THE SIX MONTHSTHAT I SPENT INISRAEL WERE VERYGOOD TIMES BUTALSO INCLUDEDDIFFICULT TIMES.

I remember praying with one of my Jewish friends for salvation, and before Iknew it I was ostracized by most of thepeople where I lived. I ate many mealsby myself and was ridiculed openly infront of people because of my faith in Jesus Christ. But the greatest thing that Ilearned in Israel is that Jesus is my best-friend. He is with me through anysituation I am facing and He loves meunconditionally.This truth has helped me over the past28 years that I have been a Christian.While on the last trip I met my team inTurkey and spent a few days with them as we sought to sharethe Gospel with the Turkish people. We also had the privilegeof visiting the ruins at Ephesus which is one of my favoriteplaces in the whole world. We met a brother who is workingto share the Gospel with the Turkish people and he told usthat more Christians died in Turkey than ever died in Rome.One morning we sat near where the Apostle John was buriedin Seljuk, Turkey. From this vantage point we could see theruins at Ephesus and prayed as a team to thank God for theChristians who have gone before us and gave their lives for Jesus Christ. We spent some time worshipping the Lord Jesusin praise and worship. We thank the Lord for giving us awonderful opportunity to share the Gospel with four guys.It was encouraging to hear that, after sharing the Gospelwith them, one, a Jewish man, started reading the Bible forthe first time and another, a Mormon, started reading aChristian book.Please pray for an Iranian brother who has put his faith in Jesus Christ. He and his family currently live in Turkey andtheir lives are in danger from the Iranian religious police asthey are seeking to execute him for his Christian witnessing.He has baptized over 300 formerly Moslem Iranians. He hasalso helped many Iranians who have come to faith in JesusChrist by providing teaching and training for them so thatGod can use them in the ministry. His work is vital to the

and had been serving Jesus for less than three years.Isensed God’s call strongly on my heart to go to the landof Israel to share the Gospel with the Jewish people.

DEAR FRIENDS,IT’S HARD TO BELIEVE THAT 25 YEARSAGO I WENT TO ISRAEL AS AMISSIONARY.I WAS 21 YEARS OLD

Church in Iran. God is at work in Iran as many Moslems arerepenting of their sins and putting their faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone.Please pray for him and our Turkish contact as well, for hewas recently informed by the police that he must close theChurch that they are pastoring. This brother has beenarrested numerous times for sharing the Gospel with theMoslems and has been physically assaulted as well.After visiting Ephesus, I headed to the central part of Turkeyto visit Cappadocia. In this area there are thousands of cavesdug into the limestone in which Christians lived andworshipped during times of intense persecution in Turkishhistory. We even visited a Church which was part of anunderground city; the Church is located four floors below theground. It’s amazing the price people have paid to serve ourLord and Savior Jesus Christ.After returning to Istanbul for the night, I flew to Israel foreight days, spending the first night in Tel Aviv which is notunlike most modern cities around the world. The next week Ispent in Jerusalem and had some really good times of prayerand fellowship with the Lord Jesus. I told the Lord that Iwanted to be obedient to do only what He wanted me to doand go to the places He wanted me to visit. One of myfavorite places in Israel is the Garden Tomb where it isbelieved that Jesus may have been buried. When I sit in thegarden overlooking the empty tomb, I’m in awe of my Saviorand what He has done for me.When I lived in Israel 25 years ago, I tried to visit several of the religious sites in the Old City and was disappointed to seethe attitudes of some of the religious people. This time Isensed God’s authority and went to the Western Wall wherethe Lord met with me during great times of prayer. I wasasking Him to remove the veil over the Jewish people’s heartsand minds.

THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS PUT ONMY HEART AN INCREASEDAWARENESS FOR THE NEED TOPRAY MORE AND TO BE MOREFOCUSED.

The Lord has been waking me up duringthe night to pray as I’m travelling. I believe as we seeincreased turmoil in the world we will have greateropportunities to pray and minister the truth of Jesus Christ.

I SPENT SEVERAL HOURS ONTHE MOUNT OF OLIVESOVERLOOKING THE OLD CITYASKING GOD TO WORK IN THELIVES OF THE JEWS,MOSLEMSAND ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS.

One day a friend and I went to Bethlehem and prayed atvarious places asking God to work in the hearts of thePalestinian people to bring them to salvation. We also prayedthat God would work in the hearts of the Messianic Jews andArab Christians to bring reconciliation. We stopped andprayed for a Bible School in Bethlehem that has seen muchopposition because of their work for our Savior.One night I sat outside the Christian guesthouse and prayedfor the many Orthodox Jews that walked past. My heartaches as I see lost people and I desire that they know Jesus as