Prayer Requests regarding the recent uptick in Rocket fire, Riots and terror attacks

Dear friends and ministry partners,

In recent days there have been several rocket attacks at Israel from the terror organizations in the Gaza

Strip and in Southern Lebanon. As of the writing of this prayer request about 80 rockets have been fired.  On the one hand, this is a major escalation, yet on the other hand, there is always some expected escalation around the Islamic holiday of Ramadan.  For the entire month, we normally experience riots and other violence with terror organizations often calling for terror attacks against civilians. This year we have already experienced a large increase in terror attacks and the Israeli security establishment has been working hard to thwart terror continuously.  They stated in the news recently that they have been able to thwart over 200 planned terror attacks since the beginning of the year.  The success of their efforts is apparent, but not as apparent as their failure to thwart terror attacks.  This morning two sisters in their 20's were murdered in a terror attack, while driving their car near the Dead Sea.  Their mother, in her 40's was also in the car and she is in critical condition.  We know that some may think that this kind of violence is common in Israel or in the Middle East,
but it is not as common as you might think. The recent terror attacks are some of the worst I have experienced since I moved to Israel about twenty years ago. 

There is also rioting in several Arab Israeli towns, something that happened about a year ago and led to a major rift between Arab and Jewish relations.  As an example, we have a friend in another town who loved his local Arab butcher shop so much, he took Jason there a couple of times.  Since the riots last year, he won't purchase from them because they supported the riots, which led to several murders in his town. There are many stories like these. It seemed like things were finally starting to get back to normal and then Ramadan came around again.  This year, it seems like the terror organizations have decided to fire rockets, which is a clear escalation and it could be that this is the end of the violence or it could be that this is only the beginning.  There are still 27 more days of Ramadan and Fridays are often the worst for violence, because the people go to the mosque and listen to an sermon typically on Fridays. Sermons in a mosque are often political in nature. 

All of this is background to our prayer request. Please pray for our country as we experience the growing threat of terrorism and extremism. Please pray for our security personnel, especially our soldiers who are often targeted by terrorists. We know many believers serving in their mandatory army service, please pray for their protection.  Please pray for our government to have wisdom in how they respond to the threats. Please from for our community leaders to help keep our people safe. Please pray for the believers in the land to be bold in our faith and to find ways to be salt and light among our fellow citizens.  Lastly, please pray for the safety of our family and friends.

Thank you for your prayers and feel free to pass along these prayer requests.