This
is actually a large wall poster that maps out the key places in Arad targeted
by the ultra-Orthodox Hassidei Gur sect's plans to take over the city. Now we
know from this recently exposed map why Arad has been our longest running
prayer focus story in the past 18 years of weekly summaries.
The following is the monthly report from the
Hebrew-speaking congregation in Arad which tells the story of this poster
recently falling into their hands, revealing just how organized the
ultra-Orthodox plan has been to take over Arad. The Messianic Hasdey
Yeshua
, or Mercy of Yeshua congregation calls this issue,
"The Power of Prayer"plus an update of developments since last Thursday, July 25th.
The Power
of Prayer | “Call to
Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do
not know.’ Jeremiah 33:3
Was this the “Master Plan?” The above poster came
into the hands of the believing community in Arad recently, although it’s not
new. It was meant to be a fund-raising tool for the Hassidei Gur (an extreme
ultra-orthodox faction) so that they would eventually be able to take over the
city.
The chart is a map of Arad. There are arrows
pointing to each neighborhood and bragging about how many Gur were already
living in them. But the most alarming thing is that it was inferred that many
of the public institutions were already “Gur Territory”. Each one is numbered.
Here’s a small sampling to give you an idea what was at stake and how your
prayers for us in Arad averted a possible catastrophe.
#6 a public bomb shelter #19 Arad public first aid clinic #21 Arad city-wide food co-op
The
public bomb shelter was illegally taken over by the Gur and renamed
“Beit Hassidim”. It was being used as a “place of prayer” and a yeshiva (study
hall). The public first aid clinic the
Gur were never in charge of but they clearly had targeted it and hoped to take
it over. The food store was meant as a cooperative for the whole city. The
store itself didn’t succeed and neither did the Gur’s plans.
And then there was #13, a new neighborhood that would have been built
by our national government as a solution for housing the burgeoning Gur
population.
These would have been low cost high rise
buildings whose very numbers would have guaranteed a Gur takeover (a
demographic takeover as it would have made place for many more of the sect to
move to Arad). But there was one caveat: the plan needed the approval of the
mayor.
It is our best estimate that the time this takeover chart was published and
distributed was toward the end of the former mayor Tali's tenure. You may remember this prayer request from April 2015:
________________
________________
Please pray for the mayoral election in Arad, 2
June, 2015 |
Background: Our former mayor was a secular Russian woman who was elected
in part because of her promise to “do favors” for the ultra-orthodox, something
which made life difficult for the believers here in the city. In the recent
general elections this woman was promoted to serve in the Knesset and there
will be special election on June 2nd to choose someone to take her place as
mayor. This is a crucial time for Arad.
One candidate wants to build up the financial base of the city and attract businesses to the area. He also has expressed the belief that all the citizens of the city are equal before the law. In the previous mayoral election in which he was a candidate, he was approached by the ultra-orthodox to “work with them.” His response was, “Sorry, Arad is not for sale!”
One candidate wants to build up the financial base of the city and attract businesses to the area. He also has expressed the belief that all the citizens of the city are equal before the law. In the previous mayoral election in which he was a candidate, he was approached by the ultra-orthodox to “work with them.” His response was, “Sorry, Arad is not for sale!”
The acting mayor, who is
himself ultra-orthodox, is also running in the election. His agenda is to chase
businesses away from the city, drive housing prices down and thus make secular
people leave, opening the door for more and more ultra-orthodox to move in.
We know the Lord’s will is going to be done and are willing to accept
that, whatever it is. Again, we declare that the ultra-orthodox are not our
enemies. They are our brothers and sisters who as yet don’t know their own
Messiah. Please pray for them!
________________
We requested urgent prayer for the elections. You prayed and God miraculously intervened. The political outsider named Nisan Ben Hamo, who was born here and simply loves the city, refused to make a deal with the Gur (the first time that had ever happened), and he won with a 72% to 28% plurality.
