Approaching to His Goodness-B2IL 2025 Feb. News Letter

We’re already two months into 2025. With political upheavals around the world, we’re seeing a lot of tides shift. Unfortunately, not in a good way. The global impact of martial law in South Korea and Trump’s re-election are looming large on the ground in Israel. Israel has had a lot of challenges in the past year and a half with the war with Hamas, but thankfully, the ceasefire is going well. There have been some hostage exchanges, but there have also been some excruciating and sad things that have happened.

A family was kidnapped together, but only the father returned alive; his young children and his wife were returned dead. There are no words to describe the broken hearts and pain. Amidst all this, Bridge to Israel has had a busy January and February. We’ve had some special people visit us; memorable interactions have brought us together as a community. We want to share that grace and gratitude with you, our Prayer partners.

It’s a joy to worship together.

Last January was a thought-provoking time. Jewish friends around me were asking me what was going on in Korea, and I was at a loss for words. What would be the fate of our country? But it wasn’t just our country. It seems that the whole world is suffering from political, military, and economic difficulties that make us wonder if we have lost the purpose of our lives, not only to look out for others but also to worship God.

As the world faces difficulties, we have time to share how important it is to worship together. During February, we held a Worship School for two hours each week with our worship team and students who wanted to learn more about worship.

We worship all the time. We worship so naturally and freely, whether on Sundays or during the week, that we don’t often stop to think about how vital our worship is and whether we’re heading in the right direction. The students in our community were wondering the same thing. It was a time to examine and reflect on our worship.

During the three-week worship school, we learned the definition of worship, its biblical meaning, and the posture of worship that we should have. We then used the Tabernacle to explore what worship looks like and means and consider how we should worship as worship leaders.

Although many people could not join us, the 10 or so of us who gathered could pray together and look at the Bible to discover the more profound meaning and posture of worship God has given us. We all want to pray together to become more authentic worshippers as we pray and worship.

Beyond Hate to Love – The Testimony of Rami Parasha

We have a special visitor in our community, Pastor Rami Farasha, a friend of a family who shared his faith testimony with our students a few years ago. Rami was an Iranian Muslim who experienced an amazing miracle of transformation when he met Jesus in the midst of misunderstanding Islamic teachings and religion, which landed him in jail. He was miraculously released from the threat of death and fled Iran for the United States.

There, he was once again led by God to study theology and became a pastor and evangelist for the gospel of Christ. After discovering that the things he had been taught about Israel were false, he has been actively ministering to Muslims who have been poorly taught by the Islamic powers that rule Iran and bringing them to Jesus for salvation.

He visited our community in January and shared his testimony with us. We learned things about the reality of Iran and the false teachings of Islam that we didn’t know, and we were reminded of how much God loves Israel and the nations and wants them to be united. Later that afternoon, Rami shared with the local Jews about his faith and the reality of Iran, sharing how precious Israel is to God and demonstrating his love for Israel. Please join us in praying that many more people will come to know Jesus and be united with Israel through Rami’s ministry.

God’s Intercessors Visit

In January, we had a very grateful guest visit. The pastor, his wife, and three pastors from Potter Church in Korea, who have always prayed for a Bridge to Israel and welcomed the Israeli pastors who visited Korea together last October, visited Israel with us. Although Israel is still at war and in a difficult situation, they remembered the invitation to Israel during the previous visit of the Israeli pastors. They were willing to worship and pray with us even under challenging circumstances.

Beginning January 15, I traveled to Israel for two weeks with five visitors, sharing with them the local context and places in the biblical land of Israel. Many people intercede for Israel without knowing much about the country. The idea of Israel as the Holy Land is so strong that we often return home without understanding the lives of real Israelis, Jews, Arabs, and other diverse people.

This time, however, our visitors were able to spend time in fellowship not only with the land of Israel but also with local church pastors. We traveled to Sderot, the closest city to Gaza, to worship and share grace with the City of Life community, ministering light and salt there. The senior pastor of the Potter church gave the local congregation a challenging message and prayer. I was thankfully able to serve as an interpreter this time, and while I struggled to translate to Russian after so many years, I vowed to do better next time and prayed fervently that I would be able to translate to Hebrew soon.

Expecting a God who is always the same

Looking back over the past two months, I realize it hasn’t been easy. It was a difficult time for me, but as I reflected on the situation in Israel and Korea, both economically and spiritually, I prayed more for the people in Israel and the churches in Korea who are living here and now than for my struggles.

During the hostage exchange with Hamas, I saw both life and death. I felt the pain of the Bibas family, whose entire family was kidnapped, and only the father survived. The stark contrast between those who only use someone’s death as a tool for their agenda and those who mourn someone else’s death as if it were their own was an unfortunate reality.

