by Way of Peace | Jun 14, 2017 | Jerusalem
Beit Hayeshua continues to prosper. We have seen four men graduate from stage one of the program and move into stage two. In this stage, the men go out and work while continuing to live at the center. At this time there are 6 men in stage two and 6 in stage one. The following are some of the men whom we have received into stage one during the last few months:
Anton has been addicted to alcohol for years. Anton is very intelligent, but because of alcoholism, he has lost his family and just about everything else. He has turned his life over to the Lord and seems very serious about making changes in his life.
Victor is a drug addict who has been through a number of rehab centers. He has much potential, but he has always fallen back to drugs after some time. He has renewed his commitment to the Lord ad we hope and trust that this time will be the last that Victor will need a rehab program.
Vitaly is an older alcoholic who has been through part of our program before. Suddenly he left. After a year outside during which he returned to his drinking, Vitally realized that he needed to finish the program. He has also recommitted his life to the Lord and seems more serious about building a relationship with Yeshua.
Alex is our newest in the program. He has been on heroin and methadone for years. He is still going through withdrawal at this time. He has repented and asked the Lord into his life. Right now Alex seems determined to go through the entire program. Please pray for him.
by Way of Peace | Jun 14, 2017 | Bethlehem
53% of the Palestinian society are people under the age of 20 years old. As a church, we see that we have a spiritual responsibility for this neglected portion of our society. That is why we now added to the ministry team of the church a new addition, Salim and his wife Lubna to be full-time ministers to the teenage people. We are aiming for the team to reach out to children and young people with the gospel of good news, the gospel of life. Tony&Mary with children’s ministries, Salim&Lubna with Teenagers ministries, and Fadi&Sandreen with the young adults ministries. All the ministry team, which includes seven full-time ministers, besides the elders of the church, feel the urgency of investing ourselves in the ministry now for we do not know what tomorrow holds for this country that is full of hatred, violence, religion, and uncertainty.
by Way of Peace | Jun 14, 2017 | Ramallah
As told by Victor.
Persecuted by her husband because of her beliefs to a degree that they almost got divorced. She took a stand and remained in her faith. We were surprised by her hostile husband as he invited us to come and start a bible study at his home on a weekly basis. He explained that he was touched by the love of Christ and by the brotherly love which he witnessed among us.
by Way of Peace | Jun 14, 2017 | Tel Aviv
Avi and Chaya were planting a tree on the hills around the historical site of Latrun, near Jerusalem. They had been invited by the Israeli organization ‘Be’ad Chaim’ (Pro-life) to the dedication of a memorial forest called ‘Ganei Chaim’ (Gardens of Life) in honor of unborn children. Be’ad Chaim encourages pregnant women who are considering an abortion to continue their pregnancy and choose life-giving alternatives. They operate Crisis pregnancy centers and hotlines throughout the country. Both Avi and Chaya have been supporters of this ministry for many years. Chaya was asked to speak at the dedication service and leads healing seminars for women who have had abortions here in Israel.
After planting a tree, a man approached Avi and said, “Do you remember me?” Avi recognized his face but he couldn’t remember where he had met him before. The man named Michael explained that 15 years ago he had visited Dugit Outreach Centre in Tel Aviv. He continued, “I came to your center because I saw you on national TV. You were interviewed by a reporter and you shared your testimony about how you came to faith in Yeshua (Jesus). When I saw you, I was touched and the next day I came to Dugit. We talked together and you gave me a New Testament in Hebrew, some other books and a cup of coffee. You prayed for me and I left. Today, I am a believer and I attend a Congregation in the town of Ashdod where I live.” Avi was so happy to meet Michael again after all these years and Michael was glad he was able to share about his faith in the Messiah.
Yeshua said in the Gospel of John chapter 4: 34-37 “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
That is what Dugit is all about! Sowing and reaping! It is a place where Israelis can come from all over Israel to downtown Tel Aviv, to our center at number 1 Ben Yehuda Street and hear the Good News. At Dugit, they can receive a New Testament, books about Yeshua and a cup of coffee. Most importantly they can receive prayer and salvation through Yeshua the Messiah!
Thank you for your support as we sow and reap together!
by Way of Peace | Jun 14, 2017 | Jaffa
As told by Victor.
