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Speaker 1: You know, as Paul wrote in Romans ten, how are

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Speaker 1: they gonna believe if they haven't even heard, And how

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Speaker 1: are they going to hear unless somebody tells them? And

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Speaker 1: how is somebody going to tell them unless they're sent.

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Speaker 1: When the Joshua Fund started twenty years ago, we had

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Speaker 1: absolutely no idea. Lynn didn't know, I didn't know. We

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Speaker 1: couldn't possibly have seen the doors that God would open

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Speaker 1: through prayer to touch people's lives and to learn from

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Speaker 1: them and see God at work in Israel, among the Palestinians,

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Speaker 1: in the rest of the Arab world. It's just been

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Speaker 1: absolutely astonishing, and we want to share some of those stories,

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Speaker 1: more of the origin story today on Inside the Epicenter. Hi,

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Speaker 1: this is Joel Rosenberg. I'm a co founder of the

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Speaker 1: Joshua Fund and your co hosts of this podcast with

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Speaker 1: my dear wife, Lynn, who began this mystery with me

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Speaker 1: and co hosting with this podcast with me. Lynn. It's

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Speaker 1: amazing to think that it's been twenty years and like

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Speaker 1: I said, we couldn't possibly have imagined the doors with

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Speaker 1: God would open. I'm glad he didn't tell us all

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Speaker 1: the spiritual warfare and the challenges and the struggles that

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Speaker 1: would happen over twenty years. But I'm also glad that

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Speaker 1: he didn't tell us all the fun things either. He

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Speaker 1: just said do this and follow me, and we tried,

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Speaker 1: in childlike faith to follow him anyway. Welcome everyone to

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Speaker 1: inside the Epicenter from Jerusalem. Lynn is great to be

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Speaker 1: with you as we continue this series of conversations about

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Speaker 1: the origin stories of the Joshua and what has happened

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Speaker 1: over these twenty wonderful, exciting, challenging years.

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Speaker 2: Amen.

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Speaker 3: It's amazing. And I think of Ephesians three twenty that says,

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Speaker 3: you know, now, to him who's able to do exceedingly,

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Speaker 3: abundantly above all that we can ask or think, according

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Speaker 3: to the power that works in us, to him be

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Speaker 3: the glory in the Church, by Christ Jesus, to all generations,

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Speaker 3: forever and ever.

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Speaker 1: Amen.

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Speaker 3: Amen, And I think of that is just so true

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Speaker 3: the Lord. It's really his ministry, and the glory goes

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Speaker 3: all to him. And we're excited to be telling these

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Speaker 3: stories in this new series of podcasts about the history

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Speaker 3: of the Josha Fund as we celebrate our twenty year anniversary,

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Speaker 3: and as we're joined by our dear colleague Lance Emma.

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Speaker 3: Lance is with us again. He is the director of

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Speaker 3: Strategic Initiatives with the Joshua Fund, and we're so grateful

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Speaker 3: to have him on our staff. He was on our

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Speaker 3: staff in the past. He came back a year and

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Speaker 3: a half ago and we were very excited and glad

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Speaker 3: that he can help us to co host this series

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Speaker 3: and be in charge of the questions. So Lance, I'll

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Speaker 3: pitch it right to you.

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Speaker 2: Thank you both. And so you know, last week we

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Speaker 2: looked at that beginning time, the mission, the vision, the

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Speaker 2: both and statement of the Joshua Fund, and we want

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Speaker 2: to continue that. And so as we think of the

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Speaker 2: mission of the Joshua Fund to mobilize Christians to bless

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Speaker 2: Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus according

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Speaker 2: to ja Enesis chapter twelve, verses one through three, help

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Speaker 2: us for someone new to who Joel and Lynn Rosenberger,

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Speaker 2: who's new to the Joshua Fund. Maybe he has no

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Speaker 2: idea who the Joshua Fund is. That's a big statement.

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Speaker 2: So can you help us understand in a practical on

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Speaker 2: the ground, like, what does that mission statement mean in

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Speaker 2: day to day life for the Joshua Fund.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, Lance and it's a great question, and so as

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Speaker 1: we sort of break it down, So what we want

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Speaker 1: to do is educate and mobilize Christians around the world,

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Speaker 1: in the United States, Canada, all over the world. And

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Speaker 1: it's fun to see that people are listening and watching

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Speaker 1: all over the world to this podcast to do what

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Speaker 1: we want them to basically invest in strengthening the local church.

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Speaker 1: We want to bless Israel because the Abrahamic Covenant says

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Speaker 1: God says, I will bless those who bless you, and

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Speaker 1: those who curse you, I will curse. Obviously, we don't

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Speaker 1: want to be cursed, we don't want others to be cursed.

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Speaker 1: We want to find a way to bless Israel. But

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Speaker 1: in that abraham a Covenant Genesis twelve one through three,

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Speaker 1: as you mentioned, God says all of the families of

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Speaker 1: the earth will be blessed through you, Abraham. And this

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Speaker 1: is a Messianic prophecy that's alluded to here and plays

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Speaker 1: out over time. Yes, God was blessing Abraham and that

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Speaker 1: calling on his life to form a country, to have

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Speaker 1: a land, to create a nation, and that the blessings

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Speaker 1: of God would flow through that because the Messiah was

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Speaker 1: going to come to this people. The Messiah Jesus Yeshua

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Speaker 1: was going to be born as a Jew to a

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Speaker 1: Jewish mother and a Jewish father in the land of Israel,

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Speaker 1: and minister in Israel, and die on the cross and

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Speaker 1: rise again in Israel to reach the nation of Israel,

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Speaker 1: the Jewish people of Israel, but also to be a

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Speaker 1: light to the nations, to all nations, and his famous

