What do whiskey and ministry in Singapore have in common? I know that’s a strange question, but Elana and I arrived here in Singapore a few days ago for several different ministry meetings.
Before arriving, a woman named Ruth reached out to me and said she heard that we were coming to Singapore and asked if we wanted to meet the Israeli Ambassador to Singapore. Of course we did.
Ruth had arranged for several businessmen to go to a whiskey tasting event to raise investment capital for a Tel Aviv distillery. They also had caviar from the Galilee region and other products from Israel. Now, if I’m honest, hanging out at whiskey tasting events is not what I typically do, but we did want to make a connection with the Israeli Ambassador to Singapore.
And what a nice guy he is. It turns out that his boss for four years was a well-known Messianic Jew in Israel, Calev Myers. Calev started an organization a couple of decades ago called the Jerusalem Institute of Justice to fight for the rights of Jewish believers making Aliyah, in addition to other issues of justice, most notably advocacy for Israel—which is something very close to my heart. I was so encouraged to see that Calev was a powerful witness to Eliyahu Vered Hazan or Eli. Israel is not a country that is big on titles. So you call the Ambassador Eli and the Prime Minister Bibi. Also, I do not know one congregational leader who uses a title before his name.
Eli (the ambassador) invited a Venezuelan Christian singer who loves Israel to the event. He sang several songs in Spanish. And Elana filmed this little clip of him singing from Psalm 150, which ends with, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!”
We met several Singaporean business people, and one couple, Mario and Shalyn, took us sightseeing this morning. If you’ve never been to Singapore, it is a beautiful concrete jungle. Is one of the richest nations in the world and yet has no natural resources. They invest in their people. Singapore achieved independence three months to the day after I was born, on August 9, 1965. So we’re both about to turn 60!
They dropped us off at one of the nicer hotels in the city that has an unbelievable view. We had lunch on the top floor overlooking Singapore. Everything is incredibly expensive. It’s like the Switzerland of the Far East. I got a cappuccino this morning and it was $15! (if I had known, I would’ve had instant coffee in my room). 15 Singapore dollars is $11.50 US—so it wasn’t that bad… but still expensive. After three weeks of traveling, I cannot wait to get home on Monday and cook my own food each night. The food in Thailand was unbelievable, but I am ready to go home.
Tonight, I will be speaking at One New Man Asia, and tomorrow morning at a missions conference for Grace Assembly of God. On Sunday, we go home and we arrive in Israel on Monday afternoon.
I want to thank everyone who prays for us regularly. This has been an incredibly stressful season and these two weeks in Thailand were so wonderful. I’m returning refreshed and ready to continue doing the Lord’s work.
A little bit of Trump/Bibi News
Donald Trump is taking a more proactive stance in seeking to free the hostages. The other day he hosted several of the hostages in the White House. The Netanyahu administration is not happy with Trump’s intervention. The Times of Israel reported:
“According to Channel 13 news, Trump repeatedly asked the former captives whether the Israeli public supports continuing with the hostage deal beyond its first phase. Polling has indicated that the majority does, though backing for the second stage among coalition voters is lower. Speaking on Thursday, Trump said the hostages urged him to continue with the deal.”
Apparently, the US has been in negotiations with Hamas and Israel did not know about it. They purposely did not inform the Netanyahu administration because they did not want any resistance. Netanyahu has come under constant criticism for not being more aggressive in securing the release of the hostages. It would appear that President Trump sees it more black-and-white: you have hostages who are citizens and you have to get them home. The majority of Israelis agree with Trump, including me. They’ll be time later to deal with Hamas and completely destroy them. But first we have to get our people home.
After Trump met with the former hostages, he released this tweet:
"'Shalom Hamas' means Hello and Goodbye - You can choose. Release all of the Hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is OVER for you. Only sick and twisted people keep bodies, and you are sick and twisted! I am sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job, not a single Hamas member will be safe if you don’t do as I say. I have just met with your former Hostages whose lives you have destroyed. This is your last warning! For the leadership, now is the time to leave Gaza, while you still have a chance. Also, to the People of Gaza: A beautiful Future awaits, but not if you hold Hostages. If you do, you are DEAD! Make a SMART decision. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW, OR THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY LATER!"
–President Donald J. Trump
The President stated after the meeting with the former hostages, “We have 59 [hostages] left — of which 24 are living [and] they said they’re in very bad shape… [but the released hostages] want to know if we could just continue.”
Pray that Hamas gets the message and allows all of the hostages to go home. They are suffering.
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