Arab Christians living in Israel – Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place

In our current Russia and Asia Report Radio series, the statement was made that the Arabs in Israel feel neglected. At first I thought this might be a poor choice of english by someone whose mother tongue is Arabic until I read an article about Arab Christians in the Jerusalem Post.

One Arab living in Jersusalem put it this way, ‘To the Arabs, we’re Christians, which means Crusaders, and to the Israelis we’re Arabs, which means terrorists.”

Later in the same article, the same Arab Christian said, “Jews [worldwide] support the ultra-Orthodox who don’t work but just study and have five children to a family. The Muslims have large extended families who help each other out, and even they receive help from churches. We’re a small community and don’t receive anything, We don’t want handouts, but they (the church universal outside of the Holy Land – ed.) could help establish businesses or provide scholarships.”

One way you can help the Arabic Chrisitians in Israel is to partner with IRR/TV to help them with an evangelism campaign to their fellow Arabs. They are Christian Arabs with the winds of revival in their hearts who wish to see not only their Christian brothers and sisters renew or rediscover their faith, but to see Muslims discover who Jesus Christ really is and his power to give them a new life filled with hope and assurance of salvation.

If you would like more information, kindly read through the past few stories on this blog and listen to our podcast where indicated.

If you want to help, you can offer your tax deductible (USA & Canada) gift here: irrtv.org

Our latest radio program here

The complete Jerusalem Post article here

Mission Israel: Media Evangelism in Israel and the Palestinian Territories

July 12, 2008

On Behalf of all who are taking part of this holy mission, I thank you all. People are coming to the call center  with joy, some come from 9:00 clock  in the morning and leave at 21:00 clock and some come immediately after their work before even they go to their home. People are so happy, joy is in the air.

People are calling and eager to get the book / DVD, to read and watch the video. The DVD contains 9 true stories of Local people who are saved. See 1 min on the website www.hayajadeda.com

In His Name, we have started the holy mission on the 1/7, it took few days to launch and publish in all media but thanks God this is behind us now.

- Advertisements on Buses are completed Friday.

- Advertisements in Newspapers had great impact on people as all Arab newspapers are weekly newspapers and they are published on Fridays. We had 6 newspapers and 2 monthly magazines.

- Advertisements in 2 Major websites started converting all traffic to our website directly so we are getting more people ordering via the website.

Here are the results until today 5.7.2008:

- Hundred of people are calling and asking for the testimony Book ( contains 18 powerful stories) and DVD ( The way to the Light) – the people are calling 80%-90% of them are Muslims.

- We had around 1000 visitors to the website www.hayajadeda.com , 500 only yesterday.

- The call center is ready to answer up to 6 concurrent calls, we had some times, three concurrent calls in North Israel, and 2 concurrent calls in Biet Lehm.

- We had an incident, a guy called us and started cursing us and threatening us and say we are “KOOFAR” meaning not believers and he will come to burn the office and so on. But we know this is part of the mission and we thank God for it and continue forward.

Anyway here is the summary and how the mission in action:

In Israel:

120 Billboards in all Israel

8 Newspapers like Panorama, All Arabs, Al-sonara, Alquds, Al-ayam, Al-madina and ect…

2 Major websites www.bokra.co.il and www.panet.co.il

76 Buses are moving for 30 days,  26 buses are in Jerusalem, 10 in Nazareth, 10 in Haifa, 10 are in Tel Aviv, 10 are in Lod, 10 in north Galilee

In Palestinian Territories:

20 Billboards

2 Newspapers

8 Radio Stations

8 TV Stations

This is mission is making history, and we are here to make it for God’s glory.

Keep on Praying for us.

God Bless you all

Hani Henein and the Holy Land team

AUDIO PODCAST – Media Evangelism in the Palestinian Territories – LISTEN HERE

Support this mission with your donation here

KYRGYZSTAN: WHERE CAN THE DEAD BE BURIED?

Thursday 10 July 2008

Kyrgyz Christians have complained that the problem of burying deceased members of their communities is unresolved, especially in rural areas. Local administrations, local people and Muslim leaders often oppose the burial of non-Muslims or insist that they be buried according to
Islamic rituals. Attempts to discuss the issue – including a meeting at the
State Agency for Religious Affairs – have not led to a solution. Alisher
Sobirov, the chair of Parliament’s standing Commission on Religion, told
Forum 18 that “no one outside the local administrations – including the
Muftiate – has the right to make decisions on cemeteries.” Asked what
should be done, Sobirov claimed that it was not within Parliament’s power
to address burial issues. Asan Saipov of the Muftiate told Forum 18 that
they had decided “not to allow the burial of non-Muslims in Muslim
cemeteries” – even though these are run by local authorities and are
usually the only local cemeteries. He insisted that villagers made the
right decision in stopping the family of a 14 year old Baptist from burying
him.

