Shalom! I have been hearing a particular verse from different people and in different situations this past week, and the other morning I turned to the Daily Light devotional and there it was again-
John 16:33
33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
May the God of Peace be with you this holiday season and New Year, 2010. May He who has already overcome be our rock and strength. We don't celebrate Christmas or the New Year on January 1st in Israel, they are both just regular working days. We of course have long gotten used to this, and delight in the Biblical and extra Biblical holidays celebrated here.
TWO MEETINGS
Two extraordinary meetings took place last week . The first was held by Rev. Majed El Shafie, a Canadian Minister and Human Rights lawyer who is the founder and President of an organization called "One Free World International". Majed travels the world helping persecuted Christians one case at a time. He travels to Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq and every place where believers are facing persecution. He has helped us with our case in the year and a half w hen the investigation seemed to be going nowhere, by sending out a petition calling for the arrest of the one who attacked us, and using his contacts in the Foreign Ministry to put pressure on the security services to do so. Majed's personal testimony is amazing, you can read it on his website: www.onefreeworldinternational.org
This year, Majed held his organization's annual meeting in Jerusalem. He brought with him a group which included two MP's from the Canadian government who are heads of the committees on human rights and anti-semitism, and the president of B'nai Brit in Canada among others. The gentleman from B'nai Brit, an Orthodox Jew, gave his "testimony "concerning his friendship with Majed and One World International. He said that he had a very hard time trusting Christian Zionists and Christians whose hearts were turned towards helping Israel and the Jewish people. However through his friendship with Majed he understands now that there is a difference between believing Christians, and others who are Christians by name, and that the believing Christians are indeed very good friends of the Jewish people and of Israel. What a great testimony Majed, an Egyptian ex-Muslim who loves the Lord and loves His people, has displayed before this Orthodox Jewish man. For me, it was one of the highlights of the meeting. Majed also spoke about the attack on Ami. He talked about the dangerous rise of a violent radical right wing in Israel, Judea and Samaria, and the rise in persecution of Messianic Jews, of which the most violent attack against our community was against our family. He introduced us to the audience. One of the MP's who spoke is also a born-again believer whose message against anti-semitism was very clear and interesting. We were so edified and blessed to be a part of that meeting.
We were also privileged to go to a conference which was held in the Ariel University in our city! It was a conference on " Law and the Media" and was attended by scholars, a Nobel prize laureate, Members Knesset and a variety of media people. Dr. Mike Evans, a Jewish believer who is also on the board of the University was one of the speakers. Dr. Evans has had amazing favor with the government of Israel since the 1970's until today , is a huge supporter of Israel and is friends with our Mayor. The session which Dr. Evans spoke in addressed freedom of speech in the media in Israel, and when he spoke, he brought life into a very intellectual forum! He spoke from the Bible and about God, and one of the Orthodox Jewish attendees said - why do believers have to come from outside of our country to talk about God and the Bible, and we do not? It was another high point for us. Dr. Evans also spoke about the fact that a terror attack happened in Ariel a few years ago, and he asked the audience if they had heard about it?? People said, "oh yeah, it happened here in Ariel". Dr. Evans said that when the attack happened which almost killed Ami, he was expecting condemnation from the government and the Israeli news to be full of the story - but there was a deafening silence. He said that there is a bias in Israeli media against Messianic Jews - and he also introduced us to the audience.
AMI NEWS AND MORE
Our lawyers continue to work preparing our civilian case against Yakov Teitel. One of the actions we've taken is to join together with the Arab family from East Jerusalem whose son was murdered by Teitel, in order to sue him for 4 million NIS for compensation and damages ($500,000 for each family). As I've explained, we aren't doing this to receive money from Teitel , but to pack the biggest punch we can in order to prevent others from walking in Teitel's footsteps. We want the message to be loud and clear - hate crimes will be punished to the fullest extent of the law. When we told Ami about this move, he was surprised. He said, "I thought we weren't taking revenge! Why should his children pay for what he has done?" We told him our reasons, and he said, "OK, but if the court holds him responsible for the money, I want to help support his children!" And he wasn't the only one - my daughter also called me and voiced the same opinion - the children should not pay for their father's sins.
Ezekiel 18:20
20 The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
When David explained our reasons and also Ami's reaction, she said she wants to join in to help his children if there is a need. I was pretty amazed and thankful for my kids!
We have two doctor's consultations coming up the end of this month and beginning of January in which we will schedule the operations on Ami's left hand and left ear. Please pray for wisdom and timing - Ami also has his first army call-up next week as well, and this is another decision that he has to make - whether to enlist in the army or not. There are many, many jobs in the army that are non-combat, but Ami feels that if he cannot be a combat soldier he would rather not enlist. We will see if this is an option. Please pray for favor and right judgment concerning this, for us and for the IDF.
