WEEKLY Arrows from Zion 9/22/2015

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

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Priority Prayer Focus Sep 22, 2015

God's commanded biblical Feasts of the Lord are appointed times for Israel.  They are meant to speak to Israel and they do speak, just as God has intended.  What we have often not understood as non-Jewish Christians is that there is also a timing that is in God's hands for when these Feasts will speak to many, many Jews - much more than ever before.  We have already entered that season, as more and more Jews are coming to faith and seeing their own story of personal redemption told in these Feasts.

As Christians we should understand the Feasts represent times when the Jewish heart is most susceptible to hearing the good news of the Messiah Yeshua's salvation - because they can see the story told in their own treasured Holy Days. 

Please pray for this season of the High Holy Days 2016 to be the most fruitful of the "appointed times" for Israel in terms of the kingdom of the LORD.  It is our high honor to join with the ministries and believers of Israel on this eve of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, as one for the breaking forth of the revelation of Yeshua.

Contact info for all the ministries included inside the subscription-only Weekly Summary.
Arrows from Zion Strategically Aimed for the Lord’s Harvest in Israel

Ron Cantor gives us a picture (literally) of the complete shut down that the whole Jewish state of Israel is currently in as the Yom Kippur, or Day of Atonement biblical, highest of the High Holy Days begins at sundown tonight through sundown tomorrow. As Ron writes, " You won’t even be able to buy a quart of milk. Children will ride their bikes on the highways as if there never was such a thing as a car or a truck."

This is a God-appointed observance for all generations of Jews and it is observed with solemnity with prayer, fasting and worshipping the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 

What does that have to do with us as non-Jewish Christians? Well, not only is it good for us to know what purpose God has for these biblical feasts for the Jews so we may cooperate with His will in the matter, but there is somewhat of an intersection between what the Jews are doing in the 10 days leading up to Yom Kippur and what Christians need to know about Yeshua's parable of Matthew 18.  You can read about that inside the attached DOCX Weekly Summary.  Scroll down to My Word.

Cantor writes more about the unfolding of God's will for the ultimate redemption of the Jewish people as it is taking place today in the world, and especially in the Land of Israel:  "The fact that there are now over 150 Messianic congregations and fellowships in Israel is clearly a sign of the end times. For centuries there was no Messianic witness in this region. In May 1948, when Israel became a nation, there were only 25 documented Messianic Jews.' [Today there are an estimated 18-20,000!] "The end-times Messianic witness is a crucial component that must be established before Yeshua returns."

Israel Pochtar also gives us insight into the biblical High Holy Days in his prayer letter, something that he is no doubt teaching the vast number of former Soviet Union Jewish immigrants that he ministers to at Beit Hallel congregation in Ashdod and Voice of Judah Ministries outreaches. Pochtar will go up to Jerusalem for the All Nations Convocation that Tom Hess conducts where Pochtar writes, "about 2000 people from more than 65 nations, praying together and interceding for Israel and the nations. I will be preaching today and on Yom Kippur."  You can find his prayer requests for the convocation and the holidays inside the attached DOCX Weekly Summary.

Last week, Pochtar sent us this update about the Sukkot evangelism outreach they will be doing on October 3.  You can find out the details and how you can help inside the attached DOCX Weekly Summary

Daniel and D'vorah Calic are a ministry out of Haifa called Bless Israel Network, "a first ever dedicated TB platform and worldwide voice for the Israeli Messianic community."  They provide a goodly list of points that we might, as believers, ask God forgiveness about in our own lives tomorrow during the Yom Kippur prayer and fasting time.  See the list inside the attached DOCX Weekly Summary.

Joel Jelski writes briefly about the prophetic significance of the Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles holidays.  He also shares the major event with his wife and new son two weeks ago as they dedicated Boaz to the Lord.  As he writes, "In the Torah, it says that every first born male must be dedicated to the Lord with 5 pieces of silver, 30 days after his birth. We presented the silver coins (you can see below) in our congregation, and shared what I felt the Lord was saying about our son."  Tradition with Messianic prophetic vision.

Howard and Randi Bass are marking their 34th year since immigrating to Israel. Mazel Tov Bass family!  Howard has written on a question many Christians ask - why is the 7th month the Jewish New Year.  He writes, "What is clear is God's over-riding providence and sovereignty over the times and seasons of His people from the beginning of the year even till its end.  You may also have heard or read about the huge extraordinary dust 'storm' that choked the country last week. We have never had anything quite like it, especially during September. Here are a couple of articles, with a satellite photo showing the mass which blocked out the sun for three days. We could not see shadows during those days here in Beer Sheva!"

For all the news from the Beer Sheva congregation that Bass heads, read more inside the attached DOCX Weekly Summary

David and Karen Davis at the Carmel Assembly in Haifa are pretty thrilled with their long-awaited, upgraded congregational website for Kehilat HaCarmel.  They invite you to visit and explore

Lura Beckford sends a short update which includes their speaking itinerary which is included in the Tour section inside the attached DOCX Weekly Summary  She also shares that "...my sister & I are spending a week together; we are collaborating on a book about the adventures in Arad with the orthodox Jews.  I am sure the people staying in our house in Israel would appreciate prayers as they seek to take care of the doggies & the bunnies and all that goes with the house."

