February 2008

Dear Pastor and Church,

Greetings in the name of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is our pleasure to report more wonderful and joyous news this month. Our ministry does not solely consist of sharing God’s Word with those in Jerusalem, but Brother Shakkour also holds a Bible study in the town of Sahknin. This city which is located in Northern Israel is Brother Shakkour’s hometown and family, friends, and others attend this study. Glory be to God, a man named Zachy Shakkour received Jesus Christ as his personal Savior through this outreach. This man is Brother Shakkour's cousin and he had been witnessing to him for over twenty years. Zachy now wants to have these studies exclusively in his home from now on, which is a significant aid providing a constant location to share God’s Word with the community there. Please pray for the people in Sahknin as God uses this man's testimony in their hearts. This is the third person who has received eternal life through the outreach of this ministry and this is the second letter in a row that we have been able to report a lost soul coming to Christ so I want to make clear that these professions of faith are not made by pressuring people or through repeat a prayer after me easy believism, but by a Spirit drawn Biblical understanding of the truth coupled with genuine heartfelt repentance and faith in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We look forward to many future blessings because we clearly see your prayers working in the present. Brother Shakkour and those in Jerusalem appreciate you and your prayers very much. Thank you for being concerned for the lost souls abiding in Israel.

Colossians 1:9-10-For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.

I am thrilled to say that Lord willing, I will write our next Newsletter in Israel. I’m eager to provide you with a first hand account of the Mission Work in Jerusalem and of the other outreach ministries in towns like Sahknin. For the last couple of months I have been here in Indiana making preparations for my move on the 28th of this month and getting things arranged for the Mission Work. I have been extremely busy taking care of everything, but it has also been a blessing to be with my family after being away from them on deputation for nearly all of last year. I underestimated the number of things that need to be done and the amount of time it takes to be ready to move to a foreign field, but as usual, the Lord has blessed and I’m certain that everything will get accomplished. That being said, I’m happy that we are making the move in two trips which affords us a little more preparation time. Speaking of reasons why we are making two trips, we were told to expect a baby boy around the first of May. There is still much to do and now as much as ever we need your prayers. Please keep us in your hearts and on your minds as we begin the Visa process and start searching for an apartment in Jerusalem. I could mention many other specific prayer requests, but I’m certain that step by step, day by day, the Lord will place everything in order. Just like in all aspects of life, everything will work out as long as I allow the Lord to lead, guide, and direct. If you would like to specifically pray for us, please pray as Paul did for the Church of Colosse, that we will be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual understanding, which will provide us with the wisdom to work a fruitful Mission Work that is pleasing to our Lord. Thank you.

In Jesus Christ my Savior,

Jerry Holliday Jr.
New Hope Baptist Church

December, 2006

Dear Pastor and Church,

Greetings in the name of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are rejoicing and praising The Almighty for the recent salvation of 73 year old Youssef Rahil. This man attended our mission services in Jerusalem where Bro. Shakkour preached a message from the text found in John Chapter four, about The Water of Life and the woman of Samaria who met Jesus at Jacob’s well. After this message Mr. Rahil came forward desiring to drink of this Living Water which when received can alone quench the inner thirst of man. What a magnificent God we serve, who provides us with an Eternal Word enabling a man living today to drink of the very same Water that Jesus Himself offered during His earthly ministry some two thousand years ago. Since the mission work began this is the second person who has accepted the gift of everlasting life through confession of sins and faith in the Savior Jesus Christ. God has abundantly blessed us in such a short period of time. Please keep praying because there are several others who are intently considering a personal relationship with the Lord. This an ideal time for them to be contemplating issues of life and death because we will soon be holding our annual dinner to celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. This year the meal will be held in the Bethlehem area and Bro. Shakkour will have the opportunity to preach a Gospel message to many, many people who are lost in sin and in need of a Savior.

The last leg of deputation has been a real joy as God brought me into fellowship with some more good doctrinally sound Baptist Churches. While preaching a revival I met a woman who has a Hebrew friend living in Tel Aviv. They have been keeping in contact through email for around two years now. Praise the Lord, this woman whose name is Liora has invited us to her home upon arriving to her homeland. She knows about our mission work and has asked us to pray for the missing Israeli military personnel there. If you would like to specifically pray for these missing soldiers and their families I listed their names on the back of this report. As far as we know Liora is not saved so please begin to pray for this visit. Pray that I will have an open door of utterance and that she will have an open heart to the Gospel message. Deputation is now complete, but before I begin to talk about the next stage of this mission endeavor I want to thank the many churches who allowed me to present this work to them. All of you were exceedingly kind, excessively hospitable, and extremely encouraging. All glory to God who placed a burden for Israel in many hearts enabling us to raise the needed support in less than one year of actual deputation outside of our daughter’s illness. A few churches have had to reduce their monthly support amount so we could still use a little more support, but we have recently received new partners and I believe that other churches will become partners with us in the near future and beyond. Some of you have expressed a desire to receive a ministry financial report and I want you to know that I am working on preparing this form. I appreciate your patience as a financial statement like this will be easier to provide once I settle into the country and begin to realize the actual ministry and living exspenses.

