UPDATE JUNE 22, 2005

LEAH’S REPORT

When the Brooklyn Tabernacle group was here, we went to the home of a believer and her non-believing husband for a barbeque, which we've already written about in our last update. Usually her husband asks us to sing Messianic songs that were written by believers in this country, because he really likes them and feels God's presence! This time, as we sang in their garden, with the 12 members of the team that came, plus other believers that were invited –we didn't realize that the singing could be heard up to a 1/4 of a mile away, like a radio broadcast all over that part of Ariel. My son and some of his friends were walking up a very big hill that distance from our location, and he said that they could hear our singing clearly all the way up there.

Tiqvah [Leah’s niece] also went into a store the other day, only to hear the BT Choir singing, "Jesus, I believe in You". Hallelujah! The team had given these CD's out in the town center to all the store owners and shoppers, and many have played them in their stores. Praise God, the Gospel is being preached in many ways.

Barbara, a Canadian believer from our congregation whose picture also appeared on the poster put up by anti-missionaries, was shopping in the town center of Ariel, which is like an outdoor mall with many kinds of shops and restaurants. She was passing by the hardware store, whose owner, a Russian Jew, has been a friend for ten or eleven years. She and her husband Grant, have witnessed to him at every possible opening. He ran out when he saw her and said, "You know you've been famous these past couple weeks". She didn't catch on, so he mentioned the posters which had been hung on a post right next to his shop. He got very upset when he saw it, as he has great respect for Barbara and her husband, for their faith and the love of God that they've demonstrated to him. So he wrote on the poster in Hebrew and Russian (which were the languages on the poster), "Whoever wrote this should leave his name, address and number", and then he stamped it with his official tax stamp, with his name, the name of the shop and his telephone number. Then he said, "you know the Lubovitch (ultra Orthodox Jews) were here talking about you, and I got in an argument with them. He said he was very angry and upset about the whole incident.

Also, a friend of mine who is a non-believer, called to ask if we'd seen the posters. When I told her that I had, she asked if I wasn't upset by it. I told her not at all. She said that she was going around town taking them down, as she thought they were outrageous! (Acts 14:4)

DAVID’S REPORT:

I had a very interesting Bible study with Bro. S. who is pastoring one of the underground churches that has about 13 believers, among whom are also ex-Hamas members. When the group was here last month, we met a few of these ex-Muslims in an olive grove , and heard shooting taking place in the area. This time, we decided to move to another location on the more northern side of the road thinking it would be more peaceful. He was sharing with me how the Lord had been speaking to him through the prophet Isaiah, (Isaiah 49:15-16.) He was impressed by the fact that it's possible for a woman to forget the son she gave birth to, nursed and raised, but God will never forget His people. Arabic, like Hebrew, is very clear when it says, Behold I have engraved my people on the palms of my hands", as S. put it – God, to make it permanent, took a stone and carved deep into his hands the words, "I love you", and it can't be erased. He said, those marks can be there for a thousand years, and they'll still be legible. As he started sharing, he sighed and held back his tears, saying, "David, where have we been for so long, that we haven't heard the words of this Book? With all the darkness we're surrounded by, we never knew how great God's love is for His creation." He said that he's asking for God's help to convey this to his people. He said that he doesn't live in a free society that he's not able to share freely, it's such an unstable and threatening environment, but he needs wisdom how to maneuver. As he was speaking, Paul's statement became clearer to me:

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! (Romans 10:13-15) .

All of a sudden, behind us just a few meters (yards) away, we heard the gunfire of semi-automatic weapons. I said to Bro. S. - "this is very close by – maybe we should we continue another day? What do you think." He said, "No! This is just the enemy trying to distract us I'm not going to let anyone ruin my Bible study. We're finally here, having a great time, let's stay." I said, "OK", because I looked into his eyes and I saw that he was determined not to be scared off. (.Ecc 11;4 ) Slowly, the shooting faded into the distance. It showed me the hunger he has and how much we in the West we take it for granted that we can go to church whenever we want to.

During these years, I've been out there in different situations in the villages and on the roads, and sometimes things didn't look good as far as safety was concerned, but the Lord gave me a verse: "When a man's ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. (Proverbs 16:7)

Death is an enemy that at times has come very close to me, (1Cor. 15:51 -57) and there have been times that I've been afraid, and have wondered what the end result will be, however I made a decision to refuse to entertain the thought ( inviting it to sit down, offering it coffee or tea, letting it stay for a while) because this would have paralyzed me (1 John 4:18) and it would have been the end of the work, and the end of me as well. However, even in those situations I saw that death itself has to bow to the Lordship of Jesus.

