CTWM: Israel

Jeff is 60 years old. Was born and educated in the UK. He holds an MA in Geography from Durham University. His mother is Israeli and his father British. Jeff was a Travel Consultant for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in London, and for Shell BP Oil. He worked in Egypt, Spain, Greece, France and in the travel industry in Israel. He speaks Spanish, French, Hebrew and English. Jeff was also in the Israeli Defense Forces. He finally moved to Israel permanently in the 80's. Jeff is a Messianic believer in Tel Aviv, Israel.

"I am not homeless anymore - I have a whole church and ministry to run around in now - praise the Lord - He has certainly bless me in this last month or so - from a sand dune to a sanctuary."

Jeff is a volunteers in various ministries in Tel Aviv and need financial support. Please contact him for details on how to send him funds.

1 John 4:2-3

"This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God. Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the anti-Christ which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world (NIV)".

Wonder how you are going to get through all the hectic preparations for the holidays? Not sure what you are going to get everyone for Christmas? No problems, nip down the road, King George street, Tel-Aviv to be exact and get yourself a crystal ball. Not exactly what you were looking for? Wicca Israel even have their own website. Fed up with that moth eaten old teddy bear? How about a little black voodoo doll? Only comes in one color I am afraid. Fancy it in another colour? Wicca.wiccan.com gives you instructions on how to make your own magic wand.

Heard enough? What would you think about Israeli soldiers praying to Anat the Canaanite god of war before an operation? No, I am not talking about some bygone practice.

Paganism, witchcraft, druidism, shamanism, and probably every other blooming "ism" is on the rise in Israel.

Zedekiah's Cave is a five acre underground quarry dating back to Solomon. It is the length of five blocks, situated under the Muslim quarter of Jerusalem, and at one time stretched from the Garden Dome to the walls of the old city. Of-course if you are a freemason I don't need to tell you this. Israeli freemasons hold their annual ceremony in this cave and consider it one of the most revered sites in their history.

For obvious reasons the shoppers browsing through stuff at Astrelas in King George were not into having their photos taken. A website called "4fun" advertises this store along with other related "businesses" in the Tel Aviv area."4 fun " they may think it is, but nothing relating to tarot cards, spell books, crystals and mystic objects is "for fun" and those thinking it is are playing a very dangerous game.

Miriam (not her real name) could have been my grandmother, lovely little old Jewish lady, except probably her broomstick was double parked on Sheinkin Street, seemed to be very troubled when I asked her what she thought about Christian missionaries but "enthralled" with all the "goodies" in the shop.

Openly, every sunny day, people are reading fortunes from tables set up along the streets of Tel Aviv, newspapers and magazines are packed with adverts for astrology.

Want to know how long it will be before that tract you just gave out ends up in a garbage bin? Couple of minutes. Try stopping people in the street and tell them you are giving free tarot card readings. I got twenty five phone numbers in less than half an hour. FRIGHTENING.

The enemy is out there, as bold as brass. In Matthew 10:16, Jesus tells us "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves". Think you can do that??

▲

12/4/10

A country that carries out daring military operations, and is a leader in high-tech is caught with "its pants down". Countries all around the world were in shock to receive requests of aid from Israel. Israel, a country that has rushed to help other nations in earthquakes and tsunamis, that has airlifted thousands of people out of Ethiopia couldn't control a fire, which understandably, to all intents and purposes is massive, but what if that fire had been a result of thousands of incoming missiles other the length and breadth of the country?

The enclosed photos were taken of the fire raging across the Carmel. Already 100 Bulgarian firefighters joined the fight last night and help from Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Cyprus ,Croatia and Spain as seen a steady flow of international aircraft bringing much needed fire equipment.

Whilst many Christian and messianic congregations in Israel talk about being "a light unto this nation", very few actually hit the target.
It is one thing to give out tracts and Bibles in the streets, but to physically invite the citizens of Tel-Aviv into your "home", is quite a different kettle of fish.
This week-end, 200 houses of historical and cultural significance, played host to the people, throwing open their doors, and Immanuel church was invited to be among those, in a special, "houses from within" event held in the city that never sleeps, Tel-Aviv.
At close of the event on Saturday, Immanuel church was host to nearly one thousand visitors. Imagine, one thousand non-believers were able to see, first hand, that God is not frightening or unreachable, and that the love of Yeshua is as alive to-day, as it was when He first reached out to the people of Israel.
It was hot, humid, and stuffy outside, and so the shade of our garden was welcoming, tables were laid out with Bibles, books and information.
Once inside, sun light glistened through the beautiful stain-glass windows, candles flickered on the menorah, as visitors listened to the wonderful organ music, and soaked up the atmosphere.
Juan Onassis, is a "treasure chest" of information, and hour after hour, as people from all walks of life came in, they were captivated, as the history and ministry of Immanuel church was revealed to them, in his special and unique way.

On Saturday, three short services were conducted, and as Pastor Christian rose to give his sermon, there was no "mad panic stampede" to rush out, people sat, listened, enjoyed the praise and worship.

Many remarked to me, on leaving, on the welcome they had felt, and the book most asked for (wait for it) the New Testament in Hebrew.

As our web site states (www.immanuelchurch-jaffa.com)who comes to our church? All the World. What have we in common? Absolutely nothing but our faith and belief, but it is exactly the fact that our congregation is made up of people from Europe, Africa, North America and the Far East, that we are also hosts to other congregations, Russian and Korean speaking, and to African nationals, that we are able to embrace the stranger in our midst.

Yeshua said, I am standing outside your door, open and let me in. This week-end Immanuel church opened that door to the outside world.

Hag sameach.

I wish to wish you all a happy pessach and for those of you not Jewish (we can't all be perfect) a happy Easter.

It’s a time to give thanks to god for delivering us from Egypt (although we kinda screwed that up big time, but forty years in the desert is not a lifetime (unless you are already forty years old).

It is a time to remember that god is faithful.

Some of us believe we are the chosen people because we are excellent doctors, have brought many useful inventions to the world (forget the atom bomb) we make the best lawyers, violin players, singers (are we sure Aretha Franklin wasn't Jewish??).We are fantastic plastic surgeons (just ask Cher), we love donating money (so long as its somebody else's) and we have a sense of humor (why else would we live in Israel???).

At the door of hope we have seen how faithful god is. Supplying us with the means to keep our door open, but apart from the many unfortunate women that need our help, we have seen how god has indeed blessed us with being a light unto this nation. Many unbelievers have come down to donate, spend time with us, volunteer and we have seen how the Israeli people have also found a haven within our walls.

from Dina, a pensioner, who has found another lease of life, to the kids and tutors from the kibbutz seminar, to our many friends, Tamar, Felix, ziv, Dudu, Tomer, Ariela, Tali, Tal and Tania, Nirit, Michal, all non believers, yet with a desire to pitch in, to give their time and energy to help their fellow Israeli.

to the lady who went out and filled a shopping trolley with food and cleaning materials, to the woman who showed up on our doorstep on Thursday with a cash donation. to the kids at a school who sent cookies and chocolate over Purim.

for all these people I pray that they too will accept Yeshua as the Messiach and return to the God of Israel because I see in each and everyone of them that spark that is the living god and unfortunately I also see some thing in them that is still lacking in many of us who call ourselves believers. it is because of people like them that god saved lot and his family, that he never gave up on the people of Israel, that his promises hold good today as they did many years ago, that he came down to earth in the flesh as a Jew, that the word went out from Israel to the four corners of the known world.

May god bless each and every one of you over these holidays?

▲

From its initial premises in Frishman street, in the heart of down-town Tel Aviv, to its removal to Bet Esther, this messianic coffee shop had nothing really to distinguish itself from any other mediocre cafe in Israel.

It had good coffee, books, dvds, information for believers and non-believers who cared to drop in, but nothing that grabbed you.
That was basically what was available if you were a believer looking for something different apart from Starbucks, Cup O'Joe, Aroma, etc., etc.,

Its metamorphosis to the corner of Ben Yehuda Street and Allenby Street and between Calvary Chapel and Gilgal, with Bet Immanuel and the Immanuel church in Jaffa to the south, and the Door of Hope not fifteen minutes away by bus completed the ring of messianic and Christian ministries whose centre encompassed the area of poverty, sex and drugs, strip clubs, nightclubs and drinking establishments.

Its squeaky clean and new interior, its ambition to create a homey welcoming ambiance however, fell way short of the mark.
If Yeshua was there at all, He was hiding in the toilet.

