Showing posts with label Arab Christians. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arab Christians. Show all posts

Thursday, December 14, 2017

MAOZ Israel Report - Supporting Arab Christians in finding their destiny - Ari & Shira Sorko-Ram


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SUPPORTING ARAB CHRISTIANS
IN FINDING THEIR DESTINY

1217 - Jeries - wide
  
As featured in the December Maoz Israel Report
 
My name is Jeries Zibani, and I am from Kfar Yasif. I grew up in a home of Israeli Arab believers and accepted Yeshua as my Savior in 2012 at the Nahariya congregation.

After finishing high school, I enrolled in the Biotechnology studies at ORT Braude College of Engineering in Carmiel.

My father was in a serious accident last April and suffered multiple breaks in his leg. He has many pins and braces in his leg, but it has not yet healed, so he is unable to work. I am working in a cafe all week long, plus helping our assistant in my father's aluminum workshop for no salary, just to keep the business going which supports my family. This is my first year of college, so I am working hard to keep up my studies.

I turned to IstandwithIsrael for help to cover my tuition which was beyond what I could pay.

I am grateful for your help, which allows me to continue my university studies and fulfill God's calling on my life. I want to emphasize that without IstandwithIsrael, I would not have been able to continue my studies. Again, thank you for your generous donation, I will have a better future.

I thank the IstandwithIsrael donors. You are a great blessing to the body of Messiah in Israel—Jews and Arabs alike. May your reward be great.

  
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Maoz Israel Ministries - US Office: PO Box 535788 Grand Prairie, TX 75053

Monday, April 3, 2017

'Voice of Hope' to Broadcast from Israel - CBN News Tzippe Barrow



Rev. John D. Tayloe, founder and president of Strategic Communications GroupRev. John D. Tayloe, founder and president of Strategic Communications Group
'Voice of Hope' to Broadcast from Israel
04-03-2017
CBN News Tzippe Barrow
JERUSALEM, Israel – The State of Israel took another step in its prophetic calling to be a light to the nations by licensing the Voice of Hope radio network to broadcast from Israel to Syria, Lebanon, Cyprus, Jordan, Egypt and Turkey.
By providing a radio broadcast frequency to the evangelical Christian network, Israel is helping Voice of Hope reach out to Arab Christians suffering intense persecution in many Middle Eastern countries.
Israeli Communication Minister Tzachi Hanegbi said the programming will be "an uplifting tool and a benefit to our neighbors."
"This radio station exemplifies the deep connection and unique bond that Israel has with the American people and between Jews and Christians. We are certain that the message of hope that will be brought by the station will be an uplifting tool and a benefit to our neighbors," Hanegbi said. "The State of Israel supports any message of peace to the people in neighboring countries and this is why we decided to support the reestablishment of the Voice of Hope."
CBN News has a special connection to the outreach.
In 1979, the late George Otis founded the Voice of Hope, which broadcast from southern Lebanon for nearly 20 years. Otis also founded Middle East Television (METV), which he later passed on to CBN.
When the Israeli military left southern Lebanon in 2000, METV relocated to Cyprus.
Today, Voice of Hope is owned and operated by Strategic Communications Group, a global evangelical radio network reaching Latin America and Africa.
Founder and President John Tayloe said the programming will feature Christian Arab presenters, Arabic Christian music, news, education, drama and inspirational messages.
"I am excited that this powerful Christian radio station was licensed by the State of Israel to deliver a message of hope and encouragement to the people of the Middle East," Tayloe said in a press release. "The Voice of Hope is established in support of Christians of the Middle East and is a gift of love from Christians in the United States and Canada."

Sunday, January 29, 2017

'The World is Anti-Israel and Anti-God' - Aviel Schneider ISRAEL TODAY

'The World is Anti-Israel and Anti-God'

Sunday, January 29, 2017 |  Aviel Schneider  ISRAEL TODAY
As the “Vicar of Baghdad,” he and his team helped provide Arab Christians and Muslims with food, medicine and education.
The full article appears in the February 2017 issue of Israel Today Magazine.
CLICK HERE to read it all
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Wednesday, August 31, 2016

The Joint Destiny Arab Christians and Messianic Jews Share - ASHER INTRATER/REVIVE ISRAEL CHARISMA NEWS


The ultimate destiny for Arab Christians and Messianic Jews is the same. (Flickr )

