Join the ICEJ’s efforts to help Israelis amid the Iran war

By: ICEJ Vice President & Senior Spokesman David Parsons

We are now four days into the US-Israeli military campaign to bring down the fanatical Iranian regime. Here in Jerusalem, we have repeatedly hunkered in our bomb shelters as dozens of Iranian missile barrages sailed overhead on their way to Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities. Each time, the explosions from rocket interceptions above us got louder and the ground impacts came closer.

In fact, on Sunday we saw the tragic missile strike which leveled a synagogue and public bomb shelter in Beit Shemesh, only 12 miles from Jerusalem. Nine people have died from the blast so far. Entire families were wiped out. One woman lost her husband the day before they were supposed to celebrate their 13-year-old son’s bar mitzvah. Instead, the boy had to bury his father yesterday.

Within hours of the Beit Shemesh disaster, Iran started deliberately targeting Jerusalem for the first time, using their best guided missiles. One unexploded warhead fell in the Hinnom Valley outside Jaffa Gate, just 500 meters from the Temple Mount. Another rocket blew a large crater in a main highway in Jerusalem. Iran even brazenly announced it had targeted Israeli government offices in “East Jerusalem.”

Like the Iranian attacks on numerous Arab countries, the missile barrages on Jerusalem are signs of a desperate regime in the last throes of their power. With the confirmed death of Ayatollah Ali Khameini and dozens of other senior Iranian leaders on day one, the Islamic Republic knows it is about to meet its end. Masses of Iranian people are longing for that moment, but we do not know yet exactly when it will come.

Since the war began on Saturday morning, many Christians have joined us in praying for a swift and decisive victory over the Iranian regime before the end of Purim on Wednesday. This festive biblical holiday marks a famous triumph of the Jewish people over their enemies within the ancient Persian empire. Thus, a resounding victory this week by the Jewish nation over its implacable enemies in Tehran would be so appropriate.

Still, Israeli authorities have told the public to expect the fighting to continue until at least March 12, while US President Donald Trump just said it could take three to four more weeks to finish the mission. We simply do not know how long this war will last and whether it might spread further throughout the region.

But what we do know is that right now Israel needs our help. This is a pivotal moment for the Jewish people gathered back in their ancestral homeland. A clear victory could radically change the dynamic in the region, expanding the prospects of Israel’s wider acceptance by its Arab neighbors. But they need to know that Christians are at their side, to give them the courage and stamina to endure the Iranian missiles now raining down on Israeli cities.

The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem is uniquely positioned to give you a direct way to help hurting and needy Israelis at this time. We are asking you to join our efforts to support Israel in three practical areas.

1)  URGENT AID
Help us meet the urgent needs of Israelis severely impacted by this war. By giving to our Israel in Crisis fund, you will aid us in:

• Assisting Israeli families displaced from their homes by missile strikes.
• Providing games, toys and group youth activities for children in bomb shelters.
• Caring for Holocaust survivors at our elderly home in Haifa.
• Sponsoring trauma therapy for those suffering shock.
• Supplying medical and safety equipment for first responders.
• Donating more bomb shelters in public locations without protection.
• Giving financial assistance to bereaved families and injured victims.
• Emergency aid grants to those who suffered loss of jobs and property.
• Delivering food packages and essentials to the elderly and new immigrants.

Donate today at: help.icej.org/crisis

2)  PRAYER
Please pray for Israel and the other nations fighting to bring down the evil Iranian regime. Here are some urgent prayer points to follow:

• Pray for Israel’s swift, decisive victory over Iran and its regional terror network.
• Pray world leaders will not force a truce that leaves the Islamist regime in power.
• Pray everyone understands the Iranian people welcome this effort to free them.
• Pray for the Iranian people to successfully oust the clerical regime in Tehran.
• Pray for a stable transitional government to be set up quickly to rule a free Iran.
• Pray for protection for Israelis and other peoples under fire from Iran.
• Pray for the American and Israeli troops waging this just war against Iran’s rulers.
• Pray for mass defections from the Iranian regime’s loyalists and the army.

And make sure to join us for the ICEJ’s daily Global Prayer Gathering, every day at 4:30 PM Israel time at: https://on.icej.org/ICEJGlobalPrayer .

3) SOLIDARITY
Stand in solidarity with Israel in your nation, church and community.

• Make sure your pastor and church raise their voice for Israel at this critical time.
• Contact your government and local community leaders to support Israel.
• Speak out for Israel in your local media and on the internet.
• Hold pro-Israel rallies, including with those who also want Iran to be free.
• Contact the ICEJ branch office in your nation to ask how you can help.

The hour to act is now! As Mordechai told his niece Esther in the story of Purim:

“For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place … Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14)

Cover Photo Credit: Israeli air defenses intercept Iranian missiles over Jerusalem (AP photo-Mahmoud Illean)

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