Israeli Paralympic Athletes Inspire Hope
Israeli Paralympian athlete Asaf Yasur is second from the left among the medal winners for taekwondo—men’s 58 kg at the 2024 Summer Paralympics (Source: Wikimedia Commons/The National Paralympic Committee of Azerbaijan)
Despite facing numerous threats, boycott efforts, and anti-Israel provocations, the Israeli Paralympics delegation wrapped up their performance at the 2024 Paris Paralympics with ten medals—including four gold—their best showing at the games in two decades.
Israeli athletes proved cerebral palsy, cancer, terror attack wounds, electrocution, paralysis, and vision impairments cannot steal motivation or joy from life. They also remained stalwart when athletes refused to compete with the Israeli rivals. Tunisia’s Achraf Tayahi snubbed a match against boccia player Nadav Levi, and Saeid Sadeghianpour from Iran backed out of a taekwondo match rather than face the Arab Israeli athlete Adnan Milad.
Ami Dadaon, the paralympic swimmer who won four medals, said it was “a pleasure to represent the State of Israel and the Jewish people—I love you, our soldiers, the families of the hostages, the families of the fallen, the whole Israeli people. I’ll never forget your support . . . I felt you every moment I was swimming in the water.”
Similarly, Israeli rower Saleh Shahin—injured in a terror attack—gives hope and motivation to thousands of severely wounded Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers wounded in Israel’s war against Hamas, many of whom are using sports and athletics to help adjust to their new lives.
Please pray for all the soldiers and civilians whose bodies have been wounded on or since October 7—and for those whose hearts are wounded as well.
Jordanian Terrorist Kills Three Israelis
Yuri Birnbaum and Yohanan Shchori were among the victims murdered in this act of terror (Source: YNet News)
Sunday morning, a thirty-nine-year-old Jordanian terrorist truck driver attacked and killed three Israelis at the Allenby Crossing in the Jordan Valley, Israeli emergency responders reported. The driver first approached the area while driving a truck from the Jordanian side of the border. He then got out and opened fire.
“It was a very difficult scene,” paramedic Avi Yudkovsky said. Paramedic Yotam Tzur recounted seeing “three men lying unconscious, with no pulse, not breathing, with gunshot wounds. Together with the IDF medical team, we performed resuscitation efforts, but unfortunately, we had to declare their deaths.”
The Allenby Bridge—known as the King Hussein Bridge in Jordan—has been closed pending investigations from both Israel and Jordan.
Please pray for improved relations between Israel and Jordan. May Israeli and Jordanian leaders act with wisdom and peace.
Israeli Researchers Discover Revolutionary New Glass
Gal Finkelstein-Zuta and Professor Ehud Gazit display a plate made out of the peptide glass (Source: Tel Aviv University Spokesperson’s Office)
In a breakthrough discovery, Israeli researchers have developed an incredible self-healing peptide glass. Materials scientist Professor Ehud Gazit from Tel Aviv University, along with his students Zohar Arnon and Gal Finkelstein-Zuta, published their particularly promising discovery in the journal Nature. Their report details a new glass-like substance formed through the spontaneous self-organization of tyrosine tripeptide (YYY). Though this new material looks a lot like ordinary glass, it has its own distinct properties.
First, this glass is transparent not only in visible wavelengths but also in the range of infrared light, potentially allowing its use in data communication. Second, the glass is self-healing. Finkelstein-Zuta explained, “[A]n aqueous solution of this peptide allows for the creation of a glassy material—remarkably transparent, even more so than silicate glass. Additionally, this new glass can change its mechanical properties, repair cracks that form in it, and it also possesses adhesive properties.”
Possibly the greatest advantage of this new glass is its simple process of production. Finkelstein-Zuta compares this process to “making raspberry syrup in a home kitchen.” The only step required is mixing tyrosine tripeptide powder with water. The new glass will form spontaneously with no energy or input. In sharp contrast, the production of traditional silicate glass requires the investment of considerable energy and specialized skills accrued over years of training.
Please pray for the Lord to guide and bless Israeli specialists in medicine, science, and other fields!
Fruit from the Frontlines: Learning, Trusting, Serving, Praying
(Source: Unsplash/Emmanuel Phaeton)
Pointing Israelis to the Scriptures
With the summer season behind us, ministry gets back to a much fuller pace. Summer vacations passed, and school started last week. Our ministry did host two week-long summer camps for children—attended by both believers and not-yet-believers. Israeli law mandates we be upfront about what we believe, so all the parents of these kids know we are a Messianic ministry. Yet the not-yet-believing parents were just so happy their children had something positive to do for a week. The weather was quite hot for both camp sessions, but everyone still had a great time playing games, enjoying community, and hearing about the gospel.
Besides our young adult Bible studies, ladies’ Bible studies, and other events, a couple on our staff does couple-to-couple counseling and discipleship ministry. They are currently going through a five-week seminar on “Relationships and How We Love.” This Bible-centered counseling helps couples learn about how we relate to others from a biblical perspective. We are praying for everyone who attends—especially those who have not yet come to faith.
We recently hosted three young men from the United States who were here for service ministry. In addition to the ministry time, our staff was able to take them down to the Gaza border to see firsthand the haunting remnants of destruction from Hamas’ October 7 invasion. They also visited the site where more than 300 young Israelis were slaughtered while attending a music festival.
Serving Evacuees and Soldiers
In the north, we continue helping displaced families, as well as the elderly and families suffering from loss of income due to their family members serving in the IDF during these eleven months of war. They hug us and cry with us during our prayers and visits, and they thank us for the grocery gift cards we provide to help put food on their tables.
In both the north and the Gaza envelope, we also continue to help Israeli soldiers with supplies and food—as well as prayer and conversations about the gospel. Thanks to the Lord, the soldiers seem equally hungry for both! One of our staff’s sons in the IDF has been serving in Gaza, and we personally know many other believers in Yeshua who are serving with their units as well.
The atrocities they witness every day in Gaza, combined with the constant level of high alert to protect civilians whom Hamas uses as human shields, while working hard to stop terrorists, is a lot for anyone to endure. Because they are open about their faith, their comrades-in-arms often look to them for encouragement, wisdom, and strength. They rely on the Scriptures and prayer to carry them through, and they beg for our fervent prayers. May the Lord’s presence go before them, behind them, and around them to give them shalom (peace) even in the midst of the battle.
Praying Psalm 27
The war still goes on—on multiple fronts, including in the international community—but the God of Hosts is our protector. This month, the Hebrew month of Elul, we read and pray Psalm 27 twice daily, in preparation for the upcoming fall festivals of Leviticus 23: the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah), the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), and the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot). David speaks of trust in God despite the enemies around him. How appropriate for today!
Please pray this special Psalm with us—and thank you!
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the defense of my life;
Whom shall I dread? . . .
Though a host encamp against me,
My heart will not fear;
Though war arise against me,
In spite of this I shall be confident.
One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord
And to meditate in His temple.
For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle;
In the secret place of His tent He will hide me;
He will lift me up on a rock.
And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me,
And I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.
Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice,
And be gracious to me and answer me.
When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You,
“Your face, O Lord, I shall seek.”
Do not hide Your face from me,
Do not turn Your servant away in anger;
You have been my help;
Do not abandon me nor forsake me,
O God of my salvation! . . .
Teach me Your way, O Lord,
And lead me in a level path
Because of my foes.
Do not deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries,
For false witnesses have risen against me,
And such as breathe out violence.
I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the Lord.
