A Persecuted Church in Israel?by David Brickner, Executive Director

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1 TM established 32 A.D., give or take a year Volume 6:5769 February 2009 A Persecuted Church in Israel?by David Brickner, Executive Director Astrange phenomenon is occurring. Despite a growing awareness of the persecuted church around the world, it seems like the plight of the church in Israel is practically off the radar. I happened to be a guest at an evangelical church on the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. I heard many compelling reports before I got up to speak. Since there was no mention of the suffering of believers in Israel, I took a bit of my message time to report briefly on some such instances. Many in the congregation were greatly surprised by the account. I think Israel has been overlooked in much of the literature that informs Christians about the need to pray for brothers and sisters around the world. Certainly there is no state sponsored persecution of the church there. And I don t mean to imply that most Christians in Israel endure the kind of continual violence as the most severely persecuted Christians who are routinely imprisoned and even tortured for their faith in other parts of the world. The Jewish people have endured enough persecution so that many in Israel are willing to stand up for the rights of Jesus-believing Jews as well as Arabs. However, we need to be aware that there are believers in Israel who are enduring much for their faith and need our prayers. Did you know that one of the major champions of today s movement to advocate for persecuted Christians was Jewish? Michael Horowitz who is not a believer in Jesus began promoting this issue back in Many others have taken up his Prayer Chain for the Persecuted Church concern, and one of the results is the aforementioned annual day of prayer. In that same spirit, as I draw attention to the persecuted church in Israel, I ll begin with the plight of the Arab believers there. Some may point out that evangelical Christians make up a relatively small percentage of Arabs who identify as Christians in Israel; the majority are Orthodox or Coptic. But that should not lessen our concern that, in the very cradle of Christianity, the Arab church is rapidly shrinking out of existence. They are being squeezed and pummeled by an increasingly extreme and strident form of Islam, a process that currently seems to be unchecked by an Israeli government that is struggling to cope with numerous political matters. Three months ago I was in the city of Nazareth. For ages the city was a home to a largely Arab Christian community. The population has radically changed to a predominantly Muslim community. This is not simply a fact of an incidentally shifting population. Life is increasingly difficult for Arab Christians whether evangelical or not and many are leaving the area. In the plaza directly in front of the Church of the Annunciation hangs a banner in Arabic, Hebrew and English proclaiming from the Koran, GOD is One, the Eternal God. He begot none, nor was He begotten. None is equal to Him (Qur an 112:1-4). It is deeply insulting to believers in Jesus to have so strident a denial of the deity and incarnation of the Lord Jesus imposed upon a site that many Christians hold sacred. The sign clearly contradicts the New Testament accounts of the nature of the One whose birth the site commemorates. Can you imagine what would happen if Christians took a similar liberty with a well-known mosque, erecting a banner to deny a core Muslim belief concerning Mohammed? The government of Israel would hardly remain indifferent, any more than it would stand for an anti-jewish statement from Islamic verse to be displayed at the Wailing Wall. Yet the ease with which Muslims superimposed 2009 (continued on page 2)

2 (continued from page 1) their denial of a basic Christian tenet over a well-known church is but one example of an anti-christian trend. Just a few miles away in Cana, where Jesus performed His first miracle, Arab Christians have to be very careful what they say and with whom they associate, out of fear of reprisal from Muslim neighbors. There has also been a steady exodus of Arab Christians from Bethlehem. And things are even worse for Arab Christians living in the territories, where a little more than a year ago the manager of the only Christian bookstore in Gaza was kidnapped and brutally murdered by Islamic fundamentalists. And what about the Jewish church, or as most believers in Israel would prefer to be called, the Messianic community? On the one hand, we can be thankful that the Messianic community in Israel