Arrows from Zion
Serving the Body of Messiah in Israel since August 2001
& Strategically Aimed for the Lord’s Harvest in Israel
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
or make check to Donna Diorio PO Box 111302 Carrollton TX 75006
I do not have tax exempt status
Still in catch-up mode after taking
off 2 weeks before Christmas. This week
– although many would have thought it impossible – there are many reports from
the Israeli ministries about Christmas activities in Israel this year. The traditional observance of Messiah’s birth,
for many became a perfect opportunity to speak to interested Israelis about
Yeshua.
Priority Prayer Focus Jan 8, 2014
Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given Me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of armies, which dwells in mount Zion. Isaiah 8:18
Pray for powerful witness to go forth in Israel by Yeshua who indwells His brothers, the believers .
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
Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given Me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of armies, which dwells in mount Zion. Isaiah 8:18
Pray for powerful witness to go forth in Israel by Yeshua who indwells His brothers, the believers .
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
From Israel Pochtar, “In Israel
we have found many people have become fascinated with Christmas celebrations,
it is a cultural aspect that is still quite foreign but very intriguing to most
Israelis. They are always curious to find out more about it, especially the
meaning of it. To us, this is the
perfect opportunity to bring them behind the scenes of these special dates and
show them the real significance of the Nativity.”
Pray for the Christmas outreach project the Beit
Hallel congregation held on Dec 25th. The story of the birth of Yeshua was not put
in Matthew and Luke just to take up space – it is a testimony of the Jewish
Messiah. Pray for the seeds that were
planted in Israel to blossom into full fruit of salvation.
Meanwhile in Bethlehem, we have this report that was passed along by a
trusted friend in Jerusalem. On Christmas Eve, an Arab Christian music group
gave a concert and testimony of Yasua (Jesus) in “Manger Square”. It is significant because Muslim dominance in
Bethlehem has made delivering such a bold testimony of faith in Arabic a
dangerous thing to do. Pray for these
Christian musicians – for their safety and for their bold testimony to bear
fruit among those who heard. Read more inside the Weekly Summary.
A perfect scripture to pray over both the Arab Christians and the Messianic Jews of Israel who are witnesses of Yeshua is this from Acts 4:29-30: "Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus."
A perfect scripture to pray over both the Arab Christians and the Messianic Jews of Israel who are witnesses of Yeshua is this from Acts 4:29-30: "Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus."
Speaking of the Lord stretching out His hand to heal,
you may have heard of the healing prayer that is being written about in all the
Israeli newspapers – although without mentioning that the woman was healed of a
cancerous tumor in the name of Yeshua/Jesus. The inside story is given by Sean
Steckbeck inside the Weekly
Summary. Sean is the ‘spiritual
father’ of the Arab Christian who prayed for the Catholic Israeli Arab who was
healed of a virulent form of cancer.
Pray that this healing will lead to many salvations among both Arabs and
Jews in Israel – and that signs and wonders would continue to astound Israelis
and open many eyes to the Truth.
Lura and Eddie Beckford from Arad set out for a day of travel through Israel on
Christmas Day handing out Russian language Christian calendars with Bible
verses to Russian Israelis they came across in their outing. First stop was
Nazareth where they also gave away bibles and books and visited a Christian
Arab pastor friend. Eddie tells us that
the going rate of gasoline is about $8 to 9 dollars per gallon! Everything costs about triple what we pay for
staple items in the U.S. Is it any
wonder so many even in the ministries struggle to make household ends meet?
Howard Bass writes, “This year in Israel, the celebration surrounding the birth of Yeshua at this season of the year has taken a more open expression than in the past. Controversy is not lacking, but the Spirit of God is encouraging those who want to praise the Lord for this good news of great joy that God took on flesh and blood to dwell among us and to redeem us from the cursedness of sin and all its consequences.”
Howard Bass writes, “This year in Israel, the celebration surrounding the birth of Yeshua at this season of the year has taken a more open expression than in the past. Controversy is not lacking, but the Spirit of God is encouraging those who want to praise the Lord for this good news of great joy that God took on flesh and blood to dwell among us and to redeem us from the cursedness of sin and all its consequences.”
Their congregation in Beer Sheva participated
in several Christmas-related activities this year, one being the Hebrew
musical, ‘A Star is Born’ that believers from around the nation performed in at
an auditorium in Jerusalem. At Beer
Sheva children and teens performed in ‘Stars of Bethlehem’ organized by
Marianna Gol, with the help of an Australian group, KISI.