Many Blessings to all,
Leah
John 16:33
33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
May the God of Peace be with you this holiday season and New Year, 2010. May He who has already overcome be our rock and strength. We don't celebrate Christmas or the New Year on January 1st in Israel, they are both just regular working days. We of course have long gotten used to this, and delight in the Biblical and extra Biblical holidays celebrated here.
TWO MEETINGS
Two extraordinary meetings took place last week . The first was held by Rev. Majed El Shafie, a Canadian Minister and Human Rights lawyer who is the founder and President of an organization called "One Free World International". Majed travels the world helping persecuted Christians one case at a time. He travels to Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq and every place where believers are facing persecution. He has helped us with our case in the year and a half w hen the investigation seemed to be going nowhere, by sending out a petition calling for the arrest of the one who attacked us, and using his contacts in the Foreign Ministry to put pressure on the security services to do so. Majed's personal testimony is amazing, you can read it on his website: www.onefreeworldinternational.org
This year, Majed held his organization's annual meeting in Jerusalem. He brought with him a group which included two MP's from the Canadian government who are heads of the committees on human rights and anti-semitism, and the president of B'nai Brit in Canada among others. The gentleman from B'nai Brit, an Orthodox Jew, gave his "testimony "concerning his friendship with Majed and One World International. He said that he had a very hard time trusting Christian Zionists and Christians whose hearts were turned towards helping Israel and the Jewish people. However through his friendship with Majed he understands now that there is a difference between believing Christians, and others who are Christians by name, and that the believing Christians are indeed very good friends of the Jewish people and of Israel. What a great testimony Majed, an Egyptian ex-Muslim who loves the Lord and loves His people, has displayed before this Orthodox Jewish man. For me, it was one of the highlights of the meeting. Majed also spoke about the attack on Ami. He talked about the dangerous rise of a violent radical right wing in Israel, Judea and Samaria, and the rise in persecution of Messianic Jews, of which the most violent attack against our community was against our family. He introduced us to the audience. One of the MP's who spoke is also a born-again believer whose message against anti-semitism was very clear and interesting. We were so edified and blessed to be a part of that meeting.
We were also privileged to go to a conference which was held in the Ariel University in our city! It was a conference on " Law and the Media" and was attended by scholars, a Nobel prize laureate, Members Knesset and a variety of media people. Dr. Mike Evans, a Jewish believer who is also on the board of the University was one of the speakers. Dr. Evans has had amazing favor with the government of Israel since the 1970's until today , is a huge supporter of Israel and is friends with our Mayor. The session which Dr. Evans spoke in addressed freedom of speech in the media in Israel, and when he spoke, he brought life into a very intellectual forum! He spoke from the Bible and about God, and one of the Orthodox Jewish attendees said - why do believers have to come from outside of our country to talk about God and the Bible, and we do not? It was another high point for us. Dr. Evans also spoke about the fact that a terror attack happened in Ariel a few years ago, and he asked the audience if they had heard about it?? People said, "oh yeah, it happened here in Ariel". Dr. Evans said that when the attack happened which almost killed Ami, he was expecting condemnation from the government and the Israeli news to be full of the story - but there was a deafening silence. He said that there is a bias in Israeli media against Messianic Jews - and he also introduced us to the audience.
AMI NEWS AND MORE
Our lawyers continue to work preparing our civilian case against Yakov Teitel. One of the actions we've taken is to join together with the Arab family from East Jerusalem whose son was murdered by Teitel, in order to sue him for 4 million NIS for compensation and damages ($500,000 for each family). As I've explained, we aren't doing this to receive money from Teitel , but to pack the biggest punch we can in order to prevent others from walking in Teitel's footsteps. We want the message to be loud and clear - hate crimes will be punished to the fullest extent of the law. When we told Ami about this move, he was surprised. He said, "I thought we weren't taking revenge! Why should his children pay for what he has done?" We told him our reasons, and he said, "OK, but if the court holds him responsible for the money, I want to help support his children!" And he wasn't the only one - my daughter also called me and voiced the same opinion - the children should not pay for their father's sins.
Ezekiel 18:20
20 The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
When David explained our reasons and also Ami's reaction, she said she wants to join in to help his children if there is a need. I was pretty amazed and thankful for my kids!
We have two doctor's consultations coming up the end of this month and beginning of January in which we will schedule the operations on Ami's left hand and left ear. Please pray for wisdom and timing - Ami also has his first army call-up next week as well, and this is another decision that he has to make - whether to enlist in the army or not. There are many, many jobs in the army that are non-combat, but Ami feels that if he cannot be a combat soldier he would rather not enlist. We will see if this is an option. Please pray for favor and right judgment concerning this, for us and for the IDF.
Many Blessings to all,
Leah