The Gur
tried one last ditch effort to take over the city, and during the regular
election in 2018, a Likud candidate entered the race. He promised the Gur three
key positions should he win: Deputy Mayor, Finance and Housing. Bibi Netanyahu was backing
this candidate and came to Arad to promote him.
Again we
requested urgent prayer for the elections. Again you prayed...and again God
miraculously stepped in. Praise God! Despite
voter fraud perpetrated by the Gur, Nisan won again, this time with 64%. The
so-called Gur “Master Plan” never came to fruition. Not only did Mayor Nisan
refuse to build the new neighborhood planned by the national government, but
also stopped the illegal use of bomb shelters as yeshivas, stores, etc. The
Gur are furious, but the residents of Arad are thankful.
UPDATE: What I didn’t know when I sent the newsletter out on Friday was that
this whole thing had started up again on Thursday. That’s when the Gur rabbi
and some of his followers physically broke into a public bomb shelter and
changed the locks. Their intent was to make it a yeshiva. They said they
changed the locks so they wouldn’t be disturbed in their studies.
The law says that if someone breaks into a
property, the owner has 30 days to evict them without needing a court order. So
when the municipality came on Friday to throw them out, they not only resisted,
they had the police to back them up. Meanwhile on Friday night crowds of Gur
were milling around outside the shelter cursing at neighborhood residents.
The mayor did get a court order for their
eviction, which included a 15,000 shekel fine to the rabbi. The rabbi proceeded
to lock himself into the shelter and took the case to the Supreme Court. They
sued the mayor, the municipality and the Israeli police. They lost again this
time with a 20,000 shekel fine.
It’s not
over yet. We have no idea how long this will drag out. We want to thank all of
you who have taken our city into your hearts and have faithfully prayed for us.
Please continue to pray for Mayor Nisan and the prosperity of Arad, both
physical and spiritual.
Post Script from Arrows: One important
element of this account that I don't want you miss seeing. Notice the role that
Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party played in throwing their backing into
the corner with the ultra-Orthodox instead of for the rest of the citizens of
Arad, including the Messianic Jewish believers who have been hotly persecuted
for years in Arad by the ultra-Orthodox.
This is not a fluke and it is something that every Christian praying for the upcoming Israeli elections needs to grasp. I love Netanyahu, and I know many of you do also, but the truth is Netanyahu is so beholden to the religious parties to remain in power, that he does too many favors for them which hurts the general population and actually endangers the Messianic Jewish believers. When the religious have great power, the persecution of the believers becomes great.
Some glibly say, 'Well, where there is persecution, the Gospel flourishes!' Fine. When you are standing in the level of persecution the Israeli ministries experience, then come back and tell us that again. I believe the right position in prayer to take is that God will protect Israel in the coming election, AND that He will do it in a way that protects the believers of Israel so they may continue to share their faith freely among their countrymen. I know I place more value on seeing that come out of the election in September than I do in seeing Benjamin Netanyahu elected again. I hope you can see the spiritual ramifications of all that has been shared in this cover story. - Donna Diorio
This is not a fluke and it is something that every Christian praying for the upcoming Israeli elections needs to grasp. I love Netanyahu, and I know many of you do also, but the truth is Netanyahu is so beholden to the religious parties to remain in power, that he does too many favors for them which hurts the general population and actually endangers the Messianic Jewish believers. When the religious have great power, the persecution of the believers becomes great.
