DR. DOBSON FOCUSES 2 RADIO SHOWS ON ISRAEL & THE JOSHUA FUND

On Monday I made a quick and unexpected trip out to Colorado Springs at the invitation of Focus on the Family. Several colleagues and I spent the afternoon with Dr. James Dobson and his staff discussing recent events in the Middle East and what may be coming up over the horizon. Then Dr. Dobson and I taped two radio programs with our mutual friend Tom Doyle, author of a wonderful book called, Two Nations Under God: Why Should America Care About Israel and the Middle East. Together, we explored the Bible theology of the miraculous and prophetic rebirth of the modern State of Israel 60 years ago this week, God’s everlasting and unconditional love and plan for the Jewish people and all the people of the epicenter, the prophecies concerning Israel's future, the work of The Joshua Fund, and some of the ways that evangelical Christians can pray for the epicenter and bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus. For those who are interested, the Focus on the Family radio shows on Israel will run this today and Friday. Please tune in on your local Christian radio station, or go to http://www.focusonthefamily.com/ to listen on-line.

* Would you consider signing up to make a monthly donation to The Joshua Fund of $25, $40 or $60? All donations are tax deductible. For more information on how to make contributions by mail -- or by secure on-line credit card transactions -- please click here.

* Would you like to sign up for Flash Traffic -- free email alerts with geopolitical updates from Israel and the Middle East, Joshua Fund project updates, and prayer requests -- written by Joel C. Rosenberg? Please click here.

60 WAYS TO BLESS ISRAEL AT 60

Israel turns 60 today on the Jewish calendar. The Joshua Fund team salutes the brave men and women whom God brought back to the Holy Land to fulfill the prophecies of Ezekiel 36 & 37 -- to rebuild the ancient ruins, make the deserts bloom, create an "exceedingly great army" and forge a homeland to protect and defend the Jewish people from all enemies, foreign and domestic. We also salute all those Jews, Christians and other "righteous Gentiles" in the U.S. and around the world who have shown unconditional love and unwavering support to Israel in the face of tremendous opposition.

Last month The Joshua Fund gathered 2,000 Christian and Jewish leaders at the international convention center in Jerusalem for the inaugural "Epicenter Conference." We celebrated Israel's birthday, examined the threats facing her at present from radical Islam, and discussed ways Christians could bless Israel at this critical hour.

Out of that conference came "60 Ways To Bless Israel At 60." We hope you will be moved to pursue some of these ways in the days and weeks ahead.

1. Help provide brand new backpacks and school supplies for needy Israeli school children. The Joshua Fund has committed $100,000 to this project, working with Jewish and Christian allies in Israel. The backpacks need to be purchased soon and in bulk to get the best prices. They will be distributed in September, when the new school year begins. Would you consider signing up to make a monthly donation to The Joshua Fund of $25, $40 or $60? All donations are tax deductible. For more information on how to make contributions by mail -- or by secure on-line credit card transactions -- please click here.
2. Stock one bomb shelter in northern Israel with food, water, a first aid kit, other emergency supplies and a secure storage locker. There are currently some 5,500 bomb shelters that need to be urgently stocked with supplies before the next war. The Joshua Fund is currently raising funds to stock 100 as soon as possible. Cost per bomb shelter: $5,500.
3. Provide one ton of food to care for needy families in northern Israel who were hit by 4,000 rockets and missiles during the 2006 war with Hezbollah. These families are still recovering from that war. Many live on less than $500 a month. And food prices are rising in Israel, as they are around the globe. Every month, therefore, The Joshua Fund pays for about 10 tons of food to be purchased by one of our allies in Israel, distributed to the needy in the north, as well as stockpiled for the next war. Cost: $2,500 per ton.
4. Help purchase desperately needed medical equipment such as respirators, ventilators, operating room lamps, mobile x-ray machines and the like for under-funded regional hospitals in Israel. At the request of hospital administrators, The Joshua Fund has adopted the Barzilai Medical Center in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon to help them raise funds for such equipment. Barzilai is the only hospital and trauma center serving the 500,000 Israelis living near the Gaza border and facing a nearly constant barrage of rockets, missiles and mortars. They are doing heroic work, but they do need our help. Cost: Some of this equipment is very costly, averaging between $20,000 to $80,000 each. A donation of $5,000 would help significantly towards meeting these vital needs.
5. Help provide food baskets to needy families in Jerusalem on Jewish holidays. Working with our local allies, The Joshua Fund recently helped finance the distribution of 680 food baskets to needy Israeli families for Passover.
6. Provide food, blankets, wheelchairs and other assistance to Holocaust victims in Israel, many of whom tragically live at or below the poverty level, even within the Jewish State.
7. Help care for the homeless in Israel.
8. Help finance soup kitchens in Israel.
9. Help care for Sudanese refugees in Israel.
10. Help provide blankets and heaters for the elderly in Israel during the cold winter months, since many do not have -- or cannot afford -- central heating.
11. Help finance the purchase of vans for Israeli organizations that distribute humanitarian aid so they can get supplies to the people that need them most in a more efficient manner. The Joshua Fund is involved in all these areas of relief work -- caring for Holocaust victims, the homeless, refugees, and others -- and we would be honored to get you involved in funding critically important projects such as these.

