MAOZ ISRAEL REPORT - April 2017 - Ari & Shira Sorko-Ram

April 12, 2017  Follow Maoz Israel Ministries               ANTI-SEMITISM: WHERE DID IT COME FROM?        By Shira Sorko-Ram         When I moved to Israel in 1967 right after the Six Day War, I became aware of a cultural sensitivity far removed from the consciousness of the people of Texas, where I grew up.       Very soon, I noticed that literally all Israelis were hypersensitive to any criticism of Israel. Immediately, the first words on their lips seemed to be “anti-Semitism.” It was a knee-jerk reaction from politicians, pundits and the man on the street whether they were conservatives, religious or liberals.       No wonder! 1967 was only a mere 22 years after 6,000,000 Jews were massacred in a way that had never been seen before since the beginning of time. Whole families, communities and even towns were utterly wiped out. There was hardly an Ashkenazi Jew (whose family had come from Europe or Russia) who hadn’t lost close relatives in that Holocaust...Read the article...

TRUMP, GOD AND ISRAEL - MAOZ ISRAEL

Donald Trump on the campaign trail with his family. Left front: Son-in-law and daughter, Jared and Ivanka Kushner.
Jared comes from an observant Jewish family. Ivanka converted to Judaism. Right: Wife Melania Trump.

TRUMP, GOD AND ISRAEL

MAOZ ISRAEL Monthly Report: January 2017
Tevet - Shevat 5777
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By Shira Sorko-Ram

I remember sitting with a group of about 12 Israeli Messianic leaders in Jerusalem at the invitation of CBN’s Pat Robertson in 2003.

Pat had invited us to give him our perspective concerning the state of the Messianic Jewish body in Israel - its progress and challenges in that still nascent stage of bringing the Good News to our Israeli people.

Afterward, Pat asked us our opinion of George W. Bush’s presidency. We answered in general terms that we were happy to have a U.S. president who professed to be a Christian and who seemed to have some understanding of the importance and needs of the Jewish state.

Pat responded that he felt Bush was in for a great fall because he was the first president to advocate a division of the Land of Israel with the Arabs.

I remember I was stunned. True, the Book of Joel says that God will enter in judgment “on behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel” with those who “have divided up My land.” (Joel 3:2) And everybody who reads the Bible knows God promised the land of Israel to the people of Israel multiple times. That’s why both the people and the land are called Israel in the Bible.

But, on June 25, 2002, President George W. Bush declared “…the United States of America will support the creation of a Palestinian state…”

There is no doubt in my mind that when God said, “I will bless those who bless you” (i.e., Abraham and his descendants), He meant it. It is clear to me that one of the principle reasons America is still the number one superpower in the world and is a nation where people all over the world dream of living, is the American people’s unique relationship with the people of Israel. And the backbone of this alliance has been the Bible-believing Christians together with the Jewish American community.

But as today’s younger generation becomes ever more secular (pagan), the love for the people who gave the world the Bible is weakening. Furthermore, as American Jews become more secular, their love for the state of Israel is also waning.

There is no other nation in the world that could take America’s place in its support for Israel emotionally and financially. If America’s support dwindles, Israel will still survive because the Bible says so. But at what cost? The Israeli media continually discusses the threat of Hezbollah’s 100,000 missiles trained on this tiny nation. Israeli military leaders are all preparing for the next war against Iran via Hezbollah.

And all Israel is waiting with baited breath to see what the new President Donald Trump will do.

Read: FULL MAOZ ISRAEL REPORT

Happy Hanukkah from Maoz Israel! - Ari & Shira Sorko-Ram

From all of us at Maoz in Israel and around the world -
Happy Hanukkah! 

May the Lord bless you and your family with His light and love.