The Joint Destiny Arab Christians and Messianic Jews Share

ASHER INTRATER/REVIVE ISRAEL  CHARISMA NEWS

Standing With Israel
In the 1980s, there were a series of meetings between Arab Christians and Messianic Jews to express our unity as believers in Yeshua. In the 1990s, after the First Intifada and Gulf War (1991), Arab Christians and Messianic Jews in Israel began to deal with some more difficult issues in the light of political crises.
By 1995 some of the Arab Christians began to express their identity as "Palestinians," including their opposition to Israeli policy. Some of that identification led to more sensitive communication on the part of the Messianic Jews toward the Arab Christians; yet at the same time, it brought some difficult polarization on political and prophetic issues.
Reconciliation Should Lead to Cooperation
In the early 2000s, after many years of reconciliation conferences, some of us began to search for a better approach. We asked the question, "What happens after reconciliation?" After all, we are already reconciled by our faith in Yeshua. We realized that the next stage after reconciliation is cooperation.
After much prayer, we discerned that the first area of cooperation should be Muslim evangelism. We sought to support Arab Christians who were involved in evangelism to Muslims (and were doing so at great risk to their lives). These include many unknown and secret evangelists. They are heroes in our eyes.
In recent years, we have been entering a new depth in our relationships. Jerusalem Pastor Bassam Adranly has become a key leader here in Israel. David Demian, Egyptian-born Canadian leader of the Global Gathering movement, spent much of the last decade traveling throughout Chinese world, gathering a large number of Chinese Christians to pray for reconciliation between the "sons of Isaac" and the "sons of Ishmael."
As David brought many Arab and Chinese Christians, so did Marcel Rebai, who has spent many years in the Messianic community in Israel, help gather both European and Arab leaders. He has uniquely been a link of reconciliation between all three communities. With this emphasis on reconciliation, along with the prophetic praise and worship style of the Global Gathering conferences, I believe that we are entering a new era for relationship, worship, dialogue and cooperation between Arab/Middle Eastern Christians and Messianic Jews.
During one of the meetings in preparation for the 822 Conference in Jerusalem in November 2014, our brother Majdi (Egyptian pastor based in Jerusalem) expressed with tears, humility and courage, his desire as an Arab Christian to be symbolically "married" as a bride to us Messianic Jews as the bridegroom figure.
Majdi's proclamation brought an opening in the Spirit. I came forward as a representative Jewish believer. We embraced and cried together. At that point we Jewish believers began to confess our sins in a deep way, recognizing our pride today, and all the way back to the rejection of Yeshua 2,000 years ago. At that moment, it was as if a spiritual bomb went off in the room. David screamed, fell on the floor, and began to intercede.
There was a spontaneous outburst of tears and intercession from everyone in the room: Arab, Jewish, Asian, European ...
At the main assembly at the 822 Conference and a year later at the Global Gathering in Munich, David called the Arab and Jewish believers to the stage. The group of Messianic leaders knelt down on the stage and expressed a similar measure of confession and repentance. David and Bassam then led the Arab Christians in a response of commitment and covenant toward the Jewish brothers. They publicly made a "Ruth" vow: that "your people would be my people" and "your God will be my God" (Ruth 1:16).
For the Arab Christians to make this commitment not only to Yeshua as the Messiah, but also to the Jewish people, as Ruth did, represents to me a significant shift in the body of Christ. It was a re-alignment of historic proportions, because it was linked to international Christians from Asia, Africa, Europe and America as well. We realized that the "Ruth Paradigm" was not to be a rare and exceptional calling for a minority of Christians, but the primary and normative position for the body of Christ.
We are looking forward to participating in the next Global Gathering here in Jerusalem on November 7-11. Ariel, Marcel, Mike Niebur and myself will be attending another pre-Gathering event in London from Aug. 29 - Sept. 1. We will be joined by about 40 Arab/Middle Eastern leaders, as well as some core representatives from the International Team, especially from Asia. Please keep us in prayer, and we invite you to come and take part in this move of God in our day.
Asher Intrater is the founder and apostolic leader of Revive Israel Ministries, and oversees Ahavat Yeshua Congregation in Jerusalem, andTiferet Yeshua Congregation in Tel Aviv. Asher was one of the founders of Tikkun International with Dan Juster and Eitan Shishkoff, and serves on the board of the Messianic Alliance of Israel and Aglow International.
For the original article, visit reviveisrael.org.
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Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Father Naddaf: Israel the Only Country in the Middle East Where Christians are Safe By Tazpit Press Service - BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

Father Gabriel Naddaf (Photo: Facebook)

Father Naddaf: Israel the Only Country in the Middle East Where Christians are Safe


“My heart is toward the governors of Israel, that offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless ye Hashem.” Judges 5:9 (The Israel Bible™)
By: Tzvi Lev/TPS
Israeli Greek Orthodox Priest Gabriel Naddaf opened the Christians United For Israel (CUFI) Washington Summit on Monday by lauding Israel as the safest country for Christians in the Middle East.
“Today, there is just one country in the Middle East where Christians live in peace and security,” said Naddaf. “In Israel, they have freedom of speech and religion, they can exercise their faith freely, and they have democratic rights.”
Christians United For Israel, or CUFI,  is an American pro-Israel Christian organization and the largest such organization in the United States, with over 1.6 million members. The Washington Summit is being held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center from July 17-18 and features many pro-Israel speakers as well as a message by satellite from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Victory of Zionism in the Modern Age
“Israel is something we need to protect,” Naddaf continued. “We need to protect its freedom, we have to protect our home, and we have to protect the cradle of Christianity.”
Gabriel Naddaf, a resident of Nazareth,  is a priest and actively encourages Christian Arabs to enlist in the IDF. He has faced fierce criticism as a result, including threats to his family. Naddaf”s eldest son was physically assaulted in 2013 over what Naddaf attributed to opposition to his pro-military stance.
The Washington Summit has been ongoing from July 17-18 and featured a message from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu via satellite.

