WEEKLY Arrows from Zion 10/16/2013

Arrows from Zion
Serving the Body of Messiah in Israel since August 2001 
& Strategically Aimed for the Lord’s Harvest in Israel

 

 Donations: PayPal acct is donna@israelprayer.com
or make check to Donna Diorio PO Box 111302 Carrollton TX 75006
I do not have tax exempt status. 

Priority Prayer Focus Oct 16, 2013

Yeshua said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”  Matthew 19:14

Jesus loves the little children,
All the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white,
All are precious in His sight,
Jesus loves the little children of the world.

I am coming, Lord, to Thee,
And Your soldier I will be,
For You love the little children of the world;
And Your cross I’ll always bear,
And for You I’ll do and dare,
For You love the little children of the world.

From the hymn by C. Herbert Woolston and George F. Root in the late 1800's

Contact information for all the ministries is included inside the attached Weekly Summary.
Arrows from Zion
Strategically Aimed for the Lord’s Harvest in Israel

Guy Cohen of the Harvest of Asher congregation in Acco starts us off this week recalling the most poignant for him in Schlinder’s List when the Jews saved by Oskar Shindler presented him with a gold ring inscribed with the words, “Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire.”  Guy was touched with how Shindler broke down completely thinking of how many more lives he could have saved. 

Guy writes, “This was the part that touched my heart; it showed me a man who was compelled to give everything even his life to save others. I am inspired and encouraged and at the same time can relate to the burning inside to keep going and to do all that is possible to see the fulfillment of a vision.”

This is how it is for those who are laboring in the Lord’s harvest in Israel.  Their lives are laid down for the sake of their countrymen – to reach them with the saving power of the Gospel of Messiah Yeshua. 

Pray for the congregational and ministry leaders who are pouring themselves out to do more than the local congregants can generate support for.  This is such a key issue throughout the community of faith in Israel – they simply must have material support to do all that God has placed in their hearts to reach Israelis.

For Guy, and wife Tali, an after-school program that will flower into a school for the Messianic body in the western Galilee, is a vision to help equip strong Messianic families.  They have budget this year for 39 children but there were 10 that they had to turn away.  No wonder Guy was reminded of that powerful scene from Shindler’s List.  

When I saw the movie, I felt as if Shindler was overtaken with sorrow because he had not done as much as he could have done.  This is the difference in interpreting that scene - one from the eyes of a grateful Jew and the other from the eyes of a righteous Gentile who understands the enormity of the need.  The need is enormous, pray that God will provide.

The pro-life event that was scheduled to take place on the walls of Acco has been moved to the Mt Carmel facility.  Apparently they discovered that the end of a 4-day Muslim holiday would coincide and put the two groups into an uncomfortable proximity best to avoid.  Mt. Carmel is where Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal and the fire of God fell.  Pray with them this coming Friday as believers from all over Israel will be coming to declare Life for the unborn – and major breakthroughs for the Messianic Be’ad Chaim (Pro Life) efforts saving lives in Israel. 

Ron Cantor asks prayers for revival in Tel Aviv – Israel’s major “Sin City” on the Mediterranean coast.  Ron points out that the Tel Aviv-Jaffa area was where the apostle Peter raised a girl named Tabithia from the dead and many Jews came to faith as a result.  Today we are proclaiming that the spiritually dead in Tel Aviv will come to new life – resurrected by the same power that raised Messiah from the dead.

Yeshua said that the prostitutes and tax collectors would enter the kingdom of God before the religious, so Tel Aviv seems a good place for revival! Nevertheless, Ron asks prayers for Beni, the Yad L’Achim anti-missionary who stands outside their services trying to draw people away from Yeshua.  The apostle Paul was such a one in his day before God knocked him off his high horse with a blinding revelation of the Messiah Yeshua.  Pray for Israelis from every walk of life to come to faith.

Ron is going to be featured on Sid Roth’s popular Messianic TV program, It’s Supernatural.  The main subject will be Ron’s spectacularly successful book, Identity Theft.  Pray for the program which Ron says, “will enable so many more to understand the Jewishness of Jesus and how it was taken away from Him (at least in how He is perceived today).”

Asher Intrater asks prayers for Basaam A, Jack S, Harun I, Zak M and all the Palestinian churches as they seek to share the gospel with their Muslim friends and families.   The names of Palestinian ministers are not as familiar to us as the Israeli Jewish ministers – they are hidden from our view oftentimes for their own security necessity.  God’s heart is for people to know Yeshua from every nation, tribe and tongue. See Asher’s further short list of prayer requests inside the attached Weekly Summary.