is actually growing. More people are open to the gospel than ever before, as we ve reported last year, from our Behold Your God campaigns in the land. Nevertheless, it seems that those who oppose the gospel are also more active than ever. Last February a gift basket was delivered to the home of a Messianic pastor in the town of Ariel. The pastor s fifteen- year-old son opened the basket. It exploded lacerating his body with shrapnel and nearly killing him. To date, no one has been arrested for this attack, though there is strong suspicion. There is no doubt the bombing was religiously motivated. Normally in Israel, government officials are quick to speak out when there is any kind of terrorist attack, and they offer comfort to the victim s family. The Ortiz family received no such comfort. In Arad, an ultra-orthodox Jewish group torched a Messianic community center. No action was taken against them and they continue to harass and bully believers, protesting outside their congregation and homes. In Beersheva, a local Messianic service was violently interrupted by religious Jews in an attempt to prevent a baptism. The congregation faces ongoing threats and legal challenges. I must admit that I felt hesitant about pointing out the persecution that Jewish and Arab believers in Jesus undergo in Israel. I don t want any of our friends who read this newsletter to misunderstand or jump to conclusions about who and how many are to blame. The point of this article is not to demonize any non-christians in Israel, whether Arab or Jewish. The point is, relatively little has been said about persecuted believers in Israel. And if little is said, little can be done and certainly little prayer will be offered up to God on behalf of those in distress. So what should we do? 1. Keep talking about it. I am deeply grateful to the organizations who report on the persecuted church; let s ask them to report more about the Jewish and Arab church in Israel. Efforts to write to Parliament and other government officials on behalf of believers in Israel should be organized, just as they are for persecuted believers in other parts of the world. 2. Re-order priorities. The Bible instructs us to do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith (Galatians 6:10). Most pro-israel Christian groups seem to overlook the plight of believers, focusing on Russian Jewish immigration. Let s not be satisfied until such groups show they are also active in upholding those who are standing for the gospel in Israel. 3. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad. Those are Jesus words to followers who are persecuted on His account (Matthew 5:11-12). Even if you are not experiencing this persecution presently, you can pray for and encourage this attitude in those who are. Jews for Jesus has many staff in Israel, and as they face persecution it is our duty to encourage them. One way I do this is to go and stand with them as they evangelize, facing the difficulties they face with gladness. 4. Identify and intercede. It would be inappropriate to rejoice if we did not fully identify with those who suffer, if we did not also wrestle and intercede on their behalf. While you might not be able to be on the front lines, you can pray for us and others in Israel, that the joy of the Lord will be our strength. As you pray, remember that God loves Arabs and Jews equally. And He loves His church in His promised land. We need to love as God loves and pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6a). True and lasting peace can only come to this divided land through the Prince of Peace. When Arabs and Jews can love one another in Jesus name, then the entire world will see the reconciling power of the gospel and give glory to God. TM WE EXIST TO MAKE THE MESSIAHSHIP OF JESUS AN UNAVOIDABLE ISSUE TO OUR JEWISH PEOPLE WORLDWIDE. JEWS FOR JESUS AUSTRALASIA: PO Box 925, SYDNEY NSW 2001 AUSTRALIA admin@jewsforjesus.org.au; HOME PAGE: jewsforjesus.org.au ALSO WORKING IN: BRAZIL, CANADA, FRANCE, GERMANY, ISRAEL, RUSSIA, SOUTH AFRICA,UKRAINE,THE UNITED KINGDOM and THE USA JFJ SINGAPORE: CENTRAL BEDOK PO BOX 552 SINGAPORE BANK: OCBC: Name: Jews for Jesus ACCOUNT NUMBER JFJ NEW ZEALAND: PO BOX 564, RANGIORA 8264 BANK: BNZ: BSB ACCOUNT NUMBER: BANKING IN AUSTRALIA: NAB: BSB ACCOUNT NUMBER: VOLUME 10:4, FEBRUARY/MARCH 2009 Telephone: Freephone Ringing from outside Australia: PP Approved: /04191 ACN:

