecuting members of the rival Fatah movement to quash any opposition. Amnesty said there was “no doubt” that the victims were abducted, killed, shot and tortured by Hamas security forces and armed militias, adding that the evidence was “incontrovertible.” (Extracted from Ynet News, 2/10/09) Dateline Israel
Link of the week
Jack Sternberg: A Jewish Oncologist's Story http://www.messianicrx.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=34&Itemid=53
February 6th 2009
God’s protection
Guy and Tali Cohen, Harvest of Asher, Acco
How God protects miraculously: During the Gaza war one soldier had a dream that when he was going to a certain house the woman there put her hand up to tell him not to come in. The next day he saw this house and the woman that was in his dream. So he turned to go away and avoided danger. Another time a hand grenade landed on the ground between a soldier's feet and did not explode. One night about 50 soldiers were sleeping in a building. A soldier needed to use the toilet, while there he noticed a wire going behind the toilet. As he looked at it a bit closer he realized the building was booby-trapped, so he woke everyone and they got out right away in the middle of the night and moved out.
Link of the week
Discussion about freedom of religion on Arabic TV http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?AI=214&AR=1050wmv&AK=nul
January 23th 2009
Water at the lake of Galilee
(IMRA) Avi Bar-Eli Haaretz 21 January 2009
The pumping of water from Lake Kinneret, which serves as Israel's primary water reservoir, was halted on Monday as water levels reached just 40 cm above the critical "black line," below which all pumping is forbidden.
Pumping was stopped as Israel suffers the driest winter season since measurements began in the 1920s. Since the beginning of the rainy season (October), precipitation throughout the country has reached only 50-70% of its average. January, the rainiest month in the season, has seen just 10% of the multi-annual average rain for the month. We pray for rain for Israel.
January 16th 2009
Longing for peace
Hanspeter Obrist
We have just come back from Israel. In Jerusalem we met a Messianic couple. They needed some days of rest after 14 days of missiles going down on Beersheva. The mental pressure is enormous. You never know if and when a missile will come down. We met an Arabic Pastor as well who told us about the situation of the Arabic Christians in Gaza. The former Muslims are especially suffering. Therefore different organizations started programs to help. On the Jewish side there are also believers who try to help people in their shelters. We pray for our brothers and sisters on both sides. We pray for peace, which is more than the silence of weapons. Jesus is the Prince of Peace, who wants to change hatred into love.
God’s protection
Chaya Mizrachi, Adonai Roi Congregation, Tel Aviv
We hear about miracle after miracle of how God is protecting us. A kindergarten was hit by a rocket – miraculously the teachers had decided to teach the children in the bomb shelter that day and so were not in the classroom that was hit. Last week katyusha rockets landed in the north – one hit a home for the elderly. If it had hit 10 minutes earlier there would have been a loss of life. But instead everyone had gone from their rooms to eat breakfast in the dining hall. We praise God for his protection.
January 9th 2009
Gaza
Hanspeter Obrist, from Israel
We are deeply concerned about the misery that people on both sides do suffer from because of the war. The daily fear of the deadly missiles has left its marks on both sides. The 1.5 million Palestinians and the 700.000 Israelis in the bordering area never know if this day might be their last one. The mental stress is enormous. But this conflict can’t be solved with the power of weapons. It needs a transformation of the hearts. Media and the internet do play an important role in this conflict. They often show very emotional situations, but hardly any objective information. We pray for the affected people, for the Christian community in Gaza as well as for the Messianic Jews in the army, some of whom are in Gaza.
Link of the week
Interview with Mosaf Hassan, the son of Sheik Hassan Yusef – one of the founders of the Hamas terrorist organization. The special tells the story of Mosaf who has become an evangelical Christian. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W5wZ1J1OZM&feature=related
Direct news from Israel: http://www.jerusalemonline.com
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