Joel Jelski tells us that they are praying for the government shutdown in the U.S. and says that it is getting a lot of attention in Israel because everyone knows it will have far reaching consequences around the globe. Israel is also coming to grips with the realization that the U.S. government cannot be relied upon or trusted right now.  (Isn’t that the truth!) Thank you Israeli ministries for praying for us too, and as Asher wrote,  that the U.S. will “overcome their present financial crisis by turning to the Lord in humility, truth, and integrity.”  It is hard to believe that will be the case from inside the U.S., but that is why we need others to pray for us – to believe for us in our time of great need.

Joel is part of the organizing team for the upcoming Day of Prayer for the Pro-Life Messianic ministry Be’Ad Chaim.  Joel has played a strong role in the prayer for pro-Life since his teenage years.  He notes that Haifa is also where the summer Elav youth conference was held so it seems God is really highlighting the Haifa Bay region strongly.  He asks for prayers from the international church to ascend with them as they meet on Mt Carmel.  Pray also for this young newlywed who has a full plate with ministry, marriage and continuing his higher education.

Eitan Shishkoff reports back from an extended ministry time in Taiwan and Japan saying it was one of the most fruitful experiences he has ever had going out “from Zion” in the past 20 years.  That’s a powerful statement about the hunger of Far Eastern believers regarding Israel.  Now Tents of Mercy congregations, Revive Israel and Tukkun are involved in their Baruch haBa conference through Oct 24 so Eitan asks for prayers over that gathering of believers from the nations to visit the network of congregations, and to hear the Word of the Lord in conference times split daily with touring sites.

As soon as the conference is over, Shishkoff will depart for a German ministry tour with his son-in-law, Avishalom.  Eitan’s book, What About Us has been translated into German and will begin distributing while they are in German speaking at a national conference of charismatic church leaders. 

Two of the most significant connections between the believers in Israel and the believers in the nations are the relationships that are being forged with Germany and the Far East.  We know that God has been preparing the foundations by building up the brotherly bonds in these two arenas specifically and we must understand that in the days ahead these nations are going to play a critical part in coming alongside the Israeli believing community. 

Howard Bass writes that he is delighted to have his wife return from a month in the U.S.   He is also preparing for the annual events in Beer Sheva with the Aussies and Kiwis commemorating the ANZAC/Lighthorse Beer Sheva Charge Day commemoration on Oct 31. The Bass’ will also be hosting a young man from Cape Town, South Africa who teaches Hebrew and is coming to them to be disciple in matters pertaining to Israel and the Church.  Howard asks prayer for this to be a redeeming and fruitful time.  South African believers will tell you that there is much anti-Israel attitude in their midst, so please pray for those who are a small remnant standing for the truth in SA.

Pastor Najeeb is one of the Christian Arab ministries in the Haifa area also doing evangelistic ministry in Jaffa.  This monthly update brings news that they were unable to keep the Nazareth kindergarten open after being blocked from using the garden facilities for the children.  Despite the issues of adequate funding, this ministry continues to forge ahead with evangelism and outreach to Muslims.  In a recent youth conference, the young people from Abu S’nan, Haifa, Nazareth and Yaffo were exhorted to obey the higher powers (Romans 13). 

Najeeb writes: Many Christians see no future in the Middle East, but we need to stay here and be subject to the higher powers and be faithful and good citizens. Maybe God is calling some of us to join the Israeli Army or become volunteers in one of the Social Services or the Israeli Magen David Adom. We must be prepared to serve and defend our families and share the burden with the rest of the Israelis. If we are faithful, the Israelis will look upon us in a different light. The response was very good from the young people who received this message into their hearts."

This is also the message of an Arab Greek Orthodox minister who has been amazing many Israelis of late as news people follow the rise and development of Christian Arabs in Israel who are lifting up faithfulness to Israel among their people.  Here is a short summary from the Caspari Media Review: 

Speaking at a conference in late September, Father Nadaf of the Greek Orthodox Church told the audience that the Christian community in Israel is much older than the Muslim Arab community. Christian Arabs have lived in this land since the time of Jesus; Muslim conquest only happened in the 7th century AD. “We are not Arabs,” said Nadaf. “We are simply Christians who speak Arabic.” Christianity “comes from the Jewish faith and is rooted in the Bible. What happened in the 7th century [was] an Arab conquest that caused much suffering to the Christians as well.”

Nadaf reiterated his argument that Israel is the only place in the Middle East where the Christian minority is not persecuted. Even so, Nadaf and his supporters have faced a lot of opposition from within their own community. “But we have broken through the fear barrier. Now it is time to prove our loyalty [to the State of Israel], to do our duty and to receive our rights.”