3 Please pray for: justice for believers who face discrimination and pressure to conform in every part of the world, including Israel grace and strength for new Jewish believer Gertrude, especially around her unbelieving family (p. 4), and for the young Israeli who prayed to receive Jesus over the Internet "But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry" (2 Timothy 4:5). Passover in Sydney and Newcastle God spared us and we rejoice in His deliverance. Even as He spared our people 3,500 years ago from Egypt, He has done it in our days. Will you join us to remember our deliverance? Many churches are hosting us this autumn as we teach on Christ in the Passover. See our website for regularly updated information on Speaker Dates. We will be conducting banquets on Monday 13 April in Sydney (Marrickville) and Wednesday 15 April in Newcastle. Cost is $35 for Sydney and $25 for Newcastle. Each will be fully catered and full of the joy of the Lord. At each an offering will be received for the ongoing ministry of Jews for Jesus. An invitation will be forthcoming in the post for those locally. Please ring if you don t receive one in the post. We hope to see you there! salvation for Barbara (p. 4) and for Joel (p. 5) and Henry (p. 8) open hearts among the Hasidic community and God s wisdom and guidance for those of our staff (including Oded and Bimini Cohen) who have been reaching out to them (p. 5) our upcoming Behold Your God Israel campaigns, particularly the first of the 2009 campaigns led by Oded and Shlomy (p. 7) the world to see more and more of who Jesus is, as we, His followers, seek God s grace to love our enemies (p. 6, 7) LOOKING FOR A TOUR TO ISRAEL? Host Kameel Majdali is a long-time friend. He s been a pastor, Bible teacher, academic dean and has served as a valued member of the Jews for Jesus board of directors for 8 years. This will be his umpteenth tour of Israel! Dates: November (Jordan & Israel). For a brochure and full details, please write to: Teach All Nations Cost includes all four-star deluxe hotels and two meals a c/o Continental Pacific Travel day. In addition to the usual activities, you will hear from Attn. Patrick Galle Israeli believers in Jesus, meet Jews for Jesus staff in Israel 112 Wellington Parade and hear devotions by Kameel Majdali, author of East Melbourne VIC 3002 Australia Melbourne to Jerusalem: A Pilgrim's Progress in the 21st Telephone Century, at every site visited. patrick@contin.com.au or

4 1. One of our Jews for Jesus core values is an apostolic lifestyle of availability, mobility and vulnerability. Bostonbased missionaries Oded and Bimini 1. Oded participating in the Behold Your God campaign. 2. Bimini reaching out during Behold Your God New York. Cohen exemplify that missionary lifestyle, and we hope that you ll enjoy seeing the range of opportunities God has been bringing their way as a result. As you pray for the Cohens to remain available, vulnerable and willing to go wherever God sends them, please pray that we would all, by His grace, do the same. Referrals Did you know that many of the people we minister to have been referred to us by Christian friends like you? Bimini received a call from 2. a Christian who wanted help witnessing to Gertrude, her 98-yearold Jewish employer. Bimini found Gertrude very open to the gospel; she had been watching Christian television shows and remarked on the joy of people who believe in Jesus. However, Gertrude told Bimini she was weary of life and was ready to die. Bimini asked if she was ready to meet our Maker and Gertrude was uncertain. After explaining the need to have our sins forgiven through the atoning death of Jesus, Bimini asked if Gertrude wanted to receive Him into her heart as her Lord and Savior. She wanted to, but feared losing her Jewish identity. Bimini says, After I reassured Gertrude that she would not lose anything but would gain eternal life and a relationship with the God of her fathers, she prayed to receive Jesus as her Savior. Please ask God to strengthen her faith. The Christian helper is the one who really loved her into the kingdom, just as you through your prayers and support are loving the Jewish people into God s kingdom. Another Christian friend asked Bimini to contact a Jewish woman named Barbara. They connected by phone, but it was quite a while before they arranged a visit, since Barbara lives more than three hours away. At one point, Barbara s adult son called Bimini and angrily insisted that she never call his mother again. Both Barbara s children are well known in their circles. Bimini says, I felt disappointed and confused, but I prayed for God to intervene. Within a couple days, Barbara called me to apologize for her son s rudeness and assured me that I should feel free to call her anytime. Finally, in September, Oded and I met Barbara in person. She asked good questions about our faith and seemed eager to continue to be in contact. Please