The summer is over and it has been busy and the winter is soon coming. It's a time to rest and refresh ourselves for the next battle and the furtherance of the kingdom of God.

Reflection

I am sitting in the car writing this letter, I have a small group from Finland who have come to evangelize and they are swimming in the sea. Yesterday we went to a festival in a town called Akko, a city in northern Israel --ancient and a place of many battles for power and conquests, Alexander the Great, Arab, Crusader, and in more recent time Napoleon, he laid siege to Akko but did not defeat the city. Today it's Old City has been designated as a World Heritage Site, ruins abound here, Roman, Ottoman, Crusader....

We had come to the Festival and were singing and handing out literature, and all was going well when suddenly an inspector from the local authority came to me and a Finnish brother who was with me. He demanded us to stop handing out literature "missionary material" he cried, as it was "forbidden" he said. I told him we are not breaking the law and if he had a problem to call the police. A police car pulled up but there was no policeman in the car. The inspector said "get in the car" and I said no, get the police (I asked one person to film the incident and the inspector threatened that he would break the camera) He used force to try and get my books off me and tried to force me into the car by pushing me. He did not succeed, inspectors can detain but they cannot arrest and this man was abusing his authority. He was angry man and you could see he had a vendetta against believers, he called us "Crusaders" Eventually a policeman did come and I went with him to the police station, but this was a formality as I was not doing any thing illegal and the police did not charge me with anything, the man from the municipal authority was just using this to intimidate us. They were mentioning the word "missionary" constantly, when this word is used it is always in the negative with evil connotations - and this was at a Festival where others - not just believers, could freely give out literature as they pleased, I saw Chabad ( an ultra orthodox Jewish organization) there doing just that.

In the end they took our literature and said it has been destroyed (including New Testaments) and gave me a large fine for distributing what they called "Advertisments", which we did not, it was just gospel material. We have a lawyer and will fight this in court because what they did was illegal, we also found out that a day earlier they did the same thing to another believer, they also hit him and were full of anger. As I left I told the inspector that I forgive him and pray that he will be blessed. There is no other way, while you must stand up to such behavior, patience and love is also important.

The court date is the 22nd of December and so please pray that we believers will be vindicated and that there will be a ruling by the court in favor of the Gospel and liberty. The Lawyer said that they would also bring a claim because the literature was not returned and therefore has been stolen.

This is not an unusual event, in outdoor outreach it happens from time to time, outdoor outreach is not always easy. If you say just -- we are Christians and we love you, we love Israel -- without qualification, then it is easy, but if you truly share your faith, the Gospel it will offend, and you will meet people who will be unpleasant to you.

If you have a group and you would like to make a missions trip from your church with a small group, let us know, but remember that this message we preach is not so popular . It is sometimes like the acts of the apostles but it is very rewarding and you will return home changed.

Ramadan Gifts

Last month was Ramadan, and as we were returning from collecting needed literature in Nazareth we went through many Israeli Arab villages on our way back to Jerusalem. We offered as we meet people gifts for Ramadan - and many people took the pack of books, which included a Dvd and New Testament, amongst other books. Later we found out that an Arabic newspaper and Internet site had reported that we were devils and that we had declared war on Islam. Yes we declare war on Islam and all error but we fight not with guns and missiles and tanks but with the sword of the Spirit the word of God. We continue to visit Arab areas and knock on doors at least once a week and the response has been good with many good conversations and people asking us into their homes. We in the West can learn from Arab hospitality, hospitality is also a Christian virtue and should be engaged in whenever possible.

Parades and Possibilities

Last week was the Feast of Tabernacles (a Biblical holiday which Jewish people celebrate, some by building booths in their gardens and on their balconies- it commemorate the forty years of living in such booths in wilderness) Many many Christians were at a conference organized by a Christian organization There is an annual march and parade which these Christians join to show their support of the Jewish State with many thousands of people. We gave out literature in Hebrew, in fact all our Hebrew literature went and then at the back of the march were the Christians from different nations saying "shalom" , "God bless you" , "We are with you" , "have a joyful festival", and I stood by the side of the road and tried to engage some of them in conversation. I wanted them to think, - if you really love the Jewish people then you will share the gospel with us, say exactly why you do so, explain why you have such hope. There is no peace and no joy without Jesus some agreed with me and others were angry for saying so (I one wonders if they believe the Bible). Later I was interviewed by Christian journalist asking what happens to a Jew when he dies -Where will they be? Heaven or Hell? , most said heaven as if there is another way beside Jesus. Is there? What does the Bible say? It shows the condition of the church today, no sound doctrine and a lack of understanding of the gospel, happily some after my interview came up to me and said that they understood that they were mistaken and had a more biblical view of the gospel.

Friday Nights

The Friday nights are going well. We give out lots of literature and now people are coming back and talking to us more. We still need English Bibles and good theological books to give to Pastors. We need Bibles in Tagalog and in Tigrinian . This is a text someone sent me after receiving a book from us:

"I am very thank u sir , was lighten my life. Since I received d book , I start going 2 church . I cry a lot becouse I do not know who is god in my life . Now u save me from d fire or a dark place . Praise god and god bles u sir "

Please send us evangelistic books in English.

Tours

Our evangelistic free tours are also going well and we often have as many as 30 or 40 people, and have been going strong for over fifteen years already. These tours give us an opportunity to highlight Christian orthodox tradition and fables with what is said in the New Testament. Many who call themselves Christians do not know the New Testament, and many secular people know only hearsay and twisted variations of what Jesus actually said and did. Tradition does not always mean Truth.

Congregational Woes

Our congregation is going through a few changes, most of it part of the normal cycle of any congregation. We are in need of more forgiveness and less pride. Sometimes we expect and want far too much of people that when our hope and expectations are not met, especially when hard circumstances are here, we have a tendency to become defensive and retreat and blame others for our lack of love. It is the human experience. As believers we have the resources to overcome this but we often fail to use them and fall back on our very human attributes. We are to look UNTO Jesus, not to people, and that alone will ensure we do not drown ourselves in our negative thoughts. We do not like to look in the mirror so back away and hide. Please pray that He will be truly honoured in our lives, with our thoughts and deeds. That we would humble ourselves; give us more of His Spirit and His Wisdom.

Our warmest greetings to our friends, thank you to all who pray for us, your prayers strengthen us and bless us.

Be blessed,

Antony and Dona Simon and the Voice in the Wilderness team