An excerpt from Lura’s letter!

Shalom Friends!                                             Feb. 1, 2007

Thanks to your prayers and God’s grace, we have experienced a major victory in the Supreme Court of Israel.  We accept this victory in humility and with caution.  Read on and you will see why….

This past month:

After we wrote a check to the court house for the court costs incurred, our check was turned over to the Haredim by someone(?) and they tried to cash it.  The bank refused as it was not made out to them.  Instead the Haredim photo-copied the check and enlarged it, and have been parading around town showing it and claiming that we are criminals and we had to pay them.  The actual check was returned to us by messenger and I paid the court house directly, however, the Haredim are still boasting with their lies and slandering us to anyone who will listen.

Two weeks ago:

The Haredim have been requesting a police permit for 700 people to demonstrate outside Polly’s house in Arad and the Beersheva police turned them down.  The Haredim took the police to court and after more than a year of deliberating, the Supreme Court upheld the police decision and went a step further and denied the Haredim permission to demonstrate outside private homes at all.  They also said that a situation needs to be avoided where one group can harass another group and push them out of town.  We will soon post the decision in Hebrew and English on the website.  Legally, this is a major victory for the believers. 

However, the Haredim are not law-abiding citizens and feel no compunction to adhere to the court’s ruling. They are still demonstrating and ever since the verdict was handed down two weeks ago, they have been more aggressive and nastier than ever.  Since our Chess and Bible Shop is not a private home, we are feeling the brunt of their aggression a bit more than usual. They are trying to think up something more devious against the believers.  The Lord is our Defense in every way!

Today:

A side effect of this verdict has affected us personally as today we went to court again to answer one of the many false charges the Haredim have filed against Eddie.  The prosecutor dismissed this particular charge and we left the court in a jubilant spirit, thanking God!

We did not realize how discouraged our lawyer has been in fighting all these cases and not being able to win any of them, only to postpone them pending the outcome of the Supreme Court case.  Today his first words outside the court room were giving thanks to God.  We were able to sit down and talk with him and fully realize the depths of his depression about this case.  He is very encouraged now and ready to face the future cases.  We have another one on Feb 11.  We thank the Lord for renewing his strength and would appreciate your prayers for him.

Lately:

Some of the Habadniks (from the late Rabbi Schneerson’s group) have been getting angry at the Hassidei Gur group and telling them to stop making trouble.  Up until now, both groups were working together and now there is a split in the Habad group of ultra-orthodox Jews.  This is good and we pray that it continues to foster discussion about the believers.

Excellent News:  Pastor A* and his wife M* have joined hands with us and have been coming to Arad to minister to the Bedouins and other Arabs.  One of the Christian Arab couples has opened their home and invited him to begin a congregation; there are numerous Bedouin (Muslims) who want to come! They are responding to the love shown to them. The Lord has given us an open door here and we are walking through it!  Pray for them as they work with us to reach people in their own language! 

Not so good news: Once again an attempt was made to steal our van.  The thief managed to get under the hood and cut the alarm wires and even get inside the vehicle, but Praise the Lord for sleepless nights – apparently, the thief was scared off in the middle of the night – only the Lord can do that!  Eddie discovered the extent of the damage the following morning.  We were able to get it fixed for less than 500 shekels.  The Van is used every day in some capacity for ministry and we consider it a gift from God to help make Y’shua’s Name known!  We thank Him for protecting it!

Pray!  2000 copies of our Hebrew newspaper (Minute to Midnight) are being printed up and will be ready to be picked up next week.  We are hoping to be able to print the same edition in Russian.  We have it translated and laid out ready to print – we just need the funds for it. Pray as we distribute them! 

Pray for the Messianic community here – for jobs to be able to support their families, for health and strength, for the ability and courage to stand up for the Lord, for unity and love!

We pray blessing upon you!  For your interest and your prayers, your support in many ways and the encouraging notes some of you send – we thank you very much!  If you are able to come to Israel and help us for a couple weeks or a month or two, please write to us.   You are welcome!  In Y’shua’s Name, for His Glory, in His Love, Lura and Eddie, Arad, Israel