News from Israel - November/December 2009
 |
| Sunrise over the Golan Heights, Israel |
There have been some heavy downpours of rain in recent days here in the Galilee, but despite this excellent start to the rainy season, the water situation in Israel is still very serious. After three years of record drought, the nation still needs much more rain, and the water tax is still in effect. The level of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) measured 214.29 meters [696 feet] below sea level when we were last there a few days ago. The rains that fell over the past days were equivalent to the annual average for October and November combined, but the lake is still over 5.5 meters [18 feet] lower than the optimum full level.
The terrorist responsible for seriously injuring Amiel Ortiz, the Messianic Jewish teenager from Ariel, has finally been captured. He is a Jewish religious fanatic by the name of Jacob Teitel, and is an American immigrant to Israel. He has confessed to the murder of a Palestinian cab driver and is also suspected of several other attacks in past years. The bomb he planted outside the Ortiz family apartment last year was disguised as a Purim gift. At the time, the incident gave rise to a lot of good publicity for the Messianic community in Israel. Amiel not only survived the attack, but has made remarkable progress since then (see our May-June 2008 newsletter).
Our Romanian pastor friend, Daniel Stanger, continues to evangelize the Romanian community in Nazareth. His two teenage daughters, Adelina, sixteen and a half, and Oana, fifteen, were both baptized in the River Jordan on October 3, along with two other young people from the congregation, Miriam, sixteen, and Misha, nineteen. Misha will soon be doing his military service in the Israeli army. There were also several others baptized on this occasion, including one from Romania. Praise the Lord!
Recently, Genovieva’s application for Israeli citizenship was rejected, and she was told to leave the country. The boss of the Interior Ministry in Tiberias told her that, although she had all the necessary papers, they did not accept Jews who believe in Yeshua (Jesus). A Messianic lawyer in Jerusalem has filed an appeal on her behalf. However, regardless of the outcome, we need to be together more of the time—Stephen has been limited to three-month tourist visas while Genovieva has been in Israel. We also need to energize our work in Romania, and renew our support in the United States. So we plan to leave Israel at the end of February 2010.
Genovieva has acquired a good knowledge of Hebrew and has translated hundreds of worship songs into Romanian for use by our staff in Iaşi. We believe the time is right for her to go back to her homeland to teach these new songs, help get them recorded, and spread them all over the country. She still hopes that her appeal will have a successful outcome, and that she can visit Israel in the future.
With your donations, we continue to help poor Israeli families and those in need in and around Tiberias. “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40).
 |
 |
| Daniel, Iulia, Adelina and Oana Stanger | Adelina's Baptism |