For more information: forum18.org

IRR/TV is involved in media missions work in Kyrgyzstan as well as an ongoing ministry to children in Kyrgyze and Russian prison camps.

irrtv.org

KAZAKHSTAN: “They are trying to close down our church with any excuse”

July 7, 2008

As Christians who live in western democracies, the persecuted church is a foreign concept to our thinking, yet in much of the world, a lack of  is an ever increasing reality for believers; even in nations that have freedom of conscience and freedom of religion embedded in their constitution – one such nation is Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan continues to try to close places of worship. The latest incident is a court case brought against Grace Protestant Church in Semey, in eastern Kazakhstan. The Fire Brigade claims that their newly constructed place of worship does not meet fire safety requirements, stating that that there must be a six meter gap between their building and the next building. However, a church member stated, “there is no building on that land, it is an empty plot.” Church members and their lawyer insist that all relevant building permits, including those from the Fire Brigade, are in order. But “the court ignored these documents.” One of Grace Church’s members said that “it looks like they are trying to close down our church with any excuse.”

In a separate case, a Soviet-era prisoner of conscience, Yegor Prokopenko, pastor of an unregistered Baptist church, has been fined for a second time in three years for unregistered religious activity. Local prosecutor Tatyana Semynina said that “they can believe as much as they want, but should not organize religious meetings.”

For more details, visit forum18.org

AUDIO: Hear more on recent actions agains the church in Kazakhstan in our podcast. Click here to listen or right click to download

An excellent brief on freedom of religion can be found here

To learn more about Kazakhstan, click here

Read for yourself: Constitution of Kazakhstan in English

Mission Israel: Outreach to the Arabic People Begins

Greetings in Jesus name!

Yesterday, first of July 2008 we have begun the mission in Israel… www.hayajadeda.com

We all know the importance of the Holy Land Mission… but again…

We have declared a spiritual war against Satan and his kingdom on earth… we are mature enough to know that Satan fights back and this is why we have these obstacle nowadays… The war will have many battles but be confident in God’s promise, we will win the war in Jesus name… It is not us who fight but God…

We have accepted the call of God to save people and release the captives… It is spiritual war and not physical war… We are fighting for souls not for lands… we will defeat Satan again soon in the holy land…

We are doing the most holy mission on earth… the mission that we were born for… the mission that we committed our lives to… let us not look back at this time but straight only towards the Cross… Nothing worth more than pleasing God and doing his will… so let us not leave this life without doing it…

We covet your prayer!

Blessings!

Hani, and all the mission team

Russia and Asia Report Radio – Mission Israel: Arabic Outreach Begins

Click above to listen, Right click to download

Mission Israel: 4 Views From the Ground

June 28, 2008
In this week’s Russia and Asia Report radio program, as we enter the 3rd phase of the media evangelism mission to the Arabic speaking people in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank; we look at the trials and the victories of the mission campaign so far, from the point of view of the Messianic Jewish Leadership working with IRR/TV in this mission.

IRR/TV Ministries broke new ground in using media for evangelism in Israel, reaching first to the Russian speaking population of Israel (which is quite substantial and quite secular), then to the Hebrew speaking people of Israel.

This is controversial territory for world missions, but Jesus definitely stated and the Apostle Paul confirmed that Christ came for the Jews first and then the Gentiles. Most Christians and Messianic Jews get very excited about this kind of outreach and yet others question whether we should be evangelizing Jews at all. There are contemporary “Hebraic Roots” movements that plausibly say that it is we, the gentiles, who have been grafted into Israel. Ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel bemoan this type of ministry as aiming to stamp out Judaism. The sad fact though is that many Israelis are not religious Jews, but ethnic and cultural – they do not have a trusting faith in Yahweh or Yeshua.

It is not our job to decide who is saved and who is not, but to fulfill the command of the Lord Jesus to make make disciples of all nations and teach them to observe what he commanded. It is in this spirit that we take the gospel to the lost sheep in Israel. Jesus did not tell us to take the Gospel only to where we are welcomed and accepted, but to all the world.

