Dear Partner in Missions,

Warmest Christian Greetings!

I have just celebrated my big day of 3 score and 10 years. Reflecting on my 32 years of ministry and my 26 years in Asian Outreach, I praise God for the many special and unforgettable memories, showing me the faithfulness of God. I am touched with a deep knowledge of God’s presence living in me and speaking to me through these memories. It’s been a wonderful journey of discovering God’s unconditional love and finding joy in sharing that treasure with those I am blessed to meet. All of these memories have impacted me and have helped so much in my personal growth. You have the power from God in Christ, to make each day a time for growth. I can recall each memory so vividly

I remember some years ago I went to visit the Dalit Slum in Sri Lanka. The smell of the slum as I entered was so repugnant that I felt like puking. Our co-worker in Sri Lanka was obviously more used to the smell having been there many times. I prayed that my face would not reveal how I felt. As we walked along, our co-worker, stopped outside a small hut. From where I stood I could see it was just one small room with a dirt floor and inside sat a woman and her children. She was shocked when I went inside but was happy to see my co-worker. Being a Dalit, an untouchable, she felt she was not good enough for foreign visitors. After talking to her, our co-worker told me she would be preparing tea for us. As I entered the slum area I noticed the river flowing by was full of garbage floating in it and this was also their only source of water. I wondered where she would get the water for our tea.

She held the cup of tea to me, her eyes filled with fear and rejection thinking to herself would I accept the tea or refuse to drink it. I looked at her, thinking that if I drank the tea it would probably cause me diarrhea but if I refused, the lady would be faced with rejection. My heart was filled with God’s compassion and I knew that I had to reach out to this woman and show her the tangible love of God. The minute I stretched out my hand to take cup, I could see the joy that came over her. I prayed hard before drinking it. The memory of that joy on her face will always remain with me. It was how I reacted that made such a difference to that lady. Looking toward the window I saw many faces peering in, watching and listening intently and I began to share my own personal testimony of how much God loves me. At the altar call and every hand there was raised. We now have a church there.  Praise God!

The miracles and testimonies I have heard from my co-workers and Foot Soldiers have also shown me the awesomeness of God and has impacted and encouraged me greatly.  It has been my privilege and honor to work with these passionate and spirit filled men and women.  Persecution for preaching the Gospel is a daily affair but their love for the Lord is greater than their fear of persecution. What amazing faith!

In Bhutan our Foot Soldier, Pastor Lazarus, was returning home in the evening on a lonely country road near his village when he saw four men by the roadside and knowing they were from his village he stopped to talk to them. These men however, brutally attacked him, beating him up viciously, robbing him and then leaving him for dead by the roadside. When a police car found him a few hours later he had no pulse and he had stopped breathing. Two hours later at the hospital God healed him and brought him back to life.  The police wanted him to press charges and identify his attackers but Ps Lazarus chose not to. He instead chose

To forgive them. Ps Lazarus demonstrated the power of forgiveness in Christ. Did this deter him in any way? No it did not and after a month he was back travelling around the villages sharing the Gospel.

In Vietnam, our Leper Ministry co-worker Hien had been working tirelessly in the Phu Ly Leper Centre but the authorities were not encouraging and even hostile. But she persisted and eventually saw her prayers answered when the authorities began to relax and allow her to visit and fellowship with the patients. Last December to her amazement, the director of the centre personally invited Hien and her team to do a Christmas presentation which he himself attended and enjoyed. That day 28 of the patients ‘children at the center, accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  Praise God that Hien would not give up no matter how tough the going got. 28 souls were saved that day because of her great love for God and to trust Him to open the door.

The Glory place Prayer Tower in Siliguri India overflows with miracles, signs and wonders.  Every report I receive from our coordinator there is filled with the goodness of God and His love for His people. In February of this year Ps Jiwan was excited to share about the miraculous healing of a 15 year old Hindu girl. She had a lump in her breast which was swollen and painful. Doctors told her parents she needed surgery which was costly. Pastor Jiwan was asked to visit them and pray for the teenager. He shared about the good news of Doctor Jesus Christ and asked them to trust God to heal her. In the early hours of the morning the next day, the lump ruptured and a lot of pus and blood flowed out. A few days later the swelling was gone and the girl was fully recovered. There was no more lump on her breast. Her parents on seeing the power of God over their daughter’s life immediately accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. The young girl herself accepted Jesus also.