Last Thursday Dugit was ALIVE.
Volunteers outside invited passers-by to enter. Inside, groups from YWAM Hawaii and Scandinavia, volunteers, locals, home-less sat, danced and enjoyed the evening.
Surrounded by warm lighting, live music, excellent coffee, and that special glow that comes from feeling God's presence.

Yeshua is definitely not hiding anymore.

Moishe Malespin is on fire for the Lord.
Since arriving at Dugit, his energy, spirit and commitment to God has turned Dugit into what it was created to be - a light unto this nation of Israel, a welcoming place for believers and non-believers alike.

This young man strives daily to unite the Body of Christ in Tel Aviv.
Its not an easy task by any means.
I would personally prefer to wallpaper a ceiling.

Whilst this young man would be the last to seek thanks or recognition for his work, we should encourage our youth physically and spiritually and support their efforts.

I thank you Moishe for your vision and work in trying to build relations between ministries, for welcoming young foreigners and volunteers from abroad and helping them understand our people, for your prayer evenings, for your outreach to non-believers, and your spiritual support to fellow believers and for your example to others.

If Dugit ever did anything right, and alot of us were beginning to think they never would, it is this dynamic injection of Moishe that has placed them back in the battle for this country's salvation.

The evening of 25th December, as friends, supporters and volunteers of the Door of Hope gathered together to fellowship and to thank God for our past year, I looked around at the people present. The majority were Israelis, the majority were non-believers.

Film directors, prize-winning journalists and photographers, many who were in Kosovo, Rwanda, sat together with believers from America, Europe and Asia, joining us in prayer. Musicians, also non-believers joined Dave and his wife, Ruth, in praise and worship.

As this small miracle of believers and non-believers came together for God's purpose above our heads, the darkness and fear of Neve Shanaan, "the devil's playground" continues.

Women were murdered that night, lives brutally extinguished, and how many others, as the miracle of the birth of Yeshua was celebrated, which brought light and hope to millions, find only death, despair and degradation amongst the sordid alleys and filthy streets of this neighborhood?

Life is cheap here, the difference between life and death the price of "a fix". Your friend to-day is your enemy to-morrow.

Yeshua came to us exactly for these women and to thousands like them.

We have the gift and promise of eternal life, we have the strength and protection of the Lord God of Israel, we have someone to turn to. Our darkest hour will never be as dark as these women's, our greatest difficulty will never be as great as theirs, because we have the Lord.

Matthew 19:24. "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God".

We are rich men and women. We are rich in God's gift, we are rich in the gift Yeshua gave us.

God wants each and every human on this planet to receive this gift, and it is our task to help them get it.

To-day, we have the beds, the food, the lights, the hot water, and we need to have them to-morrow, and the day after, and the day after that.

Sufficient for the day you say. God tells us not to worry, to-morrow is in His hands. True.

But we can help. He expects us to help.

In Strong's Concordance of the Bible, there are 175 scripture references to "help".

How many do you need to read before you get the message??

It's a little embarrassing to sit in a room where the majority of "helpers" are non-believers. A non-believer from a volunteer organization has promised us help. When told we were believers, she replied "So?"

I hope to-day, as women are dying, and I appeal to you for spiritual and physical help, for what ever you can offer, its not going to be a "So?"

As we celebrate the birth of Yeshua, I want to give you a sentence I hear from so many believers.

What would Yeshua have done?

SO?.

What would Yeshua have done????

Since, unfortunately none of us are able to turn water into wine, lets instead make this Christmas a turning point in the lives of these women.

"D", is living and working on the streets. She is so dependent on drugs, that in order to satisfy that dependency, she sells her body.

A man approaches her, and through a blurry haze of crystal meths, she looks into the man's face. The guy waving 100 shekels in front of her is...........her brother.

She is so changed from her original looks, dyed hair, drawn, sickly, that he fails to recognize her.

That is a true story.

The brother who she so respected, the one person in her life who she believed, if she ever cried out for help, would save her. The only man she ever looked up to, and who time and time again, told her, that men who buy girls for sex are beneath contempt. HE is buying girls for sex.

The earth has opened up and swallowed her. There is no one left to turn to. At that moment she is confronted with the total value of her miserable life.

Huddled in a dark and dirty stair well, her body racked with pain, riddled with needle marks, streaked with dirt and scared, she wishes for death, but is afraid of dying.

She cries out to God, first, blaming Him, then pleading for His mercy.
She neither believes in His existence, or the probability of that mercy.

"D's" odds of seeing morning grow slimmer with each passing day.

Her friend had her life terminated by an angry drug dealer with an iron chain.

Tania had her throat slit from ear to ear.

Becky was "jumped" on until her skull shattered.

"D" crawls into the Door of Hope. If God exists then He has to be here.
Here, she can let down her defenses, relax, rest, eat, shower, change clothes, pretend she is that little girl on the back of her brother's bicycle.

The brother who shared his candy and fought her battles and wanted nothing from her that 100 shekels could buy.

The Door of Hope (thedoorofhope.net ) like many ministries in Israel need your payers. For a while we at the Door of Hope have been praying to set up a world prayer link - that people across the globe would include this ministry in their daily prayers and so, we would have, people from one side of the earth to the other, praying for us.
I have been praying and the answer has been under my nose all along (duh, dummy, Said the Lord).
Now I know you all pray for me (well at least that is what you tell me - ha) so I ask you, in your daily prayers to include the Door of Hope.
We need your prayers for our dealings with the Municipality of Tel Aviv and the government of Israel, for our daily needs, and of course for the needs of our girls that they will come off the streets and their life of drugs, and surrender to our Lord and Savior, Yeshua.

So, from Anne-Marie, Bev and Ingrid in New Zealand, to Bob in Australia, to Sue in Korea, Andes in Singapore, Nadeem in Pakistan, Mary from China, Mary from Kenya, all my friends and fellow "world linkers" on the catchthewaveministries.com , to Joy, bombing round the globe for God, for the Finish, Swedish, Norwegian and Danish Lutheran Missions, for the Faroe Isles, and for Lithuania, not forgetting our friends in the USA and the UK . I ask you all to pray for this ministry.

ACTS. Called Acts because people actually got off their butts and acted.

No prayers without deeds and no deeds without prayers.
Sound familiar??

The Word was given to the "known world" at that time by believers who went forth by foot, donkey, camel train, roman galley.
Now God could have just cast His arm out and zapped the Word by himself, all around the globe.
Didn't need Peter, Paul, Timothy, Fred or Myrtle. They could have just sat around praying for the occasional pina colada and fresh fish on the Shabbat.

Of course God knows only too well that the devil finds work for idle hands. Lazarus had to actually rise and walk out of the tomb - no one went in to get him. The lame man had to pick up his mat first -then walk -no waiting around for a wheel chair. The blind man had to scramble down a rocky hill into the valley to wash off his eyes - no ringing for an ambulance.

God will and does answer our prayers but it also takes our will, our desire to believe and ACT. We have to be prepared to meet him halfway.

How many of us find it so easy to just ask God to do it all and then sit back? Sometimes surprised when nothing happens?

Joshua needed to schlep round those walls of Jericho. Moses had to hold his rod out over the Red Sea. So much so, that they had to help him to keep his arms up.

So what the aunt Sally are you waiting for???

Places out here need Cash, clothing, medical help, food, people to wash floors, clean toilets, give spiritual and physical assistance to dying people. Your fellow human being who doesn't have the luxury like you of knowing Yeshua.

What are you waiting for????

You really can't take it with you. The Egyptians tried it and it all ended up in a museum.

No one to date drove a BMW to heaven. Found an ATM there, bought real estate. God is not interested. You can't fool Him. He already has your number.

Yesterday (thursday 12th November) Just another NORMAL day in the red-light district of Tel Aviv.
Last night, the drug pushers decided to try out "new stuff" on the feeble and the down and outs, who get their kicks from a 50 shekel (10 Euro) "new pill on the block".

Sudanese and illegal workers from all over the world, passed out on the streets, rampaging through the neighborhood. From our shelter in the basement between the main street, it should like a riot is taking place over our heads.
People stagger about, clutching at lampposts, clutching at straws, unaware whether they are in Tel Aviv or Timbuktu.

Paramedics were at the Door of Hope as a poor woman is taken away in an ambulance, after a "dinner" of chemicals the night before.

