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News From Jerusalem
July 3, 2005
“For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?” (Luke 9:25, NASB)
Last Sunday, June 26th, I went to the nearby taxi stand and waited for my friend there. While I was there, one of the drivers (who’s maybe around 20) asked me what I was reading. I was looking at a bilingual Gospel of Luke, and I read Luke 9:25 to him (see the verse above). I later stopped by one of the small grocery stores nearby, and I talked a little with my friend Mahmoud’s father. He told me that he has a lot of stress about money, and he thinks about closing the shop to try and rid himself of the pressure. Later, God blessed Merlin and I to have a good talk about reaching out.
On Monday, the neighbors across the street had me over for about an hour and a half. We talked about several different things, and their daughter shared how her husband has no work, though they have 6 kids to feed. The parents also told of the struggles they’ve had in raising their son, Sameer, who has intense mental difficulties. If I remember and understand correctly, he underwent a surgery when he was young (he’s now in his thirties) but there was some problem during it and his brain didn’t get enough oxygen. I shared with them that in The Injeel (New Testament), Jesus had compassion and love for the people when He saw them. They just kind of sat and listened… I pray that God helps them and Sameer to see and know the compassion of Yesua’ (Jesus). I can’t help but think of what an amazing sign it would be if The Lord healed Sameer in The Name of Jesus – that fact would spread like wildfire throughout this small community. Amen - may He do so!
Tami and I helped teach English on Tuesday morning, and I also helped two others with English in the afternoon.
On Wednesday, I headed out to the Old City and The Lord gave several opportunities to reach out that day. Nothing really opened up there in terms of sharing, so I walked over to the Mount of Olives, intending to drop off more bilingual Gospels of Luke to a young Arab kid that had previously asked for more. He wasn’t there, but I saw another guy closer to my age that I had met before, and we talked for a tiny bit as we walked up the mountain (his name is Ahmad). He gave me directions, as I was wanting to try and find Bethphage and Al Azariyeh (Bethany). After we parted, a few little Arab kids talked with me and two of them – Musa and Abdallah - accompanied me to Bethphage on their bikes (Bethphage is just about 15 minutes from the top of the Mount of Olives, on the eastern side… the western side faces Jerusalem). I treated Musa and Abdallah to some Cokes and snacks, and then I headed over to Al Azariyeh (Bethany). Al Azariyeh is on the other side of the security wall Israel has built, and so I had to show an IDF soldier my passport before entering. The Lord blessed me to find a quiet coffee shop (usually the best place to strike up a conversation), and I wound up spending around an hour and a half there. I met Attaf, a 20 year old guy whose wife had just delivered a baby girl the day before. We talked for a while, and you could visibly see that Attaf was very intrigued by a foreigner speaking (or trying to speak!) Arabic; as I’ve mentioned before, though there are Arabs that are hostile and crazy, there are also many that are really quite open to listening. Trust me, my language skills are far from excellent, but I have seen time and time again that trying to learn another person’s language opens tons of doors. Attaf’s friend, Hazzem (who’s 25), came by and we also chatted. Hazzem invited me to a game of pool, and we played… of course, the winner was not me! When I went to leave, Attaf and Hazzem refused to let me pay for my coffee, and they asked if I’d come back. I said I might, and I left a bilingual Gospel of Luke and some candies there. I walked back over the mountain (the Mount of Olives), and after I had walked past the Golden/Eastern Gate, I saw a younger Arab kid I know who’s usually hanging out over on Mount Zion – Nasaar is 13, and he lives in Ramallah. He was walking with his camel, and asked if I wanted to ride on it… I thought he’d ask me for money, so I said, ‘No.’ Nasaar said, ‘For free,’ so I said, ‘Ok,’ and got on. It was great! We walked a short distance on the southeastern side outside the Old City, where you can see Silwan and the City of David below on your left. Many people think mission work is really a sacrifice, and there are definitely things that can be challenging and difficult – but I’ve also seen time and time again how The Lord also blesses you to be able to experience things most people never will. Riding on a Middle Eastern camel (named ‘Michael,’ of all things!), several feet above the ground, somewhat close to a high drop-off point on your left-hand side, with an awesome view all around – praise be to God for how He blesses us in the midst of our serving Him! After getting off Michael, The Lord gave a really good opportunity to talk with Nasaar. He told me that Christians are okay (he’s Muslim), but the Jews are bad. I explained that he needs to love the Jews, because Yesua (Jesus) is Jewish – he seemed surprised to hear that, but he didn’t argue. Hopefully, he also understood the point I was trying to make about taking buses in Jerusalem… even he admitted there are no problems if you ride an Arab bus, though a bus carrying Jewish people could get blown up. For all the whining many Arabs do concerning Israel’s “aggressions,” one would think that the safety of riding an Arab bus versus the danger of riding a bus carrying Jews would speak volumes – it’s not the Jews that are strapping themselves with explosives and detonating themselves. Nasaar also talked some about how he believes Scripture has been changed, but I asked him if it would be possible for one to change the Quran. He said,’ No,’ because he believes it’s God’s word. Muslims also believe The Torah and The Injeel (New Testament) to be God’s Word, so I asked, ‘How could The Injeel be changed?’ Nasaar also seemed to get that point. The Lord blessed me to give him a bilingual Gospel of Luke, and please pray God uses it to open Nasaar’s eyes to the truth of His Son. After he had left, I came around to the southwestern side outside of the Old City, and there was a group of young Jewish kids supporting Gush Katif; Gush Katif is a Jewish area in Gaza that the Israeli government is planning to give to the Arabs. Though it’s clear that it’s incredibly serious to go against God’s promise to the Jews that ALL OF ISRAEL is theirs, the Israeli government apparently thinks it’s nothing to do so for the sake of ‘getting more peace.’ I told one of the young boys that his cause was right, and I said, ‘I believe in Yeshua, and I know God promises – this land is yours.’ He and another young boy were happy to hear that, and they gave me a sticker supporting Gush Katif. For more info on this issue, check out: http://katifund.org/katifund/eng/index.html On the walk back to For Zion’s Sake (FZS) that evening, I ran into Paul Dorr (the head of CCJ Bible College for the Arabs), and we wound up having a great talk for probably around an hour or so. Paul’s a great guy, and please keep him and his family in your prayers… that The Lord will continue to protect them and use them for His glory.
On Friday, I spent about an hour and a half with the neighbors across the street; the longer we live, it seems like the more sad stories we hear, huh? One of their granddaughters is only about 8 or 10 years old, but has diabetes and needs to get several shots each day. In addition, of course she can’t eat certain foods, which makes it hard if the other kids at school are having some special snack or something. Obviously diabetes would be hard for anyone to live with, but all the more so for a little girl; may The Lord heal her! While I was there, the grandfather read some of the passage in 1 Corinthians 13, in Arabic. After our Friday evening church service, my Israeli friend Eliat came by and picked me up, and I went to his mom’s apartment for a Shabbat dinner. They’re Jewish, but not a religious family. His mom had prepared lots of great food, and it was a really nice time. Eliat already knew, but the others asked why I came to Israel, and God blessed me to share a little with his mom, her boyfriend, and a girlfriend of Eliat’s. I basically said, ‘I love the Jews. I believe in Yeshua, and I learned from The Tanakh (Old Testament) that God promises Israel to the Jews. I’m not Jewish, but I understand this. Sometimes my Israeli friends are kind of worried when they find out I’m a Christian, because they think Hitler was one. He was not a Christian! How could a Christian hate the Jews? Yeshua is Jewish… and David, Moses… almost all of the first/early Christians were Jewish.’ Eliat’s girlfriend said, ‘You believe that? That’s beautiful.’ After dinner, several of Eliat’s friends came over for a party. As mentioned, he’s not a religious Jew, and a lot of them were drinking quite a bit. But God gave me another opportunity to tell one of Eliat’s friends why I was there – because I love the Jews, believe in Yeshua, and know that the land belongs to the Jews. He also was happy to hear that.
Once again, thank you for all the prayers and support so many of you contribute to His work here. By His grace, He is blessing us to touch both Jews and Gentiles. Praise and glory to The Only God!
jason
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God's love is eternal
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