FIRST EPICENTER CONFERENCE HELD IN ASIA TO BLESS ISRAEL

The first Epicenter Conference in Asia was held in Manila, Philippines during the week of January 17-24, 2010. The theme: “Signs of the Times.” By God’s grace, we were able to educate pastors, ministry leaders and lay people in Asia about God’s love and plan for Israel and the people of the epicenter, teach about Bible prophecy, urge people to get ready and be prepared for the return of Jesus Christ in the last days, and share the work of The Joshua Fund.

Highlights:

* On Monday, Joel Rosenberg and a team of American, Filipino, Israeli and Iranian pastors were invited to a luncheon at the palace with Philippine President Gloria Arroyo. The team thanked Arroyo for strong Filipino-Israeli relations through the years. They noted that in 1939, then-President Quezon offered safe haven to 10,000 European Jews trying to flee the Nazi Holocaust. While only about 1,200 were able to make it here before the country fell to Japan, it was still tremendous offer. Then, on November 29, 1947, the Philippines gave the decisive final vote in favor of the Partition Plan at the United Nations. They noted that this gave the way to the creation of the modern State of Israel and thus the Philippines helped fulfill Bible prophecy.

* The team discussed the threat of Radical Islam and specifically the Iranian nuclear threat. Then, in a private, one-on-one meeting with the President, Joel asked the President in light of the strong historic ties between the Philippines and Israel to reconsider the vote the Philippines cast at the U.N. against Israel last fall over the Goldstone Commission Report. The U.N. resolution that passed asked the Security Council to consider war crimes charges against Israel because of the Gaza war. It did not, however, even mention the word “Hamas” or note Hamas’s terrorism or the fact that Operation Cast Lead (the war in Gaza in January 2009) was not an offensive action initiated by Israel but was a response to 12,000 rockets and missiles fired by Hamas terrorists from Gaza at the innocent civilian population in southern Israel over the course of many year. Israel responded when the U.N. wouldn’t. The issue will come back up for discussion in the U.N. in February. Joel shared that many Christians around the world will be praying that the Philippines reconsider their position and find a way to reaffirm Israel’s right to self-defense, while also expressing compassion for the Palestinians suffering under Hamas rule in Gaza.

* On Tuesday, the team had lunch with Israeli Ambassador Zvi Vapni. They, too, discussed Radical Islam, the Iranian nuclear threat, and the Filipino vote on the Goldstone Report.

* Throughout the week, the team did  numerous radio, TV and print interviews in Manila in support of Israel.

* On Thursday night, Joel addressed more than 1,000 government, business, military and religious leaders at a Leaders Dinner at the Crowne Plaza, speaking on Bible prophecy and God’s promise in Genesis 12:1-3 to bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel. He publicly thanked the people of the Philippines for helping fulfill prophecy by supporting the rebirth of the State of Israel in 1947, and he publicly asked those attending — including current senior presidential advisors, Congressmen, and leading presidential and vice presidential candidates — to reconsider their country’s vote against Israel at the U.N. over the Goldstone Report.

* On Friday, the team led more than 4,500 pastors, ministry leaders and lay people through the day-long Epicenter Conference held at Christ’s Commission Fellowship church. The pro-Israel conference was also broadcast to thousands more via live webcast and a live satellite broadcast. In addition to teach in-depth on Bible prophecy and God’s love and plan for the people of the epicenter, the team also shared about the work of The Joshua Fund and the importance of building a global movement of Christians to bless Israel and her neighbors in the days ahead.

* On Saturday, the team trained more than 3,000 adults to be small group Bible study leaders. Later in the day, Joel addressed more than 3,000 young people who attended the youth portion of the conference.

* On Sunday, the team taught more than 20,000 through five services at CCF church.

It was a tremendous week and we are so grateful for everyone who prayed for The Joshua Fund team and our allies. God was working powerfully, and the Filipino Christians are excited about praying faithfully for Israel, blessing Israel in other practical ways, and finding news ways to educate and mobilize other Christians throughout Asia to do the same.

DAMASCUS AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH

Many of you have been asking how to get a copy of the Damascus film in English.

The film is now available in the NTSC format in the U.S. and Canada at the following websites:

• * Tobias Communications DVD sales website
• * Power To Change Canada ministry resources website
• * Campus Crusade For Christ’s audio/visual resources website

WOULD YOU LIKE TO MAKE A CONTRIBUTION TO THE WORK OF THE JOSHUA FUND?