God is moving over Asia, reaching, touching and changing lives and I am humbled that I am called to be a part of what God is doing here. I can go on and on, telling you story after story for it never tires me to tell of the goodness and faithfulness of our Lord. I am very encouraged when I think back of these incidences and more passionate to press on to see more people ushered into His Kingdom.

Christians are being persecuted everywhere and even here in our own country Christians are facing great challenges ahead. We never need to fear for God has promised us in Act 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses…” Therefore we stand on the promises of God for He never fails us.

I am truly grateful for your continued support which has encouraged me and enable me to fulfil God’s plan for this ministry. My co-workers and I would not have been able to do it without your support and I thank you for sowing into the lives of others. May God bless you and your families.

Luke 6:38

Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

Reaching Asia’s Unreached

By Pastor Stanley Gerard

Associate Trainer

Planting in Faith

THE pioneers of Asian Outreach, like any other Christian organization, individual or church, worked hard without seeing the fruits of their labour of love. Yet they planted seeds by faith, and in so doing, they began the work of salvation in the lives of many. It was this conviction that gave them satisfaction --- that they had done their work and did it well as another generation reaps the harvest.

For the past 10 years, I have been involved in church planting in many countries, including several restricted-access nations. I thank God for those brave workers and church planters in my team who are working in the field with me to obey the Great Commission--- to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.”(Matthew 28:19).

Blessed are the Persecuted

You cannot imagine the persecution they face in these restricted-access nations. Danger lurks in every corner. You never can tell if your neighbour who smiles at you when he sees you today is going to turn on you tomorrow. Their wives and children are also not safe, having always to be careful of what they say and who they talk to.

Counting the cost and Following Him

Why do they still want to do it? Why risk everything?

It is because each one of these church planters had a personal encounter with the living God and their lives have never been the same since. (Psalm 103: 4 “…who redeems my life from the pit and crowns me with love and compassion.”) They have known His love and saving grace, and they trust Him no matter what happens. He is Abba, their Father.

Let me share with you a pioneering work in a fishing community in Bangladesh, a restricted-access nation.

Church Planting in Action

Today, there are 22 believers here. When we visited them in October last year, they were happy to see us and continue to be receptive to God’s Word. Most of them were poor and struggling to make ends meet and like anywhere else in this country, jobs were not easy to come by. They cannot depend on the government to make their lives better and survival is a struggle yet they are eager to hear the Word of God. Truly, blessed are the poor.

Pastor Samuel and Pastor Bullet, two local pastors have a vision for the entire community to be saved. Up to date they have planted 2 churches and 18 cell groups. We pray that once the seed is planted, God would open more hearts to receive Christ as their personal Saviour.

Today, Asian Outreach has trained thousands of workers or foot-soldiers. Many churches have been planted, especially in restricted-access nations. Today, church planters have reached the very borders of Afghanistan and Iran.

Donations needed

However, the work of the church planters have been hindered because of the lack of finance, among other problems. Due to this lack, we have had to slow down the implementation of our church planting plans.

My prayer is that churches and individuals can come together and do what it takes to accomplish the Great Commission of Jesus Christ to make disciples of all nations.

Allow me to end with this quote “You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving”. May this truly reverberate in the Body of Christ, and in the soul of every brother and sister to give out of the love in their hearts to enable the Great Commission of God to spread to the ends of the Earth.

Zec 10:12 “I will strengthen them in the Lord and in His name they will walk.”

Prayer points

1. We pray for safety and protection of all the pastors, leaders and believers (especially the converts) 

    from radical extremist. 

  

2. We ask the Lord to strengthen the leaders and pastors to be fearless in their zeal for the gospel.

3. We lift up the government of Bangladesh to have wisdom and fairness not to give in to the

     extremist demands. 

TOWARDS THE NEXT LEVEL - IN MISSIONS.         

Rev Lawrence Yap.

Senior Pastor.

Charis Christian Centre.

AOM board member.                                                       

Allow me to say this, from the heart of a pastor to the heart of another – that if our church is not involved in any missions at all – then we are missing the heartbeat of God!

I used to think that a church has to come to a certain size, then only will we be financially capable to be involved in “missions”.  This is a myth and all of us can be involved one way or another if we learn to ‘think outside the box.’

Let me just share some insight.

The last 5 to 10 years have been a time of rapid changes and this has brought about many opportunities for the gospel work.

