Ministry update - January 2012
Tel-Aviv Outreach: Aviv Center
The work in Aviv center continues. At this time we are open four days each week. One of these days is only for women. Volunteers from the ministry called “Abundant Life” provide professional manicure and pedicure for those women who come. Drug addicts and prostitutes come eagerly. The half hour while they are receiving the treatment gives the volunteers an opportunity to minister to them and share the Gospel. By contrast, when we try to contact these women in the street, it is usually very hard to have a good conversation; they are always in a hurry and are not able to have much of a conversation. One day we had two transsexuals come; they are usually quite hard to reach (we see transsexuals in Te-Aviv from time to time, but they had never agreed to talk to us before). Recently we have noticed there are fewer addicts in Tel-Aviv streets. One reason is that the police are trying to introduce proper order in the area. On the one hand, it is a good plan, but in reality the addicts are still there. When they hide from the police, it becomes harder for us to find them. They keep attending our Bible studies in Aviv center and are seeking God, but evangelism on the streets has become more difficult. Please pray that God will give us wisdom to understand how we can reach out to these people in the most effective way.
Maxim’s center
Recently, two more former addicts from Maxim’s center have been baptized. We have known these young men since me met them on the streets of Tel-Aviv. One of them had been a Muslim, and the other one was a cruel criminal. Today, he is the most good-natured person you can imagine! Praise God! Sadly, sometimes former addicts fall and return to drugs. We ask you to pray for a young couple, Max and Julia. They had been clean for four years and even helped us actively in our ministry, but when they moved to another town, they eventually returned to drugs. Now Maxim has taken them back to his center. The couple has a two-year-old child.
Anatoly and Marina
Anatoly and Marina
Please pray for the young couple we met a year-and-a-half ago, Anatoly and Marina. We were in touch then, but after some time, they moved to another town and did not want to continue our relationship. Recently, however, their two boys have been taken away from them by social services because of the mother’s problem with alcohol. She is also a recovering drug addict. The couple asked me to start visiting them again on a regular basis and support them spiritually. They are even ready to host a Bible study at their home.
Rivka
Rivka
We told you in the past about Rivka and Eli, a native Israeli couple who are also of former addicts. Rivka is suffering from the last stages of cancer. Recently, she has told us about her life. Her mother was an alcoholic and at the age of seven, Rivka was put in a foster home. The foster family abused her sexually and emotionally for the next seven years. One of the reasons she turned to drugs was to forget these terrible years. Then, she married her husband who was also an addict. He spent 20 years of their life together in prison. Then Rivka got sick with hepatitis and cancer. Today, praise the Lord, Rivka is a true believer. She loves Jesus and has no bitterness toward Him for anything that has happened to her in her life. Please pray for Rivka’s health – that God would ease her suffering and support her by His loving grace.
Thank you for your prayers and may God bless you richly,
Dov and Olga
