Jail Time
“…and he (God) sent a man before them--
Joseph, sold as a slave. They bruised
his feet with shackles,
his neck was
put in irons, till what he foretold came to pass,
till the word
of the LORD proved him true.
Psalm 105:17-19
Dear
Friends and Family,
We
have a very serious “Joseph” situation here. What would you do if you had
the opportunity to get an innocent man out of jail, simply by allowing him to
stay in your home and signing with the court that if he leaves, you will call
the police?
Would
you do it?
This
is going to happen in
But
now we have another believer who has been put in jail by false accusations. Because he is not an Israeli, he does not speak
Hebrew. (Joseph also had to learn a new language in a country foreign to
him.)
This
arrest has highlighted some of the human rights violations in the Israeli
jails. We will have a section on this on the website soon. The treatment
of prisoners (Jews, Arabs, Tourists, foreign workers, etc.) is appalling.
I am writing of people who have NOT BEEN CONVICTED OF ANYTHING and are in jail
awaiting trial. They are assumed to be guilty, so are not allowed out to
gather evidence in their own defense.
This
particular believer was wearing sandals when he was arrested, and the weather
has turned cold. He requested his shoes and was refused. He has no
coat and when we brought warm clothes for him, the guards refused to take it,
even though it was pre-arranged. All of a sudden, this man was denied
access to his belongings, his bank account, even to a bottle of shampoo.
No place to wash his clothes. He had to wear the same clothing for three
weeks before he appeared in court. He was arrested, shackled and taken to a
dirty dimly-lit cell and that’s where he stayed for 23 out of 24 hours a day.
After a couple weeks in this atmosphere, he has developed a respiratory problem
due to the constant smoking of the prisoners and guards.
The
Lord is with him and he has been able to do some limited witnessing, which
makes him very happy. We were able to get a Bible to him. The guard
did not want to allow it, but the issue of religious freedom was pushed and the
guard relented.
Please
pray that this beautiful Christian man will be exonerated of these charges and
that he is able to get out of prison and into a house arrest situation while
awaiting trial.
Even
if the person who put these charges against him were to recant, the State of
Israel still will try the prisoner for the charges. The conviction rate
in
The
really sad story behind this is that the person who made the charges claims to
be a believer and has since been formally disfellowshipped
from the congregation according to the Scriptures. The Congregation is
standing behind the man in prison, but the court is demanding that he be placed
on house arrest outside
Pray!
This situation has upset the whole community here and is a terribly bad witness
to the unbelievers. Even they are shocked. Somehow God will get the
Glory out of this, not by man’s doing, but by the Holy Spirit, just as He
turned Joseph’s situation around for good.
But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the
place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to
accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then,
don't be afraid….” Gen 50:19-21
Who
knows? Maybe some of the many Christians who come to
Something to think about. Thanks for being there! God
bless you for standing with the believers!