Some glibly say, 'Well, where there is persecution, the Gospel flourishes!' Fine. When you are standing in the level of persecution the Israeli ministries experience, then come back and tell us that again. I believe the right position in prayer to take is that God will protect Israel in the coming election, AND that He will do it in a way that protects the believers of Israel so they may continue to share their faith freely among their countrymen. I know I place more value on seeing that come out of the election in September than I do in seeing Benjamin Netanyahu elected again. I hope you can see the spiritual ramifications of all that has been shared in this cover story. - Donna Diorio
Arrows from Zion
Summarized from the Weekly Summary of Prayer Requests Israeli Ministries by subscription only donna@israelprayer.com
Summarized from the Weekly Summary of Prayer Requests Israeli Ministries by subscription only donna@israelprayer.com
Our first ministry prayer request this week also involves the persecution
of a ministry couple in Israel Pochtar's Ashdod Beit Hallel congregation. His
co-pastor Eitan "In previous times the persecutions that Pastor Eitan has
faced mainly involved intimidation, slander, threats and defamation of
character from the orthodox Jewish community, but now that persecution has
taken on a new face. The Israeli Ministry of Interior is now refusing to grant
Eitan's wife, Julia, Israeli residency and an Israeli ID because of their faith
in Yeshua, despite Eitan being an Israeli citizen." A widower, Eitan
received social security payments after his wife died a few years ago, but now
the Interior Ministry claims he "forfeited his wife's pension money after
he remarried. Now they are demanding that he retro-actively pay back every cent
of the pension that he has received after the passing of his wife Shelly. This
claim amounts to about 28,000 shekels. Shortly afterwards the IRS also got on
the bandwagon and demanded that he retro-actively pay taxes on the pension
money that he has received in that time, amounting to about 5,800 NIS." CLEARLY
this is unjust persecution because of their faith in Yeshua. Please pray for
breakthrough...and also "Pray with us also for Pastor Eitan's outreach and
humanitarian projects in the city of Kiryat Gat, as he brings the gospel to
this city."
Pochtar asks for prayer also "for our ongoing battle to get our
final occupancy permit, we're experiencing severe opposition, we know it's a
spiritual battle and we need all the prayer warriors we can get." More of how God is moving in the Pochtar's
ministries is found in the Weekly Summary, which you can subscribe to by
contacting arrowsfromzion@gmail.com - or by directly connecting with Voice of Judah
Ministries.
Daniel and LuAnne Sayag, who lead the Carmel Congregation on Mt Carmel,
write about what it means to "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem." . . .
"Often the challenge that we face is a lack of peace within our nation and
without....when a person comes into a right relationship with God, then he can
be at peace with others. Before I knew Yeshua, I didn't like Arabs, but when
Yeshua came into my life, God gave me a supernatural love for the Arab
people. I know that the same thing has
happened to some of my Arab brothers towards the Jews. Recently we experienced
riots in Israel after an Ethiopian Jew was killed by a police officer. This
incident was a trigger for years of pent-up feelings of discrimination. We also
had more riots due to the abuse of children in nursery centers, and as we
approach our upcoming election in September, we have never seen such rivalry
between politicians. We have great
tension at our borders right now and the sense that a war is just a matter of
time. I want to encourage you to pray for the peace of Jerusalem; pray for the
salvation of Israel"
The Carmel congregation also appreciates the prayer for on-going
outreaches and ministries on Mount Carmel, including the Medabrim Media
outreach (The Great
Jewish Leader, Part 1 and Part 2
|Their Shabbat messages, posted each
on their website. [This week on
Facebook LuAnne shared: "Not prejudiced, but Dani gave the best message
I've ever heard on David and
Goliath yesterday" |Ministry abroad with Pastor Peter in heavy travel this
summer, Colin Mitchell in the UK in Aug and Karen Davis in the US in August.
Ron Cantor of Messiah's Mandate is currently traveling in the US but was
so excited to see the long awaited renovations at Tiferet Yeshua congregation
in Tel Aviv are finally well underway. They will now be equipped to seat more
people and also to do live streaming in Hebrew to Israelis no matter where they
are. Ron also writes about their Feed Tel Aviv humanitarian outreach that Moti
Cohen is leading in outreach to drug addicts, prostitutes, and the homeless in
Tel Aviv’s red-light district. They also work with the Tikkun-related rehab
center in Jerusalem Beit HaYeshuah (House of Salvation), and another Tikkun-related non-profit in south Tel
Aviv called Kitepride which takes former prostitutes and give them full-time
jobs in their factory where they take old kite-surfing material and turn them
into all kinds of product, from gym bags to laptop covers. These ministries are
linked up to work together to change REAL LIVES. This is what cooperation
between ministries looks like.
