Some good news from Israel this week: The extremist who murdered two Palestinians, tried to blow up Israeli pastor David Ortiz and his family (and nearly killed their 15 year old son, Ami), and tried to kill others, as well, has been found legally sane and convicted of his crimes by a court in Jerusalem.
Thank you so much to all who have prayed for the Ortiz family since the horrendous attack in March 2008. Ami, a strong and devoted follower of Yeshua (Jesus Christ), miraculously survived the explosion. He has endured at least 14 surgeries, and made recoveries no one initially thought was possible.
He still has pain, and more surgeries to go. But he has come so far. He has publicly forgiven his attacker. He prays for the Teitel family to come to faith in Yeshua. He’s in college now, and even playing basketball again. Please continue to pray for him, and for his parents and siblings who have been through so much and continue to walk with the Lord and lift up His Name.
Here are excerpts from a very well-done CBN News report from Israel: “The attack was believed to have been directed against the Ortiz family because of their faith in Jesus. Ami’s mother, Leah, is a Messianic Jew and his father, David, a pastor in the city of Ariel. His mother said even though her son still has nearly 100 pieces of shrapnel in his body and constant ringing in his ears from the bomb, the family moved on a long time ago.
‘From the very beginning we knew we had to forgive him, and the Lord did a work of forgiveness in our hearts from the beginning,’ she told CBN News. ‘For me it was a supernatural thing that happened to me the very first day. The Lord really spoke to my heart directly through Psalm 36 and He really gave me the love of God for this person and commissioned me to pray for him and for his salvation. And so that’s what we concentrate on because if we concentrate on anything else, we won’t be able to heal, we won’t be able to go on with our lives, and everyone in our family has had to come to that place.’
‘At the end, there’s always justice with God because He’s the final judge,’ his father said. ‘So I feel peace. I really feel peace.’ In an earlier interview, Ami told CBN News he prays for Teitel. ‘I’m praying, hoping that in his time in jail he will think about it and understand and realize he’s done some pretty serious mistakes and he needs to repent,’ Ami said. Asked if he had forgiven him, he responded, ‘Oh yeah, like I said before in the interviews, from the beginning there was no hate for nobody.’
‘We’re able to comfort as the Lord has comforted us, like it says in II Corinthians,’ his mother added. ‘And so in a way it will never be over, but for good also and not just for the pain and the trauma. … You know when I see my son’s body and the effects of his injuries, I die inside personally. But, you know we just bring it before the Lord and we keep on going for the Lord.’”
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