Outreach Report From Israel!

Bruce visiting the home of an Israeli resident of Kiryat Shmona  who endured weeks of Hezbollah rocket attacks. A katuysha rocket fell just outside her apartment, blowing out glass, but she and her family were unharmed!

"Comfort My People"Project
Mission Accomplished! 

REPORT FROM THE LEBANESE BORDER

Speeding along the narrow highway up the Jordan valley northward toward the Sea of Galilee, the stark moonscapes of the Judean hills were only occasionally interrupted by an oasis of bright-green date palm farms and small Arab villages. My long-time friend Yael, an Israeli police officer, deftly maneuvered the car, ever watchful of the looming threat of terrorist roadblocks. She knew this road well and also knew the risk we were taking. We were navigating along the Jordanian/Israeli border up the Jordan valley in that twilight zone known as the so-called "West Bank" territories, presently under "illegal occupation" by hateful Islamofascist Arabs.

Yael, our mutual friend Linda Miller from the U.S., and myself were on a mission to the north of Israel to bring aid and comfort to the beleaguered Israeli communities who had just endured nearly a month of rocket bombardment by Hezbollah terrorists. We chatted pleasantly while constantly scanning the sides of the road for any sign of roadside bombs or lurking terrorists, our eyes straining out of the windows. This was no cakewalk. I couldn’t help thinking about how being in this country so many times over the years had changed me. Even after returning to the relative safety of the U.S., I can’t help walking around in a heightened state of alert most of the time. Traveling these highways has proven fatal to number Israeli wayfarers in recent years. We trusted the Lord to bring us safely to our destination, but it was also comforting to know that Mr. Smith and Wesson was legally and discretely tucked away in Yael’s belt.

Having made this journey twice before, Yael had made several contacts in theGolan Heights and Kiryat Shmona. Before the journey she spoke with tears welling up of the suffering of people in these northern communities. "Some of the people were so shell-shocked by the daily rocket barrages..." she would say.”One old man just sat staring straight ahead and couldn't speak." Yael and her husband Kent, a medical Doctor inJerusalem, were well-acquainted with the constant strain of life inIsrael. Her compassion for her people was evident, and it was clear that their pain was hers. It became ours as well.

Up on theGolan Heights, we met with Steve and Shulamite and their beautiful family in their town of Katzrin. These precious believers set up three appointments with people in Kiryat Shmona who needed our help. After visiting with them in their home, we loaded up and went to a local market to buy supplies to bring to people in need.

Their community was a neatly laid-out patchwork of beautiful red-tiled homes situated high up on the Golan. The gardens, parks, and landscape were impeccable, with beautifully arranged flower gardens to feast the eyes upon. The vistas from this location were amazing, and you could almost see all the way down the slope to theSea of Galilee. I interviewed Steve, and you will definitely want to hear his heart when the video comes out.

Driving along the narrow, winding roads of the upper Galil, we crossed the narrows of theJordan River as it meanders down from the lofty peaks of Mount Hermon. The green vegetation along the river banks were delicious to the eyes in contrast to the dry hills surrounding.

Finally arriving in Kiryat Shmona, the first thing that I noticed was the extremely light traffic. Only a short time before, when the rockets were falling by the hundreds, these streets were empty. Now, since the cease fire, life was slowly returning to this city. People were warily reopening their businesses, and children were preparing to go back to school. With the threat of renewed rocket barrages that could begin again at any time, these people must walk in incredible courage. After over sixty years of living under the threat of annihilation by surrounding Islamic Arab States, Israelis are growing weary and impatient.

We met with some Lebanese Christians and their families in Kiryat Shmona. These folks fled across theIsrael border when Israeli forces withdrew from the buffer zone in southLebanon in 2000. Islamic Hezbollah murderers were indiscriminately killing, raping, and torturing the Christian Lebanese who were left behind. No one knows how many tens of thousands of innocent people were slaughtered by these Islamofascists.Israel granted many of them asylum inIsrael. This, of course, is virtually ignored by theWestern Media.

It was heart wrenching to sit in the homes of these people and hear their stories. How many of us in the West can grasp the terror evident on the faces of so many people in this region. Yet, there is a quality of courage and defiance against what they rightly discern as evil in their Islamic tormentors. The West is obsessed with the concept of “tolerance” and “human rights” as many coddle the Muslims flooding into our countries.

The Lebanese Christians witnessed what happened to their country when they extended their hands of friendship to the Islamic communities flooding into their nation in the late 60s and early 70s. The Muslims multiplied because of the wide practice of polygamy (many Muslim men had several wives and sired scores of children), while the Christians held to the “one man to one woman” ethic. Within a few decades, the Muslim population overwhelmed the political system as Islamic leaders began to be voted into positions of authority. As soon as the Muslims gained the power and numeric advantage, persecutions against the new Christian minority began, with huge numbers of Christians fleeingLebanon for the West and freedom. Eventually, the persecution became so rampant, Christian families were being stopped at roadside checkpoints by Muslim militias. In many cases, once they were determined to be non-Muslims, entire families were slaughtered on the spot.

Now,Lebanon is essentially an Islamic State, with radical Islamic groups like Hezbollah operating with impunity against all dissenters. WhenIsrael retaliated against Hezbollah and raidedLebanon, most of the expatriate Lebanese inIsrael and the West cheeredIsrael, and prayed that the war would overwhelm the Islamic forces that destroyed and pillaged their formerly beautiful and prosperous homeland. Certainly it was painful for them to see such destruction, but they understood the need for it.

As we left Kiryat Shmona and headed south back to Tiberius and theSea of Galilee, we passed the peaceful hills overlooking the sea where Jesus divided the loaves and fishes and fed the multitudes. I reflected upon the relative tranquility of this holy place as the sun slowly set behind the Judean hills to the west. I thought about the fact that one day, when the Messiah returns and establishes His kingdom, all the suffering and sorrow of this world will cease. My thoughts drifted back to the little Lebanese girls I met that day, and prayed softly that one day that such children will know no more fear, terror, or the sorrows of war. May it be soon Lord! Come quickly!

  A Christian Lebanese father and his  daughters , who fled Islamic tyranny to live in northern Israel

 

I went to Jerusalem,
and after staying there three days I set out during the night....
By night I went out through the Valley Gate toward the Jackal Well and the Dung Gate, examining the walls of Jerusalem....

(Nehemiah 2:11-13 NIV)

Take a walk with me through the streets of Jerusalem by night
and contemplate the heart of the Lord toward this ancient city and her people.
Just click the picture on the left and breath the cool night air.
Then, pray for the peace (shalom) of this special place.
 

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins.
A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the LORD ;
make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.
And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it.
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

 (Isaiah 40:1-5 NIV)  

"I have traveled and studied in Israel over twenty times in the past thirty years. I was present during the first Gulf War with Iraq. The present crisis is by far the most dangerous. Yet, we are moving into a time of amazing prophetic fulfillment just prior to the coming of the Messiah. This is NOT a time to turn our backs on the Jewish people or the nation of Israel!"