What is God Doing in Palestine?

Palestine        

Population: 3.9 million

Capital:     Gaza

   (Jerusalem is claimed)

People Groups:  21

Main Religion: Islam 87%

All Christians:  1.9%

 

Links to Testimonies of people in Palestine who have become Christians: JOSEPH:  http://www.answering-islam.org/Testimonies/jjibran.html THAYER:  http://members.aol.com/GOSPEL911/testimony.html EMAD:  http://www.arabicbible.com/testimonies/emad.htm DORIS:  http://www.arabicbible.com/testimonies/doris.htm

A former Palestinian terrorist who's now a born-again Christian says Israel is wrong to give in to demands that it give up more land for peace. Walid Shoebat grew up in a Palestinian home in Bethlehem. He says from the very beginning, his father and other Palestinian leaders taught him to hate the Jews. When he was still a teenager, he was recruited into the terrorism business and was given death missions to carry out on Israelis. "I ended up being recruited to do my first operation to blow up [a bank] in Bethlehem. It failed; the bomb exploded, nobody was hurt," Shoebat says. "And my first attempted lynching of a Jewish soldier failed; we clubbed him. He was sitting there, he was bleeding profusely. I'm still looking for that soldier -- I'm looking to pay restitution." Through a variety of circumstances, Shoebat eventually began to study the Bible, with the intent to prove it wrong. Instead, he was amazed at what it taught about Israel and how God has always preserved the Jewish people, no matter how strong the enemy. God touched his heart, he says, and he asked Christ to be his personal Savior. "I did a simply prayer to the God of Abraham, asking Him to show me the truth -- and He showed me the truth," the former terrorist says. "[Thousands of] verses of prophetic nature in the Bible. I was in sinking sand, my friends. And every single Muslim in the world is in sinking sand if he thinks that they are going to destroy the State of Israel."    National Religious Broadcasters, February 2004

Yassir Arafat is not the only person to have a private screening of Mel Gibson's film "The Passion of the Christ", which he recently watched with two English Christian leaders in Ramallah. The film is everywhere, and Gaza's marketplaces offer illegal copies, too. "The impact of the film in predominantly Muslim nations in the Middle East is phenomenal," say Christians in the region.   Joel News International, April 2004

The Mel Gibson film, “The Passion of the Christ” is so popular here that they have been canceling the other films to show 'The Passion' in all the theatres at the cinema complex. I took a friend on the second night. The film was running in all three theatres. I would estimate that well over 50% of the people in the theatre were local Muslims including women completely veiled. You could see how this film had impacted everyone. On the second day, several of the local newspapers had the advertisement for the film on the frontpage. It appears that even Saudi Arabia is getting a chance to see the film, albeit through pirated DVD's. There are no movie theatres in Saudi Arabia anyway. God knows what He's doing. I was just reminded what the Apostle Paul writes: "It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way (e.g. pirated DVDs) the true Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice". (Philippians 1:15-18). The release was very timely. The killing of Palestinian Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmad Yassin happened the morning after the film was released. The Arab response has been a whole new wave of hatred for the Jews, which was illustrated in a large public demonstration/march yesterday. At a time when the urge for Muslims to hate has been renewed, the Lord has brought 'The Passion' telling them - 'No, love your enemies! Forgive them!' The contrast is staggering. [Note Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat watched 'The Passion of the Christ' at a private screening in the West Bank city of Ramallah, and made a positive statement about it.] Just today a couple of local women asked me, "Do you have the New Testament in Arabic? Me and all my friends want to read it!" Another asked about where to get the Arabic Bible on the internet. This has never happened! The film is generating so much interest in Jesus and the Scriptures. Every Christian we are talking to seems to have a story of two just like this one. May it continue to increase. There have been several articles in the paper, all positive and surprisingly silent in terms of emphasizing the Islamic belief that Jesus did not die on the cross. People are talking about wanting to go and see it. Pray that many would watch this movie and that it would spark an interest and hunger to know more of Jesus and the Bible. Pray that hearts would be drawn by the love of Jesus. Pray that believers would make the most of this opportunity to talk with their friends, to be available for those who will be impacted by what they see.    Joel News International, March 2004