Mudanda, Buhera, Zimbabwe - New Location!
Summary
Come with us and experience the thrill of being a part of God’s prophetic plan for bringing His people back to Himself.
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Chira had no idea her love for the Jewish people would land her smack in the middle of the Six-Day War in Jerusalem. As a new Believer, she had discovered God’s covenant love for the Jewish people, and they quickly secured a treasured place in her heart as well. She left her native Finland to work at a Finnish boarding school in Jerusalem. Though bomb shelters and safe rooms had been required by law for every building in Israel since 1951, Chira probably never imagined herself scrambling into one as a fierce war screamed around her.
At the school, Chira was responsible for feeding 30-some students as well as adults. Those responsibilities continued once everyone entered the reinforced safety of the shelter. While airstrikes and artillery boomed above them, the school family hid out together. They didn’t know how long they would have to stay hunkered down and had no idea what the results of the war would be. Chira recalled, “We were lying on the floor in the bomb shelter wondering, ‘Do you think we are in the kingdom of Jordan or are we in the kingdom of Israel?’”
In the Independence War in 1948, Jordan captured East Jerusalem and the West Bank. In 1950, they brazenly annexed them as part of Jordan. In 1967, tensions between Israel and the neighboring Arab countries grew increasingly volatile, particularly at the Syrian border to the northeast. From the Golan Heights, Syrian snipers frequently fired down on Israeli farmers below. In April of 1967, Syrian gunners fired on an Israeli tractor farming in the demilitarized zone, and a skirmish ensued. Israel ultimately responded with airstrikes on Syrian military positions and nearby villages.
Several weeks later, Egypt gained false information from Russia that Israel was amassing tens of thousands of troops to attack Syria and march into Damascus. Egypt pulled together its military resources and began positioning them in the Sinai Peninsula at Israel’s southern border. With that, Israel had no choice but to reinforce its own troops at the Sinai border. But in doing so, they sent along a message to Egypt saying, “Israel wants to make it clear to the government of Egypt that it has no aggressive intentions whatsoever against any Arab state at all” (Honest Reporting).
The message failed to calm the adrenaline now coursing through the Arab nations surrounding Israel. Rather, they escalated their efforts, garnered additional allies, and grew feverishly intent on destroying Israel.
Egypt’s President Gamal Abdel Nasser declared:
The existence of Israel is in itself an aggression…what happened in 1948 was an aggression – an aggression against the Palestinian people. … (the crisis had developed because) Eshkol threatened to march on Damascus, occupy Syria, and overthrow the Syrian regime. It was our duty to come to the aid of our Arab brother. We will not accept any…coexistence with Israel…. Today, the issue is not the establishment of peace between the Arab states and Israel…. The war with Israel is in effect since 1948 (The Six-Day War, Honest Reporting).
Cairo radio carried caustic messages that inflamed the already volatile situation including, “The Zionist barrack in Palestine is about to collapse and be destroyed. Every one of the hundred million Arabs has been living for the past 19 years on one hope – to live to see the day Israel is liquidated…. The sole method we shall apply against Israel is a total war which will result in the extermination of Zionist existence” (The Six-Day War, Honest Reporting).
To the south, east, and north Israel faced roughly 200,000 Arab forces fidgeting with zealous readiness to charge through her borders at any moment. With additional troops to draw from, the Arab alliance outnumbered Israel in soldier-power and had the upper hand with more weapons, tanks, and aircraft as well. Pressed, Israel determined its best defense was offense. On June 5, 1967, Israel launched a surprise attack on Egypt’s air force destroying most of it in just a few hours (The Six-Day War, Honest Reporting).
Israel appealed to Jordan to stay out of the conflict, but Jordanian military in Tel Aviv repeatedly barraged Jerusalem with artillery fire. Jordan continued its attacks and overtook the United Nations headquarters in Jerusalem. While Chira and the Finnish school residents hunkered down in their shelter, the war raged outside. Israeli troops fought hard to drive back the Jordanians from Jerusalem. “We didn’t know how the border was shifting,” Chira said. As she pondered what kingdom they were in, with deep trust she concluded: “We are in the kingdom of God.”
