Holiday Ministry Report
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 | Rani onscreen at the Light for All Nations Christmas broadcast.
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The holiday season is always a busy one in Christian ministry. Here in Israel, Nazareth alone prepared for Christmas and New Year as the rest of the country put away their Hanukkah decorations. It's always odd to experience Christmas in a country where there is no official recognition of the holiday, but the very fact that we are in the land where Christmas became a reality more than makes up for the lack of tinsel and holly.
Prison Ministry
Rani was extremely busy during December and January. He attended multiple celebrations as a member of the Linga news team and published story after story on both the Arabic and English websites. He participated in a day trip with the House of Light ministry to the Israeli prisons in the south of Israel. These prisons hold thousands of Sudanese refugees, caught on Israeli borders as they flee civil war in Sudan. Rani had the opportunity to share the love of Jesus Christ with hundreds of Sudanese men. Many of these accepted the Lord as savior and were given Arabic language Bibles. Christian Arabs are an ideal witness to Sudanese refugees as most speak only Arabic and their tribal tongues. Many come from Muslim backgrounds and hear about Jesus for the first time from Arab Christians.
World Wide Christmas Program Broadcast Light for All Nations, an Arabic language media ministry based in Canada, hosted a live Christmas program broadcast. The program was a 2 hour long special, filmed in Nazareth, that drew over 800 local Arab Christians. The program was broadcast via satellite to over 40 million viewers worldwide. This was the first such Arabic program held in Israel. Rani had the opportunity to serve as one of the hosts of the evening and was allowed time to share his testimony during the broadcast. We continue to pray that lives were touched by this experience. To read more about it, click here.
Handel's Messiah Christmas Concert Although Israelis don't recognize or celebrate Christmas, they will still attend programs and concerts given during the holiday season. I had the opportunity to perform with the Liturgi-Kal choir in Jerusalem on Christmas Day. We performed the Messiah in the Hebrew language and received great reviews. The words of the musical masterpiece are taken directly from the Bible and as such, possess power to change lives. Many hearts were touched by the concerts and many seeds were planted. |
| SALAM's Media Progress |
SALAM recently launched an online video series entitled 'Holy Land Connection.' Rani serves as the host and conducts on-air interviews with key Christian leaders in Israel. Expanding on this idea, Rani also begin filming brief teaching segments. He travels to Biblical sites in the area, giving a background on each place and using it as a springboard to discuss Biblical stories and topics. His first segment, 'A Risk That Was Worth It' focuses on the town of Capernaum and the story of the paralytic who was healed by Jesus. To see this segment, click here.
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Pray With Us
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- We pray for protection and guidance during our upcoming trip to Texas.
- We pray for the Israeli prisoners, especially Sudanese refugees, as they hear the Word of God for the first time.
- We pray for the churches and ministries of the Holy Land, that each one will be blessed and enriched as God uses them to spread His truth.
- We continue to pray for those who were affected by the Mount Carmel fires.
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We're Thankful
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- We're so thankful for the success of the holiday ministry events: the prison visit, the Christmas broadcast and the choir performance.
- We're so thankful for the success of the Challenge Youth Camp. Young lives were changed and the Holy Spirit was at work! To read more, click here
- We're thankful for the opportunity to travel to Texas and visit friends and family.
- We're thankful for the constant provision of our needs that God continually provides.
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