December 22, 2005
Shalom Friends! Happy celebrations of Hanukkah and Christmas! Be sure to thank God for the religious freedom to be able to celebrate: the time is coming in the USA and other places, when it will not be as easy. There is NO religious freedom in Israel for believers, but we are going to try to have a celebration anyway. We will let you know what happens. My apologies for not sending this letter sooner. It is difficult to keep up with everything.
The Haredim have put a lawsuit against a number of us believers accusing us of giving religious literature to minors. We are very careful not to do that because there is a law in Israel about that. However the Haredim are free to give all kinds of stuff to kids and to go into the schools and lecture children of all faiths about Judaism (their brand of Judaism). Last evening we were again called to the police station for more questions.
They also put a lawsuit against Eddie again -- for assault - it is another trumped-up story of lies - it never happened. They keep trying. We have a court date of January 18, so please pray! Remember, in Israel you are presumed guilty and must prove your innocence.
For a short time, most of the police seemed to be responding on a regular basis now and even being sympathetic toward us. They see us as underdogs, but they are between a rock and a hard place. The authorities have been transferring police out of Arad and bringing new ones in so we rarely deal with the same policemen. Many are new and do not understand what is happening, but the ones who are here from the beginning seem to be desirous of helping us.
There is an undercurrent here which is a little scary. The secular Jews hate the Haredim but they view them as guardians of the Jewish state. So the secular Jews defend us in person but there is a growing mob mentality that believes the lies of the Haredim. I think it must be the same thing Y'shua felt in the weeks before the crucifixion.
As an example - I was having coffee downtown (outside) with 3 other ladies (2 were tourists). The Haredim began their usual badgering and telling other people I am an missionary and I kidnap children, etc. The general public began echoing their shouts. Mob mentality. The orthodox ladies came over and began telling the tourists not to talk to me, etc. The men followed me to my car threatening, etc. I have not shown any fear to them and so far they are afraid of me. They didn't touch me, but if it had not been daylight - it might have been a different story. They have beaten other believers here when they find them alone. So we will see what the Lord wants to do here - it is a day by day, moment by moment situation.
We have had no help from the courts in getting a restraining order against the Haredim. It seems to be a waste of our time, but I believe the Lord is allowing this to "fill up the cup of iniquity". The Judge in Beersheva called our lawyer to his chambers and told him that we should not be pursuing a restraining order, but rather going to criminal court with our case. So if we would agree to drop the restraining order request, he would see that we did not have to pay the court charges. So we agreed because we viewed it as an answer to prayer not to have to pay the court costs.
Meanwhile, we praise the Lord, there are a few who are getting saved through the persecution and some secular Jews are actively involved in writing letters to the government, etc.
There are other believers here who have come out of the closet because of the persecution and at least two of the chess players have told us they are Christians. One of the chess players has been hanging out with the Russian congregation. So little by little, we are seeing a big change for the better in our group of people.
One of the other shop owners has told us to move out of the marketplace area because he doesn't like the Russians. He put a complaint in at city hall against us, but it was silly and we don't think anything will come of it. We tried talking nice to him but he is an arrogant man who calls everybody else trash. He has a dump of a jewelry shop and many of the Haredim are his clients. I asked him to consider moving to the town center with the rest of the nice shops, so he wouldn’t have to see us, but that evoked an unprintable response. Oh well.
The outside work at our King’s Men shop is almost finished with the exception of the lights (no electricity yet) and I am putting the finishing touches on the painting in front (our logo, hours of operation, etc.) Our shop is now like a fortress with steel and concrete all around it. It looks nice from the outside and the inside is beginning to look nice too.
The electric company took the meter from our shop and we had to pay 2,100 shekels to buy a new one as they determined the one we had was damaged in the fire and not working properly. Work has again come to a standstill since we need electricity to run the power tools, so that is a little frustrating, but we are trying to look at it from God's perspective. All things are under His control and He has a reason for each detail. We are planning a party on Shabbat in the afternoon for the chess players - Hanukah - Christmas. It gives us a chance to read the story of Y’shua’s birth from the Bible in Russian and Hebrew. We are hoping to have electricity by Shabbat - that would be a miracle! We are also praying for good weather - not too cold & no Haredim because our party will be outside.
Rebeka is starting a campaign in Arad - "Arad says NO to racism" she has found a human rights group to get behind it, and the city has given her the O.K. to do it. The Haredim are extremely racist against the Ethiopians and the Jews who come from Arab countries, as well as, black Americans and Christians. Any kind of dark-skinned person is an animal without a soul as far as they are concerned. They are very verbal with their insults.
More believing families have moved into Arad in the past two months - we are happy about that and we heard that even more are moving here, specifically because of the situation.
On Monday, we called the police to come and deal with the harassment at the King's Men on Monday. Instead of dealing with it, we were told they would arrest Rebeka the next time she called the police and charge her with harassing the Haredim (men and women). She is the one who made the phone call, so they picked on her. We called our lawyer and he was incredulous - he called the police and we have not heard back yet what is going on.
The police have also backed off on responding to the calls when the Haredim harass the members at the Congregation. Last Saturday, they were very noisy outside the Congregation, blocking the entrance and the police did not come until the very end. We are being told that they have a "right" to demonstrate. So things are still heating up here.
Meanwhile, Israel News Channel 10 is preparing to show our story soon. We don't have an exact date yet, but the reporter told us maybe Sunday. We are hoping to get someone to tape it for us. Pray for the Lord to use this news story to bring more people to HIM!
We are coming to a crossroads and the people of Arad are being given a chance to make a decision. When the Lord has completed His plan using the Haredim, it will be over. Until then, we are praying for Y'shua to be glorified in all of us in whatever way He chooses.
Our pastor friend is here from NY - and he is doing teaching on Monday evenings. We had 20 people here for the first Monday - good turnout.
We PRAISE the Lord and are very grateful for donations to fix up the place – it is an encouraging way to begin our 3rd year (February, 2006)! What a tremendous witness! We are grateful for all the sacrifices each of you made to help us!
We saved the best for last! We have an opportunity/a gift from God to rent a much larger place for $900./month, in addition to our present shop, with an opportunity to buy it. There are few places that are this size for this price. It would provide a place for believers to sell their home-made items and earn some money to support their families. It would give us room to offer used clothing and other items to people every day instead of just market day. People would be able to come in and browse through the books and have a cup of coffee or tea while they read. It is big enough to have a section just for tutoring people in English or other studies.
So many believers cannot hold jobs because of the persecution and pressure the Haredim put on the employers. This would be a place which would cater to tourists and secular people. There are so many possibilities that it is mind-boggling. If you know of someone who wants to invest in Israel and buy this property, please get in touch with us. The believers need to have a place where the landlord will not throw them out.
So we are walking in victory here - we are wearing our T-shirts with Bible verses on them. We are not hiding. We are trying to cultivate thankful hearts for everything and praising the Lord! We are thankful for the privilege of being counted worthy in His sight to suffer for His Name! We are blessed to have you for friends and we are grateful to you for standing with us! Come and visit! Love in Y’shua’s Precious Name!
Merry Christmas/ Happy Hanukkah!
Lura and Eddie Beckford, Arad, Israel
E-mail: lura_eddie@hotmail.com