pray for Barbara s salvation. Oded was speaking at a church and met a woman who had been praying for her Jewish son-in-law for a long time. The son-in-law came to the presentation with his Christian wife, and afterwards he and Oded connected. Oded told a bit of his testimony, and a few days later the couple invited Oded and Bimini to dinner at their home. It turned out that the husband had just recently come to faith and was very eager to learn more. Oded is now discipling this new brother in the Lord. Online witnessing Oded met a group of Christians who are reaching out to the lost through the Internet, specifically via a virtual reality world called Second Life. Oded has been equipping them to share their faith with Jewish people whom they occasionally encounter this way. As he was participating with this group on the Internet, Oded met a young Israeli who was spiritually hungry. Oded shared his testimony and found that the young man already believed that Jesus is the Messiah. When Oded explained what it meant to receive Jesus as his Lord and Savior, the young man said he had not yet done so, but wanted to. Oded led 4

5 him in a prayer of faith and he immediately said, Wow, I feel something very special inside. Oded connected him with our staff in Israel. Teaming up with other local Jewish ministries Henry is a local Jewish believer and leader of a Messianic congregation in a Boston suburb. He invited Oded to share the platform with him at an event where the topic of discussion was, Can a Jew believe in Jesus and still be a Jew? About 50 people attended, including four Jewish people who don t yet believe. The discussion included time for questions and answers as well as coffee and snacks. Bimini says, As we lingered afterward, a college student named Joel approached me. He reminded me that we had met two years ago at a church where I spoke. I recalled the time and how he patiently waited to speak to me after the service (many had come to me with questions). He d given me his contact information then, but when Oded called, Joel wasn t interested in getting together. This time he seemed more interested in examining the possibility that Jesus is the Messiah; some strong Christian friends have continued witnessing to him. Please pray for Joel s salvation; we were so glad to re-connect with him. Brooklyn Hasidic Outreach Oded has been in on the ground floor of our attempts to reach out to the extremely Orthodox community of Hassidic Jews in New York, which began in conjunction with our Behold Your God New York campaign in He continues to be involved in subsequent outreaches to this cloistered community and ministers to them via cell phone when he is in Boston. After the September outreach, Bimini says, When Oded returned home he was answering dozens of phone calls from Brooklyn every day, with the most calls coming during dinner or late at night when I was trying to sleep. Oded was determined to keep 3. the phone on regardless of the hour and I had to pray for a good attitude so that I could intercede for each caller instead of wondering, Why now? Oded says, It seemed that the calls were not as hostile as in previous years each year seems to get better, thanks be to God and thanks to your prayers. I have had quite a few good discussions. One of the young Hassidic men who called me wrote down some of the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah, such as Isaiah 53 and Jeremiah 31. He wanted to know why the rabbis reject Jesus, and asked where he could find a New Testament. I offered to send him one, but he said he first wanted to discuss it with his wife. Another caller began by mocking me but as we continued talking, he started to listen and ask many questions about the Messiah, sin and the Day of Atonement (the outreach coincided with the Jewish High Holidays, which includes the Day of Atonement). Please continue to pray for open hearts in this hard to reach community, and for God s wisdom and guidance as we continue to make ourselves available to 5 witness to them. Planning an upcoming Behold Your God Israel campaign Oded and Bimini have already been involved with our efforts in Israel Phoning during Behold Your God Israel. 4. Oded holding a placard in Yiddish and Hebrew, during a Hassidic outreach. 5. Bimini also witnessing during a Behold Your God Israel campaign. after all, Oded was born and raised there. He will be co-leading our next Behold Your God Israel campaign with Shlomy, one of our Israeli missionaries in the Land. The area they will be reaching is geographically larger than Tel Aviv and is more traditional (religiously observant). Oded, Shlomy and a few (continued on page 7) 5.