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Speaker 1: great commission, go and make disciples, not just Christ followers,

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Speaker 1: but people who really know how to mature and walk

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Speaker 1: in the richness of the scriptures and no Christ and

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Speaker 1: obey Him and follow him and love him. But also

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Speaker 1: to make other disciples, to lead other people to Christ

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Speaker 1: and grow. So that's the heart of the ministry. The

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Speaker 1: question is how do we invest in local believers in Israel,

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Speaker 1: among the Palestinians and in six neighboring countries Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq,

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Speaker 1: Egypt and more recently Iran. And so there's a number

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Speaker 1: of areas and maybe Leanna, you could walk through the

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Speaker 1: different components as we prayed through Lord, how do we

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Speaker 1: do that? You know? How do we practice on the

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Speaker 1: ground do it? We saw a number of sort of

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Speaker 1: departments emerge that God led us to, and you want

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Speaker 1: to share about those?

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Speaker 3: Sure, sure, yeah. I think one of the things I'll

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Speaker 3: say right from the beginning, even before I answered that exactly,

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Speaker 3: and that is our pastor in college who's from India. Actually,

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Speaker 3: he always had these very pithy statements, these like proverbs

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Speaker 3: for us to remember, and.

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Speaker 1: One of them is India. So you have to do

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Speaker 1: it with the actual.

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Speaker 3: I can't do the accent, but he would say, Joel,

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Speaker 3: and the only thing that God is building in this

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Speaker 3: world is his Church. And so we have known from

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Speaker 3: the beginning that while we are a fund and we

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Speaker 3: are not a church, that our priority, not only but

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Speaker 3: our priority had to be strengthening the church to do

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Speaker 3: the work. The church are the ones that are going

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Speaker 3: to carry out the Great Commission. And so anything we

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Speaker 3: could do not to make a name for ourselves, not

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Speaker 3: to go and set up our own you know, building

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Speaker 3: in our own you know flag or anything that says

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Speaker 3: the Joshua Fund, we wanted to come in and to

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Speaker 3: support what God is doing through his church. And so

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Speaker 3: that's one really important thing to say. But how we

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Speaker 3: do that, I think we'd say there's kind of three

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Speaker 3: main areas. One is something that we call special projects

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Speaker 3: special projects in Israel and special projects in the neighbors.

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Speaker 3: And so those two special projects departments are really looking

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Speaker 3: for ways. We have wonderful staff with a heart of

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Speaker 3: discernment and service and listening and learning, looking for ways

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Speaker 3: to invest in the life local church, in evangelism, in discipleship,

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Speaker 3: in resourcing the church, in helping to create conferences and retreats,

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Speaker 3: to do scholarships for students to go to Bible college

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Speaker 3: or seminary.

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Speaker 1: So they might try encouragement.

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Speaker 3: Right, So, in a myriad of ways, how do we

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Speaker 3: serve the church to strengthen the church? You know, churches

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Speaker 3: in Israel and in the neighboring countries are often quite small.

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Speaker 3: Often those pastors are the only paid staff, and often

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Speaker 3: even that they don't have a full time salary, They

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Speaker 3: often have to work a part time job. And so

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Speaker 3: to even help hire an assistant pastor or a youth pastor,

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Speaker 3: or to hire a bookkeeper and a secretary to take

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Speaker 3: that administrative burden off a pastor is huge, and it's

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Speaker 3: not that much money. So we found God has shown

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Speaker 3: us small ways and big ways just to come alongside

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Speaker 3: and just prayerfully with discernments strengthen the church in as

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Speaker 3: many ways as we can to help them to do

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Speaker 3: the evangelism and the discipleship. So those are special projects,

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Speaker 3: and we do the same exact thing on the neighboring side.

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Speaker 3: So those are two departments. And then we also have

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Speaker 3: our Humanitarian Aid department, which actually was the first department

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Speaker 3: that kind of really got up and running. And it's

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Speaker 3: interesting because, like we mentioned it in the first podcast

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Speaker 3: in this series, you know, our very first grant that

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Speaker 3: we did was to Lebanon during the Second Lebanon War,

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Speaker 3: and it was called Bags of Blessings where we were

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Speaker 3: helping to bring food and supplies and the New Testament and.

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Speaker 1: Gospel and the Jesus Film right.

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Speaker 3: A right to the people in southern Lebanon who had

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Speaker 3: had to flee north because Hesblah and Israel were locked

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Speaker 3: in this battle. And so we knew we can't just

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Speaker 3: give people the Bible. We need to also meet their needs.

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Speaker 3: And one of the verses I wish I could you

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Speaker 3: will probably remember, Joeld, do you remember when Peter the

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Speaker 3: Apostle Peter right, he no, sorry, Paul, he comes to

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Speaker 3: talk with Peter and the church leaders in Jerusalem because

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Speaker 3: they're not sure if they can trust him or not. Right,

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Speaker 3: And so he comes and it says that after the

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Speaker 3: conversation that they extended the hand of fellowship to him.

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Speaker 1: Right, they sort of tested Paul's theology and made sure

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Speaker 1: he was a legit really believer, because they knew him

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Speaker 1: as a Jewish persecutor of the church early on. But

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Speaker 1: obviously you had a dramatic transformation on the road to Damascus.