Because God's children are human beings--made of flesh and blood--Jesus also became flesh and blood by being born in human form. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the Devil, who had the power of death. 15Only in this way could he deliver those who have lived all their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.(Hebrews 2:14-15)

Sometimes things don't look logical, but there's a peace which passes all understanding (logic). (Philippians 4: 7 N.L.T)

There has been much restlessness in our area lately. In the past few weeks, numerous suicide bombers have been caught on their way to carry out terror attacks – young ladies, 14 year olds carrying boxes full of pipe bombs, etc., mostly from the city of Nablus. These are offered prestige, honor, a place in paradise, and a couple of dollars. Just yesterday, three were wounded and a 14 year-old boy was killed by sniper fire.

Another ex-Muslim has a brother who has recently accepted the Lord. He's suffering from a bad back injury and an operation that went wrong and actually made his condition worse. We invited him to a service in which Yi-Yi Avila who is a Puerto Rican evangelist, now 80 years old and going strong, ministered for two nights of meetings in an hotel in Jerusalem. This new believer was so hungry for the word of God that he listened intently to the translation even though his back was hurting and he was visibly in pain. Afterwards he went up for healing and said that he felt better! He called David and said, "when your wife was translating for me, I didn't miss one word, my ears were completely dedicated to hear the words this man spoke. When I got home, I went to sleep and the whole night I dreamt that an angel came and kept on repeating to me to read the Bible in different ways. The angel kept saying, 'take it, read it, look at it, memorize it, think about it, meditate on it, tell other people about it.' I woke up feeling much peace. At the end of the day, my wife told me, Do you realize that since this morning until now all you've talked about is Jesus? That's all you're thinking about?" He said that his wife doesn't exactly understand what's taking place, but slowly she will. He said, "the man in the meeting said that we have an obligation to tell others, and that's what the angel told me also."

This shows God's wonders and His love for this man, even though he lives in a completely Muslim village. He told me that he's afraid, but he's determined to tell others about Jesus. (1 Corinthians 9:16 )

For years now, we've befriended a retired Jewish couple, immigrants from the U.S. By God's grace, they've been coming to our Saturday meetings, even though they're not yet believers. Last week, they were approached in the town center by a non-believer who taunted them saying "We hear you're singing together with those believers all night". He tried to make them feel ashamed. He said to me, "David, I don't know if you're aware how many people are against the believers here, but I told that guy, and I said it to myself as well, I'm determined to come to meetings and I won't let anyone intimidate me. I've been receiving healing as a person, and I won't say I’m a believer yet, but I'm not an unbeliever. I'm getting there."

We have a necessity that we wanted to present to you. This is a note for those that have been involved in helping us during these years. We appreciate it very much, but not everyone can help financially – However, for those who feel led to help….. One of the missionary's most important tools is his car – because in the mission field the unbeliever's don't come to you, you have to go the unbelievers. We were helped out four years ago by the Mission's Directors of our congregation, Jerry and Jessica Park, and by the Norwegians, to be able to buy a 9-seater van (2001 Citroen Jumpy Standard Deisel) which has served us well. It was the first car we were able to buy new, all the others previous were used cars which literally worked by faith.

The Jumpy is the second cheapest van in Israel, the cheapest being the Kia Carnival which has very little power compared to the Jumpy, only runs on Benzine, and is an automatic, all of which make it highly impractical because of the steep hills in our area, and high gasoline costs.

We have put 185,000 km (125,000 miles) on the car, and when the BT group was here, Jerry said that he will help us again to buy another car (mobile church) and we should trade this one in. We've decided to trade it in for another Jumpy as it's still the best deal in Israel – and that is at the price of $37,600. We pay 150% tax on cars. (The price went up $7,000 in the past four years). When we inquired of different dealers in the greater Tel Aviv area, we were told by everyone that because of the high mileage, we can only get $12,000 for it –my car mechanic said that soon the motor will need an overhaul, or a rebuilt engine. Transmissions are very expensive to repair here. Jerry has already donated the $10,000, and we ourselves have $5,000 + $12,000 for the car we're selling , but it leaves us with $10,600 still needed. We were planning to take out a car loan (4.5% interest), but it would take us five years to pay off the loan at the rate that we can afford, which is longer than we'll probably have the car.

We're appealing to you to make this a matter of prayer if any of you would be able to help us with this need –

Gratefully,

David and Leah