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

MAOZ ISRAEL REPORT - December 2016 - Ari & Shira Sorko-Ram

December 7, 2016  Follow Maoz Israel Ministries                A TESTIMONY OF A GENTILE CHURCH STANDING WITH ISRAEL                  I have never lived farther than five miles of where I live today. As a fifty-year-old man I have watched my home, rural Johnson County, Texas, change from a farming community to a growing suburb south of Dallas/Ft Worth. In all my young days, I had never placed a value on the importance of standing with Israel. It wasn't a part of our southwestern culture. However, when I became a follower of Jesus, all of that changed. I learned very quickly that I am not just a resident of Texas but a resident of heaven who lives in Texas. If I was going to follow Him, Israel would have to become big in my heart.           That was in 1986 and I was only 19 years old. Nine years later, my young wife and I founded a church we called Open Door. We modeled it after the church of Philadelphia in the Bible, because we were sort of born breach. We started off as a food outreach and then later started church services. Our heart for reaching the lost, feeding the hungry and helping the hurt was a primary emphasis and continues today at Open Door. Our food bank became very successful and before we even realized it, we were responsible for over 1700 orphans in seven different orphanages on 4 different continents—all this from a church of less than 200 people.        Like any breach birth, there was a very scary and painful time. With such a small and poor congregation, we struggled to maintain these ministries and creatively met our financial obstacles. Leanna and I mortgaged our home seven times between 1995 and 2011 in order to grow our food bank and maintain our orphanages. There was no financial victory in our church for over 16 years. We literally were in survival mode and many times without even the basics of electricity. All the while, we fed tens of thousands of people every year and cared for thousands of children throughout the world. Read the article...

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

THE MIRACLE OF ISRAEL Monthly Report: November 2016 MAOZ ISRAEL

THE MIRACLE OF ISRAEL
Monthly Report: November 2016  MAOZ ISRAEL
Tishrei - Cheshvan 5777
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Damascus Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem where Solomon's Temple once stood, which is now occupied by Muslim mosques.

The scriptures say that Jerusalem is "The City of David, which is Zion."
The Lord "Has chosen Zion, He has desired it for His dwelling."
"The Lord will reign over them on Mount Zion from that time and forever."
"He has said, 'I am exceedingly zealous for Jerusalem and for Zion.'"
"For God will save Zion, and rebuild the cities of Judah."
The UN and almost all the nations of the world have other plans for Jerusalem.


Excerpts from message given at Pastor’s Conference “One in Messiah” in Jerusalem.

For many pastors in the Western democratic countries, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict raises issues not easy to solve. In churches large and small, an important part of their members are young, vibrant and active millennials.

Millennials, as we all know have a passion for justice for all things and all peoples. And they attend universities which advocate and promote the Palestinian narrative.

Therefore, these Christian millennials who innocently want to help Palestinians, end up buying into a very anti-Israel Islamic agenda - of which, in reality - they have nothing in common.


The city with the largest Jewish population in the world is just over a hundred years old.
It has been built while fighting off numerous wars from its powerful neighbors
numbering 330,000,000 Muslims whose primary aim was to annihilate Israel and throw its people into the sea.

Today in Israel, you can walk right out on the street, stand on the public square and declare your faith in whomever you please, with no fear of being arrested, much less tortured or killed.

The same thing cannot be said of any Islamic country surrounding Israel. You cannot even speak freely in Islamic-dominated Bethlehem. There is one Arab church in the town where the Messiah was born whose pastor stands in every way with Israel’s Biblical right to have a Jewish state in the Holy Land. His church has been set on fire 14 times; he has been shot and his life threatened numerous times. No one in this Palestinian-governed area has been arrested for this travesty on religious freedom.

In Israel, if someone attacks a person or building because of religion, he is arrested and convicted and jailed. That includes Muslim or ultra-Orthodox Jewish extremists.

But in Islamic states, Christians are not just being discriminated and harassed - they are being exterminated. Under ISIS, Boko Haram, El Shabab, they are sold into slavery, raped and executed.