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Speaker 3: Right, So then Paul says, you know, he writes, they

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Speaker 3: extended the right hand of fellowship to me, and they

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Speaker 3: only encouraged me to not to forget the poor, which

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Speaker 3: I myself was already eager to do. Isn't that an

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Speaker 3: amazing thing? Like when we think of the Apostle Paul,

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Speaker 3: I don't think most people think that he had a

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Speaker 3: heart for the poor necessarily, Like we don't know that

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Speaker 3: about him, And yet that's something that was so important

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Speaker 3: to him, and it was important to the early fathers,

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Speaker 3: and we know we see that in the Book of Acts,

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Speaker 3: how the church was right away selling fields and taking

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Speaker 3: care of the poor, and they were serving the poor

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Speaker 3: even some of the early conflicts that were happening, where

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Speaker 3: who was getting served properly. So God has a heart

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Speaker 3: for serving the poor, and we knew early on that

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Speaker 3: the gospel and meeting practical needs goes together so powerfully

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Speaker 3: that we need to serve people. So those are sort

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Speaker 3: of the three different departments.

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Speaker 1: Well, but you're you're forgetting what this podcast is for.

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Speaker 3: Well, no, I thought you're talking about Yes, I thought

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Speaker 3: you were just talking about what we're doing in the

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Speaker 3: land on the ground. That was Lance's question. So, yes,

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Speaker 3: we have an educational mission as well, which of course

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Speaker 3: is what this podcast is all about, and we definitely mentioned.

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Speaker 1: But you're absolutely right, and that is the right division.

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Speaker 1: And I'd already mentioned it that we're educating the church,

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Speaker 1: mobilized in church. That's the outside, and that's very much

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Speaker 1: what my main focus is in addition to raising funds

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Speaker 1: for the ministry and overseeing the ministry and encouraging this team.

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Speaker 1: You particularly are much more focused on the ground. And

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Speaker 1: then Lance, you're sort of the intersection of what are

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Speaker 1: other ways both outside to educate and immobilize, but also

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Speaker 1: how do we connect believers leaders on the outside to

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Speaker 1: those on the inside who want to learn and say,

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Speaker 1: how can I get involved in the Joshua funds in

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Speaker 1: a very specific and strategic way.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and let me press on one area. You know,

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Speaker 2: you talked about working through the local congregations, the local churches,

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Speaker 2: and certainly we know you know, the gates of Hell

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Speaker 2: do not prevail against the church, and so yes, that's

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Speaker 2: where we pour into trying. But can you take us

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Speaker 2: into the practical side of Like, the reason also is

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Speaker 2: that these are local churches. They have relationships with the

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Speaker 2: local people. So as we pour into these local churches,

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Speaker 2: they're then reaching out into their communities.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so let me use an example from the Humanitied

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Speaker 1: Relief division that we have. So one of the things

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Speaker 1: that's illegal here in Israel is you can't you can

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Speaker 1: do humanity and relief. That's a biblical truth right from

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Speaker 1: the Torah, right Old Testament and New So that's great,

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Speaker 1: but there's a law in Israel that you can't. Like

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Speaker 1: in America, you might have a soup kitchen where you'd

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Speaker 1: have homeless people come in on a Friday night, it's cold,

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Speaker 1: it's rainy and snowy, whatever, you sit everybody down and

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Speaker 1: you share the Gospel with them, and you pray and

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Speaker 1: then you have dinners. Right, you can't do that in Israel,

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Speaker 1: it's illegal to give someone something of material value in

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Speaker 1: return for the hopes that they might convert to your

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Speaker 1: faith right, and so there's a specific legal language for that.

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Speaker 1: But the point is you can't give something a material

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Speaker 1: good as you share the Gospel, as you proselytize whatever.

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Speaker 1: So we obey that scrupulously because we believe at the

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Speaker 1: heart of it is unconditional love. When Jesus fed the

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Speaker 1: five thousand up on the north shores of Galilee, he

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Speaker 1: didn't say, listen, if you're gonna follow me forever, get

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Speaker 1: in this line. You get your food, but otherwise go

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Speaker 1: find a Chick fil a. Oh no, sorry, it's a

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Speaker 1: Sunday and you can't or whatever. He didn't say that.

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Speaker 1: He gave to everybody. Of course, he wanted people to

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Speaker 1: become followers of him as a messiah, but he didn't

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Speaker 1: condition his love and care and pract love on whether

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Speaker 1: they would become a believer or not. Same thing with

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Speaker 1: the ten lepers. He healed all of them, and only

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Speaker 1: one came back to worship him. So when we do

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Speaker 1: Joshua fund humanitarian and relief, we do it through about

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Speaker 1: two dozen different local congregations. There's no logo of the

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Speaker 1: Joshua Fund on the bags or the boxes. There's no

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Speaker 1: Joshuavon logo on the truck. We don't have t shirts

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Speaker 1: or golf shirts that say oh, the Joshua Fund. We

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Speaker 1: don't have ball caps. We're not trying to establish a brand.

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Speaker 1: We're trying to provide food and other type of humanagineer

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Speaker 1: and relief goods to the local believers in the local

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Speaker 1: congregations so that they can care for the poor and needy.

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Speaker 1: In Hebrew, in Arabic, in Russian, in a Hamaharak, the

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Speaker 1: Ethiopian dialect, and joshuvn is not a confuser, it's not

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Speaker 1: a complicator. It has nothing to do with people, because

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Speaker 1: what they need to know is that yes, Christians from

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Speaker 1: around the world, many from North America are providing the

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Speaker 1: food the money to do this because they love you.

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Speaker 1: But then the local believers, they don't share the gospel

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Speaker 1: when they deliver the food. But if somebody started saying, well,

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Speaker 1: well who are you really, why are you doing this,

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Speaker 1: then they might say, well, I can't talk about it now,

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Speaker 1: I have to make another delivery. But let's get to coffee.

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Speaker 1: And if they ask, you can absolutely share your belief,

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Speaker 1: but just not at the same moment. That's just an

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Speaker 1: example of how do you help strengthen the church and

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Speaker 1: not draw attention to the Joshuain. It's not that we're secretive. Obviously,

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Speaker 1: we have a podcast, we have a website, we do

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Speaker 1: a lot of public things. But we're not trying to

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Speaker 1: confuse people by drawing their attention to the Joshua Fund.

