Thursday, 15 April 2004: Spoke with Gili (a cab driver here in Eilat), about the Messiah. I gave him a Hebrew handout of Isaiah 53 and told him if he wants to know more about the Messiah, to give me a
call.

Went to see Miri (short for Miryam). She's an Israeli woman, about 40, working as an optical technician. She's about five foot five inches tall, short, dyed, dark red hair and about 190 pounds. Ruti and I have spoken a number of times to her about Yeshua. She told us just before Passover, that she was going to celebrate it with her
father-in-law who 'is very knowledgeable about the Bible', and that she would ask him about the passages of Scripture that we gave her. Ruti and I were excited. We told Miri that we wanted to know what he
thought about it concerning the Messiah of Israel.

Much to my disappointment (Ruti wasn't able to go with me today to see Miri), less than nothing came of it. I came into her store about 3:30 P.M. She was with a customer so I sat down and waited, drinking
some bottled water that I had just bought at a store, along with some other food. It's about 100º here today. Nothing new for Eilat. And the dryness you can feel in your throat if you don't drink water
continually every fifteen minutes.

I waited about 15 minutes while she helped her customer. After the couple left, Miri asked me how I was and then excused herself saying that she had an important phone call to make. I waited another 5 minutes while she tried to act civilized speaking with an insurance agent about her dental plan.

When she got off of the phone she cursed the man. I was surprised to hear her curse but I didn't say anything. She then said, 'They know how to take money from you but when they have to give money back to
you, they tell you to get this paper and that paper.' I told her that this was what this world was all about. And we began to speak about the economic situation for a few minutes.

After that, I asked her what her father-in-law had to say about the Scriptures that we had presented to her as pertaining to Messiah Yeshua. Miri said, 'He didn't even want to discuss it. He said he was set in his religion.' I was very disappointed. I said, 'Well, that doesn't help you in finding out why the Scriptures I gave you about
Messiah were good or not good. And I'm really surprised at him because not even knowing what Scriptures you were going to give him, he refused to even look at them. How can he make a judgement like
that if he refuses to even hear the matter out?'

She then told me of the Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Eilat. 'Perhaps you could speak to him about all this, Avram?' Nothing like avoidance : ) I said that I didn't know the man personally and I imagined he was very busy. But she said that his number was listed in the phone book and that I should call him. It didn't seem like a good idea at the
time.

I offered to give her a small pamphlet about Isaiah 53 from a rabbinic perspective, created by a Jewish believer. But Miri told me that she wouldn't have any time to read it. Then she directed another woman technician to some glass frames on the wall and they both went over to look at it.

There was nothing more that I could do. She wasn't really that interested. I picked up the groceries that I had and as I was leaving I said to her, 'Miri, would you ask God if Yeshua is your Messiah?' She looked at me like, 'Huh?', and I said, 'Yeah. God is real. He hears your prayers and He will speak to you or let you know if you really want to. Because it's only with Yeshua that you can be forgiven of your sins; to really feel clean inside and before Him.
And He will give you His Spirit so that you can know Him intimately. God is raising up a people, both Jews and Gentiles, who will worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. God is Truth.' And with that I said, 'Shabat Shalom' to her and to another woman that was near her. Miri responded in kind and told me to say, 'Shalom' to Ruti.

On the way home I had a Jewish cabbie about fifty, who had grown up in Syria and so knew Arabic and Hebrew. We talked about the terrorism here in Eilat and noted that the shuk (the open-air market that comes to Eilat every Thursday), was shut down for reports of a bomb. And then he said, 'When will Messiah come?' (Thank You, Lord!) I told him that Messiah is very close. We spoke some more and as I got out I gave him the Isaiah 53 handout in Hebrew and told him that if he liked what he read, to give me a call and I'd show him who Messiah
was. He looked at me like, 'What?!', and I looked back at him with a certainly that I knew who He was.

Didn't get his name but tonight in prayer, felt led to see Miri again and ask her if she'd be willing to make the contact and set up the meeting with the chief rabbi of Eilat, that I'd be more than willing to see him concerning Messiah Yeshua. Just him, her and me (and Ruti ).

Thanks for your prayers. We, and they, need them much.

Avram & Ruti Yehoshua