JOSHUA FUND DELEGATIONS COMPLETE RELIEF PROJECTS IN SDEROT, CARMIEL AND YAVNIEL, ISRAEL

(JERUSALEM, ISRAEL) -- UPDATED: A Joshua Fund delegation with 52 evangelical Christian business leaders from the U.S., Canada, Germany and Australia just completed a two-week tour of Israel. The purpose of the "prayer & vision trip" was to help Christians from around the world better understand the geopolitical threats that Israel is facing, see first hand the importance of providing humanitarian relief for Israelis who are currently living in poverty (nearly 1-in-4 Israelis and 36% of all children), as well as to see the urgency of pre-positioning more relief supplies ahead of the next war, whenever that might be.

The group was briefed by current Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Avigdor Lieberman on the growing Iranian nuclear threat; former Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Natan Sharansky on the threat to Jerusalem; MK Yuval Steinitz, Member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee, on the growing strategic threats to Israel from Iran and Syria and the growing Russian involvement in the Middle East; former Israeli General Yossi Peled on the Hezbollah threat in Lebanon; and former Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Dore Gold on the upcoming peace conference in Annapolis.

The group was briefed by a senior advisor to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on the importance of Jews and Christians working together, especially in light of the upcoming 60th anniversary of the rebirth of the Jewish State. The evangelicals were also briefed by various humanitarian aid leaders. During their visit, they toured Jerusalem, the Golan Heights and the Galilee region. They also did two humanitarian relief projects in the towns of Carmiel and Yavniel, distributing care packages of food and kitchen supplies to needy families in cooperation with the Mayors of these two towns and Bridges for Peace, an evangelical Christian relief organization based in Jerusalem.

On November 12, The Joshua Fund took a group of 25 evangelical Christians from Rio Rancho, New Mexico to do a humanitarian relief project in Sderot, an Israeli town on the southern border of Gaza. The town has been hit with more than 2,500 Palestinian rockets and missiles since the Israelis withdrew from Gaza in 2005 for "peace." Three rockets hit the day we were there, but by God's grace we were safely able to distribute more than $100,000 worth of clothes, toys, school supplies, and others goods to some 300 needy Israeli families who live below the poverty level and live in great fear of these constant terrorist attacks.

The Sderot relief effort was done in cooperation with the Acting Mayor of Sderot, the local social welfare office, and The Joseph Project, a Jewish organization committed to caring for the poor and needy and for victims of war and terrorism in Israel.

* Please pray for peace for the 21,000 citizens of Sderot. More than 6,000 residents have left the town and relocated elsewhere in Israel in the last two years because of all the attacks.

* Please also pray that more evangelical Christians around the world become involved in helping needy families in Israel with humanitarian relief and unconditional love.

JERUSALEM POST NOTES JOSHUA FUND DELEGATION TO BLESS ISRAEL

Excerpts from November 14, 2007 story in The Jerusalem Post: "Senior executives of Germany's leading companies will be here next week to look for business cooperation and investment opportunities in the local market. 'Local exports to Germany increased by 19 percent in the first three months of the year generated mainly from the fields of communications, electronics, plastics and pharmaceuticals. However, there is still room for additional German investments into Israeli companies and the local capital market," said the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry, which is hosting the delegation together with the Israel Export Institute and Manufacturers Association of Israel....Meanwhile, a Christian evangelical delegation of 40 business people from Canada, Australia and Europe have toured the country, visiting the Galilee, Sderot, Tiberias and Ashkelon to look for business and humanitarian investments into local projects ranging from infrastructure and hospitals to tourism. The delegation met with MK Avigdor Lieberman, MK Yuval Steinitz and local business representatives. In addition the delegation, headed by Joel Rosenberg, founder of The Joshua Fund -- a non-profit organization founded to encourage Christian aid for Israel -- committed to donate high sums to welfare and health projects and as a result the fund is expected to foster the Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon."

EPICENTER CONFERENCE TO BE HELD IN JERUSALEM ON APRIL 10, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
November 5, 2007

AUTHOR JOEL C. ROSENBERG ANNOUNCES
EPICENTER CONFERENCE
TO MOBILIZE CHRISTIANS AROUND THE WORLD
TO PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM

April 10, 2008 event will mark Israel’s 60th anniversary, include senior Israeli officials and evangelical leaders

(Washington, D.C., November 5, 2007) – Joel C. Rosenberg, the New York Times best-selling author and founder of The Joshua Fund, today announced a major conference in Jerusalem in 2008 to help Christians celebrate Israel’s 60th anniversary, educate Christians as to the serious threats facing the Jewish State and her neighbors, and mobilize Christians around the world to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and provide humanitarian relief to the poor and needy and those suffering from war and terrorism.

Invited speakers include:
* Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
* Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
* Former Deputy Prime Minister Natan Sharansky
* Israel Ambassador Dore Gold, president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and author of The Fight For Jerusalem
* Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa
* Pastor Skip Heitzig of Calvary Chapel Albuquerque, a member of the board of Samaritan’s Purse, and co-host of the Epicenter documentary film
* Joel C. Rosenberg, founder of The Joshua Fund, New York Times best-selling author of Epicenter: Why The Current Rumblings In The Middle East Will Change Your Future, and co-host of the Epicenter documentary film

Conference details:
* The Epicenter Conference will be held on Thursday, April 10, 2008 from 9:30am to 6:00pm local time.
* The event will be held in Congress Hall at the international convention center in Jerusalem
* The event will be webcast worldwide, gavel to gavel.
* For more information – and to register for the conference – go to www.epicenter08.com.
* For more information on The Joshua Fund, please click here.

SERMON: "WHAT GOD IS DOING IN THE MIDDLE EAST"

I had the privilege of preaching at four weekend services at McLean Bible Church, my home fellowship, on the subject, "What God Is Doing In The Middle East"....as I speak so often on what is happening in Israel, I devoted this particular message to how powerfully the Lord is moving in the Muslim world and encouraging believers to pursue four strategies to bless the people of the epicenter: Learn. Pray. Give. Go. To listen to the sermon online, please click here.