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Speaker 1: We want them to think about why. This is the question.

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Speaker 1: We want people to think about, why do the people

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Speaker 1: who love Yeshua Jesus, why do they love me? And

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Speaker 1: why are they showing me the love of Jesus And

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Speaker 1: they're not sharing the love of Jesus, they're not sharing

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Speaker 1: the gospel with me, but they're showing it. Why who

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Speaker 1: are these people? And when somebody genuinely has that question,

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Speaker 1: a spiritual search is likely to ensue and thenslutely within

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Speaker 1: the law. The people that we serve are absolutely loving

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Speaker 1: and serving and sharing the good news of Jesus. And

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Speaker 1: that's just one way of trying to figure out how

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Speaker 1: do we help people who see the good works look

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Speaker 1: to and praise the Father in Heaven, not us or

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Speaker 1: our team.

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Speaker 2: And that all happens at the local congregation level. So

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Speaker 2: it's a congregation right in their neighborhood. It's not someone

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Speaker 2: who comes in and is gone, but it's people right

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Speaker 2: from their own neighborhoods building relationships with and so we

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Speaker 2: need to take a break. But when we come back,

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Speaker 2: we will step into some stories that are specifically built

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Speaker 2: around the work and ministry of the Joshua farn.

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Speaker 3: Welcome back to inside the epicenter. We're so glad that

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Speaker 3: you are with us. Today's verse is from Psalm one

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Speaker 3: twenty two, actually verses six through eight. Pray for the

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Speaker 3: peace of Jerusalem. May those who love you prosper May

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Speaker 3: there be peace within your walls, and prosperity inside your fortresses.

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Speaker 3: And this is a verse I love the most. For

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Speaker 3: the sake of my brothers and friends, I will say,

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Speaker 3: peace be within you. Will you pray for the people

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Speaker 3: that live within those walls of Jerusalem. Inside of Jerusalem

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Speaker 3: and that old city, there are Jews and Arabs, there

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Speaker 3: are Christians, and they're all there hoping and wanting to

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Speaker 3: know God. Would you pray that the Lord would meet

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Speaker 3: them powerfully and that you'd strengthen the church inside those walls.

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Speaker 1: They are there.

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Speaker 3: The believers in the Old City, and we do pray

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Speaker 3: for our brothers and friends there that they would know peace.

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Speaker 3: We are excited to keep telling some stories and we're

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Speaker 3: going to pitch it back to Lancema.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: One of the fun things I've learned over the years

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Speaker 2: is just the heart that so many people have for Israel,

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Speaker 2: but there's also so many people who have a heart

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Speaker 2: for the Arab nations as well. And one of the

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Speaker 2: fun things I've seen you do Joel and Lynn as

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Speaker 2: well over the years is help people to step into

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Speaker 2: the story of what they're not seeing on the news,

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Speaker 2: what they're not reading in newspapers or magazines, but help

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Speaker 2: them to step into the stories of really what's happening

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Speaker 2: on the ground. And so, you know, the question is,

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Speaker 2: as you think of how you help to explain the

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Speaker 2: work and ministry of the Joshua Fund, what are some stories. Yes,

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Speaker 2: scripture is great, that that's our foundation, but how is

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Speaker 2: it carried out? And so so, what are some stories

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Speaker 2: that you all tell to people to take them inside

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Speaker 2: the work of how God is moving in the epicenter.

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Speaker 1: Well, lance I love that question because it has changed

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Speaker 1: over time. When we lived in Northern Virginia, in the Washington,

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Speaker 1: DC area. We would come in and out two, three,

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Speaker 1: four times a year. Lynn and the boys would come

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Speaker 1: over with me for holes, you know, maybe a month

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Speaker 1: in the summer to serve local ministries, work with vacation

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Speaker 1: Bible school or whatever. As we moved here. And this

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Speaker 1: is now a little over twelve years ago. Actually just

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Speaker 1: twelve years ago. You know, it changed because now we're

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Speaker 1: here all the time. And so I'll just give you

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Speaker 1: a few examples. Because I'm known as a author and

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Speaker 1: you know, and as an evangelical, people are curious and

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Speaker 1: they will ask me like if it's God has leveraged

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Speaker 1: in some way. I don't know if that's the right word,

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Speaker 1: but he's using this public persona that I have, that

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Speaker 1: he's created, this public platform. Let's say, he's using it

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Speaker 1: so that when people meet me, many of them already

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Speaker 1: know that I'm an evangelical, because I'm very open about that,

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Speaker 1: whether through the Josh Fund, through my television show on TBN,

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Speaker 1: the Rosenberg Report, or through our All Diginal News, all

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Speaker 1: Arab News programming service. So give an example, or maybe actually, Lynn,

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Speaker 1: you were there. I get all kinds of opportunities. People say, Okay,

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Speaker 1: just can you just tell me your name is Rosenberg?

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Speaker 1: Right right? That's Jewish, isn't it. Well, my father's Jewish,

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Speaker 1: he was raised Orthodox, his family escaped out of Russia

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Speaker 1: as Orthodox Jewish. My mom's not Jewish. Okay, okay, but

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Speaker 1: you are an evangelical? Yes, what is that? And whether

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Speaker 1: it's a sort of a regular person. But it's also

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Speaker 1: we've met with major leaders in Israel, political business, religious leaders.

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Speaker 1: It's amazing and it's almost like Nicodemus moments quiet behind

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Speaker 1: the scenes, where somebody says, can we just take a

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Speaker 1: moment on this? What is an even jolical Lynn? You

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Speaker 1: were with me at We don't want to even allude

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Speaker 1: to who this poticial person was, but it was a

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Speaker 1: major person here in Israel. But would you share a

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Speaker 1: little bit of that story from your angle? Sure?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I would love.