6 Ed note: When we asked Moishe to write a musing for the February newsletter, he was not sure he felt well enough to write much... but once he got started it wasn t long before we had twice the usual column. I didn t want to leave anything out so... enjoy! (And pray for him to continue even though he s feeling unwell) Sometimes God asks us to do what might seem impossible. For example, He doesn t merely ask us to love one another; He expects us to love our enemies. God never asks us to do what s impossible so when He says to love our enemies, there must be some provision that enables us to do just that. As I pondered, How can we love our enemies? I found myself seeking definitions for love and enemy. When it comes to love, some people look no further than a feeling or sentiment. Oh, there is a sentiment that goes with love, but that is our reaction or response to the beloved. Love, at its core, is active; it is a commitment, a decision to do good, to be good, and to want good for one s beloved. Love is work. So far as the word enemy, I realized that this, too, is a term of commitment. Usually, a person who decides to be your enemy is committed to seeing you punished, hurt, thwarted, frustrated because he refuses to see any goodness in you or for you. God has made it clear that He still wants us to love those who have taken a position against us. I don t know about you, but in most cases, it wasn t my choice to be an enemy. For example, I never chose to be an enemy to my own people. Yet when I became a Christian, I was regarded as an enemy who had committed spiritual treason. Before my ministry became effective, it was mainly my family and friends who felt hurt by what they saw as my betrayal. They treated me as an enemy in reaction to that pain. When I realized the pain they felt over my faith, I was gravely shaken. I could hold on to the knowledge that I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him against that Day (2 Timothy 1:12b). Nevertheless, I had always tried to uphold my fellow Jews and to be a spokesman on behalf of Israel and the Jewish people and it hurt when those I had upheld felt I had betrayed them. Eventually, family relationships were somewhat repaired, but never entirely restored. Then when I went into ministry, many more came to regard me as an enemy. The negative things people said or thought of me were to discourage other Jews from considering that the gospel might be for them. At the height of my career, I read terrible things about myself in Jewish newspapers. People accused me of being a deceiver. But once again, defining terms helped me. A deceiver knows something to be true and attempts to lead people away from the truth. I knew that I was telling people what I absolutely believed to be true. Now the opposition could have accused me of being fat or sloppy, or they might have pointed out that I was less than brilliant, and I would have been forced to agree. But the accusations had to be more intense than that in order to discourage people from opening their hearts to the possibility that Jesus could be for Jews. One of the greatest tools that I could use to help me love those who had chosen to be my enemies was to 6 recall how very angry and meanspirited I had been to my own Jewish wife when she first told me that she believed in Jesus. Remembering my own fury helped me to be sympathetic to those Jews who heaped scorn on us. I had the hope that some of them, like me, might one day serve Y shua. Another example of an enemy I didn t choose is a person that I once felt very close to someone I d mentored, encouraged, and who had an important role in the Jews for Jesus ministry. At one point it became apparent he was no longer happy to serve under my leadership. When he left Jews for Jesus he expressed anger and threatened harm to the organization he helped build. This former colleague had decided that I was going to be his enemy. So, what could I do to love this person? First, I remembered the quality of the relationship before it went sour. Next I remembered (and still do, these many years later) the best of his service with Jews for Jesus and his many contributions. From time to time, I read about some of his achievements and I can take satisfaction, whether or not he likes me, or cares for Jews for Jesus. He s doing some things that are good and right, and I can respect that. The third thing that helps me is to know that, though I feel most of his accusations against me have been unjust, I do have flaws and faults. And though it was never my intention to wrong anybody, I know that I have sometimes wronged people. The last thing that helps me to feel love

7 Moishe s Musings (continued from page 6) toward this brother is to look forward to a time when we will both be in the presence of the Lord. Then we shall know as we re known, and what I will see in this person is what Christ has put within him, and that s what he will see in me. The last example of an enemy I want to tell you about was a prominent clergyman who wrote a book advocating the Palestinian cause in a way that utterly demonized the Jewish people. I am not saying that either side was or is completely innocent or guilty, but I felt this book that purported to explain the problems of the Middle East was unbalanced and inflammatory. This was one of those rare instances where I had decided to be someone s enemy because I saw it as my duty toward my people. I didn t make any personal attacks on him, but whenever I could, I pointed out that what he had written was not objective, that much had been omitted, leaving the reader with an inaccurate assessment. Without quoting him by name, I answered some of his arguments in the Jews for Jesus Newsletter. At any rate, I was lecturing at the seminary where this man taught and it was a delight to address the student body, who were alert and very receptive. And then, as I was eating lunch in the dining room, my enemy sat down next to me, smiled, and told me who he was. I smiled back, and I said, You are my enemy, and the enemy of my people. Our conversation was perfectly civil. I didn t attempt to stab him with my table knife. I didn t even pour extra salt on his food when he wasn t looking. Had he choked on his lunch, I would have tried to remember the Heimlich maneuver to save his life. To be his enemy did not require me to wish him ill or treat him badly; it was a logical position that my commitments demanded of me. God provides tools to help us love our enemies and show the world how Christians are truly different. I m listing some of those tools; I m sure you can think of more. 1. Prepare your heart: ask yourself if there is clutter getting in the way of the love God wants you to have for others. Let Him remove anything that doesn t belong. 