We have been busy with evangelism here in Israel and the West bank and also Jordan, it is great when you see the hand of the Lord moving and when we are able to get the Word of God into the hands of the people, now we pray that they will read it.
While in Jordan we were able to visit Syrian refugees on the border with Syria. In this border town the population has doubled in size as a result of these new comers seeking safety from the brutal Assad regime. Sadly they cannot work and have to rely on charity to live while waiting for some kind of miracle. As we walked about the streets we spotted the refugees, we met one woman who was “great with child” (KJV) and she invited us to her house to visit, so we, as a troop of the Lords army, like the French foreign legion…… One Israeli , A tall blond German/Russian and an African American and three Koreans…were marching through the streets on the outskirts of the town in the scorching summer heat, during the month of Ramadan (in which Muslims do not eat during the hours of daylight as it is forbidden to eat in the streets at this time) walked in line down the narrow street to her house. We entered a very humble abode and they sat us around on mattresses, which during the day are seats but at night turn into the family beds. The family were from the town of Kuneitra, at the border with Israel and had fled the fighting . Their son had been shot in the leg and had received only minimal medical care (While there we tried to find some help through our contacts for him but we have since heard back that so far he has not received any help, which is not good news as the boy might lose his leg).
In Jordan, a poor country, this massive influx of refugees has greatly overwhelmed the country, which has neither the means or the resources to meet the needs of these refugees, sufficient medical care, basic supplies, even food, are hard to come by and these people are totally dependent on charity. The family gave us refreshment despite it being Ramadan and we gave them the New Testament as a gift for their family, hospitality is very important in Arab culture and they enjoy visitors and a chance to talk to new people from different places. On leaving them we met another lady who asked us to visit her family showing us the way, unable to say yes or no we followed her and as we arrived the father came out sporting a massive beard and he looked so religious that I actually thought that this might be tricky, but appearances are not always correct ( I have learned that many times) and they actually received us with much kindness, and upon leaving they graciously accepted a new testament as a parting gift, and surprisingly as we went to leave we met a brother who was returning their children from some event at the church. Providence, God’s timing.
Even though many cities and towns outside of Amman are more extreme Islamic, it did not stop us evangelizing and handing out literature with wisdom, we rely on the Lord to send us the right people to speak to.
Amman is much easier to evangelize in and while we were there we had many opportunities to hand out literature and talk to people about the gospel, just walking by a young couple came up to us and greeted us in the street, which for us brought an opportunity to share with them the gospel. They told us that they were walking around greeting people nicely, an idea they had to do, and that not many people responded to them in a positive way but we had, or another time in a coffee shop meeting a Palestinian with a map of Israel tattooed on his arm, “yes I love Palestinians” I told him and from that I was able to tell him why I did so and then share the gospel with him. The problem with the middle east is that we have too many missionaries and most are not reaching out out of fear of man (and of losing their visa) We need to really learn to trust in a sovereign powerful God who protects us and plan on sending people short term and if they get kicked out replace them. I never lack an opportunity to share my faith, every day doors are open, paths are crossed, and we must not be afraid to use what God brings into our lives.
We also continue to go to Tel Aviv every Friday night and distribute literature amongst the mainly African migrant population, the crisis of last year has passed, we are no longer having to feed hundreds every week, yet they still remain in limbo, trapped in a status less existence. The conflict in Egypt and the chaos in Sinai has brought the smuggling routes down to a trickle (in the first five months of 2013 only 33 managed to cross the border) The Sinai has become a dangerous desert crossing full of perils and horrors, crime and it’s connection to human trafficking in the Sinai are well known. Currently there are around 100,000 Africans in Israel, the majority coming from Etruria and then Sudan/Darfur. Their future here is questionable, Israel has no conventions or protocols to deal with this influx. We can only use the opportunity to share His Hope with them, to that end we distribute Bibles in their own native tongues and other literature and DVD, and as and when we are able help with some material need if we can. There is also a large population of Filipinos in this area which we constantly meet as we distribute, in the future to hope to get permission to print the NT in Tagalog (their native tongue) for the many thousands of Filipinos in the country as well as in other languages.
We continue to go to the prison about once a month and have some excellent times encouraging the prisoners. The prisoners have also organized a communal telephone call up every Saturday night to listen to the message on the book of Ecclesiastes. Please pray for a brother in prison, he is the one inside the prison who arranges all our prison visits and also our communal call in on Saturday evening. He gladly ministers inside the prison to those he can and has a real desire to see the Word taught, learned and loved, in the prison.
We went to a beer festival a few weeks ago and had some great opportunities to hand out many copies of a book called betrayed, which tells the story of a man whose daughter comes to faith and as a result of trying to prove her wrong he came to faith also.
We had a group of 8 women who joined us for a few weeks of evangelism, one of them wrote a Journal (pdf). You can find out from this journal, what it’s like to be with us on a daily basis.
We do work with groups and individuals and if anyone is interested in an amazing evangelistic experience, please contact us.
Shortly we will be beginning a Bible study program with around 5 students, please pray for this experiment which will last for a few months, with much practical experience in evangelism.