Missionary Newsletters - Middle East April 2008 Israel - An EMM intern serving at Nazareth Village in Israel says, “One thing I hear from tourists is that, after seeing so many ruins and huge churches, that are built over the important Biblical sites, Nazareth Village is refreshing. The people can experience the life of the 1st century by walking along donkey paths and seeing wheat growing and almond trees budding. They can watch 1st century characters herd sheep, weave or spin wool and create wooden tools. “I am happy to be part of a place that brings the life of Christ ‘to life’. I enjoy my work as a first-century shepherdess. But a sad thing that occurred recently is that one of our lambs got lost. This sounds like the Biblical story about the lost sheep and how the shepherd left the 99 to search for the 1 lost one, doesn’t it? But unlike the parable, my story doesn't have a happy ending. I still am missing a little lamb. I don't exactly know how it happened, but it appears that on Sunday, when the Village was closed and the animals were being fed, the door was left open. A dog startled the lambs and little Petunia ran away. Sadly they haven’t been able to locate her anywhere. I’ve been on the lookout for Petunia, but it appears that she is gone forever. I’m truly sad about this loss. “Besides the work at Nazareth Village, I’ve also been busy teaching an English class for children, studying Arabic, and taking a graduate course as well as living with two different local host families.” February 2008 ISRAEL - Mennonite workers in Israel who serve with the Messianic Jewish community shared the following story about one of their new friends and co-workers. Saul, a young Israeli man who worked for a moving van company in the U.S. met Carol, a Jewess, who told him that she believed in Jesus as the long-awaited Jewish Messiah. Saul did not understand how a Jew could believe in Jesus. From his youth, Saul had been told that Jews and Christians are like oil and water. They never mix. So when he met Carol he was extremely curious. Being Jewish and believing in Jesus seemed like a paradox. Ever since coming to the U.S. Saul had done well financially. He bought the car of his dreams, but also devoted time to his Judaic traditions. He excelled to the point that he was chosen to be the local rabbi’s right hand person. Yet in spite of all his religious practices, he didn’t feel close to God – like Carol seemed to be. Saul began attending the frequent Bible studies Carol held in her home. He also began reading the Tanach (Old Testament), something he did not see in the synagogue. He was intrigued and asked himself, “Isn’t this the book God gave the Jewish people?” Saul also accepted Carol’s invitation to attend the local Messianic congregation where she attended. For eight months Saul kept on assisting the rabbi, but as soon as the service was finished, he hurried off to the Messianic congregation where Carol attended. Neither the rabbi nor the Messianic believers knew this. He thought to himself, “Only in America could one possibly live such a dual existence.” But as his English improved, his duplicity began to trouble him. Reading the Old Testament prophecies and then their fulfillment in the New Testament, Saul found himself puzzled. He found that Isaiah 53 was a chapter he could not read without feeling in his heart that Jesus was the Messiah. Saul found he couldn’t sleep at night due to the spiritual turmoil in which he found himself. When he shared this with Carol, she said simply, “Make a deal with God. Pray to him each day and tell him that you will believe if he shows you Jesus is the Messiah who died for you.” Saul took up the deal. Months went by. Saul became frustrated because he got no answer to his prayers. One day at work while moving a Christian customer’s possessions he discovered a booklet in the house called, How to Get a Heart like Jesus. He felt strangely attracted to the booklet and hid in the restroom, devouring the contents of the booklet. Saul’s heart was burning within him. He stopped work and went straight to Carol’s house to tell her. That day Saul asked Jesus to take control of his life. He was born again, this time a true chosen seed of Abraham. Now Saul knew he could come to God and ask forgiveness for his sins because of what Jesus had done, just as the people of Israel had obtained forgiveness through the intercession of the High Priest and the sacrifice he made on Yom Kippur. Shortly after that day, Saul celebrated the Passover at the Messianic congregation rejoicing to know that Jesus was the Passover lamb that had shed his blood to release him from the bondage of sin. Later God directed Saul to return to his people in Israel and share with them the great things God had done. God also gave Saul the courage to tell the rabbi of his new faith when he said goodbye before leaving for Israel. The rabbi responded by saying, “I will report you to the people I know in Israel, and they will persecute you up and down the land, wherever you go.” But God has given Saul a Paul-like courage and he is collaborating with Mennonite workers and others