Morsi Visit to Tehran Raises Questions, But No Answers

Before the week is over, Egyptian President Mahmoud Morsi will make a visit to Tehran on his way home from China. Speculation is rampant as to what is going to take place during his short visit.

At least one Iranian legislator has suggested that one stop on the tour will be a visit to one of Iran’s nuclear power plants as a prelude to Iran sharing its nuclear technology with Egypt. Mansour Haqiqatpour said that Iran and Egypt can do “joint ventures in the nuclear field, and Iran is ready to transfer its know-how and experience to Egypt.” He said that, “the Iranian nation and government care about Egypt as an Islamic state and want Egypt to be a glorious country in international circles, so Egypt's president can visit all Iranian nuclear centers."

However, the primary purpose of Morsi’s visit is to attend the Non-Aligned Movement summit meeting where he will hand the chairman’s gavel to Iranian President Ahmadinejad. And the visit may not be quite as friendly as the Iranian press and government would like to paint it.

The Fars News Agency recently reported that President Morsi is hoping to “restore normal relations with Iran based on shared interests, and expand areas of political coordination and economic cooperation because this will create a balance of pressure in the region.” On the other hand, Morsi’s office claims that he never made that statement or commitment.

It’s hard to know whom to believe. Both governments have a consistent record of denying things that they have allegedly said or done. Only three weeks ago, a spokesman for the Egyptian president officially denied that Morsi would even visit Iran. Which only makes it harder to believe when the same official says that Morsi will focus on the NAM and will have no bilateral talks with Iranian officials while there.

It appears that Iran is looking for another partner in the Middle East as Syria’s continuing problems remove it from a position of influence. With a new regime, Iran may see Egypt as their best alternative. From Morsi’s perspective, however, the stabilization of his own country has to be his priority. When he has the country situated as he wants it, he may not be interested in being a partner with Ahmadinejad and Khomenei who really want to be in control of the entire region. Why would Morsi want that?

The fact is that we do not know what will happen during Morsi’s visit. We do not know what will be shared in secret. But we do know this: That we can pray as David did that the Lord will “Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity.” (Psalm 64:2). Let us pray together that the Lord will hide Israel from anything that might be said or done to unite these men together in any way that would bring any harm to Israel.

The March of Remembrance

Yesterday over 400 people began a 1,300 mile walk of reconciliation across Poland, hoping to heal wounds that are now 70 years old.  Descendents of perpetrators of the Holocaust are walking side by side with descendents of survivors of the Nazi death camps in Poland.  The March of Remembrance has brought together participants from Poland, Germany, Israel, and the US.  Fifty of the German contingency are direct descendents of members of Wehrmacht, police, or the SS who were directly involved in gathering and killing six million Jews.

The group gathered at the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp and will follow a route that will take them through Treblinka, Kielce, Warsaw, Sobibor, Chelmno, Majdanek, and Belzec.  They will stop at each site for a memorial service, with the main service in Warsaw on Thursday, August 23^rd.

The keynote speaker at the Warsaw memorial will be the Deputy Speaker of the Israeli Knesset, Lia Shemtov.  She became involved with the idea while helping to host a convention honoring evangelical Christians and organizations that have provided aid to Jews who went through the Holocaust.  The idea for the event was roundly accepted, promoted, and brought to fruition this summer.

Ms. Shemtov told reporters that “These are incredible teenagers who discovered their tragic connection with the Jewish people and decided to follow the truth while seeking forgiveness.”

In her address at Warsaw she is expected to say that, “Sadly, the memory of the acts of the Holocaust haunts you even now when you, the next generation are exposed to the rising anti-Semitism in Europe, radical Islam's burning hatred and you, young men and women, who are the same age as 1.5 million children who were slaughtered in the Holocaust say 'no more!’”

Members of the German delegation have said that they want to use the occasion as a way to “find the words that their fathers and grandfathers never found,” and to “listen to the voices of the voices of the victims and their descendents” in the places where their ancestors wrought death and destruction.  They see it as an opportunity to honor those whose lives were lost and those who survived the nightmarish atrocities.