Friday, July 15, 2016

Israel Passes Law to Protect Christians in IDF - David Lazarus ISRAEL TODAY

Israel Passes Law to Protect Christians in IDF

Friday, July 15, 2016 |  David Lazarus  ISRAEL TODAY
The Knesset passed a bill this week designed to protect Arab Christians who enlist in the Israeli army.  The law, which includes an extended prison sentence for anyone who tries to dissuade a Christian Arab from serving in the IDF, became necessary in the face of stiff opposition and violent attacks against the Christian soldiers.
Much of the hostility towards the Christian soldiers comes from Arab members of Israeli Knesset. Knesset member Aida Touma-Suliman of the Joint Arab List attacked the bill during the debate. “They want to drag the Christian Arab population into volunteering for the army that is occupying their people,” she said. “We will try to suggest to our young people a path that is total pride and honor, and not to be part of any machine (IDF) that oppresses our people.”
There are over 130,000 Christian Arab citizens in Israel, a potential source of significant recruitment for the IDF. However, Arab Christian enlistment has been severely limited due largely to the threats and incitement against young Christians wanting to join the army. That appears to be changing as unprecedented numbers of Christians are enlisting.
Father Gabriel Naddaf, a Greek Orthodox priest who has advocated for a strong connection to Israel and IDF service for Christian Arabs, has also been threatened with violence, and even death. His 17-year-old son was attacked in Nazareth. The attacker was identified as an activist from the Arab Hadash party in Israel’s Knesset. Other Arab MKs have also condemned Naddaf, calling him “an agent of Zionism who seeks to divide Arabs.” 
Arab Knesset members present during discussions over a bill ultimately designed to end intimidation against fellow Arabs (albeit Christians) were extremely vocal in their opposition. MK Talab Abu Arar from the Joint Arab List told the plenum, “I, as a Bedouin Arab, call on all Bedouin Arab soldiers to throw away their uniforms … and to return to the struggle against racist policies (of the IDF) against Arabs in general and against Bedouin in the Negev in particular.”
It was a bold and dangerous decision by the Israeli government to encourage Arab Christians to enlist in the IDF. Now that the government has passed a bill putting into law protections for the Arab Christians who want to serve in the army, a clear message has been sent to the rabble-rousers stirring up violence between Jews and Arabs in the country;  they will be punished. 
Our prayer is that this bold message will contribute to greater integration and cooperation between the many Jews and Arabs who want to live together, and serve together, in Israel.
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Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Should Jesus Unite Mortal Enemies? - Tsvi Sadan ISRAEL TODAY

Should Jesus Unite Mortal Enemies?

Monday, February 15, 2016 |  Tsvi Sadan  ISRAEL TODAY
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is taking a toll on Messianic Jews and Arab Christians who, in principle, are supposed to follow Jesus' command to love one's enemy. 
The tension between Messianic Jews and Evangelical Palestinians has grown ever deeper with the appearance of the Christ at the Checkpoint conferences that promote a brand of Replacement Theology in which "Palestine" replaces Israel. 
Most Messianic Jews have boycotted these conferences for their blatant hate toward Israel, and for their aggressive theological efforts to delegitimize the existence of Israel as a Jewish state.
Some Messianic Jews, however, think that no matter what the circumstances, conflict between Messianic Jews and Evangelical Palestinians is intolerable and unacceptable. 
In an effort to resolve this conflict, a group of Messianic Jews and Evangelical Palestinians, most of whom are organizers of and participants in the caustic Christ at the Checkpoint conferences, met last month in Larnaca, Cyprus.
press release published on the website of the very same people who organize, draft and propagate the "Palestine is Israel" agenda, outlines the way in which people who hold diametrically-opposed theological positions can still live up to Jesus' command to love your enemy. 
The document proposes some practical steps aimed at expressing the unity that should exist between the two groups.
The document asserts that unity is possible on the basis of common ethical values: "...our unity in the Messiah must uphold ethical standards of life that are worthy of our calling." In order to live up to this standard the document calls for “a generous theological stance, which makes room for and respects the conscientious convictions of others that they sincerely derive from their reading of Scripture.” 
In other words, those drafting this document believe that sincerity alone if enough to validate irreconcilable interpretations of the same sacred text. Sincerity and goodwill supersede truth.
The document goes on to state that "we recognize that we hold very different theological positions regarding the land," yet "deplore those ways of speaking and acting that are incompatible with obedience to our Lord." 
Simply put, in this version of Christian righteousness, a Palestinian "brother" can maintain that "the establishment of the State of Israel as a catastrophe" and still be able to live in peace with Messianic Jews. Similarly, a Messianic Jew is expected to embrace those who are calling for his demise.
This conclusion is possible, but only if the Messianic Jews in question fail to see themselves as part of greater Israel, in which case they can tolerate the notion that Israel's rebirth was a catastrophe. 
If, however, Messianic Jews do see themselves as an integral part of Israel, this document is yet further evidence of a disturbing phenomenon wherein Jews in increasing numbers are embracing the destructive narrative of their enemies. Only in this case they are doing so in the name of Jesus.
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Saturday, August 29, 2015