As mayhem breaks loose above us, young believers , Israelis and volunteers, from different ministries in Israel, hold an all night prayer meeting.

Bit different from last Sunday.

The lights are dimmed, the film starts. I gaze around at the rich decor of the room, of the table set with cakes, tea and coffee, and fresh fruit juices, and at the faces of the people watching the film. Their past week in Israel has been amazing, many of them experiencing for the first time the sites of Israel, many of them unable to fully comprehend the fact that Yeshua actually walked, preached and lived in many of the places they have just visited.

Here, however, in their hotel in the centre of Jerusalem, they are experiencing something that Yeshua saw in Mary Magdalene, and in the poor and demon-infested, but that few tourists will ever see or want to see.

They are watching a film about "The Door of Hope", a ministry in the red-light district. A ministry serving the drug-addicted and street women, and sex workers of Tel Aviv.

As shot after shot of emaciated, sick and abused women fill the screen, these tourists are made aware of a side of Israel they don't know and a ministry that is at the forefront of hands-on ministries to a neglected part of humanity.

Nobody, it seems, is interested in saving these people, funnily enough, it could be your daughter, your mother, your best friend's child. Drugs have no class distinction. None of us were born like this, and the only difference between you and me, is a miracle.

he Door of Hope together with Kings Kids rings evening of praise and worship, song and dance and awareness of Israel's "real ministries" to Christians and tourists and to locals around the country.

Kings Kids, are beautiful children, from six to army-age who in their own unique way are pushing the envelope, giving testimony, and opening the eyes of visitors to the plight of these women.
It is humbling and embarrassing, that children are giving so much time and effort where adults "fear to tread".

The door of hope, is a site your truly should be aware of (thedoorofhope.net)

I remember reading and watching the documentary about Ted Haggard the American evangelist who was (not my words) found guilty of "homosexuality.
I am sure most if not all of you know of the story, (amazing how our memory improves when there is a bit of dirt to talk about).
I heard how this person was not just thrown out of the church he founded but was told to leave the state. My first thought was how many people in the congregation of his six or so thousand strong church were hiding similar sins, yet how many were so quick to condemn, judge and give up on this man?
How many had perhaps just the week before all this fertilizer hit the fan had been Ted Haggard's brother or sister in Christ? How many are sitting back, enjoying an evening in their homes with their families with a smug sanctimonious grin on their faces "Well, we sure as heck dealt with that guy didn't we?"
How many found the right passages in the Bible to justify their condemnation of Ted and how many conveniently passed over the passages that deal with forgiveness, love, a desire to help and stand by our brother in his hour of need, to support the family, the wife, the children?
What he did was wrong. Full Stop. And as a pastor he had a responsibility. However, where were all those members who he had stood by year after year? Where were the people who were willing to stand up, reach out, and give that guy a hand to get over his sins.?
80 million American evangelists (that's the right number isn't it?) and not one of you had a good thing to say about the guy.
Shame on you.
"Whatever you do to the least of my children you do also to me."
The church was founded to help sinners and whether we like it or not we are all sinners.
If this is how we help our fellow believers then I know why more people do not come forward and ask for help, and why so many of us live in shame and sin and fear of what our fellow "brothers and sisters" might think about us.

Many of you will have read my article of the first of May on World Link on catchthewaveministries.com.
It was a time of unrest in Israel (when is it not?) our southern cities were being bombarded by missiles from Gaza, and to show solidarity several of us went down to Ashdod, gave our toys, sweets to the kids, and generally God opened up the hearts of the people we met in the shops and streets.
It was therefore surpr

ising to hear that Pnina Comforty, our sister in Ashdod, had experienced problems. The love that we experienced on our visit, from the locals, was certainly far from what she experienced.
The powers that be, the ones who oversee the kosher certification of all eateries in Israel insisted that her belief in Yeshua questioned her ability to comply with Jewish dietary laws and took her Kashrut certificate away.
However, praise the Lord, the Supreme Court overturned their decision.
Belief in Yeshua does not make her products less fit for consumption, nor, for that matter, make any of us lesser Jews.
We ask you to pray for Pnina and all messianic Jews who suffer untold problems because of their beliefs and we do it with pleasure.
We ask that any of you visiting Israel make a point of dropping in on Pnina, apart from anything else, her cafe and her food are excellent and its a great place to start your visit in Ashdod. Above all its shows your solidarity with Israel and its citizens and with fellow believers.

Israel Like It Is always tries to be just that.
Something is going on here.
A mounting number of Jews, who believe in Yeshua, do not want to turn their back on Judaism.
What was once an individual decision, has now, in recent years, becoming more and more a collective one.
It underscores a dilemma facing many Israeli believers, who feel caught between Judaism and Christianity, between Jewish and Christian doctrine and expressions of worship.
Many Jewish believers are troubled by congregations that they see as implants of western Christianity, which have abandoned, or appear to have abandoned, or are completely lacking in Jewish and Israeli identity.
How many foreign based church plants know anything about Jewish and Israeli identity?

How many are actually concerned about Jewish and Israeli identity?

In the coming month "Israel Like It Is" will be out and about, from Katzrin in the Golan to Eilat on the Red Sea. It will be conducting interviews, talking to local believers, pastors, volunteers from abroad, visiting ministries and congregations, bringing you up to the minute information through stories and videos.

GOD IS NOT SLEEPING.

Each and everyone of us could get run over by a bus tomorrow. Thank you, you say, I really needed that information.
How many of us go to bed each night planning what we are going to do tomorrow? How many of us have agendas for the coming month? The coming year?
The Bible tells us not to worry about tomorrow, but there is nothing wrong in having, plans, dreams, ideas." I want to be a doctor when I grow up", how many children have had that dream? To want something good for your life and your children's life is not a sin. The sin is not acknowledging God's hand in everything we do or desire for our future. The sin is believing we can do it all without Him.
There is no sin in asking for God's help, His guidance, His direction, the sin is sitting back and expecting God to do everything for us, without lifting a finger to help Him.
"OK", you say. God doesn't need our help, He can get by extremely well without it. Well He can, but He chooses not to.
God knows all about us, why, even the hairs on our heads are numbered. Why does He bother?
If I was God I would have certainly thought twice about creating miserable little old me. Complete waste of time, materials, and energy. Right? Haven't actually lead a pure and blameless life for the past sixty one years. Made more mistakes than I've had hot dinners. Get the picture? As believers, believing God needs our help, as much as we need His, is the first step to helping ourselves.
By planning our lives in such a way as to deal with each and every problem that comes along, and in a way that God would want us to do, by learning from the mistakes of yesterday, and applying the Word of God to the present, we can be assured of the future.
Strangely enough, the word "present" - "today", donating the time we are living in now, is also the word in English, for a gift, a birthday present, for example, a gift from our loved ones. The "present" is God's gift to us, His loved ones.
At school, the teacher would start the day with "role call" and would read our names out from a class register. As he called out our names, we had to answer "present", so he knew we were attending.
As we pray to God each day, as we open our Bibles to start our morning with devotions, we should call out "present", we are here, ready to give our day to God, this "present that He has given us, and ready to turn it, with all its doubts and fears and challenges into a gift to Him.
By taking God's gift to us, and using it how He would want us to, we are returning it to God, dedicating it to Him, and so, we are helping ourselves, helping others, and in turn helping God.
Who hasn't received a present at some time and put it away at the back of a cupboard and forgotten it? That awful blue shirt you got from Aunt Doris, or that vase that would look better with someone's ashes in it, and not on the living room table.
They were actually gifts given on the spur of the moment. God's "present" is given to us with much thought, with love, with our best interests at heart, its priceless, its a "one off". Use it, and enjoy it, and let God get enjoyment out of it too, you'd be helping Him.

Jaffa, since the beginning of time, has seen its fair share of troubles.
Egyptians, Romans, Napoleon, Turkish and British occupations, just a few of the armies that have laid claim to Jaffa.
Simon the Tanner lived there, merchant ships carried the cedars of Lebanon to Jaffa, to be used to build the Temple in Jerusalem.
Jews, Moslems and Christians have walked its streets, and still do.

Now that summer is upon us, with enough humidity to peel wallpaper off walls, perhaps its not an ideal time to explore Jaffa's many attractions.

Beautiful new designer apartments, with beautiful prices, the art galleries and fish restaurants, the flea market, offering everything from stuffed animals in curiosity shop windows, to stuffed peppers in tomato sauce.
Jaffa has it all.

