![\"Orthodox](\"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/orthodox-priest-sepulchr-candles-bw-190x300.jpg\")
<\/a>Orthodox Priest<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cWhen I was eleven years old, my mother, who had been quite ill, was miraculously healed by the Lord and came to know Him in a real way.\u00a0 My father and I also gave our lives to the Lord at that time.\u00a0 I was attending a Catholic school in Bethlehem, as it was a good school.\u00a0 I was a \u2018child of the Intifada\u2019.\u00a0 We were taught that the Jews and the Israelis especially were our enemies and that we should hate them, that Jesus was a Palestinian, etc.\u00a0 After I came to know the Lord in a real way, I started to read the Bible for the very first time and was shocked to discover that it was all Jewish!\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t wait to tell that information to my religion teacher at school.\u00a0 I tried to approach it in a casual way, so I asked him, \u2018What was Mary before she became Catholic?\u2019<\/em> \u2018No, sir,\u2019 I said happily, pleased with my discovery, \u2018it says in the Bible that she was Jewish!\u2019 This made my teacher so angry that he dragged me to the principle\u2019s office and I was suspended from school for ten days for daring to even suggest that Mary had been Jewish! So later I tried to tell it to my grandmother, who was a religious woman.\u00a0 I simply said, \u2018I started to read the Bible, and it says that Jesus is Jewish\u2026\u2019 She slapped me in the face and said, \u2018Don\u2019t ever, ever say such a terrible thing again!\u2019\u00a0 Later my parents came to me and said kindly, \u2018Listen, we also know that what you\u2019re saying is the truth.\u00a0 But for your own protection, it is not something that you should talk about again\u2026\u2019 So I continued to read the Bible<\/a>, but I never talked about it again.<\/em><\/p>\n A few years later I was given a scholarship to attend a European Bible school.\u00a0 It was a very pro-Israel school, but because of my unpleasant experiences when I was eleven, I chose to ignore that part of it. After I had been there for a few weeks, I noticed that there was a distance between myself and the Lord.\u00a0 So I came before Him in prayer to find out what was wrong. He said to me, \u2018If I ask you to do something, will you do it?\u2019<\/em> \u2018What if I ask you to love and to bless and to forgive the Jewish people?\u2019 He said.<\/em> There David was, a \u2018Palestinian\u2019 Arab Christian, from Bethlehem, born in the same village as his King, praying at last that simple prayer of reconciliation.\u00a0 \u201cAfter I prayed,\u201d he told me, \u201cit was as if I could hear angels rejoicing and I felt God\u2019s presence in such a powerful way that I kept repeating that sentence all night! It was awesome! The Lord told me many things that night, but one thing didn\u2019t make any sense at all.\u00a0 He told me that the Jewish people would help me and bless me and that I would never feel like a stranger amongst them. I couldn\u2019t imagine what that meant, as I lived in an Arab village and had no contact with Jewish people!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n A lot happened after that!\u00a0 David met an Israeli Believer from Jerusalem at the Bible School, and when he returned to Israel, he phoned him.\u00a0 Through him, he got a job with us.\u00a0 It was a dream of David\u2019s to work on Jaffa Road in Jerusalem, and we were just moving our business to a new location on Jaffa Road!\u00a0 He lived and worked with us for three years, until it was dangerous for him to stay in the country.\u00a0 He left for America\u2014and joined me in obedience to the Lord on a two year speaking tour of Messianic Congregations across the States, plus one in Canada.\u00a0 Each time he shared his love for the Jewish people and for Israel, and also asked for prayer for the Arab Christians in the Holy Land, since most people didn\u2019t even know they existed and they were being persecuted by the Muslins. It was very brave of him to publicly declare his love for Israel, and a few times his life was threatened by the PLO as a result of it.\u00a0 But the odd thing is that when you speak the truth in His love, He gives the grace and the faith and totally removes any fear. But of course, it still isn\u2019t as easy as it sounds and truly does take courage!<\/p>\n
\n \u2018She was always Catholic,\u2019 my teacher replied emphatically.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n \u2018Yes, Father, whatever you want,\u2019 I told him.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n \u2018No, Sir,\u2019 I replied.\u00a0 \u2018You have 1500 students here who love Israel. You don\u2019t need me!\u2019 And I refused to even consider it.\u00a0 But the distance between the Lord and me continued to grow, until finally one night I decided to pray. \u2018Okay, Lord,\u2019 I said, \u2018I do.\u2019<\/em>
\n \u2018You do what?\u2019 He queried.<\/em>
\n \u2018I do what you asked me to do,\u2019 I answered.<\/em>
\n \u2018No, son, it doesn\u2019t work like that,\u2019 He told me. \u2018It has to genuinely come from your heart\u2026\u2019<\/em>
\n Finally, a few nights later, I prayed, \u2018Father, I bless the Jewish people and I forgive them and I ask You to help me to love them.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n