The Christians of Israel: A Remarkable Group


The Christians of Israel: A Remarkable Group

 
Professor, Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver

Posted: Updated: 

In the nightmarish maelstrom that defines the Middle East today, there are few places of refuge for Christians. While Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Sudan and Libya are disintegrating and Egypt is embattled, the Christians are in dire trouble in a region that is increasingly Islamic radical.
Yet, abandoning the Middle East would be painful for most Christians. Jesus of Nazareth was born in Bethlehem, lived in the Galilee and was crucified in Jerusalem. Many Christian holy places from the Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Annunciation are in Jerusalem and others are in Israel or the West Bank.

In Iraq and Syria Christians face enslavement, torture, massacres and crucifixion at the hands of ISIS. ISIS sees them as the dread Crusaders who need to be destroyed or repressed. ISIS marks Christian houses with an N for Nazarene to single out their victims.

Unlike the Jews after 1948, the Christians have no state to go to. Only Lebanon could be a place of refuge but the Christian population has plunged in 100 years from 78% to 34% of the country.

In the 12 years since Saddam Hussein was overthrown by American military intervention, almost a million Iraqi Christians have fled Iraq or been killed. Barely 500,000 Christians remain behind. In Iraq Christians are less than 4% of the population but 40% of the refugees. In Syria, 30% of its 1.5 million Christians have fled the country.

The Arab Christians are further divided between Eastern and Western Churches in over a dozen denominations. In Lebanon some Christians support Hezbollah while others oppose the radical pro-Iranian Shiite group.

The Christian population, through low birth rate and massive emigration, has dropped from 20% of the Middle East in 1900 to 4% today and will drop to 3% by 2050. The stateless Christians, unlike the Jews after 1948, lack a military, secret police or government. Without a strong state or patron they are often hopeless in the face of repressive states or movements.

The United States and Europe, though heavily Christian, have provided little military protection or financial aid to the embattled Christians. President Obama won't even label ISIS as Islamic fundamentalist.

By contrast, the 160,000 Israeli Christians live as citizens in a democratic First World country with freedom of religion, rule of law and open elections. Christians can move anywhere, even building a number of churches recently in Tel Aviv. The government safeguards the Christian holy places and is lenient on the right of return of Christian refugees. Since 1967 Christian, Islamic and Jewish holy sites are open to pilgrims of all religions. The Christian churches own a significant part of Jerusalem, including the land on which the Knesset sits.

Their greatest problem often comes from the Muslims. Most Arab Muslims are relatively satisfied with Israel but a growing minority, especially in the north, is virulently anti-Christian, using physical attacks, provocative speech and seditious billboards. These radicals call the Christians, "the descendants of apes and pigs." While Bethlehem was once 90% Christian, today it is 65% Muslim.

After 2007 the Hamas takeover of Gaza led to the remainder of the Christians fleeing to the West Bank. While the Christian element in Israel dropped from 8.0% in 1910 to a projected 1.8% in 2025, the Christians plummeted from 11.6% of the West Bank and Gaza in 1910 to a projected 1.0% in 2025.

Today 60% more Christians live in Israel than in the Palestinian territories. A small new Christian party, B'nai Brith, calls on its youth to serve in the Israeli army and hundreds each year do so. Its leader, Reverend Nadaff, declares, "We love this country."

Israeli Christians have several problems. One is lacking the benefits given to Israelis who serve in the army. Another is the provocative defacing and vandalizing of Christian monuments and cemeteries by a group of radical Jews. Christians complain of the high cost of land and housing. Their small size and internal divisions make them a peripheral political force.

Outside of the Gulf States with over a million mainly Asian Christians laborers, Israel is the only place in the Middle East where the Christians are growing in number. They are excelling in education, doing well in business and feeling relatively safe from their radical tormentors.

In today's troubled Middle East, that is a remarkable feat.