It is, sadly, now also, a hot bed of violence, crime, and despair.
One in three children in Israel live below the poverty line. Jaffa is home to severely disadvantaged children and their families.

Children roamed the streets after school, if indeed they even bothered to attend school, whilst their parents eked out a living. If they were smart kids, they fell between the cracks of an already overburdened educational system.

The Jaffa Institute, a private, non-profit organization assists these children.
Firstly providing a safe place off the streets whilst their parents were at work. Then as many kids were hungry, provided meals. Then they found kids stealing food to take home, so they provided food packages. they assist with homework, education, recreation and social programs, helping to give the children self-esteem, confidence, and breaking the cruel cycle of despair and poverty.

Jewish, Moslem, and Christian kids benefit from this program. So next time, when you meander through the streets of Jaffa, seeking out that unusual gift to take back home, remember, that the gift of love ,of support and help to organizations like the Jaffa Institute is a gift from God to you to be given freely to others.

I received an email the other day, which most of you did, concerning a possible split in this congregation, of differences of option between the leadership etc., etc.,

First of all, I didn't see why such an email should be sent out in the first place.
Unfortunately there is, and there will always be differences between leadership, there will always be those vying for more power than others.
Secondly by getting in on the "bandwagon" and taking sides is hardly a mature or intelligent way, we have all done it, and we have all come to grief.

Thirdly, by focusing on possible difficulties within a particular church hardly helps those out in the mission fields, who rely on support, prayers, and the knowledge that back in our respective countries the church that we have known to love, is being attacked from the inside.
Fourthly, that the email was sent by a person who is no longer in the mission field, and was refused a visa and thus returned home basically "empty handed" smacks of "sour grapes".

When people are dying in the street, when mothers haven't enough food to feed their children, when old age pensioners are existing on a pittance, when the majority of people in the streets are existing without any purpose, without God, without a promise of salvation through Yeshua, I really couldn't give a **** whether this church or the other is having leadership problems.

Most of you out there are working on the principal that you will all be taken up in the Rapture and spared the Tribulation and all the other bad stuff on earth. You will be leaving your present dwelling place and relocating to another. Since we don't know when this will happen it would be a good idea to start cleaning up "our mess" right now.

I will be the first to come clean. I have created more "messes" in my life than I have had hot dinners. I have met some wonderful and blessed people of all ages who have given their time, prayers, service, to the people of Israel. I have also met a ton of "holy rollers" who have created more destruction in their wake that a tsunami.

Whilst churches fight over who will take over (smacks of the disciples arguing who will take over from Yeshua) hundreds of people are out there in the field. For all those with support from recognized churches there are many who single handedly, trusting in God to provide, are the ones making a dent.

Gladys Ailwood, in the early twentieth century, a parlor maid from England, went out, after a call from the Lord, to China, with five pounds sterling in her wallet, and saved hundreds of Chinese children.

Finally, as an Israeli, as a Jew who has come to believe in Yeshua as my savior and Messiah, keep your church politics, your inter-church arguments and all the other stuff that goes with it where it firmly belongs, back in your own countries, and concentrate, on what you tell me you are doing - saving the souls of Israelis. The harvest is great, the workers are few, and most of you are dragging your butts.

Once upon a time, in a country far, far away from the land of Israel lived a man and his wife.
One night, as they slept peacefully in their bed, the angel of the Lord came down, and appeared before them.

"Fear not for I bring you tidings of great joy", said the angel, as angels are known to do." God has heard your prayers and is sending you to Israel, where you will minister to drug addicts and prostitutes".
"Praise the Lord", replied the man and his wife, for it was indeed an answer to their prayers.

And so it came to pass, that the Lord supplied them with support and all that good stuff, and they packed up and moved to Israel. And the Lord blessed them with a beautiful rehabilitation center and they set out to find their first drug addicts and prostitutes.

Now domesticity is way down the list of priorities for drug addicts and prostitutes. They prefer throwing up down the front of your shirt, smuggling in pills and needles and drinks, lying and swearing etc., etc., and need constant supervision around the clock.
The man and his wife found the work grueling. "Surely there is an easier way to bring people to the Lord", they said." Let us take in abused mothers and their children. They are used to cooking and cleaning. It will be easier for us".
So they did just that.

One stormy night, a needy prostitute who had been beaten and left injured by her pimp, on the road to Damascus, was found by a passing Samaritan and taken to the rehabilitation center. "Take care of her" said the Samaritan," and when I pass again I will check up on her, and donate something for your kindness". "Oh, we don't care for prostitutes anymore", replied the man and his wife." We're saving abused mothers now".

So the Samaritan and the prostitute were left to wander around looking for a place. But the Lord is good and He directed them to a safe haven, where they took the prostitute in, and low and behold, she gave herself to the Lord, and there was great rejoicing in heaven.

Now the months passed, and the man and his wife found that looking after abused mothers and children proved taxing and grueling. "Surely", they said." There is an easier way to bring people to the Lord".

Now in a distant land in Africa, called Sudan, there was drought and famine and a really evil government who blamed the minority for the troubles besetting their country, and beat and stoned them, and drove them out of the Sudan. And this minority journeyed through hostile lands not finding any hope, until finally, tired, hungry and destitute, they arrived at the borders of the land of Israel. And the rulers of Israel took pity on them and let them in. And Israel's citizens were moved at the plight of these people, and gave them shelter, and food, and free medical treatment, and found work for them, and donated oodles and oodles of shekels to the charities and organizations helping these Africans.

Now the man and his wife, up to their necks in abused mothers and dirty diapers, saw this and said, "Surely, we need to get onto this bandwagon, and minister to these Africans, for it appears to be an easier and infinitely more profitable way to bring people to the Lord".

It was a cold, winters night, when a lone abused mother pushed her baby carriage up the hill to the rehab center. "Sorry", said the man and his wife." We are saving Africans now".

Alone and frightened, with a husband not a mile behind her, waving a baseball bat, the abused woman stood shaking at the crossroads. But the Lord saw her plight.

Now there were shepherds, tending their flocks in a nearby field, and seeing the woman, took pity on her and set her near their fire to warm herself. One of them, being a believer, called up his pastor on his cell phone, and the pastor took the woman in, and together with his wife, ministered to her, and behold the woman gave herself to the Lord, and there was great rejoicing in heaven.

Now it came to pass, that the man and his wife, now ministering to Africans, received a decree from the authorities, to journey up to Jerusalem, to present themselves before the rulers, for their visas had expired, and they had need of extending them. And they were flabbergasted when their request was refused and they were told to leave, do not pass go, do not collect two hundred shekels or thou shalt verily end up in the clink.

There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth when the man and his wife returned to the rehab center. "Lord, Lord", they cried." Why hast thou forsaken us?" "Well, I will tell you", said the Lord.

"You prayed to minister to drug addicts and prostitutes, then changed your mind. I at no time changed my mind. Then you took in abused mothers, then changed your mind, and took in Africans. That you took in drug addicts and prostitutes is great, that you helped abused mothers is fantastic, and that you even helped Africans is awesome. However, at no time did I tell you to abandon drug addicts and prostitutes for abused mothers, or abandon abused mothers for Africans, for no man is greater than another, each is important to Me, for they are ALL My children. Never did I tell you that doing My will would be easy or a piece of cake. Never did I promise you riches or a reward on this earth. I saved Mary Magdalene and cured the blind man's sight, but not at the expense of Mary Magdalene. I brought Lazarus back from the dead, but not at the expense of the blind man. I gave ALL mankind the promise of salvation. The operative word being "ALL". I have no favorites".

So, the Lord found shelter for the Africans and in time they came to the Lord and there was great rejoicing in heaven.
But, the man and his wife He returned to Kansas or wherever they had come from in the first place, where they had time to pray and reflect. And having prayed and reflected, the Lord brought them to the following conclusion:-

They needed to pray and reflect on their mistakes and learn from them. Acknowledge the fact, that when each and everyone of us go out to do God's work, we are doing exactly that - God's work. It is not our own work or anyone else's and we either do what God wants us to do, not looking for the easy way out, or we will fail in the attempt.

And after a period of prayer and reflection, the Lord looked down favorably on the man and his wife once more, because He loves us and only wants the best for us, and God sent them out to minister again, because the harvest is great and the workers few. And behold, they got it right this time, and there was great rejoicing in heaven.