In fact, Israel is the only society in the Middle East where Christian communities are thriving and growing. Israel has given asylum to Bhai from Iran, Christians from Darfur and Christians from South Lebanon. This is not a coincidence.

Am I saying that Israel is a complete utopia? Absolutely not. We have our struggles. But still we are a strong democracy, with more freedom of religion than any other nation in the Middle East. In fact, we were the first Middle East nation to grant Muslim women the right to vote, and we have the freest Arabic language press in the Middle East.

To borrow a statement from Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech before Congress last year, there are only 1.5 million Arabs out of the 330,000,000 Arabs in the Middle East (less than 0.5%) who live in democracy, and all of them reside in Israel!

Israel is far from being perfect. We have major issues we need to deal with, but we have the same DNA as Western democracies.

All those values are the opposite of Islam. Israel is not what’s wrong with the Middle East. It’s what’s right with the Middle East!
THE ROOTS OF ISRAEL’S LEGAL CULTURE

Just as the West has Judeo-Christian roots, the Jewish culture is built around the Mosaic Law. In Moses’ last will and testament, which we call Deuteronomy, he gave clear instructions regarding political leadership. In a word, this is God’s idea of an ideal government.

Chapter 17 says that after we have conquered the land, we should choose [i.e. elect] a king from among our brothers. This king should:

not have many horses;
not have many wives;
not have much money;
not be chosen among the Levitical priests.

Translated into modern vernacular, the king should:

not be a (authoritarian) father figure of the nation;
have limited military power;
have limited diplomatic power;
have limited economic power;
have separation of religion and state.

In other words, he is not to be a dictator as were the tribal fathers of the surrounding nations. Reasonably, the power of his army must be strong enough to protect his people, but not to dictate the daily life of his subjects.

In ancient civilizations, kings strengthened diplomatic relations by marrying the women of surrounding rulers. But that was not to be in a God-centered nation.

The head of the government was not even supposed to amass great sums of money under his control. And the king was never supposed to take on the duties of the Levites. In other words, he himself was not to create a state religion under his authority.

In short, the Hebrew king is everything but your normal king. Dictators were not on God’s agenda.

The founders of the American republic were Christian Puritans who looked at the Mosaic Law as the basis of creating a free society with limited government, separations of powers and separations of religion and state.

We who are living in this century have drifted far away from actually trusting God to protect our nations. But the fact is that God promised He would protect a God-fearing nation that was following Him:


“The Lord shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you: they will come out against you one way and will flee before you seven ways.” Deuteronomy 28:7

The glory for a prosperous and protected nation belongs to God, not man. This principal can be seen when the Lord told Gideon to send his large army home, and called for only 300 men to fight a fierce battle. Victory came as a result of God’s intervention. At other times, the Lord gave instructions to Joshua how to defeat Jericho, and he told David to attack only when he heard the marching feet of an angelical army in the trees! God always wanted Israel to remember that it is He who brings victory.

Obviously, the purpose of pointing out God’s way to victory and prosperity to a nation under attack is not to create an unreal, fanciful ideal for modern warfare. However, the truth is, if God is called on by a nation’s rulers and citizens, and they pray and seek God’s face, He will heal the land and bring victory.
A MODERN-DAY MIRACLE

Actually, there are constant reports of miracles taking place to protect this young tiny state. If God were not keeping His promise to resurrect the ancient nation of Israel and protect it from annihilation, the Jewish state wouldn’t last a day.

Most of the Israeli people do not yet know the God of Israel and His Son, the King of the Jews. But God has made a solemn promise that when he brings the Jewish people back to the land of Israel, He will also bring them back to the God of Israel.

Last spring, the Israeli news carried a story about a certain rabbi who went down to the border between Israel and Gaza, and prayed for God’s help against the enemies of Israel. He prayed that the attack tunnels Hamas was digging would collapse. And lo and behold, since his prayers, nine tunnels have collapsed.