For 49 other ways to bless Israel, please click here....

WATCH THE EPICENTER CONFERENCE ON-LINE: Unconditional love, unwavering support

What a remarkable experience we had in Jerusalem just one week ago today. Some 2,000 Jewish and Christian leaders from all over the world -- the U.S., Canada, South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East -- gathered together at the international convention center in the Holy City to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the prophetic rebirth of Israel, to examine the geopolitical threats posed by radical Islam, and to mobilize Christians around the world to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and show unconditional love and unwavering support for the Jewish people.

We so wish you could have joined us, but for those who could not, we have now made it possible for you to watch each speech on-line at no charge. Please click here, and please encourage others to watch as well.

Our prayer is that you will learn more about who we are at The Joshua Fund, and what we are trying to accomplish, and that you will be inspired to join us in blessing Israel and her neighbors in real and practical ways.

At www.epicenter08.com, you will also find full color photos from the conference. You will find results from the exclusive survey we commissioned of American Christian attitudes towards Israel and the epicenter. You will also find links to order DVDs of the full 8-hour conference, or a 2-hour summary package on DVD.

Thank you so much for your prayers that the conference would go well, and that the message would spread far and wide. Those prayers were graciously answered. We did not have protests. We did not have any troubles at the conference. To the contrary, there was great interest from many parts of Israel. We had hundreds of secular and religious Israelis -- and even an Orthodox Rabbi -- come from Dan to Beersheeba to see and learn and evaluate who we are and what we are doing through The Joshua Fund. We also had extensive media coverage, including CNN Headline News, CBN, The Jerusalem Post, The Christian Post, a one-hour live radio broadcast on "Janet Parshall's America," and a one-hour live radio broadcast on a network of more than 100 Christian radio stations, to name just a few.

So thank you again for your prayers -- and please keep praying that:

1) the Lord would raise up at least 100,000 allies around the world would be mobilized to pray knowledgeably, consistently and faithfully for Israel and the people of the epicenter; and

2) that the Lord would graciously allow us to invest $120 million into humanitarian relief in Israel and the surrounding countries through Operation Epicenter to care for the poor and needy and for victims of war and terrorism over the next few years.

And may the Lord bless you more than you can hope for, dream of, or imagine as you bless Israel and her neighbors with unconditional love and unwavering support.

CBN INTERVIEWS JOSHUA FUND FOUNDER RE: EPICENTER CONFERENCE

Chris Mitchell, Jerusalem bureau chief for the Christian Broadcasting Network, filed this story: "On Thursday, nearly 2,000 Christians will be gathering in Jerusalem for a special one-day conference. The conference is called the Epicenter Conference and it's hosted by best-selling author Joel Rosenberg. Rosenberg is one of the most perceptive analysts on what's happening in the Middle East today. In this video, we talked to Rosenberg today about the goals of the conference and what he believes are the major geopolitical threats facing Israel today."

* To watch the CBN interview on-line, please click here.