A student from Calvary Chapel Bible College in Jerusalem, when asked how she had enjoyed her day volunteering at the Soup Kitchen in Tel Aviv replied, "It was like going to dinner and a show."

Perhaps a strange way of looking at ministering to the homeless, new immigrants, the elderly, drunks, serving them, perhaps, with the only hot meal they would have all week, handing out clothing and toiletries, creams to help dry, sore skin, aspirin, band-aids, toys, bedding and books to people who can't afford just the basic simple things in life.

It had been a cold, wet week, broken pipes had spilled sewage into our children's ministry, flooded our lower floor, yet we had not closed our doors.

A group of ladies from Calvary churches across the USA braved the rain and other difficulties to provide a special "ladies' day" which drew nearly 100 women. With gifts, praise and worship they brought God's warmth and love to a stormy Tel Aviv. They traipsed the streets of the 'red-light' district ministering to prostitutes and drug addicts. Twenty-two determined women prayed for the soul of a woman called Sarah. She is now safe in a rehabilitation centre and has given her life to Yeshua.

The sun is shining through the windows of our soup kitchen. I remember my first weeks here when arguments, fights would erupt, when drunks trying to disrupt the afternoon had to be turned away, when we couldn't even get near to some of the lost souls sat at the tables. And I look about me now.

There is the man we call Lazarus, who looks sometimes like he is possessed by 'Legion', quietly eating and drinking. Months ago he would have thrown a brick thru the window rather than look at you. William, who regularly now attends services on Shabbat. Tania who on more than one occasion has had to be escorted out drunk and yelling at the top of her voice, sits, talking to a volunteer. There is laughter, conversation, they have slowly got to know us and are now beginning to let us get to know them. Is God working here? You bet your aunt Sally He is.

And as long as volunteers tell me that coming to our soup kitchen is like going "to dinner and a show" then that is reward enough. Because their enjoyment is God's light embracing the people we minister to, like the sun thru this Soup Kitchen window. Their commitment to help is a visible sign to the lost that Yeshua is alive and cares, and what these volunteers and the women from the Calvary churches possess is within reach of a Lazarus, or a William or a Tania.

Without wishing to sound like a public relations executive, I am so blessed to be part of a church that is grounded in The Word of God.
We study the Bible at our Shabbat services, at Bible studies during the week. We go over every chapter, verse and line from Alpha to Omega, and when we've arrived at Omega, we go back and start all over again.
We don't take anything away from the Word, and we don't add anything.
Each morning, at Calvary Tel Aviv, we meet for devotions, before "opening" the ministry.
We just happen to be going through the Gospel of Mark at the moment, and recently, on my morning to lead devotions, we had arrived at Mark, Chapter 13.
For those of you who don't know ( and if you don't I suggest you start reading the Bible more), Chapter 13 deals with signs and the End Times.
As rockets were raining down on Israel from Gaza, as our forces were entering the Strip, and media and countries across the globe were condemning Israel, I thought how appropriate to be reading this chapter considering the multitude of "gloom and doom" e-mails I was receiving.
During the course of the operation in Gaza, I was inundated with emails from people, some telling me that they were praying and showing their support, others down-right alarmist. It appeared most people were getting their "divine revelations" from CNN, Fox, the BBC and Al-Jazeera.
In Mark 13, verse 8, Yeshua tells us that "these are the beginning of birth pains" and I was surprised to see how many believers appeared to be having not just "birth pains" but were in the middle of "phantom pregnancies".
According to most people I should be at the feet of God right now and not sending this to you.
In verse 32, Jesus informs us "no one knows about the day or hour, not even the angels in heaven" and get this - "nor the Son" so I guess that also includes sister Anna in Savannah and brother Bert in Baltimore????
We are told to be watchful, on our guard, alert, perhaps DON'T PANIC should have been added???

Picture a city centre, maybe your city centre. It's busy isn't it? Cars and buses jamming the main thoroughfares, shops, restaurants and cafes filled with diners and customers.
Ever seen an empty MacDonald's on a bust week-end? Didn't think so.
And if it was a nice sunny day, people would be strolling around the parks, window shopping, kids playing, dogs out for walks with their owners.
You might have even been doing that yesterday. Sunday afternoon outing with family or friends.
Of course Sunday in Israel is like a Monday. Now picture a Monday in a busy city centre. Frantic isn't it?
Now try to picture that city under rocket fire.
Minutes before alighting from our bus in Ashdod a rocket had fallen on the city.
Laden down with toys, cookies and gifts, we stood outside the usually busy bus station and shopping mall and counted the number of people on the street - ON ONE HAND.
On the way to a cafe in the centre of town owned by a believer, we passed deserted shops, their staff gazing out at equally empty streets. A few people here and there were out buying essential food stuffs.
Where were the kids, the folk we had come down to minister to? And what were we doing down here, walking about in a virtual ghost town waiting for a missile to drop from the skies?
Had we come all this way for nothing?
Well, firstly ALL this way is less than thirty minutes from the centre of Tel Aviv. So its about the same as standing in the middle of Manhattan and waiting for rockets to fall on the other side of the Brooklyn Bridge.
Choose any place within a thirty minute drive from your home. Now imagine it under attack. Yep, you were going to go bowling but you can't because there is a big hole where the bowling alley used to be.
We found the cafe, one lone young man sat drinking there.
We gazed out at empty Ashdod. How and where and who were we going to minister to?
Of course we were forgetting WHO had sent us here in the first place. With God Almighty in total command of the situation we were in for a surprise.
From that moment that that young man sitting alone got up and approached us the day turned into an unforgettable experience that only the Lord could have engineered.
The young man was curious. Who were we? What were we doing here?
We were equally eager to talk to him, to find out the situation, to hear about the people.
Suddenly we were joined by his friends, by immigrants from France. A reporter from a local newspaper for new immigrants appeared on the scene to hear our story, to take photos. Coffees and cakes went round, we were suddenly friends, speaking in English, Hebrew, French.
Families appeared on the streets. Some of us continued to minister to the people in the cafe whilst others gave out toys and gifts and words of encouragement to the people in the street.
We walked up and down the streets, going into shops, talking to the sales persons, handing out gifts for their children and grandchildren.
At the bus station the sound of children playing brought us to a day care centre. The children had been confined in their homes all week, schools were closed, one young girl of four or five had her birthday so they had decided to bring the kids down to the centre.
They were overjoyed to see us, received our gifts. We sang and played the guitar for them, chatted to the staff of the centre.
The manageress, herself a grandmother welcomed us with open arms. It was a blessing to hear her praise God for their safety, to hear the woman ask God to protect Israel and its soldiers and citizens.
We had given out every gift. God had blessed us with the opportunity to meet the people. We had arrived to see a few, sad, tired faces, we left with many smiles and laughter.
We came hoping to give God's love to Ashdod, and left having received so much from its citizens.
God opened doors and hearts yesterday. I wish you would have been there to see it.

It certainly looks like it ain't gonna be one of those. A happy New Year that is.
As I write rockets are falling on Sderot, Ashkelon and Ashdod and now even Beer Sheva is in their sights. Today a rocket fell on Kiriat Malachi (Town of Angels in English) This is basically not too far down the road from Tel Aviv on the way to Beer Sheva. As usual, as in the past, Hamas have used the time during the last 'ceasefire' to stock up on supplies.
I mean, why waste all that lovely Arab money pouring into the Gaza Strip on building an infrastructure and a decent living for your starving, out of work population when there is so much great stuff out there to buy - scuds, grads, katushas/ Instead of Wall Mart these guys have their own "War Mart".
Fire them up and off they go - where they land no one can know.
They land on houses, kindergartens, shopping malls, old folks clubs, bus stations, places of business, shops.
I have been asked to comment on the general moral, peoples feelings.
The usual comments from people in the street range from the well-known four letter words, to indignation, to resignation, to a loss of faith in our politicians (what's new) to fear for our families, our friends, our livelihood, hey, even the roof over our heads.
The country is rallying round, as we always do, hotels, guest houses are throwing their doors open free of charge to people from the towns and settlements in the south. This is what we are good at - this is when, unfortunately, the best of Israel comes to the forefront - in times of trouble, war and hardship.
We have learnt to trust in no one.
There was a time when we used to trust in the Lord. It got us out of many scraps and battles, saved us from our enemies, helped us cross the Red Sea without getting one sandal wet, helped us bring down the walls of Jericho, all without heavy machinery, only the Lord and a few trumpets.
We even got our country back in 1948 (many will say that was the United Nations but I know it was a higher power).
So, yes, we can do with your donations, and your Christian aid organizations, and your promises of help and anything else you want to give us - hey, we are Jews - if its free we are gonna take it (just joking).
What we need right now - is for each and everyone of you and your congregations, and your churches and your friends and your schools and work places and anywhere else you can swing it - is to PRAY. Pray that the people of Israel will return to their God. Will recognize the fact that we got where we are by the grace, mercy and salvation of God Almighty and if we want to get anywhere in the future its got to be under the same terms and conditions.
I want you all to pray that the people of Israel will come to accept Yeshua HaMeshiah as their Saviour and redeemer, and to acknowledge the promises that God has made concerning Israel.