Israeli media wrote: “As Hamas blames everything from Israel to Egypt to bad weather for the collapse of their terror tunnels, the true source may be a lone rabbi with enough faith to bring down the tunnels with the power of prayer.”


“Hamas has invested millions of dollars and much of its manpower into building its network of terror tunnels, used to deadly effect against Israel in the last war in 2014, under the Gaza-Israel border. However, despite all the concrete and effort…in the last two months, nine tunnels have collapsed, leading tunnel workers to refuse to continue digging. Earlier this week, a high-ranking Hamas officer was killed in a tunnel collapse, bringing the total number of militants killed in tunnel accidents since the beginning of the year up to 17.”

Now, even the Gazan media has written about this Rabbi Shriki who is praying against their tunnels.

Israel has, in fact, never been outnumbered in any war by less than 3 to 1. In our War of Independence in 1948, the Arab armies were four times greater than the Jewish army of the newborn state. Many of these new Jewish soldiers didn’t even know enough Hebrew to understand their commanders' instructions. But God gave a great victory to Israel.

Do you know how many missiles it takes on average to create one Israeli casualty? Before the existence of the Iron Dome System, the casualty ratio was one death for every 445 Hamas and Hezbollah missiles. Is this just because our enemies have really bad aim, or do we serve a miracle God?

Besides, I ask, what can be a more daunting task for God? To remove 600,000 men from one nation (Egypt) through one Red Sea, or to gather 3,600,000 Jewish immigrants from 70 different countries over sea, land and air?

Our first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, said that “in Israel, in order to be a realist, one must believe in miracles.”
MIRACLES SO BIG YOU COULD MISS THEM

It is unprecedented for any people in all of history to maintain their culture and speak their same ancient language after 2,000 years of expulsion. It takes only two generations after immigration for a people to lose their language. How many of you speak the native language of your great-great grandparents?

Immense efforts have been invested in reviving old, “dead” languages, such as Native American languages, Welsh and Gaelic, but none of them became the base language of a new nation.

Less than a century ago, not one person in the world spoke Hebrew as a first language. Now there are over six million people speaking Hebrew as their main language.


The very earth of Israel is experiencing revival.
Israel has the highest per capita yield of agriculture and milk in the world.

Israel is the only nation in the world that is governing itself in the same territory, under the same name, and with the same religion and same language as it did 3,000 years ago. To think that there was a 2,000-year lapse of dispersion and exile in between is mind-boggling.

In the 1930’s British scientists claimed there were enough water resources in this land to support only two million people. Today, because of our desalination and drip-irrigation technologies, those same water resources are supporting 12 million people, because we are exporting water and water technology to our neighbors.

So why are we seeing this miraculous restoration of Israel? The Scriptures explain:

“When they [Jews] came to the nations, wherever they went, they profaned My holy name - when they said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, and yet they have gone out of His land.’”


“And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst, and the nations shall know that I am the Lord,” says the Lord God, “when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the nations and bring you into your own land.” Ezekiel 36:20-21

God is saying that His Name was proprofaned when nations pointed out Israel had been exiled from her land. And God would hallow His Name when He brought the Jewish people back to their land. So let’s pause for a moment to ask an obvious question: what does the physical restoration of Israel have to do with the name of God?

The answer is that Almighty God has sworn with an oath and a statue and an everlasting covenant to return Israel to her own land:


“He is the Lord our God; His judgments are in all the earth. He remembers His covenant forever, the word which He commanded, for a thousand generations. The covenant which He made with Abraham and His oath to Isaac. And confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel as an everlasting covenant, Saying, ‘To you I will give the land of Canaan as the allotment of your inheritance.’ Psalm 105:7-11

There is no other passage in the Bible that combines so many words that express a solemn commitment of God. God considered this issue so important that He caused it to be recorded in the Bible in 47 places.

The struggle over the Land of Israel is not just a dispute between two neighbors over a property boundary. It is a question of the very sovereignty of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the integrity of His Name.