Lord willing, on 02/28/08 I will be flying to the land of my calling. I will initially travel to Israel by myself for the purpose of securing and furnishing an apartment ready for my family to move into. This plan has been wisely recommended by those in Israel and we have several reasons for proceeding this way. First, it would be difficult and pretty expensive for my entire family to lodge in Israel until we could secure and furnish a permanent residence, but since it will just be me, I can stay with the Shakkours while searching for a place to live. Another big advantage to this type of move is I can begin the Visa application process. Hopefully by the time my family enters the country we will be close to acquiring our Visas which will make things much easier and more practical than going in and out of Israel every 3 months on passports. There are several other reasons, but the one that made this an easy decision is yet another tremendous blessing to report. The Lord has blessed us with a little one growing inside my wife’s womb. Tara’s due date is not until the month of May and after much prayer I know that I need to get to Israel before this time, mainly because there are several aspects of the ministry that await my arrival. Shortly after the birth my family will travel to Israel just as soon as they and the newborn are ready. We thank God for this wonderful blessing, but must undergo another brief period of parting and we ask for your continued prayers. Thank you.

In Jesus Christ my Savior,
Jerry Holliday Jr. / New Hope Baptist Church

August 2007

Dear Pastor and Church,

MARHABA in the name of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Mar-ha-ba is a common greeting used by Arabic speaking people which simply means be welcome, or hello. I chose to begin this way in appreciation of your prayers for our comprehension, pronunciation, and the ability to grasp the major languages spoken in Israel. The Lord has blessed through audio repetition tapes and though I am far from fluent in speech I have made some real progress. I have a daily routine which Lord willing will enable me to complete the language courses before the end of this year. The bouzouki has also turned into an uplifting personal blessing. I thank the Lord for giving me the desire to learn to play this instrument. As always we are grateful for all your petitions and I am especially appreciative for those spoken on the behalf of these ministry aids. I have little talent, but your prayers are working so please keep it up!

I wanted to also thank you for keeping us as a family before the throne of grace. We are doing very well despite being physically separated most of the time. The decision to finish deputation without my family was not made hastily or without much prayer. Even with the year old twin boys and all the many good logical reasons for traveling alone I must admit that I found this leadership strange at first, but when you know, you just know, if you know what I mean. This statement may be confusing to some, but if you have ever experienced the Holy Spirit’s guiding hand then you certainly understand what I’m saying. God desires to direct us into each and every path that he has purposed for our lives and I’m so very glad that I didn’t let my own wishes or concerns stop me from doing what I knew to be the Lord’s will. Our deputation is a perfect example of just how vital it is to let God steer the ship. I am abundantly happy to report that on Sunday July the 8th while I was in Texas our daughter, Kayla was attending our home church in Indiana where she gave her heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ. We have been praying for this day since her birth along with being careful not to push and as she had questions we have been cautiously dealing with her for awhile now. God used Kayla’s Aunt and her Sunday school lesson to begin to burden and convict her heart. Shortly after this, a morning gospel message was proclaimed by another familiar voice and during the invitation my pastor and her Papaw was able to open God’s Word and lead her to the free gift of eternal life. For the first time God allowed her to realize that like all of us she was born into sin and that her faults and failures continue to add up daily. As the light of understanding began to shine brightly and illuminate her sin separated position with God she realized that Jesus laid down his life in her place and she felt sorry for the great price that he paid for her sins. Dad told me that with eyes full of tears she asked for forgiveness and called out upon the name of Jesus Christ for salvation, believing that he died on Calvary’s cross, but three days later triumphantly arose from the tomb. She couldn’t wait to tell me of her experience and in fact she wanted to tell everyone what Jesus did for her. Straight away she wanted to be baptized into the church. Oh what joy in seeing our children show forth fruits of repentance, faith, and a new life in Christ. All praise, honor, and glory be to my God who is so good to us. I recall later on that same night receiving sweet peace that no matter how puzzling or difficult it was we had followed God’s will and this obedience made it possible for our daughter to be exactly where she desperately needed to be on her day of salvation. May my daughter’s salvation be a memorial ever etched in my mind that no matter what my rational thoughts might be or how great the desire to please others I must remember that it is crucial to follow the direction of my Omniscience Guide. Yes, without a doubt the sacrafice of being apart is difficult, but the Lord is ever faithful to supply all our Spiritual, physical, and emotional needs along with everlasting riches that he alone can see beforehand.

The Lord has also provided us with more great news from Israel. Upon hearing it I felt as if I just might jump through the ceiling with joy. Brother Shakkour traveled into the Bethlehem area and had a sit down Bible study with four men living there. These men all have a profession of faith and also share the desire to pastor. Brother Shakkour taught them the truth of the Lord’s church and specifically its perpetual authority and teaching. This is so exciting because I have been brought to the knowledge that the heart of my foreign mission work consists of training men that they might reach their people with the gospel and endeavor to plant Indigenous Baptist Churches in their homeland. Praise God, Brother Shakkour said that they paid close attention to his words so please pray with me that they will accept the truth and desire to be added to the church where they can be taught as national pastors that they might minister to their people in the West Bank. I have a burden for the people living in this area and Brother Shakkour has been sharing God’s Word with them for some time now. Many people want to learn to speak better Hebrew so he uses his ability to teach as an open door. He tells them that he will teach them an half hour of Hebrew free of charge if they will allow him to teach them thirty minutes of the Bible. He uses these studies to tell them of the sacrafice made and their need of salvation. The men in Jerusalem are active soul winners and I am very eager to get there and spread the good news with them. This day seems to be well within reach with many new churches becoming partners in the work to Jerusalem. When a sure date can be set I will be ecstatic to report it. Thank you.

In Jesus Christ my Savior,

Jerry Holliday Jr.
New Hope Baptist Church