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October 6, 2024, Resilience & Remembrance, A Vigil for Peace & Perseverance

One Free World International, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, Israeli Consulate, Leaders & Israel’s Allies

 

It is an honour being with you this evening with our Consul General Idit Shamir, our host Majed El Shafie, himself an example of resilience, and community leaders who stand with Israel and our Jewish community, most especially this last year. We remember the devastating loss of life, those remaining captive and recently we champion Israel’s resilience to systematically target evil.

 

As Yom Kippur is approaching, I wish to start by repenting on behalf of Christians in Canada for how we failed to support you, remaining quiet, buying the lie of replacement theology and leaving you vulnerable.

 

We pray you can forgive our ignorance and find some comfort in knowing there are millions of Bible believing Christians who do love you and support you. I can speak on behalf of The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem which was founded 44 years ago in 1980, itself was born as a result of Antisemitism…a boycott you might say, when the Knesset proclaimed Jerusalem the undivided eternal capital of the Jewish people. Under threat of an Arab oil embargo, 13 Embassies in Jerusalem moved to Tel Aviv…ours included.  A Canadian couple Merv and Merla Watson decided that was the time for Christians to take a stand by establishing a Christian Embassy in Israel’s capital Jerusalem. ICEJ started with approximately 20 nations and today we have representation in over 97 nations representing millions of Christians. Our Biblical mandate is Isaiah 40:1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people.

 

How is this important to our Jewish communities when we are witnessing the most barbaric attack on Israel and Jewish communities worldwide. GK Chesterton English author & Christian apologist (1874–1936) said that, “The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” How can we bring comfort to you at this horrific time? Our hearts weep for you and we try harder.

 

Our approach is three-fold: Prayer, Relief Aid and Solidarity


Our weekly global prayer after Oct 7th became daily for two hours with approximately 1000 intercessors. We pray with knowledge of daily reports in Israel and for the hostages.

 

For 8 years we have produced for TV Inside Israel with ICEJ Canada on Daystar Canada 4 times @ week provides our Canadian viewers a smorgasbord of Israel, the Land, the people in a way not seen anywhere else and certainly not the legacy media. The beauty, the accomplishments, the ambiance of the Med, food, markets, hospitality, music, the Biblical teachings, historical sites, kibbutz life, technology, start-ups, humanitarian life saving devices and surgeries to Israel’s neighbours.

 

Our Aid projects are many and coordinated with our Israeli partners in the Land: Quickly here are some areas of support:


  • Aliyah

  • Absorption

  • MDA Ambulances

  • OLS Bomb shelters

  • Emergency kits for first line responders

  • Rebuilding home shelters/communities

  • Haifa Home for Holocaust Survivors caring for over 70 survivors

  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)- therapy where we provide programs especially for children at a horse farm including our horses Andy, Diana & Luca

  • Communication devices: We are told by Am-on Ziv security chief in the Ashkelon region that our fulfillment of much needed communication devices 2 yrs earlier saved potentially 3000 lives on Oct 7th

 

A key goal is connecting the church to Israel and Israel to the church and why they should support Israel. We organized multiple tours for heads of denominations this past year to the Gaza envelope/to witness the devastation but also gleaning crops, feeding IDF and those families displaced from N and S.

 

Standing with Israel globally at national and community Pro-Israel Rallies and here at home.

 

For our 44th annual Sukkot Feast of Tabernacles in Israel next week, we will gather at

Ha-Be-sor Park near the Gaza border for a Solidarity Ceremony that will end with Feast pilgrims placing 1200 red tulip bulbs and 250 yellow tulip bulbs in pots. These tulips will then be set out a few weeks later by our partners KKL/JNF at the entrance to Kibbutz Be’eri at the very heart of the October 7 attacks (where we were on Oct 5th two days before visiting & planting trees)–– These tulips will bloom this winter in a beautiful heart and ribbon pattern to honor the 1200 Israelis killed and 250 taken hostage last October 7. This promises to be a very touching visual testimony of Christian love and concern for Israel coming out of our Feast gathering.

 

Currently we have signed and are circulating a recent and most important document by Rev Dr. Andrew Bennett Canadian Ambassador of Religious Freedom, 2013-2016 entitled Canadian Christian Declaration on Antisemitism. The goal is to have 500 Christian leaders across Canada support and affirm the Declaration in support of our Jewish cousins, who are our fellow citizens in the great country of Canada. Oct 25th deadline.


The declaration makes 6 key points:


We are Christian leaders from across Canada. We come from many different churches and denominations with differing theologies, yet we stand united today to denounce the plague of antisemitism that has spread across our great country. Hatred of Jews is an unconscionable violation of the principles of justice, freedom, and human dignity, principles that all Canadians and our institutions must seek to uphold and defend.


We condemn unequivocally the fomenting of antisemitism in Canada. We will stand peacefully against all those in this country, regardless of motivation or ideology, who seek to demonize and dehumanize our Jewish fellow citizens. As Christians, we recognize that all are created in the image and likeness of God and that antisemitism is a gross violation of human dignity rooted in this truth about who we are as persons.


We recognize that there are intense feelings and different beliefs among Jews, Christians, and Muslims on the complicated issues in the Holy Land. However, there is absolutely no justification for the rising tide of antisemitic hatred that is spreading in our communities here in Canada.


We are compelled to act through our faith in Jesus Christ. We confess Jesus Christ to be the Messiah, the Son of God who was born of the Virgin Mary. He is a Jew and it is through His coming into the world and dying and rising from the dead for our salvation that we are bound to the Jewish people as the church of the Gentiles and so grafted on to the Tree of Israel forever. As Christians, we must still repent for past expressions of antisemitism in our churches. In that light and in support of this declaration, we affirm that the Jewish people remain God’s chosen people. The law and the covenants that God gave to the Jewish people, which we see as fulfilled in Christ, remain intact.


We will speak out and act peacefully for the fundamental freedoms of Canadian Jews. As Christian leaders, we will speak out and act peacefully against all who promote violence against Jews and Jewish places of worship, as well as Jewish homes, schools, community centres, places of business, or any identifiably Jewish institution. We will inspire our fellow Christians in our congregations to join with us in this endeavour. And so,


We declare to you, our Jewish cousins, that in these challenging times we are with you. We will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you in defence of human dignity, justice, and freedom--these cherished Canadian values—and we will turn back the tide of antisemitism in Canada together. As Christians, we will not simply speak but act peacefully in support of you, our Jewish friends, in the interest of all that is just and good. We will not abandon you. This petition can be found on our website icej.ca for signing and sharing. Again the deadline is Oct 25.


We at ICEJ are proud to partner with Majed & OFWI for the documentary Dying to Live. May it impact favourably all who watch it.


From the Bible just two of very many scriptures of Adonai’s assurance to you:


Job 17:9 Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to their ways, and those with clean hands will grow stronger.


Isaiah 41:10 ‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’


Thank you.


Presented by Donna Holbrook, National Director, ICEJ Canada



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