in outreach In Israel, the Body of the Messiah is such a tiny portion of the population --less than 1%. The Body is not only small, but it is marginalized from a society who has a commitment to believe that Jesus is NOT the Messiah. The EMM associated worker wrote, “The immensity of the task here occasionally discourages us. It is during moments like these that God reminds us of Saul's experience. This fills us with hope again.” December 2007 ISRAEL - Serving as a housemother to a group of disabled children may be out of Audrey Zimmerman’s comfort zone, but she is excited to serve God in this capacity. Audrey is working at the House of Hope in Bethlehem, Israel, along with YES team member Melody Weidner. The six-member Youth Evangelism Service (YES) team arrived in Israel on November 29; the other YES team members are assigned to work at the Bible college in Bethlehem. The House of Hope is both a residence and school which seeks to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to blind or physically or mentally handicapped adults and children. Audrey and Melody are working with the children at House of Hope. Just a few days into her assignment, Audrey already realizes that she will need “patience and a reliance on God who will give me the strength I need.” One evening while she was enjoying a cup of tea, eight-year-old Muhammad repeatedly got out of his bed and came into the kitchen where Audrey and some other volunteers were sitting. One volunteer grew frustrated when the little boy wouldn’t stay in bed, so Audrey took the boy by the hand and led him back to his bedroom. “I gave him a hug and tucked him into his bed,” Audrey said. “I couldn’t imagine being only eight and not having a mother tuck me in every night. I knew he was lonely and I wanted to be able to say ‘I love you’ in Arabic, but I didn’t know how.” “He looked at me with nothing to say, just a sweet smile,” said Audrey. “I understood immediately that all the Arabic words I could’ve spoken to him would not have meant the same as that simple act of kindness.” February, 2007 HAIFA, ISRAEL – Last year, during the Jewish feast of Hanukah a Mennonite worker in Israel helped organize an evangelistic outreach at a huge shopping fair in Haifa. At the fair, dozens of Messianic believers had the opportunity to share God's invitation to faith with tens of thousands of Israelis and distribute literature. Messianic believers count it a privilege to follow their Lord's example in going to where the multitudes are and making themselves available for His use. Thousands of beautiful copies of the Gospel of John in Hebrew and the book "Betrayed" by Stan Telchin were be given to the interested persons in this crowd of Israelis. The worker commented, “The war in Lebanon has softened the hearts of many and increased the interest in spiritual subjects.” July 2006 MIDDLE EAST – As conflicts again rock the Middle East, reports of a conference held this spring between Messianic Jewish and Palestinian believers are very encouraging. The conference was planned in part by a Mennonite Mission Network worker who is also associated with EMM. The worker writes, “On the day of the retreat, our bus traveled through the security wall encompassing Jerusalem, at a place where it has not yet been completed. The Palestinian students greeted us warmly with hugs. Excitement was in the air as some fifty Jewish students lined up on the opposite side of the room from an almost equal number of Palestinian students. We gave thanks and spent time reflecting on the significance of the event in light of the conflict and hatred between the Israeli Jews and the Palestinian Arabs. A speaker noted that the whole world was watching us. "As Hebrew and Arabic prayers flowed freely and profusely, we witnessed a living demonstration of Christ’s new order, the Kingdom of God. Truly, the reconciling power of the gospel was evidenced in this fellowship of Israel College of the Bible students and Bethlehem Bible College students. "One of the most moving moments occurred when a female Palestinian student from a neighboring town told of her trauma a few years ago. After terrorists had fired into Jewish homes on the other side of the valley, the Israelis shelled the home in which her family lived. She told how she and her family lay on the floor as the shells came through the walls. "By the end of the afternoon, friendships had developed, and e-mail addresses had been exchanged, proving that a better way exists than the hatred and division that so characterize relations between the two peoples in the Middle East. As one person commented, 'If Jesus prayed for unity in John 17, he must have known that the prayer could be answered.' "The retreat was a small step in breaking down barriers of hostility and mistrust and building bridges of understanding and trust. It was a day of joy none of us will forget.” April 2006 IRAN – Jon Rudy, a worker with MCC and EMM in the Philippines, recently joined an MCC learning tour to Iran. Jon said not only was he interested in rounding out his understanding of this complicated, ancient country but wanted to grow in his experience in interfaith bridge building. Jon says, “I gained new insights into Shia Islam at its best. The two weeks were rich with hospitality and embrace as people were genuinely delighted to have us as guests in their country. Iran is one of the least militarized places I have visited in recent years. One does not see guns used in public for crowd control. Instead, we saw throngs of people controlled by feather duster-wielding men. At home, the standard question people asked was, ‘How do you find Iran?’ Our conclusive and truthful response was to answer that we found the hospitality overwhelmingly generous and welcoming. As an American I felt absolutely safe in Iran, since the average man or woman on the street sees the trouble with the West as between governments, not peoples. I wish more Americans had the chance to experience Persian hospitality for themselves.” January 2006 MIDDLE EAST – Several years ago, an EMM worker wrote a puppet drama for children who were living in refugee camps, after an earthquake destroyed their homes. The drama turns on the metamorphosis of a typical family into cowering fearful characters – following a major trauma that caused their small two-headed pet to escape and turn into a two-headed monster. The pet’s name is “Fear and Grief.” In the drama the family encounters a wise old shepherd who counsels them on ways to overcome the out-of-control Fear and Grief. The worker recently learned that an Indonesian nongovernmental organization adapted this play and is showing it in elementary schools in Aceh, Indonesia, the area hit hardest by the Asian tsunami, along with trauma awareness training for teachers. The drama and counseling, also followed by prayer for inner healing, are very well received. The worker says, “I’m happy that this simple drama is helping to meet human need elsewhere on the globe.” December 2005 ISRAEL- A worker shared this amazing story: A young Israeli Messianic believer from the Bible College where he teaches started a new congregation by beginning a chess club in a rented store front. This built friendships with many neighbors, but also drew intense opposition from a group of ultra-Orthodox Jews who began making false accusations against the congregation. Groups of 200 to 600 ultra-Orthodox demonstrated against the Messianic group. They chanted slogans, shouted obscenities, carried signs warning local residents, and told passers-by that Messianic Jews aim to destroy the country and kill the Jews. Then one night, the chess club mysteriously burned down. A reporter for one of Israel’s leading newspapers ran a large picture of the burned-down club and charred Bibles. He quoted a philosopher who said, “In a place where they burn books, they will also burn people.” The pastor wrote a letter to the local paper explaining who Messianic believers are. He was delighted that the letter was printed as a full page article. He says, “People in the city now know who we are. New doors have opened to us. God has used this opposition for the good and advancement of the gospel.” June 2005 JORDAN- In the village of El Husn (Ho’-sen), J a couple (who cannot be named) and their four children are working with the Baptist Church to help bring renewal and the light of Christ to the region. They have recruited a ministry team of Jordanian Christians who meet weekly for prayer, sharing, and planning. They say, “The emphasis of our team will be inviting people to faith and discipling them. We will not be inviting them to become Baptists. Threats and wild rumors from the priests of the traditional churches have created quite a prejudice against evangelical churches here, but experience has shown that it is far better to focus on learning and applying the scripture, and letting people decide on their own church involvements.” The pastor of their congregation said that in the last ten years, the evangelical churches of Jordan have woken up to the task of reaching Muslims for Christ. Relationships with the traditional churches are also improving, as they learn to share resources and assist one another in becoming faithful followers of Jesus in this Muslim-majority setting ISRAEL - During Passover week last April, EMM workers helped run a booth at a huge New Age Festival on the beach north of Gaza. In friendly interactions with Israeli young people they were often asked, “But how can a person be Jewish and believe in Jesus?" Ari was one of those who asked the question. Like many at the festival, he belonged to the youth counter culture. Disillusioned with the “establishment” he had turned to drugs and new age activities. That week, without purpose or satisfaction in life, he found himself contemplating suicide. He had never heard of Jesus and did not believe in God, yet he found himself pleading for forgiveness as he wandered around the grounds. Suddenly he found he’d stumbled into the Messianic believers’ camp. There he met Moshe, one of the students from Israel College of the Bible. Moshe shared God’s invitation to faith through the promised Messiah, Jesus, the Son of David.Ari opened his heart in repentance, and God did the rest.”