Since 2003 Bass has gone up to Bethlehem for a Sunday Christmas gathering at Emmanuel Church which is pastured by Nihad Salman. It has become their Christmas tradition, Bass says, “firstly, to express the peace and reconciliation that Messiah has accomplished through the cross; secondly, to share the joy of the wonder of His birth and its significance, both then and still today -- for Israeli Jews, for the Arabs, and for all other peoples and nations. Jesus is still the cause of the falling and rising of many in Israel (and in the Church), and He is still a sign spoken against. But He is destined to be the glory of His people Israel!”
Since 2003 Bass has gone up to Bethlehem for a Sunday Christmas gathering at Emmanuel Church which is pastured by Nihad Salman. It has become their Christmas tradition, Bass says, “firstly, to express the peace and reconciliation that Messiah has accomplished through the cross; secondly, to share the joy of the wonder of His birth and its significance, both then and still today -- for Israeli Jews, for the Arabs, and for all other peoples and nations. Jesus is still the cause of the falling and rising of many in Israel (and in the Church), and He is still a sign spoken against. But He is destined to be the glory of His people Israel!”
Finally on Christmas Day Howard and Randi had an open house for family, friends and congregations to fellowship together, and their congregational service featured many songs with the KISI Australians and the children of the congregation. Pray for this key congregation in the Negev – it is off the beaten path of Christian tourism but is the major faith hub for the believers of the Negev. Pray that the uncertainties they are facing in 2014 would be turned to God for GREAT opportunities and blessing to fulfill their calling.
Even the Israeli newspaper editors has
something to say this year about government acknowledgment of the Christmas holidays. In Maariv an editor equated having a
Christmas tree on display in the Knesset would be like the U.S. lighting a
menorah in honor of the Jewish holiday.
It would be “an act of identification with the Christian faction in
Israel and the many Christian pilgrims who visit the land during the holidays.”
Indeed, writes Bender, “only recently have we become aware of those Christian
Arabs who are volunteering to serve in the IDF. ... This is a group that is
loyal to the State of Israel.”
Dan Margalit of Yisrael Hayom newspaper agreed and related the story of a nameless IDF soldier who rose in the ranks of the army and was highly respected until the day he confessed to his superiors that he is a Messianic Jew. He asked them if, in light of this information, they would like him to resign, and after some deliberation, his colleagues told him, “you are one of us.” He was respected until the day he died, regardless of his Messianic faith. Margalit retells this story to highlight the difference between the army commanders’ “wise decision” in comparison” to the cowardly one not to display a Christmas tree in the Knesset
Dan Margalit of Yisrael Hayom newspaper agreed and related the story of a nameless IDF soldier who rose in the ranks of the army and was highly respected until the day he confessed to his superiors that he is a Messianic Jew. He asked them if, in light of this information, they would like him to resign, and after some deliberation, his colleagues told him, “you are one of us.” He was respected until the day he died, regardless of his Messianic faith. Margalit retells this story to highlight the difference between the army commanders’ “wise decision” in comparison” to the cowardly one not to display a Christmas tree in the Knesset
No matter how you feel about Christmas trees,
this is a welcome opening to respect of the Christian faith in Israel. We should be careful not to stomp on that.
Rania Sayegh is the leader of a Arab Christian
prayer house in Nazareth whose ministry, HOPE, the House of Prayer and
Exploits, comes to us with recommendation of major Messianic Jewish
ministries. This link is an interview with Rania
that was produced by Finnish TV. It
opens in the Finnish language but Rania addresses the audience with impeccable
English. Be encouraged by this video!
Carolyn and Richard Hyde of Heart of God
Ministries report back that their Germany and Switzerland ministry tour went
wonderfully with over 60 young Germans making decisions to follow Yeshua. This is what happens when the Word of the
Lord goes out of Zion! They also met an
Israeli ambassador that was appearing at the same time they ministered in a
large German Church. They gave him the
Hebrew booklet Ariel and Richard wrote, Supernatural or just remarkable – which
the ambassador read during the main sermon.
Over the years we have come to understand that
one of the great needs among the Israeli ministries is training the parents in
their congregations how to be scripturally strong parents and families. It is a special situation for the Israeli
ministries because they are a small percentage of Israeli families – there are
not good models of biblical parenting abundant in their society, which is why
we wanted to emphasize a new program that has been instituted at Evan Thomas’
Beit Asaph congregation in Netanya.
