Dear friends, I have some friends at church who are in Jerusalem doing an interim pastorship for a few months. They sent me the following report on the state of affairs in Israel right now. Although it is not very revealing, it may give you a feel for the situation from a more personal perspective. By the way, Seth is a Messianic Jew; having been raised in the synagogue. He truly has a heart for the Jewish people. ******************* Jan, I don't really know if I can give you an accurate insight to affairs here, but I sent you an article by conventional mail that may help. There are some comments on it from a church member named Tony. He seems to have a pretty good insight as to the Biblical interpretation of things. Also, the Jerusalem Post is available on-line in English at the following address: www.jpost.com It seems to be a pretty good source of news. I'm not sure how everything is going to work out. But Arafat seems to be determined to establish a Palestinian State by September 13 with or without Israel approval. So, we'll just have to wait and see. Our church is actually in East Jerusalem, which is an area being considered as Palestinian by Arafat. We are surrounded mostly by Arabs. The Jews for the most part seemed to have abandoned the area. There is little or no Jewish presence here. In fact, most taxis will not bring people here from West Jerusalem. My sense is that the Arabs here are not really too eager to be part of a Palestinian State. I think they would prefer to be under Israeli rule. Although they are treated as second class citizens, Israel does support them with some sort of welfare program. In the midst of all this talk of peace, the Lord directed me to Galatians 4:30 (NIV) But what does the Scripture say? "Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son." Although Israel seems willing to tolerate the Arabs, I don't think that Arafat will settle for any thing less than total evacuation by the Jews. Continue praying for us that God may guide us and use for His service. Shalom and God Bless, Seth and Mary ********************** Blessings, Jan Ross jross@... http://focusontheword.com ICQ#18767082 "Sha'alu Shalom Yerushalayim" (Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem) Psalm 122:6 ~*~*~*~*~*~* Focus On the Word Banner Exchange--Sign Up Today and Receive 2,500 Free Credits http://focusontheword.com/banex