In 1970, 80% of Jews lived in the Diaspora. Today that number has been reduced to 57.5%. If I were to state 25 years ago that soon 1.2 million Jews from the former Soviet Union will immigrate to Israel, you would have called me crazy. Communism destroyed religion. Judaism in Russia virtually ceased to exist at the time, and yet out of the “north” the Jews came back home, just as the prophets said.

From 1948-2011, waves of mass immigrations have brought in over 3.6 million Jewish immigrants from around the globe from the Former Soviet Union, Ethiopia, North America, Argentina, France, Iran, Iraq and Tunisia, among others. Today Israel is made up of at least 70 nationalities and nine out of ten citizens are first or second generation Israelis.

Stretching across the Middle East are 5.25 million square miles of territory belonging to members of the Arab League and home to over 330 million people, whereas Israel covers only 8,000 square miles and is home to 7.8 million citizens, one-fifth who are Arabs. The Jews of Israel are thus surrounded by hostile states 650 times their size in territory and sixty times their population, yet the State of Israel has not only survived, indeed, it is thriving.

Just as exciting as the physical restoration of Israel, the prophets foresaw a massive spiritual restoration.


“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh…Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.” Ezekiel 36:25-28
WHEN GOD’S PEOPLE IN THE NATIONS BRING THE GOOD NEWS TO ISRAEL

There are many Scriptures which foretell that the Gentiles will help bring about this return to the land of Israel and to the God of Israel.


Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations, And set up My standard to the peoples; And they will bring your sons in their bosom, And your daughters will be carried on their shoulders. Isaiah 49:22

When Pastor Robert Morris of Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas is asked by young pastors why his church is so prosperous, he always says he believes the reason is that every month they give “to the Jew first.” The first checks of the church are written to Jewish ministries! In 2015, Gateway Church raised a total of $130 million, the largest church budget in the USA.

When Pastor Brian Tome at Crossroads Church began giving monthly to Israel in 2015, their church grew within a year by 30% and was named by “Outreach Magazine” the fastest growing church in the USA.

Am I saying that if your church is not giving to Israel, you are missing out on a massive blessing? No. But God is saying it!

If you want to embrace the culture of God, the miracle of God, and the blessing of God - you can start by embracing Israel!




ISRAELI DEVELOPMENT AND ACHIEVEMENTS


Israel has the highest per capita yield of agriculture and milk in the world.

Israel has 450,000,000 more trees at the end of this last century than it did 100 years ago.

New discoveries of natural gas have been accessed off the coast of Israel to last for more than 25 years, while exporting billions of cubic meters per year.

Israel has, per capita:
the highest ratio of university degrees
produces more scientific papers
the highest number of scientists, technical professionals, engineers, and PHD’s
more museums
more orchestras
publishes more books than any other nation in the world.

As a result of Israel’s drive toward academic and technological excellence, it has the largest number of startup companies per capita in the world, making it the Silicon Valley of the East. Today more than 2,600 startup companies are active in Israel.

In 2014, 99 Israeli companies sold for $6.94 billion, which is a monthly rate of $578 million. In January 2015 alone, Israeli companies sold for a record $860 million.

Because of our technological innovation, we have a higher GNP (Gross National Product) than the combined GNP of Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza which have a combined population exceeding 117 million citizens.

More Israeli companies are traded on NASDAQ than all companies from the entire European continent. In fact, Israel has more companies traded on NASDAQ than any other nation except North America and China.

Developed the technology behind Skype.

Created Text Messaging.

Invented the Thumb Drive or Memory Stick...

And so much more!

WHEN ISLAM DOESN'T FULFILL THE NEED A TALE OF TWO BROTHERS - Shira Sorko-Ram Maoz Israel

WHEN ISLAM DOESN'T FULFILL THE NEED
A TALE OF TWO BROTHERS

Monthly Report: August 2016
Tammuz - Av 5776
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Mohammed prepares to be baptized in water after giving his life to Jesus, the Son of God.
A new Kurdish believer, he found the way, the truth and the life as a Syrian refugee in Turkey.
A great number of Kurds are coming to faith in Europe.