The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 15: 25-27, “But now, I am going to Jerusalem serving the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. Yes, they were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things.”

As we head into 2010, I don’t know what the future holds. But this one thing is certain: the Bible clearly teaches that we demonstrate our love for the Lord by loving His chosen people, Israel’s neighbors, and Israel’s enemies by praying for them and contributing to their financial and practical needs. Would you like to make an on-line, tax-deductible, secure financial contribution to the work of The Joshua Fund for 2010? We would be deeply grateful to have you join us. Please click here and go to the “GIVE” section of our website. 

Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and sacrificial giving. May the Lord bless you and your family as you bless His chosen people and love Israel’s neighbors and her enemies, as Jesus commanded us to.

JOSHUA FUND TO HELP ARAB CHRISTIANS DISTRIBUTE 160,000 MORE COPIES OF “DAMASCUS”

The Joshua Fund has just committed resources to produce and distribute 160,000 more copies of the DAMASCUS film in 2010 in Syria, Lebanon and among Palestinians and Israeli Arabs. We are deeply committed to helping our Arab Christian brothers and sisters reach more Muslims with the gospel of Jesus Christ in the epicenter, especially given the threat of a major war this coming year. The prayer of our ministry allies in the region is that each DVD will be watched by at least 10 people. In early 2009, The Joshua Fund financed the production and distribution of 300,000 copies of DAMASCUS. Each DVD costs $1.

• Please pray the Lord provides all the funds in a timely way.
• Please pray, too, that many violent Muslim zealots will be transformed by Jesus Christ, just as the religious zealot Saul was transformed by a vision of Christ on the road to Damascus and became the Apostle Paul, one of the most effective ministers of the gospel in history.

Thanks so much for all those who would like to buy a copy of “Damascus.” Unfortunately, the film has not yet been dubbed into English and made available in the U.S. If that happens, we will definitely let you know. God bless you.

NEW REPORT SHOWS MORE ISRAELI CHILDREN IN POVERTY

A new report shows more Israeli children in poverty – “In the wake of the global economic crisis, the number of Israeli children below the poverty line unsurprisingly increased to 834,000 –- just over one in three, a significant increase since the 1980s.”

Please be praying for these children and their families, and that The Joshua Fund can be part of helping bless more poor and needy Israelis in 2010 than ever before.

DAMASCUS FILM AIRS ON LEBANON TV, PREMIERS IN JERUSALEM AND AMMAN: Also, TJF finances Christmas parties to reach Palestinians with gospel

Touching the lives of Palestinian Arabs with the love of Jesus at Christmas.

Here’s some exciting news for the Christmas season in the Middle East…..

The DAMASCUS film — a movie made by Arab Christians in Syria which tells the story of Saul seeing Jesus on the road to Damascus, and how he became Paul, the greatest apostle of all time — aired today on national TV in Lebanon. Specifically, it aired on OTV, a network run by Lebanese militia leader Gen. Michel Aoun.

Yesterday, Palestinian Christians premiered the DAMASCUS film in Jerusalem for 300 Arabs to reach them with the gospel message in the week leading up to Christmas. In recent days, a premier for the film was also held in Amman, Jordan, and some 700 Arabs attended. Please pray the Lord would continue to use this film in mighty ways in reaching Muslims and nominal Christians with the truth of God’s wonderful love and amazing grace. Earlier this year, The Joshua Fund invested $300,000 to produce and distribute 300,000 copies of the film in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza. Nearly all of those copies have now been distributed to Muslim and nominal Christian families.

Meanwhile, we wanted to let you know that last week The Joshua Fund helped finance two evangelistic Christmas parties in Jerusalem that were organized and run by Palestinian Christians with the hopes of reaching their Muslim neighbors with the good news of Jesus Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection. Nearly 400 women attended the luncheon party, while some 200 men attended the evening party. They saw a gospel drama, heard Arab Christians share from the Scriptures, shared a meal together, and received gift bags that included several Christian books. Please be praying that the Lord draws Palestinian, Lebanese, Jordanian and Syrian Arabs to Himself this Christmas season.