Israel overcame Jordan’s forces, and in so doing retook eastern Jerusalem on June 7th. Israeli Prime Minister Moshe Dayan announced:
This morning, the Israel Defense Forces liberated Jerusalem. We have united Jerusalem, the divided capital of Israel. We have returned to the holiest of our holy places, never to part from it again. To our Arab neighbors we extend, also at this hour – and with added emphasis at this hour – our hand in peace. And to our Christian and Muslim fellow citizens, we solemnly promise full religious freedom and rights. We did not come to Jerusalem for the sake of other peoples’ holy places, and not to interfere with the adherents of other faiths, but in order to safeguard its entirety, and to live there together with others, in unity (The Six-Day War, Honest Reporting).
By June 11, the war was over, and for the first time in 2,000 years, Jerusalem was unified under Israel control.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of that historic event. On the 28th day of the Hebrew month of Iyar (May 24, 2017, beginning the evening of May 23), Israel and Jewish people the world over will celebrate Jerusalem Day. Ceremonies and festivities across the nation will commemorate the victory, honor the heroes, and entertain celebrants gathered together all throughout Israel.
It has been fifty years since Jerusalem was released from Gentile rule.
Fifty has always been a notable number in the Bible. Fifty years marked the biblical jubilee year in which servants were freed, debts released, and all property was returned to its original owners. Fifty days after Passover is the Feast of Shavuot, or Feast of Weeks. It is a pilgrimage feast that Jewish people returned to Jerusalem to observe. Fifty days after the resurrection of Yeshua (Jesus), on Shavuot, God bestowed the Holy Spirit to dwell within each Believer.
In Luke chapter 21 Yeshua foretold the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem that would take place in 70 A.D. He went on to speak of the turmoil to occur in the Last Days. And He spoke of Jerusalem: “Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (Luke 21:24).
Chira Kaplan, before she married Jewish Voice founder Louis Kaplan, was there in Jerusalem when it came out of Gentile hands. After spending three days and nights huddled together in the bomb shelter, the residents of the Finnish school emerged to a free Jerusalem.
"When the war was over, we had the privilege of walking to the Wailing Wall with the throngs of Jewish people who went into the Old City while there were still snipers, but there were soldiers along the way to protect us. It was the Feast of Shavuot, or Pentecost, a pilgrim feast, and it was very special to be able to experience this moment that Jesus proclaimed when He spoke about the End Times – that Jerusalem would be trampled by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. And now, Jerusalem was united and in the hands of Israel, and we went and experienced the same joy as King David when he wrote in a psalm, 'I rejoiced when they said, "Let us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand within thy gates O’ Jerusalem"' (Psalm 122:2).
The restoration of Jerusalem to Israel heightened interest in the fledgling nation at the same time the Jesus Movement was drawing many Jewish young people to the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua. It hardly seems a coincidence that just six months before the epic results of the Six-Day War, God led Louis Kaplan, a Messianic Jewish Believer, to launch a ministry focused on reaching Jewish people with the Gospel. The year 2017 marks not only the 50th anniversary of a free Jerusalem but the 50th anniversary of Jewish Voice Ministries as well.
Jonathan Bernis is leading a Jewish Voice tour to Israel during which some 300 guests will join the festivities on Jerusalem Day. Together they’ll celebrate with Israel the jubilee anniversary of Jerusalem’s liberation; prophecy fulfilled and God’s ultimate plan of redemption; His heart to see all Israel saved; and also how He has called JVMI to be a part of bringing that to fruition.
There’s encouraging news out of the Middle East this week. As a friend of Jewish Voice Ministries, you’ll want to know what’s going on, I’m sure.
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz has invited Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, Jordan’s King Abdullah, and other Muslim leaders to join his meeting with President Trump in Riyadh this weekend. Abbas has reportedly agreed to attend.
The meeting is now shaping up to be a sort of Middle East summit that will kick off the President’s first foreign tour since taking office. He’ll also visit Israel and the Vatican.
