Beit Asaph
“Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people both now and forevermore.
The sceptre of the wicked will not remain over the land allotted to the righteous, for then the righteous might use their hands to do evil.
Lord, do good to those who are good, to those who are upright in heart. But to those who turn to crooked ways the Lord will banish with the evildoers.
Peace be upon Israel!” Psalm 125
Our dear Brothers and Sisters in Yeshua the Messiah,
It is great to be back in touch and please forgive us for the tardiness of getting this off to you. The Biblical Feasts of Israel (Lev. 23) came so early this year that we were caught up in a flurry of activity making it difficult to devote time to communications.
In the report we will address personal and family issues as well as a providing a Beit Asaph update. But first, we will focus on key national subjects that are current and worthy of prayer.
Firstly, we would like to refer you to the text above, Psalm 125, a Song of Ascents. We remember singing these words in a Christian church we attended in NZ when we first came to faith in the late 1970s. I doubt we then truly understood the significance of what we were singing, or its original context. We are truly blessed to have lived most of our faith journey here in Israel, amongst our Jewish people and our traditions. Today, I wonder how many churches, in favour of remaining ‘politically correct’ would be willing to include such a song in their Sunday worship set, a song that includes such terms as; Mount Zion, Jerusalem and Israel.
The term, “a Song of Ascents” or Shir HaMa’a lot in Hebrew, refers to a group of 15 Psalms (120-134) that were sung by the Jewish people as they all ascended to Jerusalem, three times a year at the time of the three mandatory Biblical Feasts of Israel; Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. For those that are interested, we would encourage you to do brief on-line research of this term. It enriches our understanding of these Psalms, helping us ‘picture’ our people trudging up the steep incline to the holy city and the Temple to worship. Moreover, these particular Psalms may help us to pray as we apply them to our current context in Israel.
Prayer Focus for the Nation: The month of September was largely dedicated to events and services celebrating the Jewish New Year (Feast of Trumpets) that led us to the Day of Atonement (Kippur) which was followed by the Feast of Tabernacles (Succot.) This affords us great opportunities each year to teach and preach from the rich symbolism that speaks of God’s desire for relationship with the Jewish people and with the people of the nations.
This is always valuable when teaching in our own communities where so many of our members have come from the Diaspora with little or no background in Jewish tradition. It is also a golden opportunity for conversation with Israelis from all walks of life, weaving in the intended message of God’s Kingdom.
However, the celebration of Succot this year held ‘bitter-sweet’ memories for us all. The Feast marked the third anniversary of that frightful day when 6 -7,000 Hamas terrorists broke through from Gaza in the operation they named, “Al Aksa Flood.” That same day 4,300 rockets were fired into Israel, largely from residential areas of Gaza. The results of this mass attack were 1200 Israelis killed (more than half were civilians, men, women and children.) Over 3,400 people were injured and 251 hostages were taken into the tunnels under the cities of the Gaza Strip. As sobering as these statistics are, they do not reflect the pain and suffering inflicted as a result of widespread (and intentional) rape and brutalisation, the anguish of hostage families and the ensuing devastation of Gaza and tens of thousands killed as a result of the inevitable military retaliation by our forces.
One year later (October ’24) at Succot, Sinwar, the mastermind of the massacre was eliminated. Israel, however, aided by US forces, found itself fighting a regional war on seven separate fronts.
Fast forward to October ’25 at Succot, the last of the Israeli and foreign hostages were returned to their families.
How uncanny that this year at Succot another national tragedy was ‘miraculously averted’ when passengers subdued a radicalized Fly Dubai pilot attempting to hijack his aircraft with 172 Israelis flying home. Subsequent interrogation revealed that his intent was to crash the aircraft into Ben Gurion airport, Tel Aviv.
Why have we reminded you of these terrible events? Not suitable for a prayer report, one might think. However, these matters are imprinted on our collective psyche as a nation. Every day, we and our Palestinian neighbours interact with traumatised communities. As we pray and fellowship with one another we see that we ourselves are inevitably impacted by these events and the uncertainty of ‘what tomorrow might bring.’ Maala and I hope you will be will be willing to identify with us and the burden we carry to intercede before the Almighty for the peoples of our region.
On October 27th Israel will hold its general elections. This is not meant as a political statement, but a difficult question we Israelis face: who can lead us into a season of radical reform and peace with our neighbours, while ensuring security for our peoples? (7.8M Jews, 2.1M Arabs and 304K foreign residents). We thank God we have one of the few democracies in the M.E. But we are a nation in trouble! Please, pray for God’s will to be done as we go to the ballot boxes!
Prayer Points for Beit Asaph Community: This month marks a full year of congregational activities in our new centre! We remain so grateful for God’s hand and for you, God’s people, for making this possible. High-quality weekly services go from strength to strength with three worship teams rotating and a teaching roster of seven. We are nearing the end of our systematic teaching through the Letter to the Romans while Life-groups, Youth Program and Prayer Watches gather throughout the week and a variety of other activities on a monthly basis. We include here a photo of a recent baby dedication. The Centre has helped the congregation a lot to regain its identity. We offer heartfelt prayers of thanksgiving.
Right now, preparations are being made to reinstate an ALPHA course (in Hebrew) with young adults in mind. Our young intern pastor, David, is heading up the initiative with Pastor Lev in support.
In the coming month, David and his wife Freda, and Maala and I will begin searching for a suitable location to establish a Second-hand and coffee shop in the city. Many people in the congregation are keen to help. This is a vision of David and Freda’s to help us ‘connect’ with the citizens of our city. We have been ‘bathing this in prayer’ for some time. Now it is time to get started! Please partner with us in prayer.
Miriam, our missionary in Africa, is here in Israel to give birth to her second baby (a little girl, this time). The birth is due this week. However, her Congolese husband, Moses, has been delayed from flying in while he awaits a medical certificate that ensures he is Ebola free! Many of the women of the community are willing to help Miriam in the hospital in the days following the surgical birth. Pray please for them as a family that all would be well while sadly separated by circumstances and bureaucracy.
Family Prayer Needs:
Maala and Evan, for good health and strength as the season changes to cooler, rainy weather. Pray too for our ministry trip to Switzerland in mid-November together with our BeYachad Jewish and Arab partners.
Beni, Sara and Zoe, for good health with this, the beginning of the school year. For Sara specifically for strength and wisdom as she serves her clients in her trauma clinic.
Thank you for your faithfulness to us and for your willingness to keep our arms uplifted as we intercede for our nation and our neighbours as the battle rages all around us. We pray also for you also as your role has become increasingly complicated by politics and media ‘spin’.
We are so grateful too for the faithful financial support that helps sustain us in the field. This is never taken for granted. Thank you for your trust and continuing to stand with us.
Evan and Lev