>> To make a year-end, tax deductible contribution to The Joshua Fund to help us continue doing projects to bless Israel and her neighbors, please click here

DECEMBER PROJECT UPDATE

Revised on December 16th

Please be praying for The Joshua Fund as we seek the Lord to provide an additional $1 million in end-of-the-year giving this month. These funds will help us buy a forklift and truck for the new TJF warehouse in Israel, and accelerate our ability to stock food and other relief supplies in the new facility. Such funds will also allow TJF to help Magen David Adom — Israel’s emergency care organization — purchase two new ambulances.

• UPDATE: Thanks so much to those donors who have generously and sacrificially been helpin TJF this month. Because of your donations, we have already raised enough to order the forklift and the truck, as well as to send the funds to Magen David Adom to order the ambulances. (It will take a few months for the ambulances to be built and delivered to Israel; we’ll update you again when they are delivered.)

Lord willing, The Joshua Fund will hold our first Epicenter Conference in Asia next month in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. The goal will be to teach some 3,500 Asian pastors and ministry leaders about God’s love and plan for Israel and her neighbors, and mobilize them to join a global movement to “learn, pray, give and go.” More details coming soon. Please keep all the organizational details in prayer.

Also, the Christian Broadcasting Network did an extensive interview with me last month in Jerusalem about the threat of war between Israel and Iran, how evangelicals can and should respond, and tensions between the U.S. and Israel. CBN just aired that interview in three parts. Links to all three on-line video clips are available by clicking here.

DONOR UPDATE: HOW THE JOSHUA FUND HAS BEEN BLESSING ISRAEL AND HER NEIGHBORS IN 2009

Here are some of the projects The Joshua Fund has been able to accomplish because of your prayers and financial support, and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. TJF is not simply doing charitable work, but also educating and mobilizing Christians around the world to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and get involved in His work in the epicenter.

In 2009, The Joshua Fund….

• Helped purchase food and toiletries for 450 elderly residents and needy families in the Israeli town of Sderot when the Gaza war erupted.
• Helped several hundred low-income Israelis evacuate the war zone in Sderot and temporarily relocate to safer Israeli towns in the north, where TJF paid for their accommodations and food.
• Helped Israel’s Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon purchase two neonatal incubators for their Neonatal Intensive Care Unit during the Gaza war, and has continued to help the hospital purchase important medical equipment since then.
• Helped provide holiday care packages of food and cooking supplies to 400 needy Israeli families during Passover.
• Helped finance projects in Israel to care for elderly Holocaust survivors, homeless women, unwed mothers, and prisoners.
• Helped purchase approximately 3,800 backpacks for needy Israeli children. Both Jewish and Arab children received these bags, including some who are blind or deaf. For the older children, each backpack contained school supplies such as a pencil holder, scissors, crayons, notebooks, a pencil sharpener, glue-stick, Scotch Tape, eraser, pencils, a pen, notebook covers, a calculator, and a set of geometry rulers.
• Helped finance urgently needed heart surgeries and follow-up care for 10 desperately sick Arab and Kurdish children. The surgeries were performed by Jewish doctors in Israel. The children’s cases were vetted by an evangelical Christian organization in Jerusalem, who also helped transport them to Israel, house them, and care for them and their families during their medical treatment and initial recovery.
• Helped finance the “Back To Jerusalem” conference run by Arab Christians in Israel and the West Bank. After the 3-day teaching conference was completed in Jerusalem, each of the several hundred attendees (including a team of 15 volunteers led by a TJF staffer) then participated in a week-long outreach in Arab towns, including Bethlehem and Nazareth. During this time, they distributed more than 25,000 packets of materials. Since each packet contained between 5 and 7 items (including a copy of the New Testament and the Jesus film in Arabic), at least 125,000 pieces of Christian literature and DVDs were distributed. A TJF medical team also led a free medical clinic in Bethlehem.
• Helped Iraqi followers of Jesus Christ launch the first officially licensed Christian radio station in the history of Iraq. This included helping them secure permission from the Prime Minister of Kurdistan, build and equip studios, hire staff, and produce original Bible programs. TJF also helped upgrade their antenna. The station’s signal (on 97.1 FM in Erbil) can now be heard by upwards of 2 million Muslims in northern Iraq.
• Financed the production 300,000 copies of the Damascus film on DVD. This ground-breaking docudrama tells the story of Saul’s dramatic conversion to Christ on the road to Damascus and his transformation into the apostle who wrote nearly half of the New Testament. The film was produced by Arab Christians on location in Syria to reach their Muslim and nominal Christian neighbors with the gospel. The DVDs financed by TJF are being distributed in Syria, Jordan, the West Bank, and Lebanon.
• Helped an Iraqi Christian organization dedicated to evangelism and discipleship complete the construction of a new ministry training center in northern Iraq. Lord willing, TJF staff and allies will lead a pastors’ conference at the facility in 2010.
• Organized and financed retreats and conference in Israel and Iraq to encourage and equip pastors and ministry leaders in Bible study, prayer and fellowship. 