·        Political and economic maps were redrawn thus enabling new opportunities for Kingdom works. Just consider Libya and Myanmar as examples of how windows of opportunities are opening.

·        Technological advances like smart phones; social networks etc., literally connecting people and the world in an instance. This is part of “Globalization” but this also means ‘opportunities’.

·        The ‘center of gravity’ of the gospel has shifted to the southern hemisphere.

-This means that much of the spiritual activities of the church is no longer focused on Europe or North America but instead has come to Asia and the Pacific realm where mega congregations; church planting and community transformation programs are taking place. We in Malaysia are part of this shift!

·        A “diaspora” (dispersion) of nationalities.

-Just in Malaysia alone, we are surrounded by people from Myanmar, Nepal, Iran, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Africa and other Middle Eastern nations. In a way, we do not ‘go to the nations.’ The ‘nations have come to us!’

What do these things mean to you? Which of the above factors capture your attention and that you see is a ‘possibility’ in your church setting?

Perhaps you can spend some time - praying and thinking through these factors of what you can do for God in terms of spreading the gospel. It need not be just going out ‘to preach’ per se.

We need to take missions to the next level. We need not be locked in to the old fashion way of sending missionaries abroad – though it should still be done. God can give us wisdom and creative ways, for example, of how a businessman sponsored thousands of gospel radios that were assembled in a factory and brought into the interiors. Another businessman allowed his restaurant to be utilized as a worship place at 12 midnight for his foreign workers. Yet, there are many who have become ‘cyber world evangelists’.

The challenges of the gospel work are as real but God is sovereign. New doors and new frontiers have been opened up for us. We must seize the moment. As our members get involved, they grow spiritually too.

Remember that in missions, not everyone may GO, but we can certainly GIVE and PRAY and to DO what we can for God - right at our doorsteps!

Yours Together for His Kingdom.

Trekking with God in the jungles of Sarawak

By Pastor Benny Ng

AOM Coordinator for Sarawak   

“I WILL wear adult diapers if I have to on my mission trip!”

This is what I told my wife when she was worried about my health and thought maybe I should take a break from ministry to get better first. I had been suffering from diarrhoea for three days and nights after ministering two villages in Sarawak. I still had one more village to visit.

Ministry in Long Sukang

I sensed the Lord’s leading and trusted that He would heal me as I wanted to honour my commitment to the church in Long Sukang. Sure enough, the Lord healed me as I got into the twin otter plane the next morning to travel from Miri to Lawas.

Here, nine churches from nearby villages came together for the revival meetings. We were treated like VIPs with welcoming dances and songs, and feted with sumptuous traditional delicacies. And the icing on the cake was the invitation by the leaders to return soon for more meetings and training.

Ministry in Long Jawe

Earlier, my team from the Hong Kong Sha Alliance church and I journeyed deep into the jungles of Sarawak, traversing’s the State’s tough, bumpy trails and long winding rivers to reach the Orang Asli there, namely the Ibans and Melanau living in the villages of Long Jawe and Long Busang.

It took seven hours to get to Long Jawe. Along the way, we saw numerous villages - covering an area double the size of Singapore - that were submerged in flood waters. The villagers were known as Orang Ulu (interior people) and comprised the Kenyah, Kayan and Penan tribes). The flood was caused by the building of the Bakun dam, which resulted in much of the cultural artefacts of the various tribes being destroyed.

The church of Long Jawe, which was once vibrant and now cold, floats 30 feet above sea level --- a rare sight indeed. The area is now home to only a handful of Kenyahs who live in floating houses. Back in its Heyday when the foreign missionaries were here this was a thriving church and we pray for revival fever to return to this church.

Ministry in Long Busang

We took a two-hour boat ride to Long Busang where some 30 % of the Kenyah people are non-Christians. To our surprise, the village head and other non-Christian leaders welcomed us with open arms .We were invited to their homes for visitations and still more amazing, every home requested us to pray before meals.

Before we started our ministry in the church, the pastor used the church’s PA system to invite the whole village to come for the meeting.

During altar call after my sharing, an old lady came up to me to thank me for relieving her from the burden of bitterness towards God for many years because her son committed suicide. She left with newfound joy in her heart when God healed her of her grief when she finally chose to let go of her anger.