Of the six million Polish citizens who were murdered during the war, half of them were not of Jewish descent.  Poland became a land of “unspeakable suffering” during the war.  While some would deny that the Holocaust ever happened, and many would rather just forget that it happened, these young people are gathered to ask forgiveness for it happening and to remember those to whom it happened.

The March of Remembrance key Bible verse is Isaiah 62:1, “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch.”  May we add, appropriately, II Corinthians 5:19, “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them."  And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.”  There is nothing uglier than sin and strife.  There is nothing more beautiful than reconciliation.

For more information about the March of Remembrance, go here.

More news can be found at Messianictimes, Ynetnews, Digitaljournal.

The Irena Sendler Story: An Honorary Citizen of Israel

Irena Sendler was 98 years old when she died in May of 2008.  Although she was not a Jew, she was an honorary citizen of Israel.  You should know why.

Born about 15 miles southeast of Warsaw, Irena was a 30-year old senior administrator in the city’s Social Welfare Department when the Nazis invaded Poland.  The department provided meals, medicine, and clothing to poor, elderly, and orphaned Poles.  Not long after the invasion she enlisted the aid of co-workers and began assisting Jewish families as well.

In 1942, when the Nazi’s established the Warsaw ghetto, Irena realized that the Jewish predicament was quickly degenerating.  She joined the Polish underground with a plan for rescuing Jewish children before they died.  She obtained a license to work as a plumbing and sewer specialist.  She also obtained a pass that allowed her to enter the ghetto as a representative of the Epidemic Control Department.  As her plan came together, she was able to take supplies into the ghetto and smuggle Jewish children out.

She would bring the children out in everything from sacks to toolboxes and coffins.  Some were hidden in carts under produce or other goods.  Even a dog catcher was used.  Often she would tape the mouths of babies and toddlers to that they would not make noise.  The dog catcher was especially effective as the barking dogs would keep the German guards at a distance.

Using her access to the sewer system, she was able to move the children about undetected until she could get them placed into one of more than 200 orphanages, convents, and other safe havens in and around Warsaw.  Her friends in the Welfare Department forged documents for the children, giving them Christian identities.

She once tried to describe how dangerous it was to smuggle or hide the children.  She said that there was nothing more dangerous at the time than hiding a Jew.  “You have a ticking time bomb in your home.  If they find out, they will kill you, your family, and the person you are hiding.”

Later in life she told how she still had recollections and nightmares, not so much of the smuggling itself, but of the hundreds of times that children and families wept as she took the children from her parents’ arms.  “Can you ensure their safety?” was the question she was most often asked.  She would answer that “No,” she could not.  She was frank enough to tell them that she couldn’t even guarantee that they would make it out of the ghetto alive.  It especially grieved her when parents would not let their children go.  She would always return to ask again, but sometimes the families were no longer there.

The German intelligence finally became aware of Irena’s activities.  They caught up with her on October 20, 1943, and took her to Pawiak prison.  Among the horrors that she faced there was having her legs and feet broken because she would not reveal the names of her co-conspirators.  She was being led to her execution along with a number of others, when one of the guards, who had been bribed by her friends in the underground, spirited her away unnoticed.  She went right back to rescuing more Jewish children.

Irena’s plan could not be completed until after the war.  She had kept meticulous track of the children and where they had been hidden through a collection of papers buried in glass jars beneath an apple tree in a neighbor’s yard.  When the war was over, she found that she had rescued over 2,500 children.  She set out finish the job by working to reunite the children with their parents.  Little had she thought aforetime that almost all of their parents would be killed in the death camps.

She would tell stories of how, years later, people would approach her and say, “I recognize you.”  They were children she had rescued.  That would be a moment of joy for most of us, but for Irena, she always said, “I could have done more.  This regret will follow me to my death.”

This is why Irena Sendler is an honorary citizen of Israel.

