Welcome back friends! Sunday is usually a day reserved for prayer or worship, but since the Epicenter Briefing continues, we’ll make the exception today.

Each day of the briefing brings fresh new blessings and Saturday was no different. We have all been treated like royalty! The resort is beautiful, the food is wonderful, and The Joshua Fund team is filled with servants who go out of their way to bless us.

Saturday’s first session left everyone in tears as Lynn Rosenberg spoke briefly about the impact of the war on Israeli families, then continued with an interview of licensed therapist, Sheli Myers. Sheli is a descendant of the Bar David family, one of the first Messianic families in Israel. Serving primarily the Messianic community through various congregations, Sheli and a small team of therapists work with some of the most traumatized families who were attacked on October 7.

The trauma those families (particularly children) faced was beyond imagination. Stop to consider the view through children’s eyes and ears. For some, the mere sound of something popping causes excessive fear, cowering, and sometimes extreme physical reactions. Furthermore, as a parent, what do you tell a child when they hear on the news that a baby was burned to death in an oven? How do you address a young child’s constant harrowing questions?

Children are traumatized by what they experienced, by what they see and hear on the news (some families have removed TV’s completely or at least out of the living room), and by the constant “readiness” to run to bomb shelters when sirens go off. Adults suffer immense stress and fatigue trying to protect and shepherd their children through horrific nightmares and recurring memories. Sheli and her small team at The Joshua Fund triage the most severe and spend 10 weeks with 4-5 families/day, helping adults process through the trauma, and mentoring them how to answer children’s questions and deal with PTSD-like behaviors of their kids.

The stories tug at heartstrings and are all too real. For Israelis, coming up on the 1-year anniversary of that attack and knowing the war is far from over, just finding the strength to get through another day is challenging at times. Please pray for those families. As followers of Yeshua, they are clinging to God’s promises in 2 Corinthians 4:8-10. Use that passage as a prayer guide.

There are many fascinating people from all over the country at this briefing, and one couple just returned from Israel, having gone on their own to simply engage and serve the people of Israel. As I consider doing so myself, I sought them out to hear of their experience. As noted recently, though our February 2025 tour almost assuredly won’t materialize, I plan to go with or without a group. It will not be a tour, but a solidarity trip to serve. If you or anyone you know is interested, contact me at Looking4theBlessedHope@gmail.com.

Hearts were stirred during the morning sessions, so an afternoon walk on the beach provided fantastic prayer time, as well as time to consider all we heard. Like waves washing ashore moment-after-moment every single day, so is God’s faithfulness to Israel. We can rest assured of that!

Dinner provided another opportunity to sit with and meet new and interesting people. One was an elderly Jewish man who had served in the Regan administration, then guided the Ronald McDonald Foundation in the development of Ronald McDonald Houses, then finished an illustrious career as VP of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. In the midst of it all, he met Messiah, and that is really all he wanted to talk about! It isn’t every day you meet someone with that kind of resume, so we wanted to hear more of his fascinating story. “Aw,” he said, “You’ll have to look it up online.” Well, here is his story!

Joel Rosenberg closed out the day in a session focused on what God is doing in the Arab/Muslim world, then took Q&A. He mentioned 4 points regarding what is happening:

• Arab Christians are looking for a way out. In many places they do not agree with their oppressive governments, so are leaving for other countries.
• Some are staying in place, enduring hardship and growing the church in difficult places.
• God is moving mightily in the Muslim world and they are coming to Christ in unbelievable numbers. We will never hear it on the news, but revival is happening in pockets throughout the Middle East.
• The Joshua Fund team is inviting us all to join them in prayer for a spiritual awakening among the Palestinians. They are a difficult group due to brain washing from birth, yet there is a remnant of believers in Gaza.

Of course, the weekend has not been without mention of Israel’s current victories against Hezbollah, but we must remember the battle is one of good vs evil, so will continue until Jesus returns to set up His millennial kingdom. There is much to be thankful for in the Epicenter as God is doing amazing things, but our work on earth is not done!

We close out the briefing on Sunday and I’ll try to wrap it up for you soon. Just know that ministries in Israel such as The Joshua Fund are doing amazing work. I hope you will pray for TJF and, if so led, consider that a place to invest financially in the Kingdom work taking place there. The impact they have is far-reaching and very impactful.

See you tomorrow!