The world is celebrating the new year of 2011. In Israel we have a bit of confusion on what is new year. In the bible the month of Nisan is called the first month. The month of Nissan comes in and around the end of the month of March in the secular western year. In today's Judaism the celebration of new year (Rosh HaShanah) comes sometime in September, and according to the Hebrew calendar it is on the first day of the seventh month. Israel also celebrates every year the fiscal year in the end of the month of March. We also have sometime in January or February the new year for the trees. So, you see we have so many different new years in Israel. We will use any excuse to have a new year celebration, and we do so with great joy. So, Happy Western, Gregorian Calendar, New Year to all of you dear brothers all around the world. Celebrate! Thank God for every day of your life!

Israel is plagued with a horrible flue that is very harsh, and it seems like so many people from our congregation have either had it two weeks ago or they have it right now. In our office everyone has it and now I have it too and Marcia has had it. It has been a long time since I have felt so sick as I do now with this flue. There are already some victims who have died from this flue. In our congregation all that have it and had it are getting better already. Please pray for the children of Israel, the elderly, and those with chronic illness – they are the ones who are in the greatest danger from this flue.

From the Soup-Kitchen we have good news. Yuda our Soup-Kitchen director has changed the system and from now on the screening and referrals will come from the city of Jerusalem's social workers. It is in fact so very difficult to tell people that our program has changed and they they have to be screened by professional social workers. Every day since Yuda has announced the change we have people come to the office with anger that we are changing the system. We had to change the system to become more effective and also be able to do more with the same amount of money. The cooperation with the social services of the city and the neighborhoods is also a very health way of serving the public of Jerusalem. The value of this change is that we will be able to provide food to people who are really qualified and not to just anyone who comes and asks for it. The blessing will be shared with the city of Jerusalem and will be a part of a much larger effort of many other organizations who care and want to bless the poor of Jerusalem. We thank all of you who care about Jerusalem and Israel and the poor of this city many of whom are immigrants and single mothers and sick people who fall between the chairs. From the February 1, 2011, we will be feeding more than 100 families who are sent to us and referred by the city social services. I think that this is really wonderful and the we have built a good rapport and reputation in Jerusalem. In fact I am watching the news right now and they are talking about the situation of hundreds of thousands of people in Israel who don't have the funds for medication and they have to choose between the medication and food. We are going to do what we can, everything we can, and whatever God allows us to do, share the love of God with the poor of Jerusalem because this is a direct Biblical mandate. Here are the words of Paul: “For it pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem. It pleased them indeed, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in material things.” (Rom. 15:26-27) By the way these verses are the single justification for all the texts dealing with collection of funds in the New Testament. Please pray for the success of this new program of food distribution in partnership with the social services.

Last week I wrote that our new book, “God, Israel, and the Church” has come out, it has come out and it has come out in Hebrew. The English edition will come out soon too, but it is now being proof read before publication. We have the book “Hidden Treasures” now in Hebrew, English, German, Dutch, Japanese, and Korean. It is being translated to Russian and today we had a request for someone to translate it to Italian. We also have people starting to translate the new book to other languages. This is a big encouragement to me to continue writing and having the Netivyah staff polish and edit and repair my books for publication. As I am getting older running around the world is becoming more difficult and my plan is to write more books in the next few years and leave a good legacy for the future generations of leaders in Israel and in other parts of the world. Would you please pray for me and for the Netivyah staff so that this can happen and that the Lord would give me energy and health to be able to do this.

I am getting ready to travel again in just two weeks. I will start teaching in Amsterdam, Holland, a four day course on Angles in general and the Angel of the Lord. From Holland, the Lord willing, I will fly to Tennessee and spend some time with my son Barry and his family, and Marcia will be waiting for me there. On the last week end of January I will be doing a seminar in Murfreesboro, on “God, Israel, and the church.” After Tennessee, the Lord willing, I shall be in Portland, Oregon for a few days, and from there to Dallas, Texas, and from there for a couple of days in Atlanta, Georgia and home to Israel. It is a total of five weeks of intense travel and teaching and Marcia and I do need your prayers for this trip, for protection on our health, for protection on the congregation in Jerusalem and protection on Netivyah. These trips are important for spreading the message of Restoration and also to keep in touch with those who support us and making new friends that might be interested in what God is doing in Israel and from Israel.