Let’s be thankful for her and many more like her.  Let’s pray that we would be as courageous if we were in a similar situation.  Let’s pray for God’s chosen people and for the peace of Jerusalem.

For more information on Irene Sendler click here:

No Holocaust in Romania?

There’s quite a difference between zero, 24 and 13,000. Here’s how these numbers are a part of the same story.

Earlier this year, Dan Şova, the new Romanian Minister for Parliamentary Relations, said that “no Jew suffered in Romanian territory.” Oddly enough, when he was a spokesman for the Social Democratic Party he made the claim that “a total of 24 Jews were killed during the last program by the German army.” The truth is that the actual number is closer to 13,000 Jews. If you want the facts, you only have to read the Report of the International Commission on the Holocaust in Romania.

Maybe Şova also believes something like 300,000-plus Romanian Jews somehow vanished instead of being slaughtered by Romanian government troops between 1940-45. These murderers didn’t need Nazi pressure to work at ridding their country of its Jews.

As a result of his false statement, Şova was removed from his spokesperson role and sent to Washington “for an educational visit at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.” Now he is back and has been appointed by his country as Minister of Parliamentary Relations.

Would that there were zero Jews in Romania who were slaughtered. Even a total of 24 is far too many. Thousands upon thousands is unthinkable. France has acknowledged and begun to process its collaboration in the Holocaust. One can only hope that countries like Romania will do the same.

In the Bible the Apostle John wrote: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” But his next sentence reads, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Will You Help Feed the Poor of the House of Israel Today?

My Scripture for you today: “Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto Thy holy name, and to triumph in Thy praise” (Psalm 106:47).

Dear Jerusalem Prayer Team Member,

Will you help feed the poor of the House of Israel today?

As you read these words today, almost one of every three Israeli children is living below the poverty line. Many of them do not have enough food to eat every day. The government is overwhelmed by the scope of the need and does not have the resources to provide for these precious little ones.  It breaks my heart because I know what it’s like to go to bed hungry and wish that someone cared. I remember looking in dumpsters for food and being terrified of coming across a rat. No child should have to live that way. And there is something we can do about it! With your help the Jerusalem Prayer Team can provide food and other basic life needs to the poor of the house of Israel.

Many years ago I met Reuven Hecht, the senior advisor to Prime Minister Menachem Begin. As we talked, I accidently called him Jacob. I immediately apologized, telling him it was because of jet lag…but he looked into my eyes and said, “My father called me Jacob on his death bed. He told me I was to feed the poor of Israel.” Ever since that day I have had a vision for helping these most needy of God’s Chosen People.

Will you show your love for God by helping these little ones today? Your support will help the Jerusalem Prayer Team show a testimony of salt and light to the Jewish people in this hour of great need. To help today, go here: http://jerusalemprayerteam.org/email/2012/0809-2.htm

Your support of the Jerusalem Prayer Team is vital as we work to gather believers from around the world to join us in prayer for the peace of Jerusalem and the protection of Israel…and as we work to meet the urgent needs of the poor of Israel. The Bible promises that when we give to the poor we are lending to the Lord—a debt that He will certainly repay. Please be as generous as you can when you give today.

Barukh atah Adonai eloheinu melekh ha-olam, ozier Yisrael bigvurah.
Blessed art thou, Lord our God, King of the universe, who girds Israel with might.

Your ambassador to Jerusalem,

Dr. Mike Evans

To encourage others to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, SHARE this post.

Iran Says Alliance with Syria is “Unbreakable”

My Scripture for you today: “For You, LORD, have made me glad through Your work; I will triumph in the works of Your hands” (Psalm 92:4).

Dear JPT Member,

Iran says alliance with Syria is “unbreakable”

Syria’s besieged dictator Bashar Assad appeared in public for the first time in weeks as he met with Iran’s National Security Council head Saeed Jalili. Jalili proclaimed that the alliance between the two nations was “unbreakable.” Iranian troops are known to be operating inside Syria in defense of the government. Several dozen “volunteers” were captured a few days ago by forces fighting against the government. And the government of Turkey has blamed Iranian agents for much of the bloodshed in Syria.

