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The Jerusalem Prayer List – April 15th, 2011
by Joseph Shulam
Everything in Jerusalem is on the move in preparation for the Passover. I was in the Machane Yehuda Market in Jerusalem today. The place was booming with people, the vegetable stands were full of fine vegetables of every color. Israel is rich in multiple climates and we have everything from wonderful cherries that are grown on the Golan Heights to passion fruit grown in the Jordan River Valley. There are wonderful star-fruit, and great bananas, peaches, apricots, and even dragon-fruit. Although only about 25% of Israel are orthodox Jews the vast majority of Israel celebrates the Passover and has a Seder either at home or with family and friends. In the Seder the story of the Exodus is told in a way that it will involve the children and the adults, the symbols of the feast are used and the songs of Passover are sung. Israel is a nation that has the reputation of being secular, non-religious, but it is fact the most biblical oriented nation in the world. This nation lives with the Bible, in the Bible Land, and living with the Bible stories. The Passover is the ultimate Biblical story of Salvation that every other story of salvation is patterned after it. I have written here before that the Messiah is called the “lamb of God” because of the Passover. In fact everything in the story of Yeshua the Messiah is a kind of re-enactment of the Exodus from Egypt and of course the Crucifixion of the Messiah takes place on Passover, and the Lord's supper is inaugurated with the symbols of Passover, the unleavened bread and the wine, are used as a memorial of Yeshua's death, burial, and resurrection. In our congregation we will have a big Passover Seder, right now we are already pushing one hundred participants. I will direct the cooking and Seder together with other brothers and sisters. We have some guests from Finland, Ukraine, United States, Brazil, and from Tel-Aviv. When the New Testament says that the Messiah is our Passover (1 Corinthians 5:7-9) and that we are supposed to clean up not only the house but also our hearts from malice. The Seder is a great opportunity to share the story of our salvation with some very old traditions and songs and wonderful food.
We have distributed several tons of food this week for the poor of Jerusalem. We have given out everything that people will need to celebrate the Passover, unleavened bread, meat, vegetables, fruit, and all the necessities for the feast. More than one hundred and twenty families in Jerusalem will have a happy Passover and plenty of good food because you have blessed these people with your faithfulness.
The Middle East and all the Arab nations are still simmering. The Arab uprising is not over yet. It might seem like things have quieted down some in Egypt, Syria, Bahrain, Yemen, and Libya, but in reality the western media has quieted down and the reports are more circumspect. The action in Egypt has moved on a different level of control under the military government. In Syria the riots have not slowed down but President Assad knows that he can't go on killing his own people, so he is in fact trying to calm the population by so to speak giving some “Christmas gifts” in Easter. The whole situation is still very much in need of prayers because we don't know what will emerge in place of the dictators and tyrants that have ruled decades and abused their people. We must pray that our of the rebellion God can bring something good and much better, more democratic, more freedom and more equality before the Law for all and especially for the Christians in these Arab countries. Pray, pray, pray, for the Arab countries to emerge from this rebellion healthier and better for their own people and for the whole world.
Netivyah has blessed more than one hundred Israeli soldiers with a major gift for the Passover Holiday. We distributed all around the country wonderful, strong, and big, backpacks full of goodies, and food, and items that the soldiers need for their comfort and service. In each backpack there was a letter with blessings and appreciation for their service and faithfulness. It is such a wonderful thing for us to support our young generation who are serving the country and also living out their identity and faith as disciples of Yeshua. It is our privilege to do this at least one time per-year, either in Passover like this year, or in Hanukah feast.
We are still praying for all those brothers and sisters who are ill and who need the healing hands of God to touch them. We continue to pray for Ruby, Tim Tucker, Paulo, Mr. Ishiida, and Liz. In Israel we continue to pray for, Liora, Ahuva, Sarit, David S., David, Ilana, and Leah. Of course please continue to pray for my family, Marcia with the R.A., and diabetic, Marcia's father and mother who need special prayer, and of course Danah and Noaam who constantly have issues with health. I know that there are many others that you should be praying for as I do, but many of them don't want their names mentioned. Don't forget to pray for all those sick friends and relatives that you know.
Continue to pray for Netivyah's work in Israel, in Brazil, Japan, Korea, Germany, the United States, Finland, and other places around the world. Netivyah is at the cutting edge of presenting Yeshua in a true Jewish context and in the First Century light. We are seeing a second and third generation fruit of seeds that we have planted more than 20 years ago. The children of those who heard the Good News from us 20 years ago are now coming around and bringing harvest with them. We need your prayers and your support so that we can continue to present the living word of God in Israel and around the world in a first century context, in the Jewish context, and in the context of God's power to change lives.
Happy Passover to all of you! Happy exodus for each one of you out of your problems and challenges into God's promised land and joy. Happy victory over the Pharaohs and dictators and tyrants of this world and into the freedom of God's mercy.
If you are still interested to get the story of what happened last December in Portugal on DVD – please write us and request the DVD and we will mail it to you. Don't forget to write your address and phone number in your e-mail.
May God bless all of us and help us mobilize to do His will and become a blessing to all and especially to the Jewish people and to Israel.
Thank you all!
Joseph Shulam
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