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Please click here to view our Prison Ministry Photo Album Please click here to read about Christmas 2004
In this film you see us going out of Shatah prison after we gave a service there.
We felt the freedom and sang with
joy, remembering all those who were set free by the power of the Holy
Spirit by hearing the message of salvation that day and during all the
other visits. We also lifted before the throne all the others who are
still bound, whether because they weren't ready to give their life to
Jesus or that we weren't allowed to reach them because these prisoners
don't have a Christian background.
We trust the Lord that all will
hear His message through the inmates who are saved!
We are encouraged by receiving
many phone calls from prisoners on Christmas day sharing their Joy in
their New Life. Others told their families their Good News and we heard
through their neighbors or other believers....
Thank you for Being fellow workers
in all this. We know for sure that your labor is not in vain. It's
bearing fruit for the Glory of the Lord.
One in His Love and Service
Anis & Nawal/HOL
Dear Partners in Prayer and Support, Praise the Lord for each of you who have partnered with us in our ministry to prisoners. Your prayers and financial support have made it possible for us to bring gifts of t-shirts and sweets to each of the prisons we visit. As you know, we are allowed to visit and teach only prisoners who are Arab, Russian, or from different nations that have a Christian background. We as a group of eight, visited twelve different prisons in the months of January and February. The Lord has blessed us by allowing us to know that in one of the prisons, some of the prisoners are meeting together on a weekly basis, as a small group, to study and fellowship together. We also have been able to distribute around 600 Bibles in 9 different languages, including Chinese, Russian and Romanian. Ten of these prisons have Christian Arabs from Israel and Russians living in Israel as prisoners. The other two prisons house foreign workers who do not have visas or whose visas have expired. Some have committed crimes while others are just waiting to be returned to their home country. There are about 100 women included in the prisons that house the foreign workers. There is also one women’s prison in Israel that we were blessed to visit. The Women’s Prison… The Rabbi that oversees the religious programs in each prison informed us before we were to visit the women’s prison that of the four women who are nominal Christians, only one of the women would be attending. One of the four had converted to Islam while two others decided to follow Judaism. He did not think that we would be interested in coming for just one woman. Nawal told him that they would love to come for just this one “ewe lamb” because that is what Jesus did. He always came after the individual. The Rabbi was so surprised by this that he told others. This resulted in two social workers and a journalist working in the facility attending most of the meeting from faraway. This gave us the opportunity to share the love of Jesus, who is willing to come, even for one sinner. Please pray for this one prisoner and for the other workers who heard the truth of the gospel, to be saved. One of these social workers is interested in bringing other prisoners to the meetings. Click Pictures to see full size
Two Moldavian Men… A wonderful story of the Lord’s provision relates to two prisoners from Moldova. They were fasting from food and water for eight days because they were disturbed over their inability to leave the country to return home. They were financially unable to pay the money needed to purchase the proper papers from their government to leave Israel and re-enter their country. Anis prayed with them and told them to continue praying together because the Lord would show them what to do. The next day, women in the Galilee area met for their monthly time of prayer. They prayed specifically for these two men. As a result of prayer, the Lord provided through the Body in Israel, the finances needed to cover the expenses for the government paperwork and the men are now back in their own country. They called Anis before leaving and said that they would continue to fast until they were reunited with their families. Once they were home they would eat together with their loved ones. A week later, Anis received a call from a religious woman who is responsible in that same prison. She knew these men were fasting and was surprised to see the incredible strength they had even though they had gone without food for so long, only drinking water. This caused her to desire to see more Bible study in the prison. To God be the glory. We continue to pray, and ask you to join with us in prayer, that these two men will continue in the Lord’s ways as they promised before leaving and that the Lord would continue to produce fruit in this woman’s life. Prisoner’s Families… We have also had opportunity to minister to some of the families of the prisoners. We are visiting them in their homes. As a result many of them are now attending our meetings also. One of the daughters has even become a part of the Kings Kids meetings. We are providing these families with phone cards to give to the husband or father so that he can communicate with them more often. If you are looking for a way to practically reach out to the prisoners and would like to contribute to the purchase of these phone cards, please let us know. Daily Blessings… One of the many blessings Anis experiences as a result of meeting with the prisoners are phone calls that he receives from various prisoners. Each day he has at least one man give him a call. He has been able to pray with these men through the daily situations that they face as well as to encourage them to walk with the Lord. And a final praise to offer the Lord. “CH” has begun his studies by correspondence with the Bible College in Bethlehem! We praise the Lord for his faithfulness and continue to pray that he will learn all that the Lord has for him in his time of study. Upcoming Ministry… We already started preparing for our Easter program in the prisons. Because of Jewish Pessach, our first program will not be until April 15th. May the Lord overflow His gracious love and kindness as He uses us to minister to these prisoners. Thank you again for your faithful service to the Lord through prayer and financial giving. We are blessed to be able to partner with each of you in this work the Lord has put before us. May we each continue to grow in our love and worship of our gracious Lord. One in His Love and Service, The Barhoum’s
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