Dov Bikas, whose ministry to the real hard cases of addiction and sex trade, really deserves our prayers for it is the type of ministry that is always staring into the faces of hard reality. Dealing with loved ones in such a place is a hard, hard thing, so you can imagine how it takes the love of Yeshua within to work in this field of ministry among strangers.  There are a couple of Israelis they have been ministering to that Dov asks for our prayers for.  Please take a moment, open the attached DOCX Weekly Summary and offer a prayer for this man and woman.

Their Tel Aviv outreach has a new director named Eddie who is a gifted evangelist and a former drug addict himself.  Pray for Eddie and for the other specifics mentioned inside the Weekly Summary.

Dov also is the pastor of a Russian-speaking Jewish congregation in Beer Sheva called Desert Flowers.  He writes that it was founded 20 years ago in the heyday of former USSR immigration to Israel.  He writes that at that time the new immigrants were very open to the Gospel "as they were looking for spiritual truths having left the communist ideology of the Soviet Union, and Bible study groups we started in several towns in the south of Israel – the Negev desert – grew very quickly. That was when we also began holding Shabbat services for all these groups in Beer-Sheva and called this new congregation “Desert Flowers”. Then about 10 years ago this wave of spiritual revival ceased, and the church stopped growing. Almost all its members that remained were elderly people, and I became the only church leader. Recently, however, the church started growing again (our hall is 100% full each Shabbat!) and we see more and more new faces on our services, including young people! This month we have started additional Bible studies for the youth."

Please pray for this congregation in the desert, that God will continue to bring forth the blossoming of these desert flowers - that their joy may be complete in Yeshua.

Thank you for your increased prayers for the Jewish people during their significant biblical holidays.  You are part of what God is doing in Israel by His Holy Spirit and through the Body of Messiah.

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

Please see inside the attached DOCX Weekly Summary to keep in prayer the Israeli ministry leaders and believers with urgent health needs including the fight for their very lives:  Jamie Cowan, Eddie Santoro, Elana Cantor and her mom, Michael E and unnamed Israel-related ministers, Jacob Damkani, Rachel Slater, Judy, wife of pastor Yaakov K, Moshe Morrison, Ruth Nessim, an unnamed forefather of Messianic Judaism, Shelly wife of pastor Eitan, Claude Ezagouri, Patti, wife of Dan Juster, Baruch and Karen Maayan, BonnieSaul Wilks, wife of Wayne.

My Word

Although the biblical Feasts of the Lord are appointed times especially for the Jewish people (Israel), I would like to give non-Jewish Christians an intersection where the principle of the annual Day of Atonement, the confessions of sins and making relationships right so that there is no unforgiveness blocking our receiving God's forgiveness.  That intersection is in the parable of Matthew 18 where Yeshua tells why we must walk in forgiveness towards others in order to continue to enjoy our ongoing need for forgiveness from God after we are saved.

I have heard many Christians say that all this annual Yom Kippur ritual has nothing to do with us because we have received forgiveness of sins by the blood of Jesus once and for all.  While we have been forgiven our sins and come into the kingdom of God, our need for forgiveness of sin by God as we continue to walk in our lives is ongoing and conditioned.  That is the whole point of Yeshua's parable of Matthew 18.  If we do not forgive others, there are consequences - no exceptions.  Read more inside the attached DOCX Weekly Summary

Israeli Ministries on Tours  |  BOOKING meetings now (See open dates)  Inside the attached Weekly Summary are itineraries and open dates for Asher Intrater, Barry & Batya Segal, Lura & Eddie Beckford, Carolyn & Richard Hyde, and Orna Grinman.

The Israeli Messianic Marketplace  Feature of the Week:

Kehila News Announces Launch of Hebrew Website at kehilanews.co.il

We are proud to announce the launch of our Hebrew website at kehilanews.co.il.  This is our first non-English version and it is only natural that it be in Hebrew, the official language of the Land of Israel. Much of the content on kehilanews.co.il is currently translated from English, but our goal is that, as time progresses, there will be more and more original content in Hebrew written by Israeli believers in Yeshua.

Kehila News, or Chadshot HaKehila (חדשות הקהילה), is a grassroots effort to raise the awareness and volume of the Body of Messiah among the Israeli people in Hebrew. Just as in the English site, the categories on the Hebrew site include community news, community blogs, teachings, videos, and an organization directory.

In addition to offering a centralized place for community updates and personal stories in Hebrew, we hope that Kehila News will offer something that Israelis won’t find in the the local mainstream media, and that is biblical perspectives on current events and spiritual viewpoints on the social, moral, and political issues facing Israeli society.

Our vision is to translate Kehila News to more foreign languages to reach an even larger audience of our brothers and sisters in faith around the world.  We are “one body, many parts” (1 Cor 12:12). A Russian version of Kehila News is scheduled to be launched within one month. If you know a foreign language and stand with us in our vision, you can help us by clicking apply to be a translator.

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Donna Diorio 
 arrowsfromzion@gmail.com or donna@d10r10.com
 
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Inside the subscription only Weekly Summary of Prayer Requests from Israeli Ministries
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