God’s Protection

As I travel the length and breadth of Sarawak’s interior, the journeys are always challenging as I never know what to expect when I go into the jungle to minister to the local tribes. Because I am to be obedient to His calling, I know God will protect and keep my family safe, and that He will be in the jungle with me, guarding me too.

Fruit of our Labour

To see these people come to the Lord is my reward. For truly there is no better reward than seeing the people you have touched are also going to Heaven with you.

Gal 6:9-10 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers

Prayer Points

1. We ask the Lord to protect Benny and the teams he travels with and grant them journey mercies.

2. We pray for the gospel to reach every tribe and the salvation of every tribe in Sarawak.

3. We pray for the plight of the unreached peoples group in Sarawak who have been robbed of their 

    natural habitat and exploited and are in danger due to men’s greed for wealth.

ORISSA  

 by Ps Paul Silvanus

Apostolic Faith Mission, Chennai                   (AOM partner in Chennai)

                                                    

The state of Orissa situated on the coast along the Bay of Bengal is the 9th largest state by area in India, and the 11th largest by population. Orissa is surrounded by Andhra Pradesh on the South-East, Madhya Pradesh on the West, Bihar in North, West Bengal in North-East and Bay of Bengal in the East. The Climate of Orissa is usually humid or hot & moist and its people are overwhelmed by epidemics, malnutrition and illiteracy.

Orissa known as the melting pot of religions has many diverse faiths like Brahmanism, Jainism, Shivaism, Vaishnavism, Islam and Christianity. Religious communal disharmony arose even before Indian independence in 1947 due to religious conversion. Christian missions have been active in Orissa among the tribal and backward Hindu castes from the early years of the twentieth century. Hindus have alleged that the increase in the number of Christians in Orissa has been a result of exploitation of illiteracy and impoverishment by the missionaries.

Orissa is well known for its religious persecution especially among the Dalits or untouchables, considered lower caste people and just like in other parts of India, they are subject to social and economic discrimination. Conversion from untouchability has encouraged millions of such people to escape from their circumstances through joining other religions. The Tribal Pana Dalits have converted to Christianity in large numbers and prospered financially. Over the past several decades, most of the Panas have become Dalit Christians. In recent years the authorities have passed the Anti-Conversion Law.

 The first wave or violence started in December 2007 and this aggression was followed by even more widespread violence in August 2008. Both these assaults were organized by anti-Christian Hindu extremist and in both cases not much intervention by the local authorities was done to stop the killings. In the 2008 attacks more than 500 Christians were killed and many of their homes and churches destroyed. Most of the victims of these attacks were Dalits. Many saw this as an ethnic cleansing of Christianity.

In September 2008, Graham Stewart Stains, an Australian born missionary and his two sons were sleeping in their Station Wagon when extremist doused their car with petrol and set it on fire. Stains and his sons tried to get out of the burning vehicle but were prevented from doing so by the angry mob who stood there and watched them burn to death. Some villagers nearby tried to rescue them but were set upon by the attackers. A few days later his wife Gladys offered a clear and public statement forgiving the killers. She said “I have no hatred against the killers but have forgiven them, forgiven them like Jesus did. The path of the cross is painful, and it can only be walked with love. In forgiveness there is no bitterness and when there is no bitterness, there is hope. The consolation comes from Jesus Christ.” She even appealed for clemency for the killers and got their death sentence commuted to life imprisonment. The power of forgiveness OF God in this woman is amazing. Unfortunately there were reports of many Christians who were burn to death including children. Now entry of foreign missionaries is banned.

Pastor Paul Silvanus who has a vision for church planting started the Apostolic Faith Mission where he trains and sends back local pastors to their native villages. His ministry works mostly among the Dalits and he partners with Asian Outreach Malaysia to support these Foot Soldiers.

One such pastor is Nandalal Deep in the district of Khandamal, a place often hit by violence from Hindu fanatics. The Christian community here live in constant fear of persecution and jobs are also denied to them.  Pastor Nandalal, a tribal Pana himself, had to have tight security when the first group of believers in his church were baptized.  A group of believers stood around guarding and watching for any signs of trouble while Pastor Nandalal was conducting the water baptism in the river nearby.  Danger lurks for the Christian at every corner.

Pastor Phillip Kumar, another Pastor from the Apostolic Faith Mission, who ministers in Konsdol village, organized a baptism for 30 people who gave their hearts to Jesus but the Hindu people challenged these people’s conversion (he was not aware of the anti-conversion law) and took them to the authorities. After the threats and humiliation, many backed out and only 8 were finally baptized. Now all baptisms must have prior permission from the authorities.