Praise the Lord - Christmas is here again????
Before I was a believer Christmas was time to go to parties, meet girls, get drunk, throw up, get a hang over, recover, and do it all over again. Alka Seltzer and Tylenol were my best friends.
The date of Christ's birth is not specifically mentioned but if we look at Luke, chapter 2, we are told that a decree went up from Caesar that all should be registered.
Obviously it cost a lot of money to keep up an empire in the style it was accustomed to, the Romans, not being actually very interested in whether Mr. and Mrs. Cohen and their three kids lived in such and such a place - they were interested in Mr. Cohen's money. Registration was firstly a means of making sure everyone got to pay their taxes. A good time to collect taxes was after the harvest - everyone had money then - September. The weather is milder, its still dry and its a good time to travel.
To walk from Nazareth to Bethlehem, leading a donkey carrying your wife, who is about to give birth is not good in the winter, whether you are Mary and Joseph or the thousands of others criss-crossing the country.
Never mind "no room at the inn" what about the many nights sleeping outside on the way to your destination. In winter????
As for shepherds tending their folks in the fields - give me a break.
Anyone who has ever been in the barren hills near Bethlehem in December, (and they are on the whole still barren today), would know its cold, wet, there is rain, possible flash floods, and even snow. I can remember a particular 25th of December, wading through snow in the old city of Jerusalem-about twenty minutes from Bethlehem. Any shepherd worth his salt would have his flock near to home.
If we look at the verse from a favorite hymn "in the bleak mid-winter"
quote
"What would I give Him, poor as I am"
"If I was a shepherd I could give a lamb".
Not in the bleak mid-winter you wouldn't. Any intelligent sheep knows that's not a good time for lambing season.
So Christ was probably born after the harvest around September.
Does it really matter?
It mattered to the early Roman church who to appease their newly converted heathens and pagans choose the 25th of December which was the date for the "Saturnalia" the feast of the Sun god.

On a banner across the wall in a Messianic church is written.
"The reason for the season is Yeshua"
So whether its December or not why we celebrate is to remember Christ was born, suffered, died and rose again for our sins.
We should celebrate every day of the year and every day of our lives.
We should give thanks that Christ came and is coming again. This should be our Christmas message to all those out there who have yet to receive Christ as their Saviour.
"For there is born to you this day a Saviour who is Christ the Lord. And this WILL be the sign to you".
Merry Christmas

Moshe is a man in a wheelchair. Well, he was a man in a wheelchair until someone stole it, literally, from "under him" in of all places the busy reception area of a major hospital in Tel Aviv.
This is the same man I told you about some weeks ago who we ministered to, Chaim taking him to the post office in the pouring rain to collect his welfare check.
I was, therefore, all for praising the Lord when someone told me. "Halleluiah. Moshe is out of his wheelchair and walking".
Since we are storing Moshe's clothes and personal effects for him in the church, I thought, well, he'll be around to check out his stuff, better still, will come bounding into the church praising the Lord. I know if I would have been in a wheelchair, and suddenly I could walk by the grace of God I would sure as heck want the world to know about it.
The day started bright and early as days always tend to do, and there is not a lot anyone of us can do about it. Our members of the congregation began to arrive for the Shabbat service.
"you will never guess what happened?" one of them told me." My son was struck blind by the Lord last night and he has received Christ."
I stopped myself from adding "on the road to Damascus was he?" and continued to listen.
"Immediately he could see again", she said. "Isn't that a miracle?"
"Where was the boy? Why isn't he with you today?".
"Oh, he doesn't want to come, he says its boring".
Suddenly, there was Moshe shuffling across the street on this backside. We helped him, gave him clean clothes, fed him, helping him to stand as we dressed him. Unable to walk, and now without his wheelchair.
Do I doubt the Lord can change a broken man and heal him? Do I doubt that that the Lord can do to you or I exactly what He did to Saul?
NO.
As in Matthew 9:22 Jesus said.
"Be of good cheer, your faith has made you well".
The Lord reads our minds, knows our hearts and our innermost feelings, we are in fear, in anguish, we hate the way we are, we expect miracles from God but do we really, truly, cry for Him to help us, and do we really truly believe He can do it? And, when He does do it, do we really give Him the credit and the glory?
We look for that miracle in our lives even invent one if we have to but the miracle is within us, the seed is there, planted by God, we only have to tend it, water it, fertilize it. That fertilizer and water is the Living Word. As we absorb this Word and really cry out to the Lord we will have the faith to change our lives.
I pray that Moshe will have the faith to believe he CAN be healed, and the boy will truly accept Christ. We can pray for this to happen, we can make a difference, but only they can make it happen. We can pray they will accept Christ, they have to want to.

The kids spread out around the playground, some alone, others in groups, eating their lunches in between puffs from the always present cigarettes. Where they get money to buy cigarettes when they don't have money for food is anyone's guess, and we don't ask.
Some wear the latest in fashions - probably off the back of a lorry ( we don't ask about that either.)
Across the fenced in enclosure, the teachers huddle in a group, like early American settlers circling the wagons against Indian attack. Only last week a teacher reprimanded a girl student for something or other, so she rang the police and accused him of sexual harassment. The police came to the school, took the teacher down to the station-they have to- the principal in turn getting him out. Its the proverbial game of cat and mouse, sometimes the cat wins, sometimes the mouse. Not an ideal situation to base an education on.
These kids have special needs, are from poor and abused backgrounds, from areas where crime is a norm. They are the kids that society has forgot or prefers to forget. This school is their last chance, they have been expelled from others, most are known by the police and by several little old ladies who have had their handbags stolen.
"Hi", one kid shouts." I missed you last week - had to appear in court."
He states this in the same tone of voice you or I would use when telling someone we were buying a kilo of tomatoes. No one pays the slightest attention as he yells this information across the playground. Who hasn't been in trouble with the cops?
They love the young American volunteers and shower them with questions. Do they know 50cent the rap group? Does Brad Pitt live near them? When they hear you can go on a tour of the homes of the rich and famous in Beverley Hills they are ecstatic. Who lives where? Have you seen so and so? When I tell them you can find God in Beverley Hills, they look at me like I've beamed down from another planet.
Some of them butter wouldn't melt in their mouths, others would happily lift the wheels off your parked car without a second thought. These are kids growing up the hard way - you can't pull the wool over their eyes, so we offer them lunch, sodas, get to know them, try to befriend them, then, like special agents trying to penetrate a locked-down facility, we creep under their defenses and show them the love of our Lord.
The Word of God is timeless, ageless, knows no barriers, it is as relevant to high school kids as it is to you and me, especially to high school kids.
We praise the Lord he has enabled us to reach out to these kids, to be welcomed into this school where others have failed. That He has opened doors and hearts to minister to these children.

