Crossposted from the Persecution blog – www.persecutionblog.com

In all my time writing about Christian persecution the story of Rebekka, Ratna, and Eti who were imprisoned back in May 2005 for converting Muslim children to Christianity is one story that stands out above many others.

I’m happy to report that today CBN did an update on these three precious saints and not only are they being used in jail to lead others to Jesus, but our prayers have been answered because they will be released early next month!  Praise the Lord!

CBN has a short 3 minute video that I’d like you to click on over and watch.  This is great news and we need to rejoice.

When I went to Israel last week one of the things that I was looking forward to was meeting the people of the land.  I didn’t go on a full  biblical tour of Israel like many Christians.  Instead I had the opportunity to meet the Jewish people of the land including a few holocaust survivors, a victim of a suicide bomber and a member of the Israeli military. 

I also learned much about the disconnect between Christians and Jews and have a greater understanding as to why these relationships are so important…and often strained today.

The picture in this post is my husband Randall and me, with a married couple who were both survivors of the holocaust under Hitler.  We sat with them on the grounds of the holocaust museum and listened as they shared how God delivered them from death.

The woman shared her testimony about how at one time she and her mother and many others were actually placed within a gas chamber and they were going to be killed, however, something happened and the persecutors couldn’t get it to work.  She said that it was amazing because none of them knew it was a gas chamber until after the fact, and yet God delivered them.

She also shared how she was forced to walk around nude and was given basically a burlap bag to wear in freezing cold weather while they had to work in the camps.  It really is an amazing testimony and I’m very thankful that there are Christians in Israel reaching out to the few remaining holocaust survivors.  This is one way the Lord is repairing Jewish and Christian relations and we all need to pray for that to continue.

I am back from my week long trip to Israel and I have so much on my heart and mind concerning my trip. First and foremost I have to say that I absolutely LOVE Israel more than ever now and want to encourage everyone to go at least once. It is an amazing place full of faith and culture and words really can’t convey the experiences I had while I was there.

I didn’t go on a normal biblical tour of the land while I was there, with the exception of day one which was led by Kay Arthur, the Founder of Precept Ministries International. What my husband and I did was see the people of the land and heard a lot about the persecution of the Jewish people.

One of my favorite days of travel was with Christian Friends of Israel because we got to meet two holocaust survivors, one victim of a terrorist attack and a member of the Israeli military. I also learned about the awesome ministry that CFI has going on and got to meet their resident Rabbi.

I also spent one full day with a Jewish tour guide who brought us into the “settlements” as they are called, in Judea and Samaria also known as the West Bank. On that day trip we got to visit three Jewish families in their homes and hear about their lives and how they live under threat from the militants who want to wipe Israel off the map. It was very touching and these are people I will not soon forget. On this day, we also were led by tour guides with handguns and military rifles, and I wasn’t afraid of being in harms way once.

That is actually the biggest misconception that people have. Everyone thinks that going to Israel is dangerous and that there is war on every corner. That’s just not the case. There is war, but it’s in isolated areas, and whereas there were many suicide killers in the past few years, the overwhelming majority of bombings have gone down because the IDF is doing a great job.

If you care to see more pictures, feel free to click on over to my confidential Igroop and sign up for a free 10 day trial. Then you will have access to my video blogging and pictures from the trip.

Here are a few more interesting pictures from Israel. I hope you enjoy.

Inside the tomb where Jesus may have laid.

Holy bagel? Yup, there is such a thing.

Shalom from the Holy Land!

I wanted to thank you all for your kind notes and for asking me to share some pictures with you as I travel this week here in Israel. I got in late on Sunday and as I write this it is Wednesday morning and Israel is celebrating First Fruits.

Yesterday I had an opportunity to do a one day tour with Kay Arthur from Precept Ministries and it was awesome. Kay is an extremely gracious woman and she knows the Word of God better than anyone I’ve ever met. Check out Lightsource.com to see her daily television show Precepts for Life.

I saw so many things, but one of my favorite places was the empty tomb of our Lord Jesus. The picture is from the site of the tomb, which no one can totally confirm is the real place, but tradition supports it.

And I can tell you that it was rather surreal for me to actually be in the place where Jesus and the apostles and disciples have been. It’s amazing.
This is Kay Arthur, me and my husband Randall in front of the wailing wall.