As always, we will do our best to keep you up-to-date on the kinds of projects we are doing, and brief you on how those projects are proceeding. We will also let you know about the kinds of projects we are developing for the future. In no way do we want to pressure anyone to give financially. We fully believe the Lord will provide for the needs of the people we seek to serve. But if you or others wish to help, we gratefully welcome your support, and all financial gifts are tax-deductible in the U.S.A.

If you would like to make a secure, on-line, tax-deductible contribution to the on-going work of The Joshua Fund, please click here.

Or, please make your check payable to “The Joshua Fund” and send to:

The Joshua Fund
18940 Base Camp Road
Monument, Colorado 80132-8009

DESIGNATED GIVING: If The Joshua Fund is successful in raising our financial goal for a specific project for which you have designated your donations, all excess funds for that project will be applied to related projects or to the general fund of TJF.

OPEN LETTER TO FRIENDS OF THE JOSHUA FUND: TJF secures new warehouse facility in Israel

November 2009

Dear faithful friend of The Joshua Fund:

Thank you so much for your generous support of The Joshua Fund. The Lord has used your faithful prayers and sacrificial financial gifts to touch many lives in the epicenter with the love of Jesus Christ this year, and I am deeply grateful.

That said, I’m writing this letter with good news….and bad.

First, the bad news – unless the Lord intervenes, there is a real chance that a horrific war between Iran and Israel could break out in the Mideast in 2010.

Earlier this year, Lynn and I held a dinner in our home for Ambassador Dore Gold, a long-time friend and senior advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Joining us were TJF staff members, and several Christian journalists. It was a sobering discussion. Amb. Gold explained that a careful reading of the latest IAEA report indicates that Iran now has enough uranium that we know of to produce at least two nuclear bombs. He offered little hope that diplomacy or sanctions would be effective, but stressed that Israeli leaders are “exhausting every option short of war” to stop Iran from getting the Bomb.

Consider two headlines since that dinner:

• “Report Says Iran Has Data to Make a Nuclear Bomb” (New  York Times, 10/3/09)
• “Clock ticking for Iran as Israel appears ready for strike” (Haaretz, 9/12/09)

We are praying for peace. But if war does come, the whole region could go up in flames and millions of innocent people could be caught in the crossfire. Now, the good news – our God is mighty to save, and He wants to use you to bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus.

In Matthew 24, Jesus tells us to “be ready” for wars and rumors of war in the last days. In Matthew 25, the Lord then tells us some of the ways we can be ready – invest our lives in feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the prisoners, caring for the suffering, and sowing the seeds of God’s Word. By God’s grace, and with your help, The Joshua Fund is doing just that, touching more lives with God’s love than ever before. But so much more needs to be done.

Would you stand with us in prayer and make a tax-deductible, year-end gift to The Joshua Fund of $100, $250, $500 or more? Would some of you be willing to make a $5,000, $10,000 or $25,000 investment to help us accelerate the work?

Here are some ways your help is already making a difference:

