Please heal Ammi, Lord Jesus

Received this email today:

Dear Friends,

David and Leah Ortiz' 15 year old son, Ammi, (Hebrew for 'My People') was critically injured by a booby-trapped Purim basket on Thursday afternoon. (See attached articles from Jerusalem Post and Ynet). Police are saying that it was the work of religious fanatical 'Anti-Jewish Believers'. David and Leah are Leaders of Ariel Messianic Congregation in Ariel, Israel.

Ammi was rushed to Beilinson hospital where he underwent surgery for at least 7 hours. Please pray for the Lord to preserve his life and to heal him.

Please remember David and Leah and their other 5 children at this extremely difficult time. They ask that the prayer request be circulated as widely as possible, believing that the Lord will answer the prayers of His people.

http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,3521768,00.html

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1205420741251

Blessings and shalom,

Richard and Yardena Frieden
Jerusalem, Israel

--- end of email ---

ARTICLE

The scene of Thursday's explosion in Ariel.

Son of Ariel pastor injured in blast

ANOTHER ARTICLE

Family of American-Israeli Pastor Targeted in Bomb Attack

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Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - Jewish or Muslim extremists may be behind the bomb blast that wounded the 15-year-old son of a prominent Israeli-American Christian pastor here on Thursday evening, media reports said on Friday. The boy was seriously wounded by shrapnel when he opened a package -- disguised as a gift basket -- delivered to the family's home. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the bomb blast, at the home of the boy's parents David and Leah Ortiz, is considered a criminal act, but he added that all possibilities are being considered. The Ortizes, who are dual Israeli-American citizens, are well known in their West Bank community of Ariel where they have lived for more than 10 years. Leah Ortiz and her children are Messianic Jews -- Jews who believe that Jesus is their promised Messiah -- something that infuriates some religious Jews. "Messianic Jews suffer a lot of harassment and other types of violence -- burning down meeting places, pestering [us] at home, the publishing of announcements featuring our pictures and more," a family friend named Roni was quoted as telling the Israeli internet site YNET. Caleb Meyers, a local attorney, was quoted as saying that there is a "campaign of harassment against the Messianic Jewish community by radical religious organizations that are trying to create dehumanization -- especially in religious newspapers." There are about 15,000 people in the Messianic Jewish community in Israel. David Ortiz has been threatened many times in the past, including by a Muslim preacher during a Friday sermon on the Temple Mount several years ago. He works primarily in the West Bank with Palestinians, telling Muslims about Jesus. Some of those who become Christian come under severe persecution in the Palestinian Authority areas.

ANTHER ARTICLE
Update: Bombing Victim Son of Prominent Pastor

ANOTHER ARTICLE

Israeli pastor's son injured by parcel bomb

Mar 21, '08 4:31 AM for everyone

Israeli pastor's son injured by parcel bomb
Mar 21, '08 4:31 AM

On 20th March, the day before the Jewish festival of Purim, David Ortiz, the pastor of a Messianic Jewish congregation in Ariel, Israel, received a powerful parcel-bomb. His fifteen year old son Ami opened the parcel, which a source in Ariel said appeared to be a Purim basket full of goodies of the kind Jewish people traditionally send to each other at Purim. The bomb exploded, shaking the whole apartment, shattering all the windows and damaging two cars parked in the street. Ami was rushed to hospital with serious burns to his head and neck, and shrapnel buried in his back and neck. Early reports suggest that Ami may have lost an arm. Ami was a keen basketball player and very popular in Ariel. His family, however, is very unpopular because they are Messianic Jews.

The Israeli press has reported the parcel bomb. Ynet quotes suggestions the bomb may have been the work of "a cult", while The Jerusalem Post says the police have not ruled out the possibility that the blast was a "terror attack". None have opted for the most obvious suspects: Orthodox Jewish anti-missionaries, who have a long and violent track record of opposition to Messianic Jews and Christian missionaries. This latest attack on Jewish believers ought to send a clear message to the Israeli authorities that they can no longer continue to allow the routine harassment of and hysterical demonization of Israeli Messianic Jews by the Orthodox.

Call to awake to Missionary menace at Purim

The ever-present and increasing danger of the mission was addressed by a leading rabbi before Purim, who called the religious public to "awake and pray on the Fast of Esther [the day before Purim] in the face of the decree of destruction [apostasy] and the growth of the mission" (HaModia, February 28). According to the report, the missionary threat is posed not only by its extension to all the cities in the country but also because the missionaries "disguise themselves as Jews, even as Orthodox" and thus deceive and capture many Jewish souls. (Source: Caspari Media Review)

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