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As told to Shira Sorko-Ram

Hussein grew up in Afrin, Syria, a city of 900,000 Kurds, with another 360 Kurdish villages surrounding Afrin. The region is located near the ancient city of Aleppo. 

You’ve probably seen pictures of the hellish destruction of Aleppo, which actually lays claim to being the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the world.

Hussein was raised in a very devout Muslim family that obeyed the strict rules of Sharia which his father had taught him along with his four brothers. For many years, he thought that the God of Islam is the one true God.

Their lives were simple. Hussein married, had children, and he and his brother Mohammed made their livelihood by leading a band of musicians and themselves playing the traditional drums for Kurdish weddings.

Mohammed's wife Jehan follows her husband in his newfound faith in Jesus.

The family rejoices as all three children receive Jesus and are baptized.

They also had a shoe-shine kiosk. Hussein’s oldest son went to school, and the small girls looked forward to when they, too, would start their education. To the Kurdish people, education is essential. But most importantly, they always had enough to eat, thanking Allah with all their hearts.

But, as the war in Syria crept towards this Kurdish region, a number of villages were overtaken by ISIS, which hates the Kurds. Turmoil and disorder interrupted their lives. No jobs, no money, no security.

As the country broke up into different fighting factions and the Syrian air force bombed whenever and wherever, they saw their country disintegrating with hundreds of thousands dying and injured. One day Hussein and his wife and children boarded a bus and fled toward the Turkish border. That was four years ago—when the border was still open. He and his family eventually made their way to Istanbul.

After arriving in this huge city of 14,000,000 people, he found himself and his family in a desperate situation. In Turkey he learned there wasn’t even any possibility of sending his children to school! (For four years now, his children are without school.) He found a job as a night watchman, and with that they eat.

In his misery he began to think the unthinkable. Why were Muslims always fighting each other? Could it possibly be that something is wrong with his religion? Could it mean that Islam is not the true religion?

He began watching the well-known Egyptian Christian, Father Zakaria Botros, who for years has had a regular television program from America where he skillfully and with great anointing, exposes Islam for what it is.

But as Hussein began to question his faith, he simply could not come to the conclusion that the religion he had followed all his life, the faith of his father and grandfathers and ancestors, could be wrong.

Then one day he watched on TV as ISIS executed the 21 Egyptian Christian Copts in Libya. Hussein became furious.

He began to shout at Allah saying, “Why did you allow these innocent people to be murdered? If you allowed this to happen, does this mean that you are a God of Murder? Are you the true God?”

At 43 years of age, Hussein was deeply confused and bewildered as he mulled over this terrible act of terror perpetrated by Muslims on those Egyptian Christians.

Three days later, in March 2015, while he was asleep, Jesus appeared to him in a dream and said, “Hussein! I am the True God that you have been searching for!” Hussein got out of bed and said to Jesus, “I believe in you as my Lord and my God.”

Hussein told his family of his encounter with Jesus. He encouraged his four children to follow Jesus and leave the religion of Islam. It took only one month, and all four of his children gave their lives to the God of the Bible.

In June 2015, Yusef (pen name) an Israeli Arab evangelist (with whom Maoz partners) travelled from Israel with a team to Istanbul for meetings to evangelize Muslims and mentor new Muslim Background Believers (MBBs). He baptized one of Hussein’s children, Assad (meaning lion). What an emotional event that was when Hussein boldly declared to him, “Son, just as I led you to become a follower of Jesus, my wish and will for you, is that in the future when you marry, you will do the same with your family.”

Amina, Hussein’s wife, has not yet received Jesus as Lord. Let’s pray for Amina to have a revelation of the true God and His only begotten Son, her true Savior Jesus!