Isn't it amazing that we suddenly remember a tune, which in my case, I probably haven't heard for over forty years, and not only does the melody come flooding back, but we can also remember all the words. If only we could remember scripture like that .If suddenly Acts 17, verse 20 comes to mind we could say "that's so and so. (Incidentally Acts 17 Verse 20 is "For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore, we want to know what these things mean.").Why God put that into my head this morning is anyone's guess.
But, here I was singing this song, but I'm jumping the gun here, that came a lot later, the day started out completely different.
That morning, I found myself, surrounded by my belongings in the center of Tel Aviv again, not having the foggiest idea where I would sleep that night. Fear, frustration, anger welled up inside me. Not again. This was the last straw. I can't go on like this. I was sick and tired of going down this road time and time again. Of course I don't blame you God, I said. "Oh but you are", He replied.
I dropped off my stuff at the girl's house. "What's wrong?" one of them asked." Don't ask", I replied storming off.
I needed to speak to my pastor, but at that moment he was tied up with meetings etc., Off I went muttering and moaning.
Now normally you can walk round Tel Aviv and never meet anyone you know. Suddenly two volunteers appear in front of me. Well, I just had to off load all my problems on them. So, at a busy intersection, with cars stopped for a red light, drivers stared in amazement as two young volunteers laid hands on me and prayed right there in the busy street." We'll pray for you Jeff" they said as we parted.
Moan, groan etc., and etc., I wandered off. Suddenly another two volunteers sat outside a coffee shop stopped me. Now we found ourselves, heads bent over the coffee table praying again as half of Tel Aviv walked by.
As we talked and passed an hour or so together my phone rings. It is someone telling me I have a place to sleep. Several minutes after that my pastor rings and we finally meet. As we talk I thank God that he brought me to a ministry where I feel completely at ease with my pastor that he knows Jeff, with all my baggage and all my faults he understands me.
Now, with my belongings I head off to the apartment of a fellow volunteer. It has been a trying day. Suddenly a man passes whistling a song.

"How much do I love you, I tell you no lie.
How deep is the ocean how high is the sky?"

Do we realize how much God does love us? Can we comprehend the magnitude of His love for us?

"How far would I travel to be where You are?"

How far are we indeed prepared to travel to reach our Father? Why do we time after time loose our faith and trust in Him?

"And if I ever lost You, how much would I cry?
How deep is the ocean, how high is the sky?"

And that is the crunch brothers and sisters. If we ever, ever lost this love from our Father where would we all be?

Jesus Christ is like Rasputin the mad Russian monk who was a firm favorite and spiritual advisor to the Czarina Alexandra of Russia. And a fat lot of good it did her. That is` what` we heard, Chaim and I, from a homeless guy in a wheelchair who came into the ministry for help.
We fed him, stripped off his wet clothes, found him clean ones and Emily, a volunteer, look his dirty ones to a laundry whilst Chaim wheeled him in the pouring rain to get his welfare money.
Rasputin, as most of you probably know, through tricks, deceit and cunning bamboozled the Russian royal family and no doubt contributed to their tragic demise at the hands of the communists.
I have heard some excuses in my time why people do not want to accept Christ but this one kind of takes the biscuit.

The enemy is a cruel, evil and lying entity, and never ceases to come up with new and inventive ways to stop a homeless, beaten, cripple in a wheelchair, who is going to be wet, hungry and cold in another few hours time, but prefers to ignore the help and promise given through Jesus Christ.
As they cried out for Barabbas in days of old - now they are crying out for Rasputin.

Picture this! Tel Aviv promenade, Shabbat afternoon. Even though nights are drawing in and once that sun goes down we can feel the chill of winter, its still the place to see and be seen in Tel Aviv. Yuppies rub shoulders with homeless alcoholics, families and joggers, beach bums and grandparents, the youth of Tel Aviv waiting for the night life to open, everyone who is anyone gathers for a stroll along the beach.
This Saturday afternoon students from the Calvary Bible College in Jerusalem, together with members of the "Send" team, a group of young people from the States serving in Israel, with a special love for the youth of this country, together with the youth from our congregation armed themselves with musical instruments, sound systems and microphones and headed down to the beach.
It was marvelous to see these young people giving their time and energy to pass on the Word of the Lord to the people of Israel and we were blessed by the number of people, old and young, plus many homeless, who stood around watching and soaking up the praise and worship.
In Hebrew and English its great to see the commitment these youngsters have for God and how they interact easily with the locals. There was no booing or shouts when they sang and spoke of Jesus, but smiles, dancing, and applause.
Secular Israelis are fed up with the heaviness of ultra orthodox Judaism, they are seeking, I believe, a softer, with it approach to God. I am convinced that although they class themselves as secular they desire for their children to know the God of Israel, they yearn deep inside for a relationship with the Almighty that they can relate to. Our young believers are able to show them that it is fun to know God, that a modern life style can be complimented and enriched with God.
These kids have a busy schedule packed with study, they are paying their own way. They have a vitality, faith, a burning desire to get out there and spread the Word. If you are out here in Israel, contact us, find out when they are next going out on the streets, join them, support and encourage them.

John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son........" "Do you want to find out how that can change your life? Contact XYZ Ministries, Box Car Junction, Arizona." Yael (fictitious name, fictitious tract) received this tract from someone as she rushed home. Is she going to contact XYZ Ministries? No. Why not? I'll tell you why not.
She's Israeli, has been working two jobs to make end's meet (They never seem to meet do they?). She's getting over the shock that a relative just died in a bus attack in Jerusalem. She's a single parent, her eldest daughter is on the streets, she doesn't have enough food, has lived through more wars and disturbances than she's had hot dinners, and her eldest son has just started his military service - God forbid he should be sent to Gaza. That's why not.
She needs someone to physically help her, show her a way out of this mess, help her get her life and her family's life in order. She needs someone to befriend her, to baby sit, to take her kids to the beach, to let her cry on their shoulder, because, if she doesn't get all this off her chest she's going to explode.
As far as she can see, at this moment, this bit of paper she was just handed isn't even big enough to cover the hole in her kitchen window where a pane of glass should be.
For the cost of a box of tracts that woman could feed her family.
For the cost of all that printing and shipping and graphic design and God knows what else it takes, a volunteer could set her house in order, sit with her, help her, and by love, understanding, help, friendship, bring her surely and safely into the arms of Jesus.

I am 60 years old, don't ask me how that happened, but as I look at my reflection in the bathroom mirror each morning, the only thing that springs to mind is that for most of those years my life was a complete disaster. I remember Joy asking me to give my testimony and thinking that there is no way I am going to have this woman put in print what I have done, what I did before God brought me to the place I find myself now. Of the relatives, the friends, the people I have used, abused and disappointed throughout my life. Of the money and resources I have squandered not to mention my self respect. That we have an enemy, Satan, the devil, call him what you will there is no doubt. That it is so easy for this entity to have reign and control over us without us knowing is simple. None of us would get on a plane if we were aware the engines were going to pack up half way over the Atlantic. Yet we go blindly through life letting Satan stack the deck against us. We get on that plane, wine and dine in comfort, watch an in-flight movie. All is right with the world until the "fasten your seatbelts" sign goes on. Then, as we plummet 35,000 feet we call on God and expect Him to be there for us. We promise Him everything, our undying love, what ever it takes to get us out of this situation. How many times I promised God my undying love, and how many times I still carried on placing my life in danger. Finally, I had had enough and no doubt so had God. As a Jew I believe I can compare my past life as that of the ancient Israelis for I too wandered forty years in a wilderness of lies, deceit, sin, you know, all the stuff we really like to do. In the last years I have spent more time outdoors than indoors, have known loneliness, hunger, yet I have felt God move in my life, have felt His mercy and compassion, and seen Him use me and have learnt to trust Him. I have met some wonderful people, other believers not on a collision course with destruction but on that road which is difficult but will finally bring us to safety with the Lord. None of this is easy, who said it has to be easy? Do I get tired, fed up? Nearly every day. Am I discontented? I am still human. Do I wish for a better life? Who doesn't? Do I still make mistakes? More than I wish I did. All of us do. None of us really know each other. None of us can honestly feel the pain that our fellow men go through or have gone through. It always amazes me that God, is able, through our Saviour Jesus Christ to forgive us our sins, to wipe the slate clean, yet we can't. We still cling to this world and all its baggage simply forgetting that all this baggage is what is stopping us moving forward. Luckily, since I have been homeless I have learnt to get rid of my material baggage - travel as lightly as possible. It is now with Gods help I am working on my spiritual baggage. My biggest mistake would be to forget this and to forget the God of Israel to forget that my days "flying with Satan" are over. I am trying to accumulate frequent flyer miles with God - its the only way to travel.