According to The Jerusalem Post, the Saudi-hosted “Arab, Islamic, and American Summit” is expected to address key problems in the Middle East and open a dialogue about forging new security partnerships.
Observers had earlier been quoted in The Times of Israel as saying the meeting suggests three goals: building partnerships in the Muslim world against terrorism, laying groundwork for renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, and constructing an anti-Iranian coalition.
Meanwhile, Abbas is reportedly preparing to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump in Jerusalem next week, following the Saudi gathering.
At a press conference in Ramallah, Abbas said, “We affirmed to [President Trump] that we are ready to cooperate with him and meet the Israeli prime minister under his auspices in order to make peace.”
That’s encouraging. But will it actually lead to a meaningful peace discussion? Though I so want to be optimistic, there’s good reason to be skeptical. The PA has said it wants peace. But the terror group continues to use each cease-fire, each peace summit, each opportunity as a “time-out,” during which it replenishes its arms stockpile, reloads its rocket launchers, and digs more attack tunnels into Israel.
For the past eight years, Abbas has stubbornly held to two key preconditions that have stalled meaningful peace talks: the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, and a freeze on West Bank settlement activity and Jewish building in East Jerusalem. Prime Minister Netanyahu has consistently said he is willing to meet with Abbas, but only if the preconditions are dropped.
Direct talks between Abbas and Netanyahu were rare during the Obama administration. In fact, their last substantive meeting was in 2010.
Still, the White House said late last week that the President will use his trip to work for a “just and lasting peace” between Israel and the Palestinians, including the Palestinian goal of “self-determination.”
U.S. National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster said the President’s meetings with Israeli leaders are aimed at strengthening ties between the two nations. “He [President Trump] will reaffirm America’s unshakable bond to the Jewish state,” he said.
While Middle East peace prospects have alternated between somewhat possible and absolutely zero dating back to Israel’s birth in 1948, we may have reason to hope that, this time, progress can be made. For the sake of our allies in Israel, the Jewish people we care about so much, and the Muslims we’re called to love in Yeshua’s name, I hope you’ll join me in praying that genuine peace advances across the region. Nothing less than precious lives are at stake.
With your prayers for peace, I hope you’ll strongly consider making a special gift to Jewish Voice. We need you to stand with us. Your partnership is what moves this ministry forward.
Through your generosity, you share healing and hope with Jewish people in need worldwide. Without you, we can’t deliver humanitarian aid (medical, dental, and eye care), the Gospel, discipleship, leadership development at Messianic congregations in Africa, or clean water.
You provide the encouragement, the prayers, and the financial support that make it happen. And I thank you sincerely.
To show our appreciation for your gift of $40 or more today, we’ll send you a set of books that will inform and inspire you. You’ll receive the book 10 Amazing Muslims Touched by God, containing stories of Muslims coming to faith in Yeshua (Jesus). You’ll also get the history-packed booklet Is Peace Possible? to help you sort out the facts about the Middle East conflict. Each book will serve to help you share with others about how God is moving in history and revealing Himself as Savior.
Thank you again for your support and prayers — and God bless you.
Shalom! As you likely know, the word shalom means “peace.” Did you know that the word also means “completeness” or “prosperity”? That’s why it is a wonderful greeting! Although we haven’t met, I wish you shalom, and would like to introduce myself and the ministry I serve.
My name is Jonathan Bernis; I am CEO and President of Jewish Voice Ministries International. I am also a Jewish man who has recognized the truth that Jesus is indeed the Messiah, the hope and salvation of all mankind. I have been called by Yeshua (Jesus) to share the truth of His love and mercy by serving at Jewish Voice Ministries, a ministry founded in 1967, and celebrating 50 years of ministry very soon. It is amazing what miraculous works God has done in and through Jewish Voice so far and we are really looking forward to what He has in store for us!
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Our mission at Jewish Voice Ministries International is from Romans 1:16 where the apostle Paul states, “ For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.”