Thomas shared 3 examples of how financial
support from outside Israel has helped them move forward with their vision to
be more effective in making disciples – Yeshua followers – of their
congregation. You can read about all
three inside the Weekly Summary, but we are highlighting their
mid-week outreach which Thomas writes, “Our goals are two-fold; to help parents
who are lacking skills (and time) to invest in their children through creative
play, and as a means of outreach to non-believing families.”
Pray for Israeli ministries
who are devoted to building strong believers living exceptionally as a witness
in Israeli society. Many are doing these
types of ministry outreaches, and financial support from the Church is what
makes the vision become reality.
The Carmel Assembly is praying for more fire on the
prayer altars – like Elijah prayed in that place before them. Pray for their various January outreaches and
for the Lord to open new doors to share the gospel to individuals and
groups. Last month they were surprised
by a visit to the worship center by a group of IDF pre-army trainees who came
to hear all about what Messianic Jews believe.
Rachel
Scapa from the HaMaayan congregation has an online Messianic radio station
which brings news from Israel, Messianic music and teaching for Portuguese-speaking
Israeli believers and listeners around the world – Brazil, Portugal and
Africa. One of her special features is "I PRAY FOR ISRAEL EVERY DAY AT 7:07"
calling Portuguese people to pray for Israel.
Rachel writes,” I heard of entire churches in Brazil who simply joined
the campaign - even without joining the FB group. PRAYER is the most important!”
Supporting Israel is international – we are also to pray for Israeli ministries
like this who labor under less than ideal means. Read more about the ministry inside the Weekly Summary.
David Lazarus encourages practical financial
assistance to Israelis living under the poverty level which in Israel is
defined as an income of $791.00 a month.
He predicts that more strikes and protests are brewing among the poor
like Israel has seen the past two years.
We submit to you that if you want to bless the poor in Israel, that it
would be the wisest investment to do so through any of the Israel believer
ministries we feature in this Weekly Summary each week. It will be help in the name of Jesus which
cannot be said of donations to unbeliever humanitarian aid to Israelis.
Dan Juster who directs the Tikkun
International Ministries along with Eitan Shishkoff and Asher Intrater, gives
many examples of how Tikkun Ministries used donations in 2013 to advance the
kingdom of Messiah in Israel through their many congregations and
ministries. You can read the highlights
inside the attached Weekly Summary,
as well as how they plan to continue in 2014.
In a
few weeks Ron Cantor of Messiah’s Mandate and Tiferet Yeshua congregation in
Tel Aviv will be appearing on Sid Roth’s television program talking about his
book, Identity Theft. Pray with him that
thousands upon thousands will read the book – also that we will have time to complete
his contract for two more books in this trilogy. Now a pastor at Tiferet Yeshua, his time has
become more compressed.
Kobi and Shani Sorko-Ram Ferguson of Yeshua’s Harvest also send a list of reasons why they are thanking God for those who have supported them over the past year. We all have many reasons to thank God for those who are with us - The LORD is on my side among those who help me. Psalm 118:7
Kobi and Shani Sorko-Ram Ferguson of Yeshua’s Harvest also send a list of reasons why they are thanking God for those who have supported them over the past year. We all have many reasons to thank God for those who are with us - The LORD is on my side among those who help me. Psalm 118:7
Praying the Headlines
By Eddie Santoro in Jerusalem
Ahavat Yeshua Congregation (The Love of Yeshua)
Zion’s Glory and Tikkun Ministries esant@netvision.net.il
As I write, I am filled with a sense that we
are living in a time that is destined to be a "pivotal" moment in the
history of this world. For those of us who love Israel, this end time reality
is abundently clear. Evil and darkness are making their move and Israel is
their primary target.
Peace Negotiations |
Secretary of State Kerry is continuing his non-stop efforts to achieve a
peace agreement between the Palestinians and Israel. In reality, these are not
negotiations at all but rather a process in which the Palestinians make their
demands and Israel is either forced to accept them or be blamed for preventing
progress. The perceived intransigence of Israel is resulting in a growing
global impatience with this nation which is fueling an increasing wave of world
wide antisemitism.
The United States has all but embraced the
Arab Union's Peace plan which calls for Israel to give away their land, divide
their capital city of Jerusalem and return to the indefensible pre-1967 borders
in return for political recognition by most of the Arab world. In the very
unstable Arab world of today, a political promise holds no security for Israel.