More and more of our brothers and sisters are experiencing visa problems when volunteering or operating ministries in Israel. In all fairness to the State of Israel, it is necessary to understand why these problems arise. Firstly, Israel is a very small country. It is possible to travel from north to south in seven hours. An F16 fighter jet, taking off from Tel Aviv and travelling east must, after approximately four minutes into his flight, turn right or left, or it would find itself in Jordanian territory. Likewise, should the pilot fly south, after less than twenty minutes into his flight, he would be knocking on the door of Egypt. Whilst most of us travel at a more sedate pace, first time tourists entering Israel receive a visa for three months. Even if you visited every historic or biblical site, its not going to take you all that time to get around the country. It is also worth mentioning that as excellent as they are at their job, an immigration officer at Tel Aviv airport is unable to tell, as you present your passport, whether you are a believer, or whether you are here to soak up the sun. Most countries in the world have stiff immigration and visa laws, and once you have arrived, you are on the computer and every and each subsequent visit is recorded. That there is a fear of evangelists is a fact, brought on, because of history, from the crusaders to the German Templers, and everyone else who made attempts to "Christianize" the Holy Land, usually at the detriment of the Jews. That Jews have an ingrown fear is understandable given this history, and in our case ,unfortunately, history does tend to repeat itself. Israel was created in 1948 as "The Jewish Homeland" and it is also this fear that rears its head in our present time. In 1967, after the Six Day War, Israel was in control of the West Bank and large areas inhabited by Moslems and non-Jews. Though overtures were made to these people, and it was thought a safe and possible integration of this population into Israel could be achieved, there remained the fear that because of the birth rate (Muslims preferring larger families) there would come a time when possibly Muslims would outnumber Jews ( it was not foreseen at that time that there would be a large Jewish immigration - three quarters if not more of European Jewry had been decimated during the holocaust). So, with more non-Jews that Jews Israel could cease to be "A Jewish State). Ignorance today plays an enormous part in how Christians are seen/Most Israelis believe you are here to "convert us" and we will cease to be Jews, and therefore the existence of the State is in peril. The ultra orthodox play on this. The Word of God was given to the Jews, the Old Testament is indeed a history and chronicle of the Jewish peoples journey with God. The New Testament is a continuation of this journey, Jesus was Jewish, offering first of all salvation to the Jewish people. We rejected this salvation, this promise of eternal life and the forgiveness of our sins. It was also through these early believers that the message was carried to the outside world, not only, the message of Jesus, but also the Word of the One True God, and this was the foundation of Christianity. Those of you evangelizing in Israel, are here to remind us, to point out where we went wrong, to set us back on the right path we lost thousands of years ago, to tell us of the relationship we can have with Jesus .We are not in Africa, South America or some remote tribe of headhunters in the Amazon jungle, the Word was given to us first, and to put it simply "we botched it up big time. In the Bible, God asks you to "love His people". We Israelis are a stubborn, pig-headed, conceited, arrogant race (and those are our good points). If we were easy to love, God would not have had to mention it. That He does should make you guys sit up and take notice. It should be the first sentence written in "the good guide book to evangelizing in Israel", if there was such a book, and maybe there should be. There is no doubt that believers today are some of Israel's biggest supporters, and I believe that deep down most Israelis know this, including the government. I also believe many modern day rabbis are in agreement with the scriptures and see Yeshua as the Messiah/ I also believe God protects and supports those He sends to Israel/ At this time, I ask you all to pray for the Pastors, their families, for believers whom God has indeed sent to establish ministries and to proclaim the Word, and for the many volunteers who are lead by God to serve in Israel. That God will ease their problems, that the Israeli government will open its gates to God's servants, and that the Israeli people will, with open hearts, embrace Yeshua HaMeshiah.

"T" does not remember what day of the week it is. Her face is puffy, swollen, due to drink, and a sign of lack of nourishment and the right care. It is scared, sometimes, from falling or from knocking into things when intoxicated. Her T-shirt is greasy and caked in dirt, and full of cigarette burns. Many a time she has passed out, her cigarette falling from her fingers, to lie smoldering on her chest until it burns out. Her skin is filled with burn marks. Beneath her filthy jeans, her legs are swollen, covered in bites and open sores. She sleeps on a wooden bench on a well-known pedestrian mall, or on the street itself. She is usually oblivious to her pain, oblivious to the people who walk around her, step over her, look through her. She looks like she's been on the street forever. Actually she hasn't. She was once good looking, well dressed, clean, she had a home and a husband. Her husband was killed, violently, she herself was attacked. She does not drink to forget. How do you forget such a thing? She drinks to dull the pain and she drinks in the hope that the next drink will be her last. Her pain, her loss, brought her to where she is, on the street. She is grateful for the help we give her. On a good day she comes to the soup kitchen and receives medical help. She knows where we are coming from and what its all about/ I do not tell her that I understand how she feels and what she's going through, because I haven't the slightest idea. I do not tell her that time is a great healer' neither do I tell her that God will not let us bare more than we are able to, because when I look in her eyes, I find myself having difficulty believing that myself. I like sitting with her, on that bench. I can tell her about the complete mess my life was in before I invited God into my life, and the complete mess I sometimes feel its still in from time to time. I can tell her about the love of God, about Yeshua, I can pray with her, and if its a good day, I will even get an "amen" from her. What I can't do is take her off the street, give her care 24/7 and the support she needs to build her life anew. Sometimes I'm afraid to pass her when she's lying on the pavement. Maybe one day that body won't be just drunk, it will be quite dead. I'm afraid to get to know any of then by name in case one day I can put a name to the bundle of clothes scrunched up in a doorway/ I am aware I am just me, not a very good believer, not the first in line when God gave out love, faith, forgiveness, and totally inadequate when it comes to dealing with this woman and others like her.

Banks and financial institutions crash around us, terrorism increases, companies layoff workers, governments set up committees to look into the problem, laying their findings out in impressive "white papers" and studies, that are bound into books the size of which makes "War and Peace" seem down right miniscule in comparison, and which at the end of the day goes the way of all government studies - in the bin. As elections for the forthcoming president draw near, we again hear promises of cutting taxes, providing for the low-income sector, education, medical and old age benefits. In all these promises and indeed the promises of our government in Israel, I hear no one saying " maybe its about time we started to ask God what we can do about all this mess. I for one would be more impressed if our world leaders thought less about the "perks" of their job on earth and getting into parliament or the senate, and more about getting into the kingdom of God. How many of our politicians reach for the Wall Street Journal first thing in the morning and not the Bible.? How many travelers on the road today would, if God forbid, something happened en route, find a good Samaritan? Recently on a busy intersection in Israel a man was knocked down from his motorcycle. CCTV caught the accident. It was nearly an hour before someone came to his aid. Buses, cars, lorries swerved around him and continued on their journey. He died of his injuries. As believers we are swamped by the people in need, by the homeless lying in the streets, the children living in poverty ( one in every three children in Israel) drug addicts, sufferers from abuse in all forms, the old and the infirm. Week after week, the ministry I work for feeds between 100 and 150 people, clothes them and supplies a free medical clinic, but its like fixing a puncture on a bicycle. We minister to them and days later we do it all over again. The puncture gets bigger. Its like putting a band aid on a shotgun wound. Some of your have experienced first hand some of the ministries I have worked in, from prostitutes and drug addicts to a single parent with two children, who lives in appalling conditions without electricity and water. The children attend our Sunday school on Shabbat and apart from the word of God we endeavor to bring them some semblance of a normal life. We have people suffering from scabies, from open sores and leg wounds, we have old age pensioners who's only hot meal is the one they receive at our soup kitchen. If this is not terrible enough, some of our old folk are also holocaust survivors. Yet our government spends money of Stealth bombers, luxury apartment blocks adorn the Tel Aviv skyline, two major parks in the city are undergoing millions of shekels in facelifts while people hunt through garbage bins for a piece of bread. In Israel, Jews who have invited Jesus into their lives can and do have their family support system cut off abruptly. Family and friends who do not accept Jesus as the Messiah disown these believers, some have been known to loose their jobs. Before you get the impression that this is all "gloom and doom", we are reminded of the saying " the darkest hour is just before dawn". How many of us` believers have experienced that "darkest hour" before we have cried out for God's help. In a few days, in Israel, it will be Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. For us` who know Jesus atoned for each and every one of us that we may have eternal life, I ask for you to pray that the people will accept Christ as` their Saviour, that our leaders will, like Solomon, ask for wisdom, that this Day of Atonement will see our homeless, our abused, our elderly and all the people of Israel` finding salvation, help, peace and comfort through Yeshua HaMeshiah. On the Day of Atonement we wish each other "HATIMA TOVA" which in English means literally : Good Signature" It means that we wish for others that God will accept our atonement and write our names up in the Book of Life. For believers this is our wish for eternal life through Christ. I thank you for your prays, your time and your work that each of you gave and continue to give to my people. Jeff.