REACHING OUT TO MOHAMMED

Shortly after his encounter with Jesus, Hussein began to share his faith with his older brother Mohammed, who was also a devout Muslim and had practiced Islam since childhood. Even Mohammed’s dream of making a pilgrimage (Haj) to Mecca while he still lived in Syria had finally been realized when he was able to take his two wives and children with him.

Now, as a helpless refugee in Istanbul, Mohammed, 55, also became skeptical of Islam as he watched the horrific bombings of ISIS in Istanbul. He began to listen and learn about the Christian faith from Hussein, and, as he compared it to Islam, he knew that Jesus was the True Way. Sadly, his Arab wife, Samira, from a very fanatical Islamic family, could not accept what was happening to her husband, and abandoned him and their children and went back to Syria to her parents.

His Kurdish wife, Jehan, is now taking care of the children, but, of course, they are very heavy-hearted to have lost their mother. Nevertheless, Jehan not only remained with Mohammed but she and the three children said they were ready to follow the true God and His Son Jesus.

Arriving from Israel, Yusef prepared to baptize all five of them. But first he shared the basics of the Gospel again just to make sure they understood completely what they were about to do. He pointedly asked Mohammed and his family, “Now, are you sure you want to leave Islam and follow Jesus regardless of the 

consequences?” Mohammed said, “Yes, and all my family wants to follow Jesus, too.”

As they prayed together that day with their eyes closed, Mohammed cried out that he saw a great light and angels surrounding him, and when he opened his eyes, he was crying.

Through his tears he said, “I feel sorry for all the years of my life I wasted being a Muslim. I have Jesus now and I have great joy! I regret all the years I have lived my life with that name Mohammed! I have decided to change my name!” Then he looked at his family and said, “From now on, my name will be Saeed (for security reasons, this is not the real name he chose) because my hope is in Jesus.”

On July 10, 2016 Saeed, his wife and three children gave their testimony before the church of former Muslims, and then all five were baptized in water.

It is no accident that when 21 Christians were martyred, and their last words heard on the ISIS video were “Oh Lord Jesus!” the heavens were opened for Yeshua to appear to Muslims who are genuinely seeking the truth. Through the blood of Martyrs His growing church of MBBs (Muslim Background Believers) is expanding in the camps and hovels of displaced persons throughout Europe.

Jesus
Part of 13 family members who just received Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

MESSIANIC JEWS IN THE MARKET PLACE - A MODERN DAY MIRACLE IN ISRAEL

Samuel and Susan Smadja, Founders of Sar-El Tours & Conferences,
and owners of Sar-El Group which owns seven businesses.

 MESSIANIC JEWS IN THE MARKET PLACE

A MODERN DAY MIRACLE IN ISRAEL

Monthly Report: July 2016
Sivan - Tammuz 5776
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By Shira Sorko-Ram

A young Tunisian Jew who lost his father in the Holocaust was given a Bible by a Christian friend and was challenged to search the Scriptures to see if Yeshua was indeed the Messiah promised by the prophets. This young man, Victor Smadja, with the horrors of World War II still fresh, took the challenge very seriously and poured over the Scriptures for two solid years. Finally he knew in his heart that Yeshua, the Son of God, was sent to bring him salvation. As far as is known, he became the only male bornagain Jew in all of Tunisia. In 1956, Victor brought his fiancée Suzy to faith and three days after they were married, they moved to Israel.

Samuel Smadja, the youngest of their four children, was born in Jerusalem when the city was still divided (the Old City was under Jordanian occupation) and when there were only about 2,200,000 Jewish citizens in all of Israel.

Early on, his parents noticed Samuel was having a very difficult time in school because of what today is known as a severe case of dyslexia. He simply couldn’t spell. They enrolled him in a vocational school where he could get extra help. Nevertheless, he wasn’t able to receive a high school diploma even though he attended a full 12 years.

However, in his school, he was captivated by a course in tourism, and immediately knew that some day he wanted to work in the tourism business.