• TJF HAS JUST RENTED A WAREHOUSE IN ISRAEL – In October, the Lord gave us an amazing facility in central Israel after several years of prayer. This is a dramatic step forward. It will enable us to purchase food and other relief supplies in bulk at lower prices, distribute more to those in need, stockpile more for the future, & eventually train and utilize volunteers. During our November “prayer & vision trip,” we took nearly 300 evangelical Christians on the tour to see the facility and dedicate it in prayer. [We'll be posting more information about the warehouse -- including pictures -- in December.]
• TJF HAS ALREADY HELPED STOCKPILE 400 TONS OF FOOD — In late 2007, TJF made a commitment to help one of our allies stockpile 400 tons of food and relief supplies in a warehouse in northern Israel by the end of 2010. In light of the growing regional threats, TJF decided to fulfill our commitment by the end of 2009 instead — one year ahead of schedule. In 2009, therefore, we doubled the amount of food we helped this ally purchase so they could care for more families when war comes.
• TJF HAS OPENED OR EXPANDED 4 FOOD DISTRIBUTION CENTERS IN ISRAEL — In 2009, we helped Jews and Christians in Israel open three food distribution facilities, as well as expand a fourth center that was already operating. Two are located in the north, near Lebanon. Two others are located in the south, near Gaza. Through these centers, we’re distributing 20-30 tons of food and other relief supplies each month to the poor and needy. We hope to expand this in 2010.
• TJF HAS PURCHASED VEHICLES TO DISTRIBUTE AID — TJF has helped our allies in Israel purchase several vans and trucks so they can better deliver food and other relief supplies to the needy. Lord willing, by the end of 2009 we will purchase two more vehicles.

I am pleased to report that the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) announced in September the accreditation of The Joshua Fund. ECFA accreditation is based on the ECFA Seven Standards of Responsible Stewardship, including financial accountability, transparency, sound board governance and ethical fund-raising. “We are pleased to include in our membership a ministry committed to assisting the poor and needy in Israel in the name of Jesus Christ,” said Dan Busby, president of ECFA, in a press release.

In light of all this, would you commit to praying for us even more than before? Would you also provide The Joshua Fund a generous year-end, tax-deductible contribution of $100, $250, $500, or more? Would some of you consider even more substantial investments? Your gifts will help us educate and mobilize the Church around the world to bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus. They will also help us to provide food and other aid and encouragement to those in need in the epicenter, and prepare for the next war. Thank you so much. May the Lord bless you and your family beyond measure, according to Genesis 12:1-3.

If you would like to make a secure, on-line, tax-deductible contribution to the on-going work of The Joshua Fund, please click here.

Or, please make your check payable to “The Joshua Fund” and send to:

The Joshua Fund
18940 Base Camp Road
Monument, Colorado 80132-8009

Yours in Christ Jesus,

Joel C. Rosenberg

President, The Joshua Fund

DESIGNATED GIVING: If The Joshua Fund is successful in raising our financial goal for a specific project for which you have designated your donations, all excess funds for that project will be applied to related projects or to the general fund of TJF.

JOSHUA FUND TO HELP PURCHASE 2 AMBULANCES FOR ISRAEL

Joshua Fund will soon help Israel's national emergency medical service purchase 2 new ambulances similar to the one pictured here.

We just completed several days of Joshua Fund board meetings. I’ll have much to report soon. But one thing I wanted to let you know is that with the threat of a war with Iran so high, the board has authorized funding for two ambulances for Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s national emergency medical service. Lord willing, we’ll be able raise the necessary funds and transfer them to MDA by the end of this year.

The purchase of ambulances was not in our original 2009 budget. But we added this as part of our approach of “praying for peace, but preparing for war.”

“When Magen David Adom was established in 1930, its pride was its single ambulance, which was incessantly on call,” notes MDA’s website. “Today, MDA has an ambulance fleet of more than 800 modern lifesaving vehicles, deployed in all parts of the country. Most of the ambulances area attached to the MDA Stations; others are stationed in villages and kibbutzim in areas along the threatened borders. All are equipped with wireless radios linking them to their Stations or ambulance posts, and to regional headquarters.”

More ambulances are needed and TJF is honored to help.

As always, we will do our best to keep you up-to-date on the kinds of projects we are doing, and brief you on how those projects are proceeding. We will also let you know about the kinds of projects we are developing for the future. In no way do we want to pressure anyone to give financially. We fully believe the Lord will provide for the needs of the people we seek to serve. But if you or others wish to help, we gratefully welcome your support, and all financial gifts are tax-deductible in the U.S.A.

If you would like to make a contribution to the on-going work of The Joshua Fund please click here. Or, please make your check payable to “The Joshua Fund” and send to:

The Joshua Fund
18940 Base Camp Road
Monument, Colorado 80132-8009

DESIGNATED GIVING: If The Joshua Fund is successful in raising our financial goal for a specific project for which you have designated your donations, all excess funds for that project will be applied to related projects or to the general fund of TJF.

Thanks so much and may the Lord richly bless you and your family as you bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus — especially at this critical moment in the history of the epicenter.