U.S. EVANGELICALS, ISRAELI LEADERS GATHER IN JERUSALEM

Excerpts from a story in the Christian Post: "Nearly 2,000 Evangelical Christians and high profile Israeli leaders met together in Jerusalem Thursday as part of the historic 'Epicenter 08' conference. The conference, which was organized by The Joshua Fund, a D.C.-based evangelical organization, gathered Christians from around the world to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and highlighted support for the Jewish State, which it called a 'biblical obligation.' Israeli Cabinet Minister Isaac Herzog, who was among those representing the Jewish State as it made preparations to celebrate its coming 60th anniversary next month, praised the organization for its dedication to Israeli causes and efforts to 'bless Israel' with more than '$100 million in aid within three years.' Joel C. Rosenberg, founder and organizer of The Joshua Fund, wrote of the powerful endorsement on his blog. 'He thanked The Joshua Fund for doing humanitarian relief work to care for the poor and needy and victims of war and terrorism and for advancing a message of unconditional love and unwavering support for the State of Israel and the Jewish people,' he reported. 'Herzog encouraged The Joshua Fund to continue educating America's 100 million evangelicals and mobilizing them to provide food, clothing, medical supplies and other forms of humanitarian aid,' Rosenberg added. 'Herzog said unequivocally that evangelical Christian support for Israel is much needed and deeply desired.' Former CIA Director and Florida Congressman Porter Goss, along with various other influential U.S.-based pastors who had flown in from America, were also present, and used the opportunity to praise the State of Israel and their firm resolution to back the Jewish State against the threats of terrorism and radical Islam...."

JOSHUA FUND RELEASES EXCLUSIVE POLL OF AMERICAN CHRISTIAN ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE EPICENTER: Unconditional, unwavering love towards Israel

* To watch the Epicenter Conference in Jerusalem on-line, please click here.

U.S. Christians 'morally' support Israel

By Etgar Lefkovitz

The Jerusalem Post

April 10, 2008

More than 80 percent of American Christians say they have a "moral and biblical obligation" to support the State of Israel, and half say Jerusalem should remain its undivided capital, according to a survey released on Thursday.

While evangelical Christians are the strongest supporters of the Jewish state, strong pro-Israel convictions cut across all key Christian denominations in the US, according to the poll carried out on behalf of the Washington-based Joshua Fund, an evangelical organization.

Eight-two percent of respondents said they had a "moral and biblical obligation" to love and support Israel and pray for the peace of Jerusalem," 10% disagreed and 8% did not know.

Eighty-four percent of Protestants agreed with the statement (including 89% of Evangelicals), compared to 76% of Catholics.

Half of the American Christians surveyed opposed Israel dividing Jerusalem with the Palestinians in a peace agreement, 33% were unsure and 17% thought it should be divided.

Fifty-three percent of Protestants supported a united Jerusalem, as did 44% of Catholics.

Evangelical Christians were most supportive of a united Jerusalem, with 62% in favor and 11% against.

A plurality of the US Christians (44%) surveyed said they did not know whether a future Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip would be a peaceful moderate democracy or a terrorist state, 32% said that it would be a terrorist state and 24% said that it would be a peaceful democracy.

The survey found clear differences between Protestants and Catholics on the issue.

Protestants were more likely to say a Palestinian state would be a terror state by a 10-point margin; Catholics were evenly split. Evangelical Protestants said a such entity would be a terrorist state by a 20-point margin, but non-evangelical Protestants said it would be a peaceful and moderate democracy by six percentage points.

The belief that a Palestinian state would be a terrorist state was strongest among Republican and conservative Evangelicals.

Nearly half (49%) of American Christians surveyed were interested in visiting Israel, including about quarter of both Catholics and Protestants who were "strongly" interested.

Forty-seven percent of those polled were not interested in visiting.

There are 50 million-60 million evangelicals Christians in the US.

Two-thirds of respondents said that if Iran developed nuclear weapons, it would eventually try to use them to attack Israel, 23% were unsure and 13% said Iran would not attack.

Finally, 45% said they would be more likely to support a US presidential candidate who would protect America from Islamic terrorism, protect Israel from a nuclear attack from Iran, oppose the division of Jerusalem and refuse to pressure Israel to make concessions on issues of national security, compared to 29% who said such positions had no effect on their vote and 9% who would be less likely to support such a candidate.

The survey will be officially released on Thursday at a conference at the Jerusalem International Convention Center (Binyenei Ha'uma) organized by The Joshua Fund that is expected to be attended by 2,000 evangelical Christians from around the world.

The non-profit organization aims to raise more than $100 million over the next three years to help Israeli victims of terrorism, and to fund humanitarian projects in Israel in education, health, welfare and immigrant absorption, and $20m. for Christians in the West Bank, Gaza, Iraq and Sudan, said Joel C. Rosenberg, the group's founder and president.