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Speaker 1: To, you know, because it's a lustrative I don't want

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Speaker 1: it to be we're not dropping the name because we

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Speaker 1: don't want to draw attention to that person, but also

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Speaker 1: because it is actually illustrative of lots of conversations we have.

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Speaker 1: It just happened to be this as somebody who you

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Speaker 1: know what famous?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's an amazing thing. You know, you

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Speaker 3: never can pursue such things. You really you pray, Lord,

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Speaker 3: help me be faithful with the talent you gave me,

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Speaker 3: and help me be your witness, you know, very simple prayer.

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Speaker 3: And you write books and then you suddenly people want

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Speaker 3: to talk to you about those books, and sometimes they're

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Speaker 3: leaders of the world, and you're like, how is this happening.

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Speaker 1: We're two kids from from you.

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Speaker 3: Know, we've written about some of those people, and that's

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Speaker 3: been amazing, you know. I mean, I just always wonder

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Speaker 3: what in the heck am I supposed to wear? But

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Speaker 3: you know, and and how can I be spiritually prepared

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Speaker 3: for such meetings?

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Speaker 1: Right?

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Speaker 3: This is not the world I'm used to, for sure,

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Speaker 3: neither of us are used to. But yeah, So one

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Speaker 3: thing that happened we got to meet someone, an Israeli leader,

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Speaker 3: and we were just sitting with him and some of

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Speaker 3: our friends and we was just a quiet moment and

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Speaker 3: having coffee. We were at an event that, you know,

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Speaker 3: a mutual event that we were about to do but together,

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Speaker 3: and this person said to us, so, you know, what

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Speaker 3: I want to understand is what's the difference between Catholics

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Speaker 3: and Orthodox and Protestants. And Baptists, And what I really

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Speaker 3: want to know is which of those are you? And

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Speaker 3: are all of those Christians?

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Speaker 1: And how do they all?

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Speaker 3: Is there a way that all of them come to faith?

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Speaker 3: And it was just one of those questions that you think, Wow, Lord, okay,

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Speaker 3: how am I supposed to answer that question? And Joel

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Speaker 3: I was so proud of him. He just went straight

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Speaker 3: to the heart of the matter. He shared the Gospel

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Speaker 3: and he talked about He said, well, to be a

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Speaker 3: Christian really means to be born again. And he told

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Speaker 3: the story of Nicodemus coming and Jesus, explaining what does

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Speaker 3: it mean to be born again and to come to

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Speaker 3: know Jesus? And so then this person said, well, so

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Speaker 3: like if a person wanted to be born again, what

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Speaker 3: would they need to do?

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Speaker 2: Like?

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Speaker 3: Is there a prayer? They would say? Are there steps

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Speaker 3: they would take? And he had such a heart of humility.

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Speaker 3: And I find this so often we sit with people

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Speaker 3: that you would be so intimidated, and I'm personally so thinking,

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Speaker 3: why am I sitting here with this? And yet they

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Speaker 3: have the same heart, the same need for the Gospel,

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Speaker 3: the same need to know the Lord as anybody. And

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Speaker 3: so this particular man was so humble and asking us

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Speaker 3: those questions, and so you said, well, this is what

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Speaker 3: you would do. And so to think like to sit

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Speaker 3: with someone that not many people get to sit with

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Speaker 3: and to be able to explain what does it mean

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Speaker 3: to know Jesus, to be a follower of Jesus, to

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Speaker 3: be saved, and to be born again. In fact, one

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Speaker 3: of the things that was so amazing is later in

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Speaker 3: that conversation, when we were about to all leave, he

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Speaker 3: said something about age before beauty, you know that phrase,

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Speaker 3: age before beauty, And then he said, well, how do

435
00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:38,120
Speaker 3: you Christians count your age? Is it from when you're

436
00:22:38,119 --> 00:22:40,720
Speaker 3: born again or from when you were first born? And

437
00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:43,280
Speaker 3: I thought, what an amazing he really took that in

438
00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:46,680
Speaker 3: he listened, and so yeah, we pray for these many

439
00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:49,639
Speaker 3: conversations like that, but that was one that after he

440
00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:51,639
Speaker 3: left we all thought, did that really just happen?

441
00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:55,439
Speaker 1: Right? And the reason I think that's interesting, Land is

442
00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:58,240
Speaker 1: we don't want people to walk away from this podcast going, oh,

443
00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:01,760
Speaker 1: they get opportunities with you know, high level famous people.

444
00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:05,280
Speaker 1: That's true, and I can't explain the why of that

445
00:23:05,359 --> 00:23:07,840
Speaker 1: guy is just opening those doors. But we have those

446
00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:11,280
Speaker 1: type of conversations and the staff, the team here all

447
00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:15,000
Speaker 1: the time, soldiers, students over the age of eighteen, we're

448
00:23:15,080 --> 00:23:18,000
Speaker 1: very careful about that. You can't people over eighteen cannot

449
00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:20,399
Speaker 1: share the Gospel with people under eighteen. So you have

450
00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:22,880
Speaker 1: to train and equip and disciple people who are under

451
00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:25,040
Speaker 1: eighteen to share the Gospel with their own friends and

452
00:23:25,359 --> 00:23:29,520
Speaker 1: colleagues and classmates. But this happens all over the country.

453
00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:32,320
Speaker 1: You know, Lynn gets opportunities. She's just you know, she's

454
00:23:32,359 --> 00:23:34,399
Speaker 1: on a school board or she's meeting with a neighbor

455
00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:37,360
Speaker 1: and they're just like, so, what is the Joshua fun

456
00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:41,080
Speaker 1: and what is an evangelical? That question alone, like in America, now,

457
00:23:41,119 --> 00:23:44,240
Speaker 1: Evan Jelko is somewhat controversial. Does that mean you're political?

