Please pray day by day for:

Wednesday, August 21–Wednesday, August 28 ▪ Isaiah 40:3–5

• Protection for our staff team members as they travel and arrive early
• Favor as they conduct in-country preparations
• All logistics to be in place and physical preparation of the site to be completed safely
• The area to be well prepared spiritually through prayer for the Kingdom of God to come in power

Thursday, August 29 ▪ Proverbs 3:6

• Smooth travel days, without incident, for our Outreach Partners
• All belongings and luggage to arrive safely as well
• God to spiritually prepare Outreach Partners even as they travel, including speaking to their hearts and encouraging them

Friday, August 30 ▪ Numbers 6:24–26

• Blessing over family members and personal matters at home while our Outreach team and partners are away
• Unity of the Spirit, right from the start, so we can have one heart and one mind and operate as one body
• Each team member to experience the Lord’s presence with great gratitude as well as restful sleep and peace in their accommodations

Saturday, August 31 ▪ Psalm 19:14

• Quick recovery from travel and jet lag and ease in adapting to new foods, culture and sleeping arrangements
• Successful orientations for each area of the Clinic and Outreach so that everyone knows their responsibilities and can focus on loving and serving well
• Diligence in ensuring clear communication and good relationships

Sunday, September 1 ▪ Ephesians 4:16

• Great wisdom and discernment in hiring local workers, and for physical and spiritual protection of the Outreach location
• The Medical Clinic itself as we open today for a half-day of serving those who come
• Each partner to serve with humility in a manner that blesses others and to trust in the Lord and reflect Yeshua regardless of the circumstances

Monday – September 2 ▪ Philippians 2:3–5

• Many to be treated and ministered to today, the first full day of the Outreach, and all elements of the Clinic to be well strategized and working smoothly
• The Good News to be proclaimed clearly through word and deed
• Visiting authorities to be favorable and blessed by what we are doing

Tuesday – September 3 ▪ James 1:17

• The Zehra Kids Program – effective leadership and ministry to many children as well as their families
• The Lord’s loving care over all who serve and all who are treated, including physical, spiritual, mental and relational protection; and protection for all the physical equipment as well
• Powerful times of worship and prayer each morning, and during the special evening meeting on Wednesday

• Divine encounters – salvation, healing and deliverance – in the Prayer Room and the Clinic that change lives

Wednesday – September 4 ▪ John 6:37

• The message of the Good News and new life in Yeshua (Jesus) to go forth with clarity and consistency accompanied by signs and wonders
• Physical healing, spiritual deliverance, and salvations through the Good News of Yeshua
• Great weather all week – cool, but not cold – and a good night’s sleep every evening

Thursday – September 5 ▪ Luke 17:5

• Energy and high, faith-filled spirits to continue through the week
• The fragrance of Yeshua and impact of the Good News to remain and spread even after we leave
• Continued favor and goodwill with the local leaders and civil authorities in the area

Friday – September 6 ▪ 2 Timothy 2:15

• God’s grace to serve as many people as possible on this last half-day of the Clinic; and shalom when we must close our doors
• Safety and efficiency tearing down the campsite and packing up the Clinic
• True peace and rest as we enter Shabbat and testify to all the wonders the Lord has shown us during the week

Saturday – September 7 ▪ Isaiah 40:31

• Continued stamina for our JVMI team members as they tend to closing details
• Rest and renewal as our Outreach Partners begin to debrief and relax from the busy week of ministry

Sunday – September 8 ▪ Psalm 96:1–3

• Safety for Outreach Partners as they leave Zimbabwe, travel home to family and return to jobs and “everyday life;” and that all their bags would arrive with them
• Local congregation leaders to be faithful and effective in conducting the follow-up among those who are open to it
• Those who received Yeshua– that they would be open to discipleship and becoming part of a congregation
• The Good News of Yeshua to spread throughout the region

Let’s pray:

Father, Abba, thank You for sending Yeshua to die for us and His Spirit to live in us. Thank You for each person serving on this Outreach and for each one praying for it. May many people come and receive medical care, hear about and believe in Yeshua. We ask You for the best of Good News in Gutu – that Jewish people and their neighbors would be saved. In Yeshua’s name, Amen.