Unfortunately Pastor Phillip lost his wife and unborn child due to lack of medical services available. Due to this shock he himself fell ill and went into a coma. He was transferred to Chennai where doctors gave up hope for any recovery. One morning Pastor Silvanus received a call from Philip Kumar himself excitedly telling him how the Lord miraculously healed him and woke him up from his coma. Phillip is back in the field again with a new zeal and fervour. The Lord has also blessed him with another helpmate and he is remarried.

In spite of persecution and the risk to their own lives these pastors continue to minister, bringing God’s love and hope to those who have suffered so much and are committed to praying and forgiving those who persecute them and have committed such depraved acts on the Christians. They and their families are in constant danger and they always have to be careful and watchful. They pray that these people will find true peace and forgiveness in the One they oppose so violently. Many of the Christians see this as an opportunity to share in Christ’s sufferings and they know that the Lord is still in control.

Touching the Untouchables of India

By Pastor Paul Silvanus

Dalit Ministry in Chennai

(A partner ministry of AOM)

Who are the Dalits?

IMAGINE not being allowed to go to school or college until you get a decent education. Imagine being sick but not being allowed to get treatment from a hospital or clinic. Imagine not being allowed to live where you want or work in a job you like. Imagine (especially if you are a woman or child) being trafficked into prostitution, bonded labour and begging in the streets. Imagine having no rights so that anyone can abuse you, attack you, humiliate you --- and nobody would care.

And most astonishingly of all, imagine Indian churches shunning you as well, treating you like pariah. Unless, of course, if the church is a Dalit one.

For the Dalits of India, this dehumanization is a reality and not make believe. They are the considered the scum of Indian society, a result of the caste system and being at the bottom of the social ladder, the Dalits (also known as the Untouchables) faces such discrimination and degradation every day. The term “Dalit” means “those who have been broken down by those above them” Dalits are the major victims of trafficking in India. Culturally subjugated and politically marginalized, millions of Dalits are exploited and treated inhumanely.

There are 167 million Dalits in India, constituting over 16 percent of the total population.

Every hour, two Dalits are assaulted. Every day, three Dalit women are raped, and two killed. Dalits are street sweepers, cobblers, agricultural workers, grave diggers and those who dispose of human waste.

Some three-quarters of the Dalit workforce are in the agricultural sector. And are bonded labourers.  These jobs rarely provide enough income and many Dalits are impoverished, uneducated and illiterate.

Ministry to the Dalits

Our ministry was started in 1997 to train Dalits to become pastors and church planters. To date, we have trained 107 pastors who went on to plant 100 churches in 10 States in India.

Day Care Centre’s for Dalit Children

The Lord moved us to minister to the Dalits via day care centers. We felt education is a key tool to help these oppressed people, just as the early missionaries did as well. So we have started two day care centers by faith, one in a village and another in a city slum. There are 75 children at the village day care center and 45 at the center in the city slum.

Children between the ages of 4 and 16 come to the centers after school. Specialized coaching is given by trained teachers (Each center has four trained teachers and a cook).They are encouraged to continue their studies as many are forced to leave school to become child

labourers.

We feed the children one meal a day. We hope that with sufficient funds, we will be able to give them two meals daily and two sets of uniforms. Every day a scripture from proverbs is taught, with the children having to memorize the Word of God.

There are monthly parents’ meetings to monitor the children’s progress and to encourage the parents to send the children to the center regularly.

Local church pastors and their wives work as social workers. The pastors visit slums and villages to seek out Dalit children.

Reaching the Dalit Community

Our goal is not to preach Christ directly through the day care centers. We do not invite any Dalits to come to our church via the centers. Christian workers have been accused of converting the Dalits by providing them money and goods. We do not want to give room for such suspicions. We only teach scriptures from proverbs to the children as life lessons. Parents sometimes observe what we do. And praise God that even without invitation, parents have started coming to church and accepting Christ by seeing the character changes in their children’s lives. The local churches are full of testimonies from parents.

Upcoming projects

Our two day care centers have been running successfully .So we are planning to start another one in a place called Theni, which borders Kerala state, where we managed to find some 100 girls who were not attending school.