A woman of the church took a medical examination. The result was that there was a big problem … and dangerous, the blood did not flow to the heart. This made her fall into depression.
This affected the whole family, especially her husband who was not a believer.I was requested to visit her at home and pray with her. I went with a group from my church and we made a prayer meeting, and we prayed for her.
Two weeks later I accompanied her to run tests again. We got to the laboratory and she made the necessary tests. The result was that there was no disease. When she asked the doctor, what happened he simply there is no trace of any problem, this means you are fully recovered
by Way of Peace | Jun 8, 2017 | Netanya
We have known Dorita since 2007. She is a documentary filmmaker. We used her services when making a few movies for Jonathan and Ariel’s Bar Mitzvah, for the ICB graduation, and for some ministry projects. While we were working on those, we had many great conversations about our faith. She is from South America originally. Did this make you think about Eli? Me too… interesting that God brings to our path many Jews from that area… She calls herself an “open-minded” person. She does not have any problem with us believing in God, as she does also. She does not mind us believing in Jesus, as she also believes he lived and was a real character. She even assumes that He could be a Messiah. BUT when we call Him God… oh, that’s is “crossing the red-line border” for Dorita. That’s too much, that’s heresy, she says. She says her Jewishness revolts against this belief!One interesting fact from working closely with her on a Ministry project. This project had a lot of Scripture passages about Israel, and God’s plan for Israel. While working on the project, her hard drive crashed several times and she had to re-print those passages,
One interesting fact from working closely with her on a Ministry project. This project had a lot of Scripture passages about Israel, and God’s plan for Israel. While working on the project, her hard drive crashed several times and she had to re-print those passages, prophecies, promises, and parts of the covenant three times. When we came to see the final product, she shared that due to this technical obstacle she had memorized ALL of it. Doesn’t our God have a sense of humor? And His ways are not our ways… It’s easy to see that when it is not your computer that crashed!
Anyway, back to today. Now Lilian is working with her on the movie for Liel’s Bat Mitzvah. That will be a Song of Praise to God for Liel. That movie will be a witness of God’s merciful redeeming plan for a situation that at first seemed to be an unbearable tragedy. It will be a documentary film of His fingerprints in our life. Part two of that film will be the story about Jonathan and the Master Piece from that Desert University course…While working through material that Lilian had composed (as director of the movie), Dorita mentioned
While working through material that Lilian had composed (as director of the movie), Dorita mentioned the book of Job. That’s how the conversation turned a corner:
Dorita: “I love reading the Tanach. But you know, I struggle with the book of Job. I just start reading the scene where God talks to Satan and I can’t read any further. I am so shocked when I try to visualize it. It’s kind of like gambling! How come they can operate with us, real people, with our lives, just to see who is right among them? You know I just put it aside and choose not to add this kind of God to my image of Him, which I bear in my heart. I don’t know how to deal with this, so I just put it aside…”
Lilian: “Dorita, you can’t get it, as you did not read it through the end. You struggle with the beginning because you did not read the end.”
D.: “What’s in the end then?”
L.: “Every person that lives long enough asks the same questions that Job (or his friends) asked. Especially when they experience suffering. The part you read and struggle with provides a back story —why God allowed Satan to afflict Job with such pain and turmoil. Your human wisdom tries to explain the unexplainable, that’s what Job and his friends did until finally God Himself spoke. The end of that book gives us a record God’s defense of His Majesty. “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? / Tell Me, if you have understanding” (Job 38:4). Does His answer to Job help to answer your question of “how could He?”.
D.: “H-m-m… But!.. Well… and yet…”
L.: “The answer given to Job may or may not satisfy you. God allows pain for good reason, but He may never reveal those reasons.”
D.: “ Do God and Satan get together like this a lot? Do they chat and decide what to do with us? Those two characters cannot be on one side…”
L.: “They are not. Did you notice that God allowed Satan to touch Job’s flesh? It means that Satan had to ask God’s permission to do that.”
D.: “That’s a mystery… How strange is it that God permits this “deal”! He gives one His best to become the victim of Satan? So strange…Why?”
L.: “ This question “Why” is not a good question…Especially in the context of this book. Job never got an answer to his “why?” Listen to what Job says: “He is not a man as I am that I may answer Him, that we may go to court together. There is no umpire between us, who may lay his hand upon us both” (9:32-33).”