The Temple – it was the focal point of Israel and Judaism. It was where God dwelled. It was the embodiment of Jewish people’s relationships with God. It was where they brought their offerings and where their sins were covered. And it was in the location where the Lord chose to put His Name (see Deuteronomy 12, 14, 16). 

Three times each year, Jewish men came from all over the Land and the world to present their harvest offerings at Firstfruits, Shavuot and Sukkot. The Temple brought the widespread people of Israel together. As the place where forgiveness and atonement occurred, the Temple brought God and man together. 

And then it was gone, destroyed on the 9th day of the Hebrew month Av, in 587 B.C.E. The people of Israel were taken into captivity, or they fled in every direction to avoid it.

Later, they returned, and the second Temple was completed in 515 B.C.E. The Temple resumed its central role among the people, anchoring Jewish life in God’s presence. 

And then it was gone again. In 70 C.E., the second Temple was taken from Israel. On the same date as the first destruction – the 9th day of Av – the Romans destroyed the second Temple. Later, and also on Tisha B'Av, they plowed over the rubble and covered the Temple Mount. Jewish people were expelled from Jerusalem, and they no longer had a homeland. 

In 1948, the State of Israel was born, and today, it is a thriving country with a population of 9 million. But the Jewish people still have no Temple in His city. All that’s left of their holiest site is the Western Wall of the Temple Mount – the stone foundation upon which the Temple once stood.  On the Temple Mount now sit the Al Aqsa mosque and the Islamic shrine known as the Dome of the Rock. 

Tisha B’Av (TISH-ah Buh AV), meaning “the 9th of Av,” is a day of mourning in Israel and for Jewish people throughout the world. It’s astonishing that both Temples were destroyed on the very same calendar date more than 650 years apart. Their loss is the primary focus of Tisha B’Av’s grief. However, there’s even more to the Ninth of Av’s sadness.  

Several other calamities have befallen Israel on this same date across history. First, Rabbinic tradition holds that it was on Tisha B’Av  that the 12 spies returned to Israel in the wilderness, and 10 of them persuaded the people to be afraid despite God’s promise to give them the Land. Over the centuries, this same date has brought a surprising amount of persecution, expulsions and other adversities upon the Jewish people.

Tragic Events that Took Place on the 9th of Av

• 587 B.C.E. (Hebrew calendar year 3338) – The First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar
• 70 C.E. – The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans under the leadership of Emperor Titus
• 71 C.E. – Romans plowed over the Temple Mount
• 135 C.E. – The Romans conquered Bar Kochba's last fortress, Betar, and destroyed his army. The Roman Emperor Hadrian turned Jerusalem into a Roman city
• 136 C.E.  – Hadrian set up a pagan temple on the site of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem
• 1290 C.E. – King Edward 1st of England signed an edict expelling all Jews from England
• 1492 C.E. – Jews were expelled from Spain
• 1670 C.E. – The last Jews left Vienna, following expulsion orders
• 1914 C.E. – World War I began (Germany declared war on Russia on August 1, 1914)
• 1940 C.E. – Himmler presented his plan for the "Final Solution" to the “Jewish problem”
• 1942 C.E. – Nazis began deporting Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto to death camps

On Tisha B’Av, mourning includes fasting from food and water as well as refraining from activities that represent ease and luxury. Such things as bathing/washing, using perfumes or colognes, marital relations and wearing leather shoes are among the comforts given up as an expression of grief on Tisha B’Av.

Learning Torah is also prohibited on Tisha B’Av as it brings joy. Also avoided on this day of mourning are engaging in business, sitting higher than one foot off the ground part of the day, greeting others, offering gifts, idle talking and leisure activities.

Weep with those who weep.

―Romans 12:15

As Israel mourns this woeful day, we join in the sorrow of Tisha B’Av and grasp another opportunity to pray for Jewish people throughout the world to know the hope of Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah.