Dear friends

When we left Gaza as a family on October 2007 after the murder of our dear
brother & friend Rami Ayyad, we never thought it will take us that long to
go back !

Even through this difficult time, we saw God's Hand  guiding us in every
step in the way.. this is why my recent visit to Gaza was mixed with lots of
emotions. in one hand grieved  over the death of my sister Mona,  my concern
about my sister Renee ,  on the other hand the love which God put in my
heart for my city, the people and the church. It was great joy to see the
Christian community these days in Gaza coming together in harmony  where I
had the privilege to visit the bishop and the priest of the Greek orthodox
church and the priest of the catholic church in Gaza .  Also I experienced
the joy & the privilege to minister and teach God's word to the people ,
visit the sick, counsel the young and the elderly, helping the poor through
the relief work  of Christian mission to Gaza.

The siege in Gaza continued especially in the last four years which made the
life of the people much more miserable which caused the people facing  many
challenges.. this is why the topics I spoke about every Sunday  related to
their challenges. For example I spoke about how to face the storm in your
life ( Matt 14),  lessons we learned in the time of  persecution,  the
importance of abiding in Christ ( John 15) , the Lord is our Great Shepherd
who leads us in this life ( Psalm 23) , how the couple keeps good
relationship in their marriage ( Eph. 5). In the last weekend we had a
series of meetings in the church where I have the privilege to translate for
brother Andrew, the founder of open doors.

It was a blessing for me to lead home bible study  every week  where some of
the people  were new believers , as well as helping in the light house
school for weekly devotion and bible study to two different groups  where
each group consists of  about 10 teachers ( attached photo of the school)

The siege and extreme pressure which the people face, caused a lot of early
death, sicknesses and diseases in the young generations, which I noticed
that clearly in  the Christian community where I had the blessing to visit
sick, counsel the wounded , listen to their struggles , their hurts and pray
with them.

Another thing I noticed that Gaza became much more expensive than it used to
be,  this is  why there is more poverty  and  more suffering than before ..
it was great blessing to help the poor and the needy  ( Muslims &
Christians) sharing  God's love with  them in practical  way. For example we
helped people who needed  food  ,other necessities  for the family , medical
needs , eye operations , helped people with disability with diapers..etc

Prayer request:

.        Please pray the harmony and love will continue to grow in  the
Christian community in Gaza.

.        Please pray that we continue be able to reflect God's love in the
wider community all over Gaza.

.        Please pray that the siege will be lifted over Gaza.

.        Please pray for the believers in Gaza .

.        Please pray for my sister Renee .

.        Please pray that I will continue be able to go back and forth
between Amman & Gaza .

.        Please pray that I will use my time wisely while I am in Amman
through preaching, teaching in different churches & in the seminary in
Jordan .

.        Please pray as I will teach a course at Jordan  Evangelical
Theological  Seminary  (JETS )in this coming fall.

Thank you for your prayers, partnership and standing with us all this time .

Blessings

Hanna & Suhad Massad