Soldiers need good shoes!

I’m home in Israel! But on to a more important subject—taking care of our soldiers.

A few weeks ago, Elana could not get ahold of her childhood friend, also named Elana. They had been working with Dovi, Elana’s husband to get proper shoes for all the soldiers in her son’s unit. My Elana feared that something happened to Ron, their son. A few hours later, she got the news—Ron had been shot by a Hamas terrorist in the stomach, just below his bulletproof vest. 

We got the word out on social media to pray for Ron. The first night was scary and it was not clear if he would live. Thankfully, he made it through the night and is now getting better. In other words: This is real. This war is no joke. And even though he will live, I cannot stress enough how our soldiers and citizens are living and coping with PTSD while dealing with a two-front war (Hamas in the south and Hezbollah in the north). 

 What about the Shoes?

While Ron is done fighting, many of his friends are still at battle, and it is embarrassing that they don’t have proper footwear or are wearing worn out shoes after months of fighting. We ordered 30 pairs of high-quality combat boots, and they should be delivered soon. The cost is just under $4000. This is a very real way you can quite literally stand with Israel  (CLICK HERE TO DONATE). 

And then yesterday, Elana was coming home by train from Tel Aviv when she saw a soldier with worn out boots. His whole unit is in the same situation. We will share with you details as soon as we get the sizes and numbers of shoes, but we will get them new shoes.

 Brazil Report

I hope to make a video about our time in Brazil. I was invited to speak at one conference because the leader of FHOP (a House of prayer in Brazil) saw a video I did about what we could and should learn from the Mike Bickle/IHOPKC situation. I reluctantly made that video after counseling with other leaders in Tikkun here in Israel. I was not looking to be sensational, or capitalize on a tragic event. But there was much to learn. Vinnie Souza saw that video and invited me. 

That opened up doors to other preaching opportunities in churches, and to be on the largest Christian podcast in the country for young adults with 2 million subscribers. One of the things I challenged leaders to do was to make a commitment in writing that if they commit adultery or Clergy Sexual Abuse, they will be removed permanently from public ministry. They can be restored to Yeshua and be part of the body of Messiah—but they will be disqualified from public ministry. Clergy Sexual Abuse (where a minister has a sexual relationship with someone in his congregation) is an epidemic in Brazil, and culturally, it is not appropriate to confront a senior leader. We challenged this dangerous cultural mentality.

Our message was well received by many dozens of leaders. We’ll see what happens when the podcast airs and potentially millions of people hear it.

 Rest

I’m looking forward to a restful Shabbat back here in Israel. Everything we do is in partnership with you. Please pray that I quickly overcome Jetlag, which begins tonight with hopefully sleeping through the night. Thanks for being on our team. We love you and bless you.