It is 6 a.m. and I am writing you from a little town
60 miles from Chernobyl

Dear K______,

Later today, I will be taking a plane back to Israel, but now I can reveal to you what God allowed me to do here in the past two days. Thank you so much for your prayers—and please continue to pray. There is so much work that needs to be done, and I am physically and emotionally exhausted.

It's 6 a.m. and I am in Mozyr, a city in the Homiel Province of Belarus. It is 62 miles from here to Chernobyl. I've never been here before, but I began hearing about this little town at the age of four. You see, my grandmother and grandfather were born in this town, lived in it, and got married in it. It was the scene of an unspeakable tragedy and horror in my family's story.

My grandmother's name was Michal; I was named after her. She was named after her father. My great-grandfather's name is almost the same—it was Michla. He was a rabbi here, and he and his entire congregation were burned inside their synagogue. The people of the village nailed the doors shut, set the building on fire, and screamed “Christ killers!” as the Jewish people inside perished in the flames.

This piece of land has changed hands many times. When my relatives were born, it was part of Poland, and that is what they have on their birth certificates. It was conquered by Germany, then by Russia, and today it is part of Belarus. It is very, very difficult to get here today, but God opened the door. Visiting this spot has intensified the urgency I feel in my spirit to help show God's love to His Chosen People, and I am asking for your help today.

Nearly 30 years ago, God directed me to go behind the Iron Curtain into the former Soviet Union to work for the release of Jewish people there so that they could go to Israel. I'll never forget the day I was able to present President Ronald Reagan with a petition signed by one million people urging the release of Russian Jews, including dissident Natan Sharansky.

God worked in a great way then, and now I am in Ukraine with the same message: “Let my people go.” I urgently need your prayers for this dangerous assignment. And I urgently need your financial help today.

Nothing that I am sharing with you is budgeted. We have made the biggest step of faith of our ministry this year—not only to launch the brightest light in the nation of Israel with the first Christian museum in the Jewish state, but also to do so much there to help suffering Holocaust victims. Yet, we cannot turn away from this urgent need. We must do both! Today, I am asking you to open your heart to the cries for help from Ukraine.

Today, I am asking you to stand in the gap with me for the defense of Israel and the Jewish people through your support of the work of the Jerusalem Prayer Team. We are the watchmen on the walls of the Holy City, crying out to God for deliverance. We need your help right now to make the Friends of Zion Heritage Center a reality.

The Spirit of God has directed me to share this need with you and ask for your help. I need you to join me in prayer, and I need you to give as God directs. Here is the situation. On May 23rd, we must make payments on the construction, design, and other work totaling $1.2 million dollars. This is in addition to the resources needed for all of our other outreaches, including our major effort to touch the lives of the poor Holocaust survivors of Israel, which we simply cannot delay or cut back. This is a miracle need that can only be met if every member of the Jerusalem Prayer Team will step forward and do their part.

It is more important than ever that we do everything possible to bless, encourage, and help the Jewish people. And we urgently need your help to make that happen.