It is impossible to overstate how grave the threat would be to Israel and the Jewish people if the Assad regime were to disintegrate. Iranian operatives have free reign to make plans for attacks across the Syrian border into Israel. Hezbollah is working to gain control of the massive chemical and biological weapons held by the government. And while Assad is no friend to Israel, what follows his fall might well be even worse.

I have stood many times in the north of Israel along the Golan Heights. There the enemies of Israel have launched attacks again and again on the Jewish people. My information from Israel is that the Israeli Defense Forces stationed in the northern part of the country are on the very highest alert because of the great danger.

My heart is breaking because I know the toll the constant threat of danger takes on the people of Israel. So many times I have gone there as your ambassador to bring comfort and help to God’s Chosen People. Today I am asking for your help again so that we can meet the urgent needs of the poor of the house of Israel. Hunger is stalking the land—especially among the children. About one third of Israeli children are below the poverty line and many struggle to find enough food to eat.

To help today, go here: http://jerusalemprayerteam.org/email/2012/0809.htm

I know what it’s like to go to bed hungry and wish that someone cared. Will you show your love for God by helping these little ones today? Your support will help the Jerusalem Prayer Team show a testimony of salt and light to the Jewish people in this hour of great need.

Your support of the Jerusalem Prayer Team is vital as we work to gather believers from around the world to join us in prayer for the peace of Jerusalem and the protection of Israel…and as we work to meet the urgent needs of the poor of Israel. The Bible promises that when we give to the poor we are lending to the Lord—a debt that He will certainly repay. Please be as generous as you can when you give today.

Barukh atah Adonai eloheinu melekh ha-olam, ozier Yisrael bigvurah.

Blessed art thou, Lord our God, King of the universe, who girds Israel with might.

Your ambassador to Jerusalem,

Dr. Mike Evans

To help today, go here: http://jerusalemprayerteam.org/email/2012/0809.htm

Jewish Olympian Profiles - Lee Korsiz

This is the seventh in a series of stories that we will publish honoring Jewish Olympic athletes, past and present, during the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Olympic TV commentators love to use the phrases, “the competition of her lifetime” or “the race of his life.”   If Lee Korsiz wins the gold in the Olympic Windsurfing competition on August 7^th, it will be a great win, but it may nor may not be the race of her life.  She’s already had more than one of those.

The 28 year old woman is, according to HLN TV, the only female Israeli world champion in any sport.  She has won the Windsurfing World Championship three times.  Now she is going for Olympic gold for the second time.

With the preliminary and elimination races already in the books, Lee is in second place going into the final round.  The total scores of the remaining competitors determine the medal winner.

Although she had claimed her first World Championship in 2003, she finished 13^th in the 2004 Athens Games.  She failed to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Games.  In 2009 she was on vacation in Hawaii, doing what any windsurfer would do on vacation:  windsurfing.  Another surfer accidentally slammed his board directly into her back.  She was tossed around in the water like ‘rags in a washing machine’ according to her description of the accident.  The waves were so ferocious that she was thrown on the rocks.  Onlookers called paramedics who immediately rushed to the scene and got her to the hospital.  Doctors told her that she was fortunate not to be paralyzed.  In fact, she was fortunate to be alive.  In addition to a broken leg, the surfboard had barely missed her spine, snapping two ribs from it, leaving them hanging by mere slivers of connective tissue.

For most people that would have been career-ending.  But not for Lee.  She refused to quit and was back in competition in 2010.   At the 2010 European Championships, however,  she was once again by hit by a fellow surfer.  She was knocked unconscious and trapped under water.  Again, although she nearly died, she recovered and returned to compete once more.   She went on to win back to back World Championships in 2011 and 2012.

Should Lee win the gold on Tuesday, she will become the first Israeli woman to win an Olympic medal since the 1992 Barcelona Games.  But it won’t be her first ‘victory.’  Not by a long shot.