Chuck Cohen of Intercessors for Israel in Jerusalem files ICI Friday
Prayer Points July 26, 2019 Click for
the full online version including the topics of The Election and Electorate,
Iran, Hezbollah, Gaza, two anti-Israel/anti-semitic Democrat congresswomen
(Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar)arriving in Israel soon, PA president Abbas
threats, and Aliyah.
Karen Royel files this report for KehilaNews.AllIsrael.com/ about
the Aliyah Return Center: Unconditional
love in uncompromising faith The vision for ARC is
ever-expanding, and Malespin and the rest of the staff look to the future. With
more buildings to restore and an ever-expanding number of residents and
volunteers, the Aliyah Return Center is turning the soil for what comes next.
Also from the ARC ministry letter, Chaim Malespin sends this VIDEO challenge Two Buildings need to be renovated by September. Will you come and help us? The VIDEO is a 360° video which to follow Chaim to get the full view, you need to click and drag your mouse to the left. (These video files are huge, so it may take some time to load if you don't have a fast connection) But that's pretty cool, right? | Chaim is about to depart for the UK August 1-12 with dates in Leicester, Notting Hill, Scotland, and Cirencester Get more info at workingtogetherforisrael@gmail.com
Revive Israel shares an article by Cody Archer Shame of
Nakedness about "the full exposure of a human
body is more and more being accepted as normal and ok. As followers of Yeshua,
we need to push back against this deception". Also Cody with Samuel
Whitefield VIDEO Son of Man
– Why Did Yeshua Use This Title? | Asher Learn from My Mistakes VIDEO
Intellectual
Wisdom. . . .and for good measure I am throwing in this video on
the Revive Facebook from Asher at the Israel, the Church and the Coming Revival Conference in Texas, Nov
2018. I especially liked what he told
about the return of the sons and daughters who had wandered from faith - how we
are going to get them back! Amen! I believe that is something we all have a
deep desire to see God do among us. Not one precious soul from among our
children would be lost.
Sally Shiff who is an intercessor and representative of the Kfar Saba HaMaayan
congregation observes that "God is bringing in the harvest bit by bit, but
significantly different than in the past." She writes about a 'walk
up' - a man drawn to the door of her home group while they were worshipping and
has now become a regular in the group. Also, how a girl in the neighborhood she
met through her dog is also coming to the home group. They came, they saw what
they liked and they keep returning! Hallelujah! This is how the witness is
going forth in Israel, it is up close and personal. Sally's leg has been healed
enough that operations are off the table and she is readying herself for her US
speaking tour which starts in October in NYC and goes mainly through the
southeast. She also has a book looming in her future, on how to pray for
Israel. More details to follow.
Maoz Ministries Shira Sorko-Ram writes Miracles
of the Yom Kippur War (Golan Heights Part 2) (Part
1). Also I am throwing in this excellent acticle Shira posted on Facebook
the other day: As an
Israeli, Why Do I Pray for America? | Modern-day Israel continues
to survive and flourish through endless attacks of our enemies, because the
Lord promised to always protect her. But He also promised a spiritual salvation
for the Jewish people, and this is why Maoz Israel exists! Support
the Gospel in Israel
David Lazarus at Israel Today
has two articles of great interest: Lady
Liberty and the Biblical Deborah and New Film Depicts
Daring Rescue of Ethiopian Jews about how the Israeli Secret
Service, or Mossad, smuggled thousands of Ethiopian Jews into Israel using a
deserted holiday retreat in Sudan as a front. Watch the trailer
Avi Tekel who pastors the Tents of Mercy (Ohalai Rachamim) congregation
in Kiryat Yam writes, "The summer here began on a tragic and difficult
note. On July 3rd a young Ethiopian Israeli was killed by an off-duty police
officer. All of Israel was caught up in the grief and anguish caused by his
death – expressed through riots and protests throughout the country. It is a
reminder yet again of the complexity and depth of the culture here, in which
lots of buried issues are periodically brought to the surface. As an
Ethiopian-Israeli citizen, this event touched me deeply. I have been reflecting
on what occurred, but can only hope and pray that suffering will bring together
as a nation. Israel has a tendency to blossom in crisis. So, I ask for your
prayers for comfort and for peace even in the midst of cross-cultural conflict.