“And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”—Luke 24:47

To listen click below:

Russia and Asia Report Radio June 28

or download by right clicking and selecting “Save as”



Urgent Prayer Request for Kazakhstan

IRR/TV has received an email from Alexandr Klyushev of the Association of Religious Organization in Kazakhstan asking Christians around the world to pray for their very survival as draft legistislation is in its first reading in the Kazakh parliament seeks to outlaw all evangelism and public profession of faith as well as force all religious communities to register or even re-register with the government. Any community with less than 50 adult members will be denied legal status and must cease to exist. The churches will not be permitted to be involved in publishing, education or missionary activity, effectively closing even Sunday schools for children. Mr. Klyushev is asking that believers write to the government of Kazakhstan protesting these human rights violations and pray as they have never prayed before for the churches in Kazakhstan.

Please click on the link below to listen to our podcast.
Russia and Asia Report Podcast June 14

Bad News Promotes Good News in Israel

Thousands Respond to Media Evangelism Campaign in Israel

Since April, IRR/TV Ministries has been working with Messianic congregations in Israel to present the Good News of Jesus Christ to the non-religious in Israel. Last week, factions of the Ultra Orthodox Haredim, including the ant-missionary organization, Yad L’achem went on the rampage against this unprecedented missionary effort.

One event that made national headlines in Israel, as well as the international press was the burning of New Testaments by radical youth. The Bibles had been distributed amongst Ethiopian immigrants by Messianic Jews who are working closely with IRR/TV. When the deputy mayor for the town caught wind of this, he drove around the neighbourhood broadcasting a demand through a loudspeaker that the New Testaments be handed over to radical Orthodox youth who then burned them in the parking lot of a local synagogue. For most Jewish people, this would be considered a barbaric act to burn books; one that was perpetrated upon them by the Nazis during the Holocaust. Although missionary activity may raise mixed emotions in the Holy Land, these crude actions do not represent mainstream Israeli sentiment.

The good news is that this event has been in every newspaper and news broadcast in Israel and it has the whole nation talking about Jesus. Bad press will always attract curiosity, resulting in a greater number of people checking our what we have to say and being exposed to the Gospel. We have seen it time and time again in Megacity campaigns in Russia.

But one can understand why some Israeli citizens do not welcome Christian or Messianic Missionary work in their midst – some would see it as an attempt to eradicate Judaism by assimilating Jews into Christianity. Many who persecuted Jews in the past laid claim to the title of “Christian”, perhaps wearing the badge, but not walking in the ways of Jesus. That is unfortunate, but as a result, the mere mention of Jesus raises the ire of some without knowing who Jesus was – a Torah observant Jew who called his own people to repentance, but sadly, his own accepted him not.

From my personal observation, most Messianic Jews have not assimilated into mainstream western Christianity, but become all the more Jewish when they receive their Messiah. both in spirit and in practice.

Should we be discouraged by opposition? No way! Jesus said to go Ye into all the world; not just where it is comfortable, not just where we are welcome or where governments will allow. The Great Commission calls us to make disciples in all nations.

Romans 1:16 tell us, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

I invite you to listen to the current episode of our weekly 15 minute Please pray for this mission, that many would come so a saving knowledge of the Messiah of Israel.

Dennis

PODCAST – Evangelism in Israel Makes Headlines

Our Mission – Win! Train! Send!

The purpose of IRR/TV is to spread the Gospel in areas that have thus far been deprived of its proclamation—train new media mission workers—equip and send them into the harvest of our time.

• Earth’s population: over 7 billion
• Don’t know who Jesus is: 4 billion
• Don’t know Jesus died as a sacrifice for their sins: 1.5 billion

How This Affects Us
God was so touched that He sent His only son so that not one of our generation’s billions would be lost but saved through Jesus Christ.

Our Part
God is ready to send us. He has given us His Gospel and promised to be with us.

Our Response
We unanimously answer: “Yes!”.

IRR/TV in Action

• Throughout Russia using TV programs, city campaigns, training.
• Program production for the Middle East and Israel.
• Building a global media network.
• Producing radio programs in Europe.
• Keeping in touch with “Russia Report” and bi-monthly newsletters.

Our Mission is Made Possible…
by donations from our supporters, individuals, churches and foundations.