458
00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:46,960
Speaker 1: Does that mean you're a Maga Trump person or not?

459
00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:50,160
Speaker 1: Or you know that it has all those extra complications here,

460
00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:53,480
Speaker 1: Evan Jelko is actually an intriguing word for it means

461
00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:57,080
Speaker 1: to many Israelis it means you're a Christian that actually

462
00:23:57,119 --> 00:24:02,159
Speaker 1: loves us, but we don't know why. So and that happens,

463
00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:05,520
Speaker 1: you know, again, when we're delivering humanity and relief at

464
00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:08,719
Speaker 1: that moment, we can't answer those questions, but we don't

465
00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:12,119
Speaker 1: just deliver food with our staff. We visit these people

466
00:24:12,119 --> 00:24:14,959
Speaker 1: and we meet people and people invite us. Hey. We

467
00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:17,359
Speaker 1: had an evening where a couple that lived near a

468
00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:20,399
Speaker 1: major university. They're like, hey, we would like to have

469
00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:22,560
Speaker 1: an author night. You're a famous author. Why don't you

470
00:24:22,560 --> 00:24:26,440
Speaker 1: come and tell your story your testimony. People will be intrigued.

471
00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:28,520
Speaker 1: And then you had a room of I don't know

472
00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:33,320
Speaker 1: thirty or forty students and graduate students and PhD countidates

473
00:24:33,359 --> 00:24:37,399
Speaker 1: scientists saying, hey, wait, what why do you believe that

474
00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:41,440
Speaker 1: Jesus is the Messiah? They literally never heard someone say this.

475
00:24:42,040 --> 00:24:45,560
Speaker 1: And so often we get opportunities because people say, would

476
00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:47,720
Speaker 1: you come and meet my friend? They would like to

477
00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:50,760
Speaker 1: know and it's exciting. Yeah.

478
00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:53,720
Speaker 2: And so those are our specific ways that the Lord

479
00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:56,840
Speaker 2: has used the both of you in those settings. And

480
00:24:56,920 --> 00:25:01,119
Speaker 2: I think for our listeners and viewers, it's important information

481
00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:05,480
Speaker 2: to know that, yes, Jews in Israel do not necessarily

482
00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:11,320
Speaker 2: know the Gospel, they do not necessarily know our Christian faith, etc. Etc.

483
00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:15,400
Speaker 2: And so those conversations are frequent. But let's also take

484
00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:20,720
Speaker 2: our listeners and viewers into partners that we've invested in

485
00:25:21,119 --> 00:25:24,000
Speaker 2: and how they have carried out the work as well.

486
00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:27,040
Speaker 2: So do you have some stories along those lines.

487
00:25:27,359 --> 00:25:28,960
Speaker 1: And do you want to share? I mean, we have

488
00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:31,200
Speaker 1: lots of them. I'm hard to know. In the next

489
00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:32,520
Speaker 1: few minutes, well.

490
00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:34,479
Speaker 3: I'll tell you. I'll tell you a couple, one of

491
00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:38,320
Speaker 3: a partnership that's very dear to me. Are Actually it's

492
00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:42,040
Speaker 3: a wonderful little team made up of a Messianic Jewish

493
00:25:42,119 --> 00:25:45,840
Speaker 3: pastor and a couple that are Arab Israelis. And so

494
00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:49,280
Speaker 3: this little trio they are down in the desert city

495
00:25:49,320 --> 00:25:53,200
Speaker 3: here in Israel, and they work among a very vulnerable population,

496
00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:57,520
Speaker 3: which are the Bedouin, which are Arab people who are

497
00:25:57,560 --> 00:26:00,640
Speaker 3: living very close in some respects to the way Abraham lives.

498
00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:04,639
Speaker 3: They're nomadic. The actual word Bedouin means nomadic, and so

499
00:26:04,680 --> 00:26:06,520
Speaker 3: they live in tents. They sort of live off the

500
00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:10,080
Speaker 3: grid and ungoverned parts of the land, and they don't

501
00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:14,919
Speaker 3: have often the resources like even electricity or schools, although

502
00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:16,520
Speaker 3: Israel has done a very good job to try to

503
00:26:16,520 --> 00:26:18,679
Speaker 3: provide those things. But they really kind of want to

504
00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:22,560
Speaker 3: live this separate and independent life. There are Muslims and

505
00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:26,240
Speaker 3: they are considered an unreached people group in world. You know,

506
00:26:26,359 --> 00:26:30,879
Speaker 3: ministry framework. And so this little team of three have

507
00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:35,520
Speaker 3: started a ministry center to Bedouin women. They are often

508
00:26:35,840 --> 00:26:39,239
Speaker 3: you know, in Islam, in that particular iteration of it,

509
00:26:39,280 --> 00:26:41,280
Speaker 3: among the Bedouin, you can have up to four wives

510
00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:44,760
Speaker 3: that's allowed, and so these are often the second, third,

511
00:26:44,760 --> 00:26:48,240
Speaker 3: and fourth wife that are rather or first wife that's

512
00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:51,359
Speaker 3: been neglected or rejected. So they've got children, they're living

513
00:26:51,359 --> 00:26:52,360
Speaker 3: in extreme poverty.

514
00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:55,359
Speaker 1: They've never had an of Hagar and how Hagar was

515
00:26:55,400 --> 00:26:59,160
Speaker 1: treated by Sarah or by Abraham. Like just it gets

516
00:26:59,240 --> 00:27:02,560
Speaker 1: people a picture of how left out you feel as

517
00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:05,960
Speaker 1: the other woman in a legal system in their world.