Avi also shares the recently produced Kids in
Song video of their children’s music group to give you a taste of what the children have been
doing. He writes, " We are intentional about investing in our children and
see in them our future worship leaders and songwriters. So please keep this
project in prayer." Also he writes that the kid's camp just wrapped up and
the national teen conference Katzir is set to start first week of August.
Prayers please for all involved.
Afterwards the congregation will set itslef to be preparations for the
fall outreach of food distribution for Rosh HaShana. They are distributing to
600 families but want to reach twice as many. Will you help?
The 10th anniversary of the HaTikva Project is what is on Evan Levine's
mind. He and wife Elisa were planted in Israel in 2009 by Promise Keepers and
" began offering benevolence to the poor saints in Jerusalem. This soon
developed into our benevolence ministry, HaTikva Aid, which has met the
financial needs of hundreds of families." Now they also have launched two
evangelistic dental clinics (a great need in Israel since dental expenses are
not part of their medical coverage), and also Hatikva Families support and
facilitate adoption and foster care in Israel. This is a ministry that God has
been blessing greatly. Learn more
Avner Boskey has this word Two
hearts beat as one online, writing "In my travels I sometimes bump
into perspectives which sidestep God’s biblical choosing of Israel. At times it
sound like some of these teachings concentrate on anything but what the
Scriptures teach concerning Jacob, anything but God’s radar love for the Jewish
people." He asks, "How should we then pray? Pray for an increased
revelation to come to many Yeshua-believers about God’s passionate heart for
Israel. Pray for an increase of teaching about Israel which reflects YHVH’s
heart for the Jewish people. Pray for Messiah Yeshua to be revealed to and
accepted by many hungry Jewish hearts. Pray for the raising up of Ezekiel’s
prophetic Jewish army throughout the earth. | Your prayers and support hold up
our arms and are the very practical enablement of God to us in the work He has
called us to do."
Urgent HEALING Needs: Life and Death is
in the power of the tongue
Please keep in prayer these Israeli ministry leaders
and believers with urgent health needs
CONTINUE to PRAY for the urgent healing needs of Jacob
Damkani | Ronit Bender sends this
update: My cough is gone mostly, my heart
valve is still leaking but my lungs are
fine. I totally have peace about my
health, although it is far from great. I
still appreciate prayer, as I need it. I am very grateful they let me travel in October and
November both to Australia and Holland. Please continue to pray for Ronit | Martin Sarvis has undergone
arthroscopic surgery and is now in the healing process and physiotherapy. | Shlomy Abramov of Awake Israel, because
of a condition where blood does not flow to his legs as it should, was advised
by a specialist in case of injuries, he could lose his leg because of the blood
flow issues. Shlomy has to wrap his legs daily because of the blood flow
issues. Please pray for Shlomy | Ruth
Nessim has recovered from a strong 2-month bout with Sciatica, but her most
critical prayer need which she says may required an operation. Please pray for
Ruth in Nahariya| Olga Bikas’s
health condition that seems to have become chronic, with no hope from the
doctors for any improvement in the future. This, no doubt, puts an additional
emotional and physical burden on our family. Please pray for her acute back
pain. | Rania Sayegh asks for prayer
of restoration of strength, energy, and complete healing.
Donna Diorio
donna@israelprayer.com or donna@d10r10.com
THANK YOU to those who have considered this ministry worthy of financial support. Donations appreciated | paypal.me/DonnaDiorio Or by postal mail make donations payable to the order of Donna Diorio
P O Box 111302 Carrollton, Texas 75006
I do not have tax exempt status.