In spite of the fact that they have received death threats, Nadaf affirmed that Israel is our heart. ... Jews and Christians are of the same covenant.”

Other speakers at the conference included Shadi Haloul, representative of the Maronite community in Israel, and Bashara Shlayan, who recently formed a Christian political party.

Israeli newspaper Yisrael HaYom stresses the significance of these developments within the Christian Arab community: “We must embrace these courageous people. ... We must help them, improve their circumstances and integrate them into our society. And, most important of all, we must guard their lives with ours.”  -end Caspari summary -

And so must in the international community of faith embrace what these courageous Israeli Christian Arabs are doing.  For years we have seen an exodus from Israel of Christian Arabs who were caught in the dangerous crossfire and most of their persecution came from Arabs who considered them infidels and pawns.  So this act to stand up boldly in faith is no small thing.  Please pray for these Christian Arab believers who are taking such a powerful stand as a witness of Yeshua.

Urgent HEALING Needs: Life and Death is in the power of the tongue

Please keep in prayer the Israeli believers who are fighting for their lives or other urgent health needs: 

·        Harvest of Asher asks prayer for Elena who is now been moved to another hospital-hospice and continues to receive treatment. Please pray for Elena and her daughter.  They also ask prayer for M. who had surgery not long ago and his system is going through many changes causing the need for various health issues to be addressed on a continuing basis. Please keep him in your prayers.

·        Please pray for the wife of Ariel Ben David, who leads an Eilat Congregation, and also for his worship leader, both of whom were recently diagnosed with breast cancer.

·        Please continue to intercede for Katya Morrison at Tents of Mercy. She has the good report of no leukemia in her latest extensive testing.  Prayers for her full recovery and victory over this disease is still needed. 

• Tom Bender Please pray for the tumor in his lymph node to shrink and disappear; for his Achilles tendons and ankles to be healed from a goutish condition, so he can walk more freely. Both ankles have greatly improved in their mobility since our last report; and for no pain in the area of the enlarged lymph node..
• Keep Baby Netaley’s full recovery in your prayers.
• Pray for Ami Ortiz for ongoing issues from the 2008 bomb blast – and that he would win the appeal for government recognition that he is a terror victim.  It would mean benefits for the continuing surgeries and legal expenses.  See Leah’s report on the latest round of laser surgeries on Ami’s scarring in this issue.

Inside the attachment of the
Weekly Summary of Prayer Requests from Israeli Ministries
Arrows from Zion can be shared freely.  Just copy and paste this email into a Word document to make it easy to print.  However, we ask the Weekly Summaries not be forwarded or information republished without consent of the specific ministries. The Weekly Summary is by subscription only, write arrowsfromzion@gmail.com or donna@d10r10.com

Praying the Headlines

"Maran"

By Tal Robin

Revive-Israel Ministries

At 11:00 am, Monday morning, October 7, Sephardic (and Shas party) leader, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, age 93, passed away.  At the funeral, just a few hours later at 6 pm, huge crowds jammed the streets of Jerusalem to bid him farewell (Reports varied between 450,000 to 850,000 people). No event since biblical times has gathered such large numbers in Jerusalem.

Ovadia Yosef was born in Iraq in 1920 and immigrated to Israel with his family as a 4 year-old boy.  He became the most influential rabbi of this generation. He was so revered that he was given the highest title that can be given to a spiritual leader: Maran ("Master, Lord" in Aramaic). Masses of people wept in the streets, not knowing how they could go on without their "Maran."

Yosef has become the third "messianic" type figure in Judaism today, along with Nahman of Breslau and Lubavitcher Rebbi Schneerson. In Aramaic, the word Ata means "come." Thus, the cry in Aramaic for the Messianic Rabbi to come would be Maran – Ata (transliterated in New Testament as "Maranatha").  Pray with us for our people to cry out in true faith for the only Rabbi ever to have been raised from the dead to come again.  Maran Ata! Come Lord Yeshua!

Israeli Ministries on Tours

BOOKING meetings now (See open dates)  Inside the attached Weekly Summary are itineraries and open dates for Eddie and Jackie Santoro Jerusalem-Ahavat Yeshua Congregation; Sally Shiff Kfar Saba- HaMaayan Congregation, David and Josie Silver Carmel-Out of Zion Ministries;  Sean Steckbeck  Jerusalem-Simeon’s Cry Ministries; and  Eitan Bar and Stefan Silver Haifa-One for Israel/Israel College of the Bible.

Donna Diorio 
 arrowsfromzion@gmail.com or donna@d10r10.com
 
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Israel Prayer  P O Box 111302 Carrollton, Texas 75006
Or click on the PayPal account:  donna@israelprayer.com
I do not have tax exempt status.