Australia (MNN) — Australian lawmakers promise to overhaul gun legislation following Sunday’s terror attack at Bondi Beach in Sydney.
A father-son pair opened fire during a Jewish celebration on the crowded beachfront on Sunday, killing 16 and wounding close to 40 people.
“We mourn for the people who lost their lives; I think it’s up to 16 now, from ages ten to 80+. It was a targeted shooting at a Hanukkah event with the Jewish people celebrating one of their high holy days,” Mike with Global Catalytic Ministries says.
“The father was shot dead, and the son is in critical [condition] right now.”
(Photo courtesy Marek Studzinski/Unsplash)
Rising antisemitism
While mourning alongside the Australian Jewish community, the GCM CEO underscores the tragedy’s spiritual overtones. Although neither shooter was on a terrorism watchlist, 24-year-old Naveed Akram had longstanding ties to Australia’s Islamic State network.
“We’re not playing politics; we’re calling out evil where there is evil,” Mike says. “We’re trying to share the true nature of Islam. We’ve tasted it for over a decade now.”
One advocacy group reports that Australia has seen more than 3,700 antisemitic attacks since the Gaza war started two years ago. Other countries have also seen a rise in anti-Jewish violence, but not as dramatic as Australia’s. Jewish leaders met in Sydney earlier this month to discuss the disturbing trend.
As antisemitic attackers target Jews around the world for slaughter, Gospel workers are targeting them for salvation.
“We have Messianic Jews who are disciple makers, who are reaching out to their own people because they’re trying to bring the Messiah to their people. We’re also seeing Muslims reaching Jewish people inside of Israel,”
“They (Jews) need the Messiah just as much as anyone else around the world needs the Messiah.”
Keeping a Christ-centered focus
Learn about GCM’s approach to ministry here. Pray that believers will keep their eyes on Jesus during this politically divisive season.
“Jesus is the focus. It’s Jesus first – not America first, not Israel first. As Christians, we have to understand it’s Jesus first,” Mike says.
“We have this blind Israel support and ‘Israel can do no wrong,’ or this aggressive ‘anti-Israel at all costs’ [stance]. That’s not helpful at all. Jesus sets the stage, like, ‘It’s Me. It’s not you, it’s not them, it’s Me.”
Pray also that believers will forgive and love their enemies.
“That is another prayer point: to understand and learn how to love our enemies, even in the midst of extreme pain, trauma, and turmoil,” Mike says. “We can do that through the Lord because that is what His expectations are, and that’s what He did for us.”
Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Larry Snickers/Pexels.