His father, Victor, began the first congregation for Israelis in Jerusalem and is known as one of the early pioneers for what is now the Messianic Jewish movement in Israel. Victor was, of course, very bold about his faith. But Samuel, being the only believer in his school at the time, admits he denied his faith many times.

However, when as a soldier he found himself in the middle of the Lebanese War, he heard a voice ask a question inside, the same question Elijah had challenged Israel with some 3,000 years earlier: “How long will you falter between two opinions?”

Then Samuel, feeling a tremendous peace inside and around him on the battlefield, made his peace with God. He immediately began to work with his father, focusing on teenage camps and services for young adults, which he continued for many years.

After finishing the army, he began searching for work in a tourist company, but no one wanted him because he couldn’t spell. Finally he went to one company and said, “I’ll work for you for free. And then if I bring you business you can pay me a commission.” The owner agreed.

Meanwhile, Samuel’s father told him, “If you want to work in tourism, you need added value to your skills. You need another language.” So Victor sent Samuel to Germany to study German. In six months he returned with an astounding grasp of German - even though he couldn’t spell! But everyone realized God had given him a gift for languages. He now has a professional level of Hebrew, English, French and German.

Samuel, always the visionary, realized there are many Christians in India, and so in 1988 went there to see if he could generate some tourism to Israel. He wasn’t able to develop much business at that time, but did meet a famous Indian pastor and evangelist who began to prophesy over him, telling him God was going to use him mightily in the tourism business in a way that would impact Israel. At that time, there was nothing to confirm such a prophecy, but Samuel returned to Israel greatly encouraged. Soon, with his commission, he was making more money than his boss!

In 1993, Samuel felt it was time to open up his own tour company, but he needed $200,000 to get started. He went to his father and asked him to co-sign with him at the bank. Victor, known for his no-nonsense demeanor, replied “Who did you say gave you this vision?” When Samuel answered, “God!” Victor then replied, “Good. So go ask Him!”

Samuel was soon on a plane to Germany to offer 49% of his new company to a Christian investor. Armed with a business plan, he sat with the German man for two hours. The investor never asked to see the business plan, and simply gave Samuel the letter of credit for $200,000 for a small amount of interest - which Samuel paid back in a year and a half.

As he began his new company, Sar-El Tours, many competitors actually tried to get his business blacklisted by all the Jerusalem hotels. The Orthodox published newspaper stories, demanding people boycott his business because of his faith.

But Christian leaders like the late Pastor Chuck Smith began to use Sar-El. The late Dr. Paul Crouch also began using Sar- El Tours for TBN trips to Israel. We at Maoz immediately understood the significance of an Israeli tour company owned and operated by a Messianic Jew, and for several years carried a banner on our website advertising Sar-El Tours. It was clear to us that Christian tourists coming to Israel should use businesses owned by Israel’s Messianic Jews.

But then the Arab Intifadas took place in Israel, with suicide bombers and murderers killing over 1,000 Israelis. Even many Jews stopped touring Israel and tour company after tour company folded. However, Christian volunteers came through Sar-El to assist the nation on ministry trips during this horrific period. And amazingly, Christians continued to come in spite of everything. Sar-El went through difficult times, but survived.

Today, Sar-El Tours & Conferences is one of the largest tour agencies in Israel, serving about 50,000 tourists a year. And the Sar-El Group, consisting of a number of businesses, is now the largest employer of Israeli believers in the country.

As one of many examples of how God is using Samuel, he was invited to a special event of Who’s Who of Israelis with former politicians, military generals, and significant businessmen and women. Samuel used his invitation to share the Gospel with dozens of the most influential people in Israel. David had beaten Goliath. To God be the glory.

When Victor Smadja recently went to his reward, his son, Samuel, with all he has on his plate, decided he would also take up the leadership of the Jerusalem congregation “Messianic Assembly” that his father founded.