Nessim Muse June 2008

Shalom again from Israel..

We greet you again from a very warm and sunny Israel. The last two months have been very hectic, and the Passover Seder and visit to Bethlehem are now memories, but we continue to be very busy. Five days after the visit to Bethlehem, we received the joyful news that *ABDM had come to faith and made a commitment to Jesus. This is a big step for a Moslem, and we need to pray for him as he lives in a spiritual desert with no-one to help him. He has to rely on visits from Pastor Najeeb and teaching books. Yet we believe that God has his hand on this young man. The following is a translation of a letter he sent me on the day he made his decision to follw Jesus.

Peace and blessings to you,
Peace from the bottom of my heart.
Peace full of love, which elicits from me the perfume of a boquet of Nacissis and Jasmim from a son to his mother, a mother who was born with much love and forgiveness.

In these days we have experienced some special events which have made our hearts joyful.One of these was your birthday, and your being there was like warm sunshine in my life.You came into this world to give a special message to others I would like to take this opportunity to wish that God will bless you with many blessings, and I wish you much happiness, health and long life.My coming on the day you came to meet me in Bethlehem to celebrate your birthday with those whom you love, was the happiest day of my life, and on top of that I had hope that there are still good people who forgive, and appreciate the importance of friendship and brotherhood.

Finally, I offer you my peace, and and my love and I hope that soon we shall meet in Haifa or Nahariya, or even in *my ome town. This is my hope that this joy will be fulfilled.

May God bless you
Your son *ABDM

P.S. I wish you progress in your learning of the Arabic language,  and that one day you will send me a letter in Arabic.

Coming back to Israel, we continue to have a stream of visitors from all over the world, as well as Jewish friends and believers dropping in. They sometimes come  to us for breakfast or supper, and sometimes we meet over a coffee in town, or visit in their homes. Cindy is still asking many questions, afraid to commit, and yet drawn to us. Shoshanna is very upset if more than a week passes without a visit, but is still holding out and is looking more and more frail. Yesterday , June 8th, we finally were able to visit Mirella, the lady we met in the hospital last year, who told us that she had believed in Jesus since she was in a CMJ school in Tunisia. 70 or more years have passed since she left that school and she had never forgotten Jesus, though out of touch with believers and not knowing that there were any. She showed us her French Bible, which she loves and is in her bed-side table. We had a  very lively discussion with her husband who is an intellectual atheist, and loves to debate. Mirella was happy to hear the witness, although her husabnd does not know that she has believed for years! We promised we would try to visit every month(they live near the northern border). Mirella needs teaching and encouragement.We have also been abe to vist the two sisters, whose surroundings have improved dramatically. We could only wish that the eyes of their spiritual understandng would be opened.Their new home is lovely, but their problems are enormous, and they are both sad.

The meetings have been well attended, sometimes with a number of unbelievers. The teaching has been excellent. This in spite of the events for which we asked you to pray in our last letter. Please continue to pray that these problems will be solved, and that we may have peace in our hearts.

There was no place in my last letter to tell you of a train journey that I took to Beersheva some weeks’ back, to visit my family and friends in Arad. I had taken plenty of work to do, and buried my head into my books. About 20 minutes later, a young father got into the train with his son. They were off to see an antique car exhibition. I glanced up, and noticed that the man was smiling at me, and he said in Hebrew. “ You are a believer!” I asked him how he knew, and he pointed to my “grafted in” sign,  the Menorah, Star of David and the fish. He was a born Israeli, who had come to faith 8 years previously, and as we chatted he realised that he knew who I was, and knew also Miriam and Debbie and Yakim.. We talked for about an hour and a half, and as he got up to leave in Tel-Aviv, he leaned over the table, kissed me on the cheek, and wished me God’s blessing. In their place came a young lady and an older lady, and I noticed that they were speaking English. Soon we were chatting, and they told me that they had been to Akko, which is quite near to Nahariya, but did not know of the Antiquities there. So I began to chat to them about the history and geography of Israel, and as they live in Arad, we talked about the desert, and I mentioned the biblical terms “streams in the desert”, which had recently become a reality to me as I visited a place in the desert where they had put up many tiny wooden bridges, to cross these streams which were flowing down from the mountain sides. The time passed very quickly as we talked, and as we drew into Beer-Sheva, the lady thanked me for making their journey so interesting, and told me she was a Jehovah’s witness!. I in turn told her that I was a messianic Jew and believed in Yeshua. “I am so pleased”,  she said, leaned over the table, gave me kiss and said goodbye and disappeared! In all these years I have never ever been kissed by strangers in a train, and on this journey twice!

One day, whilst travelling  with Esther and Avi, Avi mentioned that lately, we so not seem to have to go fishing, but the fish are jumping into the boat themselves! That evening, the door bell rang, and in came our local Jewish Jehovah’s Witness, apologizing for coming without notice, but she happened to be in the district. “Of course, I am not supposed to visit you people, but I like you anyway, even though our beliefs are so different”, she said. She stayed for about an hour, looked at our Passover pictures, said it was like a 5 star hotel function, and generally enjoyed herself, while protesting how different she really is. We know she is drawn, and has been warned not to visit by her sect! Pray for Dina. It is hard for her, but something is drawing her.

Finally, I mentioned in my last letter, that ABDM’s brother Esam, was in need of a new leg, (prosthesis) as the Fatah had shot him so badly that his leg had to be amputated. Someone wrote and offered to give a contribution. We have never asked for anythng like this, as it is not our style, but I approached Christian Jew Foundation in San Antonio, and they agreed to set up a fund for this purpose, as he needs approximately 100,000 shekels, about $30,000 . If any one is interested in helping this man, who is out of work and has 8 children, you could donate to

Christian Jew Foundation
CJFMinistries
611 Broadway
San Antonio, TX 78215
Phone 210-226-1075, Ext. 115
Fax 210-690-8421
gary@cjf.org or Mpradio@aol.com

It should be clearly marked, “For Esam’s New Leg”, and mention my name.

God bless you all,
Ruth with Avi and Esther