January 2008 Update

[Aziz...@gmail.com]

So what is happening these days in Jerusalem?

The churches in the Holy Land had a rough year in 2007, but as the
word of God says in 1 Peter 4, we should not be surprised! Satan has
been busy in his attacks, yet as Jesus promised even the gates of
Hades will not overpower God's kingdom.

First, this year has been a year of persecution, not only against our
church but against other Christian groups as well. In Jerusalem, a
group of extremist Jews attacked and burned a local Baptist church for
reaching out to Jewish citizens. Our group has received similar
threats in the past, and our hearts go out to the Baptist fellowship.
Meanwhile in Bethlehem, many local churches are being investigated by
the Palestinian Authority because of their political agendas. This has
resulted in a legal struggle between many churches and the Palestinian
government. As a result of the investigations, we have lost a large
part of the freedom we enjoyed in reaching out to the community in
Bethlehem. Please pray that we can continue to exercise freedom in
reaching out to the Arab community here.

This year has been a year of changes within the church as well. After
much prayer and advice, last July I decided to stop working full-time
for the church, and take on part-time pay instead. With the extra
money, we were able to bring two interns to help out with the church
here: Brad Procek of DeKalb, Illinois and Cirron Greenidge of NYC. We
are very excited to have them here, and we are extremely grateful for
the churches in NYC, Memphis, DeKalb, and Central Jersey, who are
funding their stay in Israel!

The interns are working hard and helping encourage the church. We now
have two bible talks every week at Hebrew University, a bible talk in
Bethlehem, and a bible talk in Jerusalem. In addition, the interns are
volunteering with impoverished youth in Bethlehem. Please pray for
their ministry here, as they work to help the church!

As for me and Marie, we are working to develop our tourism business.
This is the forth year of operation for the company, "Missions
Worldwide." We have had 3 summer mission groups in the last 3 years,
and many tours in between! It has been great giving tours to disciples
and spending time with Christians from all over the world.

For this summer's trip, we are happy to announce that we are
partnering with Dr. Douglas Jacoby, who will be leading a life
experience tour through Egypt, Israel and Jordan this summer. You can
register at http://www.douglasjacoby.com/view_article.php?ID=5628 .
Also, we have updated the tourism website, so if you are interested in
visiting the Holy Land, Egypt or Jordan, stop by our website at
http://www.missionsworldwide.org!

Finally, we would like to recommend to you our sister Shibolit, who is
a member of the Jerusalem Church and a convert from Judaism. She is a
Hebrew teacher at Hebrew University, and would love to teach Hebrew in
a church that would sponsor her for the summer. I personally recommend
her as a great teacher. Shibolit has a degree in Jewish Thought from
Hebrew University, and a degree in teaching. If your church is
interested you can contact her at shib...@gmail.com or email me at
aziz...@gmail.com.

Note about Financial Support:
We are still fundraising for the internship, and we are also
fundraising for a church van. If you are interested in supporting one
of these efforts, you can find donation information at
http://www.jerusalemchurchofchrist.org/jcontact.html .

Thank you for all your prayers and support; we ask for your continuing
prayers for the church as we enter the new year! We wish you the best,
and thank you for your friendship and interest in the churches here!

In Him,

Aziz Sarah,
Minister, Jerusalem Church of Christ
972-54-747-2355
www.jerusalemchurchofchrist.org