(This is a letter from a friend of a friend, please pray for the believers in Gaza)
Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Dear Brothers and Sisters: Please pray for us. The situation is very bad
in Gaza. As I shared yesterday, the nephew of one of the 'lambs" was
killed. The brother of another believer was kidnapped. We feared he
was killed but he was only beaten and released. He is badly bruised
but praise God, he is fine.
But last night a part of a missile entered the home of a brother and
injured him in the back. It was, Praise God, a very small wound. He is
fine. But his house was damaged in the crossfire.
Today, I awoke to friends calling me telling me not to go to Gaza
City as I often do but to stay in …. where I live because the situation
in Gaza City is so bad. There was an attempted assasination of the
prime minister which unleashed a huge backlash.
Some friends of mine tried to come to be with me in my upstairs
apartment but were turned away by soldiers who don't want any
civilians to be in high places where they fear they might spy on them.
I am in my apartment now and there is much shooting, guns, rifles
and canons. I am writing this from the inner bathroom in my
apartment as I want to get as far away from the windows as possible.
The home of another brother was breached in the Northern Gaza
Strip. He climbed into the water tank on the cieling and hid until the
intruders left. But he asked me for a favor. He said that if he died, he
wanted me to make sure he was given a Christian funeral since his
family is not Christian. I told him the funeral makes no difference. If
the Father choses to take us home than we will be with him regardless
of which cemetary we're buried in.
The situation is very perilous. But we serve a God of miracles.
We need much prayer. No one dares go out of their homes.
For those of you who might want to continue reading, I just want
to explain why I am still here in Gaza even though the situation is so
bad. I could leave, after all and have been offered by the American
consulate to be evacuated. But there are some believers here that can't
leave. They can't leave. I could leave even though I might not be able
to come back. That's one reason I haven't left. The other reason is that
I don't want to leave the new lambs. If it came to the point where I had
to leave, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, but for now, it's hard
to leave when I know these other brothers can't leave.
If I felt God telling me to leave, I would. But I haven't. Many
people have asked me to leave but I haven't.
Please pray for me to be wise and sensitive to the Holy Spirit
about this.
Please pray for all the sons of our Father who are here that not
one would be hurt. We need to see, as we have so many times, Psalm
91 in action.
As you watch the news and see the unbelievable things that are
happening here such as soldiers throwing other soldiers off of high
rise buildings, and the level of strife, please pray. The children of God
are the answer to the world's ills. We are the salt of the earth and the
light of the world. None of us is perfect but we have the Spirit of God
inside of us and we have access to the Throne of Grace to find help in
time of need. Elijah was a man of like passions like us, and yet, at his
word, there was no rain for three and a half years. At his word, rain
began again. The effectual fervent prayers of the righteous avail much.
Please pray as the Spirit leads you. Here is another suggested prayer:
Lord Jesus, the Gaza Strip and all of its inhabitants belong to
You. You bought them with Your blood. We claim, by faith, the
crown of souls, that You earned when You died on Calvary. You said
if You were lifted up You would draw all men to yourself, Draw all
the people of Gaza to yourself. You said, "Blessed are the poor their's
is the kingdom of God," Lord, look on the poverty of Gaza,
economically, socially, spiritually and pour our Your Holy Spirit.
There is no other answer. As You said in Zechariah chapter 9, 'I will
cut off the pride of the Philistines. I will take away the blood from his
mouth....But he who remains will be for our God. And shall be like the
princes of Judah."
Amen
Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Dear Brothers and Sisters: Please pray for us. The situation is very bad
in Gaza. As I shared yesterday, the nephew of one of the 'lambs" was
killed. The brother of another believer was kidnapped. We feared he
was killed but he was only beaten and released. He is badly bruised
but praise God, he is fine.
But last night a part of a missile entered the home of a brother and
injured him in the back. It was, Praise God, a very small wound. He is
fine. But his house was damaged in the crossfire.
Today, I awoke to friends calling me telling me not to go to Gaza
City as I often do but to stay in …. where I live because the situation
in Gaza City is so bad. There was an attempted assasination of the
prime minister which unleashed a huge backlash.
Some friends of mine tried to come to be with me in my upstairs
apartment but were turned away by soldiers who don't want any
civilians to be in high places where they fear they might spy on them.
I am in my apartment now and there is much shooting, guns, rifles
and canons. I am writing this from the inner bathroom in my
apartment as I want to get as far away from the windows as possible.
The home of another brother was breached in the Northern Gaza
Strip. He climbed into the water tank on the cieling and hid until the
intruders left. But he asked me for a favor. He said that if he died, he
wanted me to make sure he was given a Christian funeral since his
family is not Christian. I told him the funeral makes no difference. If
the Father choses to take us home than we will be with him regardless
of which cemetary we're buried in.
The situation is very perilous. But we serve a God of miracles.
We need much prayer. No one dares go out of their homes.
For those of you who might want to continue reading, I just want
to explain why I am still here in Gaza even though the situation is so
bad. I could leave, after all and have been offered by the American
consulate to be evacuated. But there are some believers here that can't
leave. They can't leave. I could leave even though I might not be able
to come back. That's one reason I haven't left. The other reason is that
I don't want to leave the new lambs. If it came to the point where I had
to leave, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, but for now, it's hard
to leave when I know these other brothers can't leave.
If I felt God telling me to leave, I would. But I haven't. Many
people have asked me to leave but I haven't.
Please pray for me to be wise and sensitive to the Holy Spirit
about this.
Please pray for all the sons of our Father who are here that not
one would be hurt. We need to see, as we have so many times, Psalm
91 in action.
As you watch the news and see the unbelievable things that are
happening here such as soldiers throwing other soldiers off of high
rise buildings, and the level of strife, please pray. The children of God
are the answer to the world's ills. We are the salt of the earth and the
light of the world. None of us is perfect but we have the Spirit of God
inside of us and we have access to the Throne of Grace to find help in
time of need. Elijah was a man of like passions like us, and yet, at his
word, there was no rain for three and a half years. At his word, rain
began again. The effectual fervent prayers of the righteous avail much.
Please pray as the Spirit leads you. Here is another suggested prayer:
Lord Jesus, the Gaza Strip and all of its inhabitants belong to
You. You bought them with Your blood. We claim, by faith, the
crown of souls, that You earned when You died on Calvary. You said
if You were lifted up You would draw all men to yourself, Draw all
the people of Gaza to yourself. You said, "Blessed are the poor their's
is the kingdom of God," Lord, look on the poverty of Gaza,
economically, socially, spiritually and pour our Your Holy Spirit.
There is no other answer. As You said in Zechariah chapter 9, 'I will
cut off the pride of the Philistines. I will take away the blood from his
mouth....But he who remains will be for our God. And shall be like the
princes of Judah."
Amen
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