"Our support for Israel is unwavering and unconditional," he said.

The survey, which was conducted by McLaughlin and Associates by a telephone sampling of 1,000 American Christians last month, had a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

JERUSALEM POST REPORTS UPCOMING EPICENTER CONFERENCE IN ISRAEL

"An organization of American evangelicals is planning to hold a major conference in Jerusalem next week ahead of Israel's 60th anniversary," reports The Jerusalem Post. "The April 10 event, which is being organized by the Washington DC-based The Joshua Fund....The conference comes amid burgeoning relations between Israel and the largely supportive evangelical Christian community around the world."

* To learn more about the Epicenter Conference to be held in Jerusalem next week -- or to register on-line -- please click here.

VAN DELIVERED TO SDEROT TO ASSIST VOLUNTEERS WHO CARE FOR THE NEEDY

PROJECT UPDATE: In February, we reported that The Joshua Fund had helped finance the purchase of a van for the Sderot municipality’s director of volunteers so that he and his could move relief supplies and volunteer rapid responders far more quickly and efficiently. For years, the city had promised to buy these volunteers a van but there had never been enough money in the budget. The director, a young Ethiopian immigrant, had tears in eyes when he realized that we really were serious about helping him when no one else would. Good news: the van has been purchased and delivered to Sderot. It is pictured above. Thanks so much to all who helped make this happen!

* As part of Operation Epicenter, TJF is looking for 100,000 volunteers to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and for the people of the epicenter. We already have 43,000 prayer partners -- but we need your help, too. Will you join us? Sign up here for free Flash Traffic emails with geopolitical updates from the Middle East, Joshua Fund reports, and prayer requests

* New York Post: Life In A Time of Rocket Attacks -- an inside look at the trials of living in Sderot

JOSHUA FUND HELPS FINANCE PROJECT TO VISIT INMATES OF AN ISRAELI PRISON

PROJECT UPDATE: In Matthew 25:36, Jesus tells His followers to visit those in prison. In obediance, The Joshua Fund helped finance a project in February of Christians visiting Sudanese prisoners in an Israeli prison. The goal was to bless these forgotten people with unconditional love in a real and practical way. The project included a time of singing with the prisoners, puppet shows and games for the children, and the distribution of blankets and clothing, along with 850 snacks (purchased inside the prison).

Here is a note that was sent to us by those who ran the project: "It was a bright Sunday morning, 9:30 on Feb. 17th, when, surrounded by the prayers of many prayer warriors from all over the world, twelve of us arrived at [the] prison gate....We did not know what to expect. All the rules said no to this and no to that, yet we were prepared. We had CD players and CDs with Sudanese songs, musical instruments, a sound system, puppets, toys and children’s games with us [along with] new blankets & clothing, we prayerfully listened to the information, where these people came from, why, and how they arrived here. Then came the instructions[from the prison officials]: don’t hug, don’t come close…..Oh Lord!! Teach us we how to show your love that flows through us to these hurting people!! The Lord opened the gates and we could take in all the things we brought with us, except for the sound system, which we could understand! The manager, the education officer, and all those in responsibility, were of great help....People started coming in groups of 50. Soon songs were heard all over the camp. The Lord sent a spirit of joy and many of them sang with us. Some danced too. A couple played our musical instruments and led the group with their own songs. Some had tears in their eyes."

JOSHUA FUND PROVIDES COMPUTER & PRINTER FOR IRAQI SCHOOL

PROJECT UPDATE: We're glad to report that working with local Christian leaders in Iraq, The Joshua Fund has helped provide a new desktop computer and printer for an impoverished Iraqi school near Mosul (see picture). This is the same school TJF and our allies assisted in February with some 800 backpacks. It is your generous investment that makes such projects -- small and large -- possible in Israel, Iraq and elsewhere in the epicenter. Thank you so much and may God bless you more than you can hope for, dream of, or imagine.

* Sign up for free Flash Traffic emails with geopolitical updates from the Middle East, Joshua Fund reports, and prayer requests

PRAY FOR IRAN AS GOVERNMENT THREATENS BELIEVERS WITH DEATH

Please pray for our brothers and sisters in Iran in light of these recent headlines....

* Iran: Parliament to discuss death penalty for converts who leave Islam

* IRAN: DEATH PENALTY PROPOSED FOR ‘APOSTATES’

* Iran to Punish Apostasy with Death