Nessim Muse - April 2007

Dear Friends,

Another month has flown by with a thousand tasks and little time to do them! Never the less, we press on, for the time is short.

It is now three months since Albert died, and the meetings have continued and even grown, with new people coming. Last but one meeting was a concert of Russian, Israeli, classical, messianic and Yiddish music. Our place was packed to capacity as the Jewish music professor from Moscow, recounting his own experience of persecution, urged the people to make serious choices, and count the cost of following Yeshua. A number of non-believing Jews were present, and it was a blessed time. Last week saw our teacher return after an absence of nearly 5 months! His slot was filled by a number of speakers, mainly Arabs, who were happy to fill the gap! It was a great joy to see M. again, though naturally many are still missing Albert.

We have also started another mid-week meeting to replace the other one, and these are led by Khalil. We are studying the Jewish origins of baptism, and what commitment to Yeshua entails. After this we shall be studying “Apostolic doctrine”.

Israel has just finished celebrating the feast of the Passover. On the Eve of Passover, we had a small company in our home to celebrate that Messiah our Passover has been sacrificed for us. Instead of Albert, we had M. who was leading Passover for the first time in his life. It was very special, as we had two Arab believers (one a former Moslem), celebrating Passover for the first time, as well as our Jewish friend, Cindy, who is not yet a believer. It was very thrilling to be celebrating with our Arab brothers. On Friday, we celebrated with the Carmiel Assembly, where Yossi and Ronit kindly received 9 of us from our group, and apart from the excellent food, it was again a joyful celebration, as we together praised God with both modern and traditional songs, for our deliverance from Egyptian slavery, and the bondage of sin.

Cindy drops by frequently. She wants to draw strength from being near me, but I tell her that this comes from above, not from me. Khalil keeps asking her when she is going to fall off the fence on which she is sitting! She loves the meetings and the people. Tali has become very miserable and Elana, though physically recovering form her stroke, is still in darkness and depression. Roselyn, a lovely Arab believer is being pressured by her family, and needs our prayers. Marina is coming to the mid-week classes along with her daughter and her mother, who is new to the meetings. Another lady who is not a believer has also started coming, at least on Shabbat. We now have a few Arab believers who are coming from time to time, and feel very much at home with us. Naomi, our musician, is back, for which we are thankful. Roi is still in Bible school, and we miss him.

Rabbi Joseph is on a visit to us, and entertaining us with his stories. We praise God for the work of God’s grace in him. Wherever he goes, he tells people about Yeshua!

For those who have been following the story of Abdullah and Hashem, whom we contacted in hospital when Albert was dying, the saga continues. We cannot give too many details, but Pastor Nageeb went to visit them, and due to the fighting in the West Bank, he was not able to visit, nor was Abdullah allowed out. He had brought with him a young man whom he had wanted to introduce to Pastor Nageeb. He had been telling him about Yeshua, and had given him a New Testament. The Israeli Officer kindly relayed the gifts that Nageeb had brought, and they talked by cell-phone. Hashem, Abdullah’s brother, needs to fit a new leg, but we trust he will also get a new heart, filled with love and God’s Spirit. Even in the territories, God is reaching out to bring forth a people for His praise. Pray on! And keep praying for Israel.

Other than the contacts, and the many people who pass through and visit, (which is also a lot of work), we have much administration and many letters to write. If you haven’t heard, please don’t be offended; I probably have about 500 letters and over 700 emails to attend to. Please pray for all the people whom we meet, those who come to the house, and those we meet elsewhere, that they may be drawn to Yeshua, and that God will give us strength for every day.

God bless you all,

Ruth Nessim