Between chaos and hope!

Join us as we reflect on the recent events in Israel and Canada, celebrating the return of hostages while remembering those lost. We emphasize the importance of continued prayer and support for the Jewish community amidst ongoing challenges.

Transcript

Just recently, Marilyn and I attended a an October 7th memorial here in Ottawa with the Jewish Federation of Ottawa and the Jewish community. Um, it was a bittersweet time of remembrance. Of course, we were very happy to celebrate the live hostages coming home, those final 20 to come home, and that was wonderful. But we also remembered the eight Canadians that had died during October 7th and the many more. Even atrocities on all sides of the border on both sides of the issue, especially those innocent uh Palestinians that were used as human shields, etc. Uh so so it is a very somber time and a somber time of remaining but also remembering the atrocities that happened

at the kabutzas uh in Israel and they were attacked and of course the uh tens of thousands of rockets that were fired into Israel as well. So, nevertheless, um that being said, many people think, "Oh, good. There's a ceasefire. It's all over and we'll live happily ever after." Well, I don't know if that's necessarily the case. And in fact, since the ceasefire, there have been a lot of things going on here in Canada, let alone back in Gaza. Uh the things that are happening here in Canada, for example, we haven't seen a stopping of the promos rallies. They are still going on strong and so which is still very intimidating for our Jewish communities. They are still very fearful. You know,

it's interesting that we went to this event post ceasefire and we still had to line up and go through security checks like they've been doing for the past decade or so in Canada. I know it seems like it's new. You know, Marilyn and I did an event here in in Ottawa uh that we required security and it wasn't really that big of a deal, but we moved in the place of finding security because we knew there were elements in our society that were meant to disrupt and to and to propagandize. So, of course, we need security. Even we, but the Jewish community been using security in their their synagogues for decades now. you know, panic buttons. They still have them line up. If I were to go attend a

synagogue on Shabbat on a Saturday, I would have to let them know that I was coming because they just don't walk into their synagogues or churches like we do. When we walk into a church, the doors open. When you walk into a synagogue on Saturday, it is locked. And if you don't, if they don't know who you are, you will not be gaining access. That's the reality of Jews in Canada, for Jews in Canada. And we still need to be building relationships and allyship with him. We need to be caring for them because they're very afraid. Now, a part of it is um is the Lord up to certain things? I do think so. I won't get into it in this video, but nevertheless, we are in the place where we are provoking

them. I mean, I have wonderful conversations with rabbis all over the country and I encourage them in the word and I speak to them in the word. In fact, I was I was speaking with one just the other day and I was talking about the importance of Isaiah 56 of Israel's watchmen on the wall. And I said, you know, Christians, we are two Israel's watchmen. And we are watching. We're watching for a lot of things. We're watching for the enemy because that's what watchmen are for. They're for enemies, but we're watching and standing and making sure these Jewish communities are safe because they are the apple of God's eye. And whatever is important to God is important to me. And so, I want

to encourage you, just because the war may be open, I I I've shot this two weeks earlier, so a lot could have happened in two weeks, we are still going to be in prayer. We're still going to build allyship. We're still going to build friendship. We're still going to tell them and remind them of the mercy of God. We're still going to build those kinds of holistic and helpful relationships. You know what my friend said to me that we attended last night? He said, "Chris, I knew you would be here. I knew you would be here. I knew because you have been in the past. You stood with us in the past and you've proven yourself a faithful friend." I want to say to you, be a faithful

friend to the Jewish community. My name is Chris Byrick, the director of the National House of Prayer. And if you like this video, please like and share. We'll see you next time. Bye for now. [Music]