In the following four ministry encounters shared by our staff from Israel, you might notice a common theme. The Lord takes one situation and transforms it to bring fruit and glorify Him. From the mall to the hospital, a brunch prayer time to a simple phone call, the Lord works good in all circumstances and sometimes surprising ways.

• A few months ago, one of our missionaries “bumped into” an elderly believer friend in the mall and was shocked to see him drunk and crying! They talked, and our staffer warned him, “You have a responsibility to your wife and to God.” (His wife has Alzheimer’s.) After that, to encourage him, our team started to visit his family regularly, and another pastor friend helped. Our friend gave up drinking and is now able to look after his wife! He also gained healthy weight back and can walk without a cane. God redeemed a deadly situation!
• One of our ministry staff and his Greek-Israeli friend, who is an expert bouzouki player, have suddenly become “in demand” for concerts with soldiers. Last month, we reported how these concerts started with a special hospital outreach with music and prayer for severely wounded soldiers. The soldiers and officers were so touched that they asked our staff to do this for their units—and they have been ministering through song and the Psalms to soldiers since then. As our staff says, “We always tell them we are believers, they are not alone, and Christians in the United States are praying for them.” There are many weary smiles. Some soldiers sing along, and some even dance. One young woman with chronic pain cried as our team gathered round and prayed for her.
• At a recent ladies’ brunch, when they split up into small groups for prayer, one of our missionaries had the privilege of praying with women who each gave testimonies of how God had stretched their faith and shown Himself faithful, trustworthy, and in control! One had sought the Lord for where to live and He had directed her to a town on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, where she found an apartment just like she needed, except in order to get to work, to congregation meetings, and to events at our ministry center, she would need a small car. The Lord confirmed to her which car to buy within her price range, and it became “the domino” which set off a series of blessings of car provisions for two other believers who were also seeking the Lord for His provision of the right car!Another lady told how her contract for her current apartment was ending in a week, and she did not have anywhere to move. She was also waiting on the Lord to open the door for the right job . . . all at the same time! Just in the nick of time, the Lord brought about the right job offer and just the right apartment in reasonable proximity to the new job! Hallelujah! We thank God for the community and sisterhood that has developed at our Tel Aviv Messianic Center. In this small group alone, there was a mix: one woman who had grown up in the faith, one who had come to faith a few years ago, one who has been walking with the Lord for more than thirty years, and one who had come to faith just over a year ago. Each was able to pray for and encourage the others from the Word of God because of His Spirit in each one, just as He promised.
• An Israeli friend recently called one of our ministry staff and started to ask her about her beliefs. She accused our ministry of speaking to Jewish people about Jesus. Our staffer said, “If you knew who our Messiah is, wouldn’t you share this great news? It would not be nice if you did not!” This was not the response she expected, and it brought excellent questions and a deep, rich conversation that ended well. The door is open and spiritual hunger is piqued!

Pray for all the people who have interacted with our staff over the past months, and for their families. Please pray for salvation where it is needed, for encouragement, provision, wisdom, strength, comfort, kindness, truth, victory, and light. Pray for our staff to abide in the Vine and soak in the Word. Pray for harvest, and for more laborers for the harvest. Thank you!