Since we have established 100 churches in 10 states, it is our desire to see a day care center for each of these churches.

Needs

• RM80 per month to feed one Dalit child.

• Three motorbikes (one each for our three centers) for pastors/social workers to reach the Dalits. (RM3000/bike).

• Three 15-seat Tata vans to shuttle the children from the villages and slums to the centers (RM33,000 per van).

Luke 4: 18-19 (“The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind; to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”)

Chuck D. Pierce with Martin and Norma Sarvis:

Passover Begins Tonight! An Understanding of Passover from Martin & Norma Sarvis

Monday, April 14, 2014

Dear Friends:

Tonight at sundown, Passover begins. As you can read below, this is actually an 8-day Feast.

Here is an understanding of Passover from Martin & Norma Sarvis:

Passover Begins and the Feast of Unleavened Bread!
from Martin and Norma Sarvis

"Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed, Messiah, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." 1 Corinthians 5:7-8

Monday at sundown, Jews around the world will be gathered round tables in obedience to the command in Exodus 12:14, "So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance." They will have cleaned leaven from their homes (Ex. 12:19) and will begin a week of eating only unleavened bread (Hebrew: matzot).

The word Pesach (Passover) comes from the Hebrew verb lifso'ach which means "to skip". Literally, when the scourge passed through Egypt, those with the blood of the lamb on their doorposts were "skipped" the judgment which came upon the rest of Egypt. The meal is celebrated at a seder table. Seder means "order". In modern Hebrew b'seder-'o.k.' is literally pronouncing things to be "in order". So, at the seder table is presented an "ordered" account, both through reading and having a meal, of what God did on that first occasion.

During the course of the meal, most families are guided by a book called a Haggadah. This word actually means "the telling" and is taken fromExodus 13:8, "And you shall tell your son on that day, saying, 'It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.'"

Although the book contains remarks and theories by revered rabbis here and there, it is primarily a straightforward account of God's deliverance of His people Israel from bondage in Egypt, interspersed with wonderful psalms, and other Biblical passages – many of which reference God's yeshu'AH-"salvation" and coming Messiah.

At the heart of this "telling", as it has come down to our day, is an addition called Afikomen. It comes from a Greek word, meaning literally "that which comes after" or even, "the one who came". At the beginning of the seder three pieces of matza are placed into a three-fold pocket, but the piece going into the middle compartment is first broken. Part of this broken piece of unleavened bread is placed in the middle pocket; the other piece, the Afikomen, is wrapped up and hidden away.

After the meal, the children will seek the Afikomen, and the one who finds it will be given a redemption-price reward. Then all the participants at the table eat a portion of the Afikomen for dessert. Modern-day matza (or matzo) is unleavened, pierced and striped from the heat in baking. According to the Mishna, the Afikomen is a substitute for the "Korban Pesach" – the Passover Sacrifice, which was the last thing eaten at seders during the First and Second Temple periods.

Yet there is a veil over the hearts of most of our people, and there is much deep truth inserted by the Holy Spirit in the traditions which they still do not see. A piece of unleavened bread, bruised and pierced is broken off, wrapped and hidden away (yet is still present with the tri-partite "oneness" in the pocket). When it is found by those who seek as little children, it brings great joy.

Passover Week is also called in the Bible the "Feast of Unleavened Bread". It lasts for seven days, beginning with the seder on the evening of the 14th day of Aviv/Nisan (the First Month). The first and last days of the week are to be observed as Sabbaths (Leviticus 23:7-8). The days between these two "Sabbaths" are called chol ha'mo'ed, which means the "common" or "every-day normal" period of time between two set-apart (i.e. "holy") days. During this week Israel is commanded to eat matzot – "un-leavened" bread, nor is any leavening agent to be found in her dwellings for the seven days.

During This Holy Week Please Pray:

• For the Light of Life to shine into our dwellings and hearts, exposing any "leaven" which needs to be cleansed.

• For Light to shine over seder tables in Israel and around the world, to reveal the Truth of the "Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world" – who was separated from the Father while remaining one with Him, born in Bethlehem (lit: "bread-house"), bruised and pierced, cut off from mankind and hidden in the earth; the Lamb of God who atones for and takes away the sin of humankind; and who may be found by all who become like little children and seek, and whose finding brings Life, and Nourishment and Joy!

• For God's protection over Israel during this week when children are out of school and many families are out and about Israel enjoying the holidays.