Shalom Friends!  There’s bad news and there’s good news! Dec. 5, 2008

Current Status of Israel:

1. Longer range rockets/missiles are regularly being fired from Gaza into Sderot and Askelon and surrounding areas in the Negev. (This is about 35 miles from us.)

Israel’s response is very controlled and sporadic. It is a difficult situation: trying to make peace with people who do not want it, yet protect your people from the constant rocket barrage.

2. The government leaders are without Y’shua, corrupt and we are between Prime Ministers. The current one is being indicted on various charges.

3. The extremist Jews are still making huge problems for the Israeli Police and Soldiers, the Palestinians and Bedouins in the Judean-Samarian areas. People are hurting one another on both sides every day.

4. The orthodox Jews are still waging war against the believers and involving the courts and government in their fight.

5. Hizbollah is perched on our northern border with 40,000 new rockets – this time with mustard gas…or so they boast.

6. The terrorist attack on Mumbai, India left over 170 people dead and several hundreds injured. nine of those people were Jews – six were Israeli Jews.

7. Iran is still threatening to wipe Israel off the map and they have missiles capable of reaching us and now they have enough nuclear material for a bomb and are making more.

People are hurting and very fearful.  That’s the bad news.

Here’s the good news!

The situation today is no different than when the prophet Habakkuk cried out to the Lord,

“How long, O LORD, must I call for help,

but  you do not listen?

Or cry out to you, "Violence!"

But  you do not save?

 Why do you make me look at injustice?

Why do you tolerate wrong?

Destruction and violence are before me;

There  is strife, and conflict abounds.

 Therefore the law is paralyzed,

And  justice never prevails.

The wicked hem in the righteous,

so that justice is perverted.” Hab. 1:2-4

The Lord answered him that war was coming and He was sending it. The end-time Judgment, the 2^nd Coming of the Lord Messiah, the Destruction of the Antichrist... God looks at the heart and knows how to cure the sinsickness which causes nations to fall. Read Chapter 4 and see the coming of the glory of the Lord! Then we can say with Habakkuk,

“Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity

to come on the nation invading us.

 Though the fig tree does not bud

and there are no grapes on the vines,

though the olive crop fails

and the fields produce no food,

though there are no sheep in the pen

and no cattle in the stalls,

 yet I will rejoice in the LORD,

I will be joyful in God my Savior.

 The Sovereign LORD is my strength;

he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,

he enables me to go on the heights.” Hab 3:16-19

War is overdue here. You can feel the tension in the air.

 But the tourist season has been wonderful – more and more tourists are coming and enjoying the Biblical sights and having prayer meetings and praise services and filming it all.  Life goes on….

Two believers from Beersheva and two believers from Haifa set up tables and passed out books and Bibles and free sandwiches. The police arrested them – put the Beersheva believers on house arrest for 5 days and expelled the Haifa believers from Beersheva for 15 days.  It’s perfectly legal to pass out books in Israel but at the end of the day, you get arrested anyway.

Dec. 2, we went to court to deal with two cases which the Judge had put together. We asked the Judge to separate the cases so that we may present evidence and bring witnesses.  So he did, and he set a court date for July 13, 2009.  This means we have to stay on house arrest until then.  In a couple months we can appeal the house arrest, but legally, we can do nothing until then. We do not know why we are on house arrest for this long period of time.  We do know that we are in the center of God’s will and that He is doing something. He has a plan and we are resting in that fact. He will make something good come out of this.

Perhaps the Lord wants us to focus our attention on believers outside the Land for a short period.  Right now, we are thinking and praying about what to do.  We are still paying for the last trip, so we are trying to get those bills paid off before we make any plans for another trip. We have been invited to several places in Europe, & perhaps we will be able to visit the USA also, Lord willing. Please pray for the following:

1.    The Lord’s will and guidance in our steps.

2.     Provision for present bills and for any future trip.

3.     Permission from the court to leave Israel for a short time.

All this is an idea and a prayer at this point in time – nothing is written in stone except the Word of God.  If you are interested in having us travel to your area and share with you or have a question-answer session, please write to us.

The Lord is working and keeping us close to Him. One of the results of being away from the action is objectivity.  It is easier to see the big picture. The Lord loves Israel and will bring her into a relationship with Him. We pity the Haredim because they are so very lost and are making enemies everywhere they go.  It’s really sad to see them arrogantly fighting against God’s Plan and yet claiming to represent Him. Please continue your prayers for their salvation.  Meanwhile their behavior actually drives people to us instead of away from us. Love shines in the darkness and Y’shua is magnified! Imagine how wonderful we feel when we witness or hear of one them turning to Y’shua!

 Many visitors have come to our home and we are continuing to maintain our witness among the police, the Judges, the lawyers and others along the path God has laid out for us. We thank you for your support both prayer and otherwise.  We pray that you, too, may rejoice in God our Savior who enables us to go on the heights! The little deer skips along the high canyon walls where it seems to be impossible to walk. God can do that with us, too!  God bless you as you JOY in HIM! Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah! Love in Y’shua, the reason for everything!

Lura