Spiritual Warfare and Territorial Spirits (~5.5 MB) - Moriel Ministries

Israel UpdateRuth NessimAnother month has taken wingsand flown by, each day full of unexpectedexperiences and opportufromlowers in theCJFM June 2007Shalom to all our dear Friends,esert....We could almost begin this month’sletter with the words of the Passover song,“Why was this month different fromall other months?” And the answer wouldcome back, “Because all other months arefilled with rushing from place to place,and this month found me in a hospitalbed for two weeks” I was admitted withhigh eye pressure after a botched cataractoperation, and remained until mysurgeon was able to do a laser treatment,which he hopes will solve the problem. Ishould know in about three weeks’ timewhether it has been successful or not.Meanwhile, the set-up is such, thatwith or without me, the meetings go on.I have a lady called Shoshana living inmy house. She kindly prepared the house,and the meeting was packed. Unfortunately,I spent my birthday in hospital,which was the meeting Saturday, so agood number of them came to visit afterthe meeting, and I was greatly cheered.Staying in hospital was not withoutits humor or its brighter side. Khalilcame to give me a summary of who hadcome to the meeting, and it turned outthat on that particular Shabbat, more Arabshad come than Jews or anyone else!Then Khalil turned to me and said, “ThoseArabs, they get everywhere!” (Khalilhimself is an ex Moslem waiting to gointo ministry) We had a good laugh. Butwhile I was relating this to Gideon of CJFMinistries, son Sammy, who was listeningon the loudspeaker, quipped, ”You’regoing to have to rename your organization,to “the Christian Arab Foundation!”In the next bed to me was a nurse whowas quite ill. One day her whole family,including her parents came to visit, andour Karen was also visiting me. Somehow,instead of having a private visit,we all became one happy family, chattingfreely to one another. At one point,the whole family had to go somewhere,and left the old mother alone with us.She fixed her eyes on us and said quitedeliberately, “I learned English in Tunisia,I learned it in a mission School. They did28 Moriel Quarterly • June 2007not pray to Mary, but only believed in Jesus.They were wonderful people” “Yes,”I said, “My husband visited such schoolsin Cairo and India, and they were run bythe Anglican Church. He loved them too.”Karen then asked her, “Did they try to teachyou their beliefs?” “Yes they did”, shesaid, “and I have loved Jesus since I wasfive years old” At this point Karen wentto sit next to her and said, “We also loveJesus, and there are thousands of Jews inthis country who believe like us” “What ablessed day this is,” she said, “that I camehere to meet you two. As soon as I sawyou, I knew there was a different spirit,and you reminded me at once of those Anglicanladies” She reads the Bible secretly,as her husband is against, but asked us tovisit her and have a meal with her, andbring Khalil with us, whom she also melater on. Her daughter also wants us to visither, which we will do next week. Whatamazed us, is that this dear lady has hadno fellowship for at least 65 years, (she isnow 77), and she was able to discern thatwe were believers, without a word beingsaid. Both Karen and I were astounded!Last Shabbat was a little sad, as wesaid farewell to Jim and Vera, refugeesfrom the Lebanon. After knowing them forsome years, it was with heavy hearts thatwe took our leave of them, as they go tofind a new life in Canada. Jim and familybrought to the meeting the biggest and mostdelicious chocolate birthday cake that wehave ever seen or eaten, made at home bya fellow Lebanese who lives not far fromus .It was difficult not to cry. And again westress, that in the Messiah, there is neitherJew, nor Arab, nor Lebanese, nor Gentile.God loves them all, and though our primarytask is to reach Jews, he is not unmindfulof all the others that make up the colorfulmosaic of peoples, which is this country.This week, we hope to baptize twonew Russian believers, a mother andher daughter. They have come a longaway, and still have much to learn, butare strong in their desire for baptismand to follow the Lord. Please pray forthem, as their life is far from easy.Shoshana, my former neighbour,and I continue to meet almost everyweek. Last week she treated me to a Chinesemeal. Next week we will return toour breakfast schedule. At the moment,her heart is shut to the things of God,at least outwardly, but there is always abreakthrough. One has to wait patiently.The two sick sisters are definitely not doingwell, and we have had to step backabout from them. Cindy visits us frequently,but is still sitting on the fence,and two other non believers come to themeetings quite frequently, but whetherthey take anything in, is anyone’s guess!Our Teacher will be leavingus for 6 weeks after the next meeting,and in his place we hope to havean Arabic Pastor, who has kindlyagreed to fill in for that period of time.There is one more thing. There isconstant talk of war. This time, it is notonly Hezbollah, but also maybe Iranwho is threatening to wipe us off themap, and Syria, which wants the GolanHeights (and Lebanon!). The townof Sderot has been rocketed from theGaza strip unmercifully for weeks, infact ever since Israel withdrew completelynearly two years ago. Rememberus in your prayers, as we get readyfor another round of bombings. Pray forwisdom for our government, which doesnot appear to be unduly blessed with it.Pray for us, as we prepare for this situation.Pray that all may be to the furtheranceof the Kingdom of God, and thespread of the good news of the Gospel.With greetings in Yeshua,From Ruth and the congregationDear Friends,