518
00:27:06,080 --> 00:27:09,240
Speaker 3: But yeah, hard, it's hard to get your mind around,

519
00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:12,080
Speaker 3: as you know Americans for sure. But this is the

520
00:27:12,119 --> 00:27:13,080
Speaker 3: reality on the ground.

521
00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:13,760
Speaker 1: And they are.

522
00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:17,400
Speaker 3: Bringing food to these families, to these women and children

523
00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:21,000
Speaker 3: and men of course too, but they're bringing food to them.

524
00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:23,680
Speaker 3: But also they created a center, a safe place where

525
00:27:23,680 --> 00:27:26,480
Speaker 3: they've trained them to do projects where they can earn

526
00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:29,600
Speaker 3: money for themselves. Some of these women never knew how

527
00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:33,120
Speaker 3: to use a scissor, couldn't read, and they have worship

528
00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:36,360
Speaker 3: music playing and they have a Bible study together. They

529
00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:39,399
Speaker 3: talk about the Lord and so they're sewing together and

530
00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:41,720
Speaker 3: working together. And I've sat there with them and had

531
00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:44,400
Speaker 3: Turkish coffee with them and listened to them share their

532
00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:47,800
Speaker 3: stories of abuse and neglect and then the hope that

533
00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:51,440
Speaker 3: they've found that these Christians, and it's like amazing to them.

534
00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:54,640
Speaker 3: There's Jewish Christians and there's Arab Christians, and they love

535
00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:56,800
Speaker 3: us and they've made this safe place for us. So

536
00:27:57,200 --> 00:27:59,600
Speaker 3: the fact that we get to support a place like that,

537
00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:02,000
Speaker 3: this is the type of thing that we're just so

538
00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:02,960
Speaker 3: thrilled to do.

539
00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:07,919
Speaker 1: And I think that's a very central Joshua dynamic and value,

540
00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:11,399
Speaker 1: which is we need to show the love of Jesus

541
00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:14,879
Speaker 1: to the power less, to the poor, but also to

542
00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:17,720
Speaker 1: the powerful and people who are wealthy and have all

543
00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:21,560
Speaker 1: kinds of means. Jesus loved everybody. Now, yes, it's true

544
00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:24,480
Speaker 1: that Jesus said it's easier for a camel to go

545
00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:26,360
Speaker 1: through the eye of a needle than for a wealthy

546
00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:29,000
Speaker 1: person to come to faith, But that doesn't mean you're

547
00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:32,200
Speaker 1: not supposed to witness to them, love them, and give

548
00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:34,440
Speaker 1: them an opportunity to ask their questions. And I think

549
00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:36,800
Speaker 1: this is the thing. How does it in the end,

550
00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:40,880
Speaker 1: how would everybody in Israel and the neighborhood, at least

551
00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:45,360
Speaker 1: hear the gospel and answer ask their questions and get

552
00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:48,880
Speaker 1: answers in their heart language. You know, as Paul wrote

553
00:28:49,160 --> 00:28:51,760
Speaker 1: in Romans ten, how are they going to believe if

554
00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:54,520
Speaker 1: they haven't even heard? And how are they going to

555
00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:57,840
Speaker 1: hear unless somebody tells them? And how is somebody going

556
00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:00,640
Speaker 1: to tell them unless they're sent? And in the sense

557
00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:03,720
Speaker 1: that Joshua is not really I wouldn't say sending people,

558
00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:06,520
Speaker 1: but we are investing in people who are sent. We're

559
00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:09,280
Speaker 1: funding them, we're praying for them, we're encouraging them, We're

560
00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:13,760
Speaker 1: providing training as needed and necessary and available. That's how

561
00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:17,239
Speaker 1: people are going to hear. Now. Our staff on the

562
00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:20,360
Speaker 1: ground here and our staff that comes in and out,

563
00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:23,320
Speaker 1: they do so much more than we can do on

564
00:29:23,360 --> 00:29:26,280
Speaker 1: a day to day basis. That's the beauty of having

565
00:29:26,480 --> 00:29:29,080
Speaker 1: now two dozen people on the joshuaon team. We didn't

566
00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:32,520
Speaker 1: have anybody twenty years ago. Now there's a teams that

567
00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:34,920
Speaker 1: have a heart, and they're equipped, and they've got passion,

568
00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:38,840
Speaker 1: and they've got giftings and to watch the body serve

569
00:29:38,920 --> 00:29:42,600
Speaker 1: the local body in Israel and the neighborhood. That's how

570
00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:45,520
Speaker 1: we think the church is supposed to operate when the

571
00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:49,960
Speaker 1: body is working together, and we're not usually the mouthpieces.

572
00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:53,840
Speaker 1: We're usually the funders, the encouragers, the prayer warriors. But

573
00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:57,560
Speaker 1: thanks for asking just a few examples of how does

574
00:29:57,600 --> 00:30:01,600
Speaker 1: this happen? And this happens multip that by hundreds every

575
00:30:01,640 --> 00:30:02,280
Speaker 1: single week.

576
00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:06,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, And so these first two episodes we've tried to

577
00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:10,160
Speaker 2: lay that foundation and for you to share heart and

578
00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:14,000
Speaker 2: vision and both of your experiences over these twenty years.

579
00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:16,960
Speaker 2: And as we look towards our next episode, we want

580
00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:19,720
Speaker 2: to bring in some of those who are part of

581
00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:23,720
Speaker 2: the Joshua Fun team and who are on the ground working.

582
00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:27,160
Speaker 2: So stay tuned for the next episode where you'll meet

583
00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:31,120
Speaker 2: staff members and ministry partners as well as we continue

584
00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:34,320
Speaker 2: to celebrate all that the Lord has done these last

585
00:30:34,320 --> 00:30:37,280
Speaker 2: twenty years and also look forward to what he's going

586
00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:38,760
Speaker 2: to do into the future as well.

