Dear brothers and sisters! Greetings to you from Israel!
As is usually the case, the New Year presented us with both joyful and sad events. We witnessed the dirtiest election campaign in Israel in a quarter of a century. Also, the mother of our translator and musician in our church died after a serious illness. At the same time, our translator, Lisa, successfully passed her examinations to become a professional guide, which will enable us to expand our excursions into all parts of Israel.
During my last excursion, the couple that we were taking on the tour was from Lugansk, East Ukraine. Families that were wealthy in Ukraine are now living as refugees in Israel because of the war. This couple has found a temporary haven with relatives in Israel, but soon they will return to Ukraine to try to begin a new life in another city. They were discouraged because of all that has happened. They prepared notes to put into a slot in the Western Wall. In these notes they asked God to help them. When I became aware of what they had written, I opened the Bible and read:
“Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved”.
Psalm 54:23
I explained to Roman and Oksana (the couple to whom we were giving the tour) that they have no need to put notes in the Western Wall. Rather, they must believe that Jesus Christ is God and submit all of their cares to Him. I prayed for their return to Ukraine, and also for the end of the fratricidal war. I ask you to pray that they would believe in Jesus and devote their lives to following Him.
