Israel

Field Office Information

C&MA Field Entry in 1890

Field Director:

Roger Elbel

Mailing Address:

55 St of the Prophets
Jerusalem 97142, ISRAEL

Phone:

011-972-2-625-4669

Email:

cmaisra@netvision.net.il

Website:

National Church

No organized national church: 4 organized churches, 4 unorganized groups, 4 ordained ministers, 250 baptized members, and 500 inclusive members. These statistics reflect the fruits of Arabic and Chinese ministries only. All-Hebrew ministries are carried out in partnership with nondenominational Messianic assemblies (2 organized churches and 5 unorganized groups).

Team Initiatives

• Establish a discipling center to facilitate a new approach for following up with scattered and isolated believers in the West Bank.
• Launch a training institute for developing Arab church leaders.
• Assist NOWBARP, the relief and outreach team working in the West Bank.

U.S. Alliance Pastor Baptizes New Believers in the Jordan River

2011-06-15 08:00:04

New Life Emerges from Murky Waters

A lone white dove hovered over 14 believers as they were immersed into the Jordan River recently, following Jesus in baptism. “What was amazing,” says Pastor Richard Mirpuri from the Word of Grace (Alliance) Church in Chicago, Illinois, who led the group on a tour in Israel, “is that they were not believers before the tour.”

This is not the first Israel tour that Rev. Mirpuri has led. In 2005, Word of Grace, a Filipino-American ministry in the Midwest District, joined a global, grassroots movement, focusing prayer and attention on the Middle East-specifically Jerusalem. The Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem, which was launched by a coalition of more than 500 Christian leaders around the world, drew participation from 53,000 churches in 72 nations that year.

Since then, Rev. Mirpuri has led several groups to the Holy Land for a prayer pilgrimage and Bible tour, initially among members of the church. This year, there were 27 participants, including people from Canada, the Philippines, New York, and California. Several of the participants were from Chicago’s Filipino community who are not members of the Word of Grace but learned about the trip from an article by Rev. Mirpuri that was published in a local Filipino community newspaper, in which he pens a regular column.

Life-Changing Trip

“I met the participants, the majority of whom were unbelievers, during the 2011 Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem, when they signed up for the tour.” says Mirpuri, who uses the tours as an evangelistic tool. Before visiting the Jordan River, he explains the gospel message and challenges the participants to consider a relationship with Jesus Christ.

“During this last trip, almost all of the unbelievers in the group surrendered their lives to Jesus and went through the waters of baptism for the very first time at the Jordan River,” says Rev. Mirpuri.

“What is so cool is that during this occasion, the white dove came out of nowhere after the people emerged from the water. The dove hovered over the Word of Grace group, even while there were other groups in the water for baptism at the same time. This left such an impression upon the new believers that many of them openly wept through the whole event.”

One participant, a business executive from the Philippines, e-mailed Rev. Mirpuri after the trip, saying, “The Bible is so alive to me. As I read, especially the gospels, my mind brings me back to the very places we visited during our trip. Christianity will never be the same to me again.”

Learn More

Read how other U.S. Alliance churches are impacting their communities for Christ. www.cmalliance.org/news/topics/gochurch/

What You Can Do

Give to Alliance Great Commission Ministries and partner with Alliance workers at home and abroad who are being light in a spiritually dark world. www.cmalliance.org/give

Demographics

Population

Population--6,276,883 Infant mortality rate--7/1,000 Life expectancy--79.3

Capital City

Jerusalem (695,500) pop.

Geography

Slightly larger than Massachusetts, Israel (8,019 sq. mi.) consists of fertile coastal plain and the southern Negev region, which is largely desert. It also contains the Dead Sea, which is 1,349 ft. below sea level--the world’s lowest land elevation.

Languages

Hebrew (official), Arabic, English

Ethnicity/Race

Jewish--80.1%; non-Jewish (mostly Arab)--19.9%

Economy

Per capita income--$20,800 Inflation--0% Unemployment--10.7% Literacy rate--95% (2003 est.)

Government/Political Climate

Parliamentary democracy. Following World War II, the British withdrew from their mandate of Palestine, and the UN partitioned the area into Arab and Jewish states, an arrangement rejected by the Arabs. The Israelis defeated the Arabs in a series of wars without ending the deep tensions between the two sides.

Religion

Jewish--89.1%; Muslim (mostly Sunni)--14.6%; Christian--2.1%; other--3.2%