Israel is still vilified and criticized in Korea and elsewhere. In the claims of being for Palestine, there is only criticism without any solutions. It is difficult for me to understand how the cry for Palestine is equated with my country, and the Israeli flag during the opposing arguments is also not easy for me to understand. The attitude of defending or comforting one side or the other without reflecting on and understanding the pain and suffering of others is far from the mercy and compassion that God tells us about.

As Pastor Ramey says, relying on God’s Word is the only way to avoid being easily deceived by lies and blinded to the truth. If we are guided by God’s truth, we will not make biased and erroneous judgments.

We are even more thankful for God’s perfection and sameness in times like these. It’s easy for us to be biased by our interests and feelings, but God always sees us from the same perspective: He loved us enough to send His Son to pay for our sins and save us, and He commands us to share His love today. Jesus’ teachings about loving your enemies and establishing justice and righteousness hold us accountable for living up to God’s standards for our contemporaries.

As faithful believers and followers of God, we want to live by God’s standards. We want to live with the expectation that God will make us whole.

Prayer Request

1. Pray for Israel
   • May God’s compassion and comfort be upon the families of all the hostages. We pray that the 59 hostages who have not yet been returned will be negotiated and returned safely to their families.
   • Pray for God’s wisdom and courage for Israel’s government officials and IDF troops. Pray for wisdom in choosing the best course of action in negotiations with Hamas and for courage, strength, and God’s goodness for the soldiers as they struggle to defend their country.
   • We pray that all of Israel will have the strength and flexibility to weather the economic storm.
   • Pray that Israel will not be isolated and will be used as a conduit for peace in the Middle East.
2. Prayer for Palestine
   • I pray for the goodness and wisdom to have the goal of working together with Israel rather than against it.
   • Pray that more of God’s people will be established among the Palestinians and that through them the way will be opened for reconciliation with Israel.
   • Pray for the destruction of Hamas militants so that the people of Gaza will no longer suffer.
   • We pray that God’s prepared people will be renewed to proclaim His gospel in Gaza.
   • We pray that the shattered Gaza Strip will be restored soon, that those who have lost their homes will find smiles again, and that together with Israel, we will defeat the oppressive Hamas.
3. Pray for the nations.
   • We pray for a speedy end to the Ukraine-Russia war and for peace to come.
   • I pray that the leaders of both countries will now have the courage and determination to take a step toward peace, not war.
   • We pray for a wave of revival among those suffering from the war and for Christians to intercede for the nation.
   • We pray that the war wounds will be healed and that a history of restoration and revival will occur through Christians.
4. Pray for our Korea
   • We pray for wisdom and courage for our citizens, divided on the left and right, to come together as one and work for the good of our country.
   • We pray that politicians and religious leaders who divide by spreading biased ideas will be defeated and those who discern God’s goodness and justice will emerge.
   • Pray for leaders who are sorry for their mistakes and who look beyond political ideology and want to make Korea a country to be proud of once again.
   • I pray that the Holy Spirit will rebuke the church during this time to avoid political ideology and faulty theology so that we can truly fulfill our role as the light and salt of Christ.
5. We pray for a Bridge to Israel.
   • We pray that God will anoint Bridge to Israel to serve as a beacon in the Negev.
   • Pray that the Negev Midrashet communities that Bridge to Israel serves will become stronger before God and full of grace and the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
   • Pray for financial resources ($4000/month) and partners for Bridge to Israel’s ministry (worship, outreach, and education to reach new horizons).
   • We are praying for new ministries. We are preparing for a cultural center and a youth bible ministry. We pray that God will open the way for this.
6. Praying for the family.
   • Yejun’s visa will expire at the end of April. After that, he will turn 18 and will not be eligible for a family visa. We are explaining to the Israeli Visa Bureau that Yejun needs to finish his current studies, but we have not heard back from them. We pray that his visa will be extended safely.
   • Ha Jun is traveling to Korea to join the military. Pray that he will enlist safely and start his military life during this difficult time.
   • We pray for the ministry of both of us (Joseph Kim and Lina Nam). We pray for wisdom, strength, and the anointing of the Holy Spirit for their ministry of preaching and worship, pastoring and shepherding, evangelism and outreach, education, and church community work.
   • I pray specifically for my finances. We pray for a small amount of money every month. The cost of living outside of ministry is much higher than in other parts of the world, so it is always a challenge. We pray that God will open up our finances so that we can meet all of our needs without lacking anything. (Needs: $2000 per month)

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