Please join us in praying that the government
of Israel would be unified as they take their stand against the dangerous
demands that are being set before them. Pray the the United States would not
join the many nations who are standing against God and his covenant promises to
Israel.
As the Scriptures declare; "Why do the
nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take
their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his
Anointed One." but "The One enthroned in heaven laughs." (Psalm
2) For God has promised, "I will plant Israel in their own land, never
again to be uprooted from the land I have given them." (Amos 9:15)
God's Word is true. "He who appoints the
sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who
stirs up the sea so that its waves roar - the Lord Almighty is his name; Only
if these decrees vanish from my sight," declares the Lord, "will
Israel ever cease to being a nation before me."(Jeremiah 31:35)
We praise God that Israel's destiny, her
borders and her protection are established and ensured by God. We thank you for your earnest prayers as
together we hasten the coming of His Kingdom.
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:
- Tom Bender Tom’s wife, Ronit: The Pet-CT scan report is not good. Tumors have gone to the lungs, stomach, pancreas, intestines and the spine, some as big as 6cm. The tumor under Tom left arm has grown to 11cm. Shall we continue to pray? OF COURSE! We trust the Lord of the 11th hour!
- Brian Slater’s wife Racheli has suffered a broken hip from a fall in their home. She will be on crutches for two months. Appreciate prayers.
- Four elder ministry leaders in Israel, are dealing with Parkinson’s which is a neurological syndrome. Since they have not shared this information, I will just ask for you to please pray for them each to be able to continue to live normal lives, and for the hand of the LORD to bless them with healing.
- Harvest of Asher Elena has been admitted to the hospital again. Please keep her in your prayers. Continued prayer for M's health and to hear from God and receive His direction.
- 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.
- 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 their website of the latest round of laser surgeries on Ami’s scarring in this issue.
Inside the subscription-only
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
Teaching Videos
When God Comes Down
Video teaching by the apostolic ministry of Asher Inrater of Revive
Israel
Click HERE to watch part
one , part
two and part
three from a recent teaching from Asher where he talks about the unique
realities of the New Jerusalem, the time when it will descend from heaven to
the earth and how God will dwell with man forever.
Israeli Ministries on Tours
BOOKING meetings now (See open dates) Inside
the attached Weekly Summary are
itineraries and open dates for Brian
Slater of Chosen People Ministries.
The Israeli Messianic Marketplace Feature of the Week
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In this book Claude Ezagouri deals with
very burning issues concerning the land of Israel in depth with great faith and
boldness, unveiling some precious pearls in the word of God. He uses the
scriptures to demolish common strongholds, bring a solemn wake-up call to the
Church concerning Israel and also a great hope for both Christians and Jews who
courageously and faithfully stick to God's word for the end times. Claude
Ezagouri was born in Algeria from a Sepharadic Jewish background. He and his
wife Michelle emigrated to Israel from France as fervent Zionist Jews in 1975. In
1983 he received Jesus as His Jewish Messiah when listening to an evangelistic
radio program directed to Israel from South Lebanon. After participating in
numerous evangelistic campaigns destined to reveal Yeshua as the Jewish Messiah
to his people, in 1990 Claude received God's call to start and pastor the
Morning Star Messianic Fellowship in Tiberias, Israel. He has been an
international speaker for over 20 years and has taught about Israel and the
Church, the land and the nation of Israel in God's plan for the end times, the
Jewish biblical roots of the Church and several other topics. He is also a
member of the board of "Intercessors for Israel" and has a heart for
intercession on behalf of Israel and the Galilee. Israel The Land in Controversy It
can be ordered on the websites listed through the following link: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/58057120/book/book-landing-page5.htm
Donna Diorio
arrowsfromzion@gmail.com or donna@d10r10.com
If your weekly Arrows from Zion email does not come in,
check online each Wednesday at Israel Prayer Dot Com |
Israel Watcher – A Second Opinion Mostly political or current events commentary
| Fruit of the Fig Tree Spiritual insights
arrowsfromzion@gmail.com or donna@d10r10.com
If your weekly Arrows from Zion email does not come in,
check online each Wednesday at Israel Prayer Dot Com |
Israel Watcher – A Second Opinion Mostly political or current events commentary
| Fruit of the Fig Tree Spiritual insights