We are living in very exciting times, watching God miraculously open the eyes of the Jewish People to their Messiah (Jesus) in fulfillment of a prophecy written by the apostle Paul in Romans 11 verses 25 and 26, “I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved...”
This passage clearly tells us that the Lord has ordained a set time in history for the blindness to come off the eyes of the Jewish People in anticipation of the day when all Israel is saved. I believe we are living in those days. Now is the time God has ordained for the restoration of the Jewish People in preparation for the return of the Messiah. Jewish Voice is so grateful to be included in God’s plan to proclaim the Good News to the Jew first and also to the Nations.
We have a tremendous sense of urgency surrounding our calling and believe that ministries like ours that are focused on reaching God’s Chosen People are destined to move into central focus as the Church understands the role Israel and the Jewish People play in the Last Days preceding the return of the Messiah.
It is because of this urgent call that we have developed a global mission and multi-faceted approach to outreach using television, print, and online media, as well as on-the-ground medical and humanitarian outreaches in remote parts of the world reaching the “Lost Tribes of Israel” that God is gathering back to Himself. I invite you to connect with us in the ways showing in the sidebar to the right. Through them, you will discover the miraculous ways God is at work around the globe using Jewish Voice Ministries to be His hands and feet. I hope you are encouraged by the amazing ways God is working in the world.
Shalom – prosperity and peace to you
When God called Abraham to become the father of the Jewish people, He made them a promise:
My heart’s desire is to make you into a great nation, to bless you, to make your name great so that you may be a blessing. My desire is to bless those who bless you, but whoever curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed (Genesis 12:2-3).
And yet, throughout all of history, no other group has been more persecuted than the Jewish people.
And the persecution of Jewish people is still widespread. In fact, since 2000, anti-Semitism has been getting progressively worse worldwide.
A 2012 report by the U.S. State Department confirmed the dramatic global increase in anti-Semitism. It found that Holocaust denial and opposition to Israel were often used to promote blatant anti-Semitism.
As just one example, in the past year the United Nations (UN) adopted 20 one-sided resolutions against Israel — compared to only six resolutions addressed to the whole rest of the world combined!
And such undeniable bias is not just coming from the United Nations. Independent studies confirm the rapidly growing connection between anti-Semitism and the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement — especially on American college campuses.
In fact, there is clear evidence that many BDS and anti-Israel protests — which nearly tripled from 2015 to 2016 — encourage violence against Jewish students.
As one professor who has closely researched this issue has said, “Instead of just boycotting Israel, the anti-Zionists are now boycotting Jewish students. Sadly, all too often it is not debate but hate. The lines between political discussions on Israeli policy and discrimination toward Jewish students are being blurred.”
And in an inevitable parallel, attacks against Jewish synagogues and Jewish people in both Europe and the United States have been on a dramatic increase for several years.
Clearly, something must be done. Such open hatred and prejudice cannot go unchallenged — especially by Christians who take seriously Jesus’ admonitions that we “love one another,” and even that we love our enemies.
That’s what Jewish Voice Ministries is all about.
Now in our 50th year, Jewish Voice is committed to providing physical and spiritual help to Jewish people, transforming lives and seeing all Israel saved.
To accomplish these goals, Jewish Voice quietly but effectively works to:
This last goal is the ultimate heart of our ministry. As the apostle Paul wrote in Romans 10:1, “Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for Israel is for their salvation.”
The work of Jewish Voice is critically important. But we can’t do it without help from those who already know the truth — that Yeshua is the Messiah. That’s why I’m asking you to send a gift to support the work of Jewish Voice.
Every gift goes to speak out against anti-Semitism, to help needy Holocaust survivors, and to meet the needs of impoverished Jewish people around the world.
As my way of saying thank you for a gift of any size right now, I’ll send you my booklet Why Satan Hates the Jews, which explores the spiritual roots of anti-Semitism.
And if you can give at least $50, I’ll send you the two-DVD set Unlocking the Prophetic Mysteries of Israel.
Please fight the evil of anti-Semitism and bring comfort and care to Jewish people in need by sending your most generous gift today. Thank you, and God bless you!