2. Pray: ask God to help you to see the person as He does. Often our disinclination to love can be traced to an unwillingness to see how much God values that person. 3. Playback a list of as many of your own sins as you can, and remember how God has forgiven you. You ll be amazed at how much easier it is to forgive those who offend or hurt you when you are filled with gratitude to God for all His grace. 4. Position yourself as close as you can to God. Receive His love so that you can extend it to anyone God wants you to love. God provides tools to help us love our enemies and show the world how Christians are truly different. 7 (continued from page 5) volunteers have already tested the waters there, handing out literature and speaking to people. They were encouraged to find a number of people willing to hear more. They also met a local Jewish believer previously unknown to us who might be willing to help with the campaign. One challenge we face is a large area with little concentrated foot traffic (which makes it difficult to hand out literature). And, as always, we need the Lord to send us volunteers (especially Hebrew speakers). Both Oded and Shlomy would also appreciate prayers for God s wisdom News Break from Sydney: 29 January. Our offices and book shop were again vandalized by two young Jewish men at 3 a.m. Smashing our large plate-glass window to thwart our activities, but God gave us grace to continue and the police apprehended the two men. Please pray for their salvation and God to preserve us from harm. They paid the bill for the repair of the window and apologized. God in His mercy forgave, and we believe what He did and does. Thank God Bob was able to speak peaceably with the two young uni students and to share God s compassionate heart. The entire article from the Jewish News is on our website under Media. TM

8 Sydney Bob Mendelsohn reports, Years ago while handing out tracts in Melbourne I encountered John Safran, a Jewish man who is very involved in the media. I ve since been John s guest on his radio show and his TV show. This led to an encounter with one of John s friends, Henry, who hosts a TV show on a public access network. The show, entitled The Shtick, is a platform for Henry to talk about anything and everything Jewish for 25 minutes each week. Three years ago, Henry contacted me to do a quick man on the street interview. He was not exactly favourable to me during that interview. Fast forward three years: to September 2008, while calling Melbourne contacts to let them know I was going to be in the area in September, Giselle, our intern, called Henry. He was not only open for me to visit him, but he also suggested another interview immediately preceding Rosh Hashanah (the Feast of Trumpets, also known as the Jewish New Year). It was serendipitous in so many ways. It gave me an opportunity to explain how Jesus makes all things new, and how He is our atonement. Henry also allowed me to give my testimony and tell how I believe Jesus is for Jewish people. It was quite a good conversation, all on videotape. I don t know how he edited it for airing, but in any case, I was excited that Henry seemed so much more open on a personal level. Odessa Larissa Savelieva reports, Not long ago I was handing out tracts and simply asked God to let me see some fruit from our labors. God surprised me with His answers. A sister in Jesus, Tatyana, recently attended a church where I spoke. She announced, I have been looking for you for such a long time. I came to Jesus thanks to Jews for Jesus. I still have your booklet! She then shared her testimony and how a small booklet we gave her had played a big part in her search for God. At another church, a sister approached me and said, Do you remember me? I met you on the street and told you I d lost my apartment and you prayed for me. Well, God changed everything, and my apartment was returned to me... I think best of all was the testimony of Anya, a Jewish sister in the Lord who told me that she had been drawn to Jesus but was fearful because she heard that Jesus was the Gentile god. One day she was in the market and picked up one of our broadsides. She only had time to read the words Jews for Jesus, but those three words were enough. Her heart 8 exulted as she discovered, It is possible for Jews to believe in Jesus! I was so thankful that God led her to my church meeting. I think when we are in heaven, we will all be surprised to see how much God used us in ways we never knew. Glory be to Him! Los Angeles Tuvya reports, Here s an update on a prayer request from May of 2006, when the Los Angeles staff of Jews for Jesus conducted an outreach at the Israel Independence Day Festival in Van Nuys, California. One of our missionaries, Cyril Gordon, was arrested at the request of the Israeli head of security for allegedly trespassing. We filed a Federal civil rights action against the City of Los Angeles, the LAPD and indirectly the Israel Festival by including their head of security by name in the suit. After an intense and exhausting battle, stretching over two and a half years, our right to free speech prevailed. The court issued a permanent injunction protecting the right to conduct free speech around the Israel Independence Day Festival in Van Nuys, as well as other public parks throughout the city of Los Angeles. We pray for the salvation of opposition attorneys and defendants and give thanks to God for His hand in the outcome of the case. Remember the Lord who didn t need Valentines Day to remember to love us