587
00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:42,600
Speaker 1: Amen, we are going to continue to cover war and

588
00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:46,520
Speaker 1: elections and peace efforts and all kinds of things going

589
00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:49,080
Speaker 1: on in this region. But when we take you inside

590
00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:51,760
Speaker 1: the epicenter, it's not just we don't want to focus

591
00:30:51,800 --> 00:30:54,400
Speaker 1: just on what Satan is doing, or what world leaders

592
00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:56,720
Speaker 1: are doing or what regional leaders are doing. We want

593
00:30:56,720 --> 00:30:59,160
Speaker 1: you to see what God is doing. That's why we

594
00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:01,520
Speaker 1: want to take you in side the Epicenter. And I

595
00:31:01,520 --> 00:31:03,320
Speaker 1: don't think you're going to hear this in too many

596
00:31:03,320 --> 00:31:07,720
Speaker 1: places on CNN, on NBC News, on the BBC. So

597
00:31:08,240 --> 00:31:10,760
Speaker 1: that's why we do what we do. LANCE so grateful

598
00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:13,360
Speaker 1: that you're on this team again and that you had

599
00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:15,480
Speaker 1: this idea for this series. And I just want to

600
00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:18,120
Speaker 1: say thank you, Lynn, that it's so fun to first

601
00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:20,600
Speaker 1: of all, to be married to you for thirty six years,

602
00:31:20,640 --> 00:31:24,880
Speaker 1: to have been on this adventure of life and ministry,

603
00:31:24,960 --> 00:31:28,480
Speaker 1: and then this twenty years of trying to strengthen the

604
00:31:28,560 --> 00:31:31,160
Speaker 1: church and mobilize the church to bless Israel and her

605
00:31:31,160 --> 00:31:33,360
Speaker 1: neighbors in the name of Jesus. I want to thank

606
00:31:33,360 --> 00:31:36,560
Speaker 1: you all for watching and listening. Couple notes. We want

607
00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:38,640
Speaker 1: you to come and see it for yourself. Come to

608
00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:42,040
Speaker 1: Israel with the Joshua Fun. We've got a tour March

609
00:31:42,080 --> 00:31:45,200
Speaker 1: twenty ninth through April ninth of next year that will

610
00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:49,280
Speaker 1: include the one day Epicenter Summit, and you can find

611
00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:53,160
Speaker 1: out all about the details, the itinerary and the costs,

612
00:31:53,600 --> 00:31:57,520
Speaker 1: and you can sign up at joshuafund dot com Again,

613
00:31:57,920 --> 00:32:00,480
Speaker 1: Joshua fund dot com. We would love to have you

614
00:32:00,600 --> 00:32:03,880
Speaker 1: with us, and we also want to encourage you to

615
00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:07,600
Speaker 1: become not just a prayer warrior definitely, but a financial

616
00:32:07,680 --> 00:32:10,880
Speaker 1: partner as well. You can become an epicenter ally. You

617
00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:14,840
Speaker 1: can by donating fifty dollars or more per month and

618
00:32:14,880 --> 00:32:16,960
Speaker 1: you can just sign up on that so easily all

619
00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:21,320
Speaker 1: the details. It's tech, it's deductible, it's secure online, which

620
00:32:21,320 --> 00:32:24,080
Speaker 1: if you want to send an actual physical check, because

621
00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:26,520
Speaker 1: that's what you prefer, it'll tell you where to send

622
00:32:26,520 --> 00:32:28,440
Speaker 1: it and all the details. You can go to Joshua

623
00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:31,320
Speaker 1: fund dot com. Right up in the top right hand button,

624
00:32:31,320 --> 00:32:34,120
Speaker 1: there's a corner. There's a button that says donate. It

625
00:32:34,160 --> 00:32:36,920
Speaker 1: doesn't mean you have donated, it means it'll show you

626
00:32:37,240 --> 00:32:39,480
Speaker 1: the steps to take. So we encourage you to do

627
00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:42,880
Speaker 1: that because we need your love and your support more

628
00:32:42,920 --> 00:32:47,160
Speaker 1: than ever as the needs are growing. And after twenty years,

629
00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:50,080
Speaker 1: God has given us a lot of insight but also

630
00:32:50,160 --> 00:32:52,880
Speaker 1: a lot of trust in the region and we want

631
00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:56,120
Speaker 1: to be good stewards of that trust. But that trust

632
00:32:56,160 --> 00:32:58,200
Speaker 1: means that a lot of ministries are coming to us

633
00:32:58,200 --> 00:33:01,480
Speaker 1: and saying hey, as this war starts has dialed down,

634
00:33:02,040 --> 00:33:05,520
Speaker 1: the opportunities to show the love of Jesus and share

635
00:33:05,560 --> 00:33:09,400
Speaker 1: the love of Jesus are multiplying. Could you help us?

636
00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:11,600
Speaker 1: And the only way we can say yes is if

637
00:33:11,640 --> 00:33:14,480
Speaker 1: you pray for us and you get financially involved as well.

638
00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:18,880
Speaker 1: So thank you so much, Lynn Lance for all of us.

639
00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:22,400
Speaker 1: This is Joel Rosenberg in Jerusalem, thanking you on behalf

640
00:33:22,440 --> 00:33:25,320
Speaker 1: of the board, the staff, and our wonderful production team

641
00:33:25,360 --> 00:33:27,840
Speaker 1: for this podcast. Thank you for watching and listening to

642
00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:30,600
Speaker 1: Inside the Epicenter. We look forward to seeing you on

643
00:33:30,640 --> 00:33:34,480
Speaker 1: the next edition from Jerusalem. God bless you and Sharon