D.: “What did he need?What is “an umpire”?
L.: “Someone who could represent him, a suffering sinner, before God, the Holy One. A kind of advocate. Someone who has authority, someone who will be heard and respected. Someone who understands the issues and is able to articulate it. You remember, at the beginning, Satan came to God to ask to be allowed to afflict Job. Job, not knowing this fact, wished that some One else would come to the throne of the Holy God to protect him, to ask for him, to submit a pledge on his behalf…”
D.: “As you know the end and I do not, did he get one?
L.: “There is one Advocate we all need—one who represents sinners like us in the highest of all places —the presence of God: “And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Yeshua the Messiah the righteous” (1 John 2:1). What a great promise! We have an advocate. He is there and, like a good “umpire,” He is not silent.”
D.: “Is he stronger than Satan? Does he always wins “the case”? Who is God, the Judge, I guess if we continue the same allegory, more in favor with?”
L.: “Read the book of Job this weekend, Dorita. The whole book. Especially, Job 38–42. Spend time with the Almighty. Pray and ask for a faith in the powerful Creator, which you will meet and get to know in those chapters. Pray and ask for a right perspective of Him so that you might see the scene that used to bother you through His eyes.
The book of Job is to proclaim that God is in control. Pain inevitably afflicts each one of us. Suffering is unavoidable in this life. Can we trust our Creator, even though we cannot understand our circumstances?”
by Way of Peace | Jun 8, 2017 | Haifa
One day, Elisabeth had to collect Karen from the Grand Kenyon (Mall). Tino had to get up early the next morning to work, so he asked his mother to do it and she really did not want to go out, but went never the less. As she was traveling along behind another car, the car in front suddenly braked violently. Someone had run across the road and he had nearly run him over, and as he came to a stop he screamed at the offending jaywalker! We both stopped parallel to one another at the lights, and the driver, who was still shaking, exclaimed, “Did you see this idiot, I could have killed him!” to this I replied, “Brother, God’s mercies are new every morning. God had mercy on you. If we lift up our eyes to the hills, we will see our help, and this help is Yeshua” The lights changed and we both drove off.
by Way of Peace | Jun 8, 2017 | Haifa
One day, Najeeb was sitting upstairs, and young Daniel was serving downstairs when an Italian family with a ten-year-old boy entered into their shop. Najeeb could hear snatches of English and Italian as they tried to communicate. he was trying to prepare his Sunday sermon, but felt impelled to go downstairs and greet them. HE noticed that the boy was on crutches. They related that they had come from Milan, and wanted to buy some presents before they went back. Then Najeeb asked why the boy was on crutches, and the mother explained that he had a disease of to one leg for five years. So Najeeb asked if they have ever prayed for him! Well, they hadn’t, but had felt that perhaps on their visit to the Holy Land, because God was here, He might heal him. Najeeb said that Jesus could heal him, but they have to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and then he asked if he could pray for the boy.to which they assented. At this point Najeeb knelt down, and began to pray in Arabic with his whole heart, and he could feel the power of God. When Najeeb opened his eyes the mother was sobbing. She said she understood nothing, but God had touched her heart. They then asked Najeeb if they were Catholics, to which he replied that they were simply Christians who believed in Jesus. They were leaving for Italy the next day, but said that this day with the visit to the shop had been very special.
by Way of Peace | Jun 8, 2017 | Haifa
A. is a Muslim who studied at a Christian School, When he finished his studies, he got into trouble with the Law, and spent five years in jail, where he entered more fully into Islam and became very religious! One day he came into the bookshop and requested three books.
The names of God.
The Attributes of God
And The Trinity.
Unfortunately, we did not have even one of these books. However, Najeeb was there on all three occasions that he came into the bookshop, and was able to answer all his questions. He confessed that he did not find any satisfaction in Islam. Najeeb told him that God is love, not anger and that He does not differentiate in His love between Christians and Moslems. Our shop exists to help people like him and answer all their questions. We believe, that it was not by accident that A. came into the shop, and we see that God touches the hearts of them that seek Him. We promised that we would order the missing books and that he would have them shortly, please pray for him.