Urgent prayer request – Supreme Court hearing concerning demonstrations in Arad this coming Monday September 12^th .

Dear all,

Many of you are praying for us - believers in Arad. I wuold like to thank you and to say we appreciate your prayers and value them very much. We know these are our strongest weapons in this spiritual war we are facing. I know there are a few letters going around the web concerning us. Not all that is written is under our control or written by our request. We may have worded things differently, but except for a few little mistakes, the letters I saw, provide correct information.

I would like to share with you an urgent prayer request.

Some of you already know that the “Gur” hassidic group attempted to hold a demonstration of 700 participants in front of Poly Sigulim’s house ( a messianic believer, widow, mother to 3 youngsters and a foster mother to 5 more children from Messianic or Christian backgrounds through the welfare agency).

 It’s not that the Ultra-Orthodox didn’t demonstrate until now. On the contrary, they hold demonstrations a few times a week – very close by to private homes of believers in Arad, near the congregation building, and near the chess club belonging to a couple of believers.

This particular request of theirs is unusual because of the huge amount of participants they want to bring. The police, in this case didn’t allow them to demonstrate near the house. Even though the Ultra-Orthodox received premisssion to hold the demonstration up the street, they stubbornly demanded to have it just in front of Polly’s house. When denied premission to do it their way, they appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court.

THIS COMING MONDAY - The Supreme Court will have 3 judges consider the case, led by the High Court President – Mr. Aharon Barak on Monday September 12^th.

The focus in this case will  be  on the issue of holding a demonstration in front of a private citizen’s house, which is not a public figure. Up till now, there has not been a precedence concerning such demonstrations (in front of private people’s homes). In the past there have been rulings of the supreme court concerning demonstrating near houses of public figures. Such demonstrations were ristricted to a certain distanse from the public figures’ homes and so on, but never was there a debate about a private person’s house. This is why we think it was important for the president Barak to sit in this case in particular.

The results of this court case are very important for the whole body of believers in the land. What ever decision made – will effect all of us in Israe. It will set a High Court precedence. If the court approves the demonstration, then demonstrations like that could be held anywhere in the land. Both against believers by religious groups (like here in Arad), and also against any private citizen for any reason what so ever.

Please pray for this issue on this coming Saturday or Sunday services. It is extremely important.

Please pray for the state’s loyer – Ms. Mikhal Tzuk, who will be representing the state of Israel against the request to hold that demonstration. Actually we know just to well – it isn’t really a request for a demonstration, but rather a request for legal permission for harrasments, threats towards the believers in Arad in general, and against Mrs. Polly Sigulim in particular.

Please continue to pray for Polly Sigulim and for all of us here.

We did not bring this issue to court until now. Here, it is not just in a district court, but in the Israeli supreme court, with a loyer from the state attorney office defending our case, and the president of the high court leading the team of 3 judges. We want to continue to lay the whole issue in God's hands.

When you pray for us, please pray for wisdom in how to act in any given situation, for the protection of believers in Arad, and most of all, for whatever be best for the spreading of the gospel.   

May God bless you extremely.

In His service, Yakim Figueras, Arad