The positive response to a full page pro-Israel advertisement in the Sunday Times of August 31 “has exceeded all expectations” says Vivienne Myburgh who initiated the Christian-funded advertising campaign to counter recent negative media on Israel.
“We have been inundated with emails from the Jewish community in SA and from around the world. The advert continues to be forwarded all over the world. The Jerusalem Post, an Israeli newspaper referred to it in an article this week, making reference to it as an example of the support Israel is receiving from the Christian community,” she says.
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Myburgh, a prominent pro-Israel Christian activist from Stellenbosch, succeeded in raising hundreds of thousands of rands within just over a week to pay for the advertisement.
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“Some Jewish people have called me in tears as they endeavour to express their gratitude to the Christian community for standing up for truth, at this very hard time for them. The nations and media continue to lambaste Israel for defending herself and even accuse her of war crimes. Many despair of truth ever been told and this is why there has been such a response ….it has brought a measure of hope and the comfort of knowing that they DO have many friends who do not just accept the misinformation being fed through the media but are prepared to defend Israel if needed.
This extract from a Jewish lady received sums it up…’I am writing to try and express the extreme gratitude I feel, and how deeply moved I am by your powerful show of support and love for Israel and your fellow SA Jews. To be allied with people of faith and courage and goodness such as yourselves is an honour and a comfort. Thank you!’ ” says Myburgh in an email to Gateway News.
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She continues: “This has been a special time and opportunity to comfort Zion as the prophet Isaiah asks us to do and also to declare to the nations that He who called Israel is faithful to keep them, watch over them and to restore them according to His Word.
“The incredible favour we received and the way the costs came down (3x) and the way that it all came together testifies to the perfect timing and hand of the Lord on this initiative. We pray that it will continue to bear fruit beyond our understanding.
“When I felt led to do this, I spoke to a few people who were not very supportive of the idea at first. After receiving clear and unexpected confirmation we decided to go ahead, trusting the Lord to work it all out. The cost was crazy ( an advert of the exact type would cost over R500 000). In spite of feeling totally out of my depth and not seeing how we could raise the funds and get it out by the deadline, the Lord had a plan and brought it all together, just in time!
“One of my life prayers has been…’Lord let me make a difference that is totally out of proportion to who I am’, so that I would know that it was only Him and not my own strength that had achieved whatever I felt called to do. This experience has been an example of this. Please be encouraged to trust the Lord, in this way, in these days ahead!
“And so I encourage us all to not forget the instructions in Isaiah 62
v1
“ For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep quiet,
Until her righteousness goes forth like brightness,
And her salvation like a torch that is burning.
v 6-7
“Oh your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen,
All day and all night they will never keep silent.
You who remind the Lord, take no rest for yourselves;
And give Him no rest until he establishes
And makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
“Remember that Israel’s restoration is preparation for her eventual glory!”
According to a message at the bottom of the advertisement, it was funded and placed in faith by Christians in the interest of educating people with Biblical and factual truth about Israel. The logos of ICEJ (International Christian Embassy Jerusalem), Africa for Israel Christian Coalition and Bridges for Peace, who stood together to support the campaign, are also displayed at the bottom of the advertisement.
Hashem Yeshua!
May we see more followers of Jesus stand up in combined support for what they believe in. It’s about time. Well done.
We need more ads like these and info in our news papers so that the ignorant may be educated about Israel, that they are not the enemy but Hamas is. I find it mind boggling that people like Desmond Tutu can support terrorist organizations like Hamas. Well done and keep up the good work!
Thank you and well done. The world needs to be made aware about who Israel really belongs to. God is the God of Israel. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. There is no other God beside HIM.
good news !
Mazeltov!!
Vivenne Myburgh has based this whole campaign on a faulty theological premise. Although the Jews are our “older brothers” in the faith, we must remember that they see our Lord Jesus Christ as nothing more than a false messiah, a mere man. They reject Him and His New Covenant. They may be a nation of ethnic Jews in a country called Israel (established by the UN in 1948 – prior to that it was PALESTINE), but it is WE Christians all over the world, the global body of Christ, who are the new and true Israel. Jesus will come again for the new Israel which is his spiritual communion of believers around the world, not specifically or only for spot of land named Israel on a map. If you don’t understand this, then you have a very rudimentary knowledge of the New Testament and I encourage you to develop your theology (i.e. by finding a better church with sound biblical preaching and exposition, not “fluff”). As Christians we shouldn’t be pro-Israel or pro-Palestine. We should be PRO-PEACE. You do realize there are Palestinian Christians being harmed by this senseless war too?! Do you not care for them? The amount of money spent on this advert could have been better utilized to call Jews, Muslims and other non-believers to Christ!
Most people in the world and many, many Christians see it the way you see it. That is why the advert is so important. To help people see the truth for themselves and refuse to fall for the multitude of lies about Israel. God still loves Israel and He protects and supports them which is why they are so blessed. All the nations around it will perish but Israel will remain in the end. The Bible teaches that those who bless Israel will be blessed and those who curse Israel will be cursed. How I wish that all Christians would support Israel wholeheartedly. I cannot understand why any Christian would not do so. We have been amazingly blessed through Jesus who was a Jew.
Michelle – A very dangerous theology you are advocating in Replacement Theology! The New Testament Church has NOT replaced Yisrael! We preach the Gospel of Yahshua Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ to the Jew first and also to the Greek (Gentile)!
Psa 122:1 A Song of degrees of David. I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.
Psa 122:2 Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.
Psa 122:3 Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together:
Psa 122:4 Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD.
Psa 122:5 For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David.
Psa 122:6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.
Psa 122:7 Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.
Psa 122:8 For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee.
Psa 122:9 Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek thy good.
The Holy Bible teaches Judeo-Christianity.
Thank you Michelle.