What an update!

"Dear friends,

I am in USA now , while I was in my way from Amman to Chicago , Suhad received a fax from Jonathan Khuttab, our lawyer, to inform us that Jonathan's appeal on behalf of Suhad to the Israeli Supreme Court has been acted upon positively, and the Court has mandated that Suhad be granted a visa to live in Gaza , so we can live together again at our home! PRAISE GOD

Thank you friends for your prayers and all what you did for us and I will keep you updated.

Peace

Hanna & Suhad"

Thank you for praying for this to happen! Let's pray now that her visa will materialize in actuality!

A friend and co-laborer had these thoughts to share this week. I hope they'll help you.

"For those who believe we are promised a place with the Lord in the world to come:

There is only one way in Islam to be truly assured of a place in paradise, and that is to die as a martyr. More than occupation, more than hatred of the Jews, those young people committing suicide attacks speak in their own last words of the hope that this way they will surely be in heaven.

The Muslim mother who through tears praises the action of her offspring is thinking like a Christian mother proud that one of her children has become a pastor. My son has sacrificed and done what it takes to be right with God and an example to others.

Can we have a heart for these people, and instead of hating or fearing them see them as families with the same hopes and idealism as we, but misled and victimized by false religious teachers?

We might even dare to pray that the true Judge will one day have greater mercy on the attackers than on those who cynically recruit and send them.

- JM"

Last week...

(1) You prayed for "Omar" as he and I had opportunities to discuss his eternal destiny. You asked God to convict him of sin and his need for a Saviour... hmm, I didn't see him at all this week so something must be going on.

(2) You continued praying for reliable Internet connections... your prayers made a difference, and I am grateful! Thank you! I wish I had asked you to pray for our TV reception :*-)

We have no antennae on the roof and so have to use a satellite dish. I think we pick up about two English stations (BBC Prime and BBC world) and the rest are Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Swiss, and a few other European languages I don't know <g>

At any rate, I've been able to intercede for a certain Iraqi leader whenever I see him addressing his country. I guess this satellite thing will help me become more of a 'kingdom intercessor' than CNN was able to do for me.

(3) We needed to open a local bank account and certainly could have used your intercession to make sure all went well... have you ever had that dream of being somewhere that looked familiar, but you didn't understand a word of what was said? I knew I was in a bank, but the Arabic I knew was useless in a Hebrew speaking area <g> I had wonderful help from folks who said their English was "not good." Ha! It was much better than my Hebrew <vbg>

Thank you for praying me through that experience. As I stood in the middle of the bank lobby looking around for what I *thought* was Customer Service, I was reminded that you were praying for me and, wow, did it calm my spirit : -) *Thank you*

(4) You prayed for the safe arrival of a volunteer family, especially that their luggage would arrive the same time they did... your prayers made a difference in their safe arrival plus their luggage accompanied them.

This week...

(1) Pray for a family of volunteers who've come to help with the Prayer Garden and the inside of the Global Prayer Center by asking God to give them strength from on High and protection from any type of harm.

(2) Pray that our bedroom closet will arrive so we can stop living out of footlockers.

(3) Pray that co-workers would learn to love Palestinians as well as Israelis.

Love and grace,

Scott

* CALENDAR UPDATES *

7, Shirin as she meets with ladies study

* Although Shirin no longer attends the ladies study in Gaza, she was able to encourage the only other follower of Christ we know within walking distance.

8, what to keep, what to leave

* Praise the Lord that we've finished packing thanks to some great volunteers!

9, Shirin’s mom to fall in love with Jesus

* We haven't heard of this happening yet, but your prayers will make a difference.

10, travel mercy

* This is another ongoing need. Although we didn't travel today, we'll need those "prayer deposits" for future traveling!

11, believers to be encouraged

* I met a friend arriving at the airport early this morning and missed corporate worship; however, I believe he was encouraged to continue following God this term as were his associates. Who'da thunkit?

12, good working relationships

* Again, this request was written several months ago; however, it's an ongoing need as we are now relating with a different set of co-workers as well as those with whom we worked in the past. Henry Blackaby once said that the hardest thing we'd have to do overseas would be to love our fellow co-workers.

13, stamina to keep packing

* How grateful we are to have 'finished' that even though we still have a few items that were left behind.