This spring season will be a very busy season for all of us in Netivyah. Yuda will be traveling to Brazil in the beginning of March, We will have seminars in Israel with Israeli brothers and leaders. We will be going to Israel's Supreme Court in the end of March for our last hearing on the building issue. Preparation for this court hearing will be rather intense in March and we need you to intercede and plead, and ask from God in your prayers and in your fasting to have honest and righteous judges sitting on the bench of our Supreme Court in this hearing. Your prayers for this court hearing are so very important and I believe in the righteousness of our court system in Israel. We have wonderful judges and wonderful protection of democracy by the Israeli courts. You just need to pray that no one messes behind the scenes with our judges and the system.

Our support of students has been very successful and we continue it every year. This year we already have a full roster of ten students who need support and will get 200 dollars per month to make their study and life just a little easier. We have to see the next generation of Jewish Disciples of Yeshua in this land be better than our generations and improve their lives and contribution to Israeli society.

This next week there will be a discussion of the role of women during the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisition in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Some of the same teachers and lecturers that were with us in Portugal and spoke in our seminar in Castelo de Vide will be here and it will be a good opportunity to do some follow-up and start planning the next seminar on this subject in Israel. There are a lot of questions and interest generated on this subject of Marrano/Anussim Jews all around the world and we will have our contribution to this move of God and fulfillment of God's promises. All of you who were in Portugal with us please don't forget to pray for the seed that we have planted there to receive water and grow with the power of God to bring good fruit for Israel and God's Kingdom.

We are also getting ready to reprint the commentary on the Jewish Roots of the book of Acts and later also a second edition of the commentary on Romans. Please pray for this project to be successful and for these books to spread and sell and become a blessing to many scholars around the world.

Of course we have to pray for our young families that are coping with their faith and with work and with the little children. Life in Israel for many young believers is not simple and we need to support them with prayer and spiritual edification and give them a shoulder and base in their walk with the Lord. Please pray for many young families who need God's help and strength.

These days there are so many Israeli believers who are in the Army. We pray for all of our soldiers because they are in the cutting edge of where the next generation of the Jewish Disciples of Yeshua in this land are going. The Israeli army is the stage for excelling and improving and becoming stronger and tougher as men and women of God.

We continue to pray for the sick in our congregations and among our friends in the world. We pray for Ishiida San in Japan, and we pray for Mrs. Abe's mother in Japan, both are older brothers who have been praying for Israel's salvation for more than 60 years. We pray for Ruby our dear sister who is so faithful with her love for Israel and for Yeshua. We pray for M. a young lady who has been diagnosed with breast cancer on both breasts. We pray for Paulo a young man who is the son of one of our leaders in Brazil. We continue to pray for Ahuva, Liora, Leah, Ilana, Sarit, Sara, Zvi, Marcia, Danah, Noaam, Beth our daughter-in-law, and for June – Marcia's mother. Also pray for me too because I am battling the bad flue and also have some big problems with my teeth with a big infection. I know that your prayers will be heard and effective.

I will keep this prayer list short this time and bless you with a Happy New Year!

Joseph Shulam

P.S. - Please, if you have little children or grandchildren check out this bible game developed and produced in Israel. It is something that if your children like to play with computers they will enjoy and leanr much Bible from it with a Hebrew perspective. Some have said something about the Christmas Tree in the game. It was only a seasonal thing that the makers of the game put because they thought that Evangelical Christians would enjoy it. The game will improve from month to month. Here is the link: www.bibleislands.com