July 1996: Volume 18, Number 7



Contents




"Corrupt, Dictatorial, Oppressive"

ZOLA LEVITT
ZOLA LEVITT

In my September 1994 Levitt Letter I shared some correspondence between myself and Anthony Lewis, a syndicated columnist, concerning his anti-Israel stance. His views appeared to be intractable, so I was surprised to read his column of May 6, 1996, quoted below from The New York Times Op-Ed page:

Darkness in Gaza

ISRAEL: THE ELECTION

Since the U.S. media does such a poor job in covering issues regarding Israel, we often quote from Israeli sources for that news. We choose from such differing publications as the right-leaning Jerusalem Post and the left-leaning Jerusalem Report. The election coverage was particularly remiss, and since this was such an important election we thought we would submit Israeli coverage for your edification. Below please find the entire editorial page (a total of three articles) of The Jerusalem Post International Edition for the week ending June 8, plus a report from our own correspondent in the West Bank, American-Israeli settler Norma Archbold. I personally believe there is a lot to be learned about the Holy Land from these articles.


WANTED: REALISM

May 31, 1996 — What opponents of the Labor government have found most disturbing about its performance is an almost total absence of realism. It is as if the government, inspired by a lovely vision of a peaceful, prosperous and liberal Middle East, had decided to proceed on the assumption that the Palestinians and the neighboring countries could be made to share this vision.

It was Prime Minister Shimon Peres's Labor Party colleague, former cabinet member Shlomo Hillel, who said the trouble with Peres's New Middle East vision is that it assumes the region is living in the late 20th century, when in fact it is still in the 16th.

To assume that the Middle East can enjoy the kind of stability and international cooperation which characterize today's Western Europe is to ignore the turmoil and conflict which still plague the Arab world. As Prof. Bernard Lewis, one of the world's leading Arabists, has pointed out, the Arab-Israeli conflict is by no means the only source of trouble in the Middle East. The Iraq-Iran war, the Gulf war, the civil wars in Lebanon and Iraq, the savage 40-year ethnic-religious war in Sudan, and the blood-drenched Islamist uprising in Algeria (in which more than 40,000 have been killed over the past four years) all dwarf the Arab-Israeli wars in number of casualties and complexity of motives.

In this kind of neighborhood, it is an exercise in futility to dream of Israel as a member of the Arab League, a participant in a Middle Eastern NATO-like alliance with Arab armies, a catalyst for a regional Marshall Plan financed by the G-7 industrial nations, and a partner in a Benelux-like union consisting of Israel, Jordan and a Palestinian entity, where "100 years of good neighborliness" have begun. But these are precisely the suggestions Peres has made in recent years, and it is under the influence of these visions that he has acted in dealing with the PLO.

But the regional reality is hardly reassuring. Algeria, a relatively remote country which covertly trades with Israel, has expressed interest in establishing diplomatic relations. But it has failed in its attempt to become a democracy. And if relatively progressive Algeria cannot make the transition from military rule to a democratic system without risking a takeover by Islamist fanatics, it is doubtful that any Arab regime can.

Nor has any other Arab country, with the possible exception of Jordan, shown progress toward democracy. On the contrary, Islamist agitation has given Egypt, a less despotic country than most in the region, a pretext to suspend the limited rights of freedom its press had.

Nor has any Moslem regime in the region reduced its acquisitions of arms. Egypt, Syria, Iran, and Saudi Arabia have all increased such purchases. The Islamic countries possess 3,000 missiles, virtually all of which can reach Israel. Both Egypt and Syria have vast quantities of chemical weapons, while Libya has built a monstrous underground plant for the production of such weapons. Egypt has not improved its relations with Israel as a result of the Oslo agreement. It has conducted a relentless anti-Israel policy in the international arena, zealously pursuing the goal of disarming Israel's putative nuclear capability.

Other problems which affect Israel directly include the fact that the Palestine National Council (PNC), the PLO's "parliament," has yet to live up to its 1993 commitment to abrogate the clauses in the PLO Covenant which call for Israel's destruction.

Yasser Arafat still calls for jihad; demands the "right of return" of Palestinian refugees and their descendants to their homes in Green Line Israel and the territories; and makes the establishment of Jerusalem as the future capital of the Palestinian state a condition for a peace agreement. Concomitantly, he assures Arab audiences that the Oslo agreement is but a first step in the PLO's "phased plan" of 1974, a blueprint for Israel's destruction in stages.

Nor is there any prospect in sight for a solution to the Arab refugee problem. The economies of the oil-rich countries are in trouble, and there is no apparent desire on their part to contribute to the resettling of these refugees. In a Stockholm speech to Arab ambassadors, Arafat vowed to flood the self-rule areas with displaced persons who "will make the life of the Jews intolerable."

As recent local elections in the universities show, the power of Hamas has not diminished. The much-touted Arafat crackdown on its "military wing" has not touched the training camps, financial resources, and organizational structure, nor disarmed the cadres. Most of the Hamas members arrested in the highly advertised roundups have been released, and now that the Israeli elections are over, it is doubtful that any will stay in jail. In violation of the Oslo agreement, none of the terrorists wanted for murder has been extradited to Israel.

There is an agreement between the PLO and Hamas which stipulates that the Hamas can operate against Israel as long as it does not do so from PA-controlled territory. And the Palestinian army, still euphemistically called "police," has grown to such an extent that it must be taken into account as a serious, well-equipped, and well- trained fighting force numbering well over 35,000 troops. That in case of a conflagration between the Palestinian entity and Israel, the Arab citizens of Israel will try to help their Palestinian brethren is a given.

If a Netanyahu government begins to acknowledge these brutal facts, it will take a giant step towards providing a realistic prescription for life in the real Middle East.


AHEAD OF HIS TIME

June 2, 1996 — Outgoing Prime Minister Shimon Peres is one of Israel's most distinguished statesmen. He has enjoyed world esteem unequaled by any Israeli in the state's history, with the possible exception of the late Yitzhak Rabin.

His contributions to the country are too numerous to mention. He has served in key positions since the War of Independence, and has held more cabinet posts than any other politician. He is responsible for initiating the development of the Dimona nuclear plant and concluding the arms-purchasing agreement with France which made Israel's Six Day War victory possible.

His tenure as prime minister of a national unity government in 1984-1986 was outstanding, particularly because he presided over a successful war on runaway inflation. Israel must also be indebted to him for calming the country after the Rabin assassination, a murder which traumatized the nation more than any post-World War II event.

If he has now been rebuffed by the electorate, it is because he has become a captive of an impossible dream. It is a dream of regional peace, cooperation and good neighborliness which all Israelis share. But a majority of Israelis also feel that it is a dream which cannot be realized at Peres's pace, despite his belief that it is an historic imperative.

Peres, who views himself as a man of the future, professes to despise history. But history may yet judge him as a man ahead of his time. The trouble is that, in human events, timing is all.


NETANYAHU'S CHALLENGE

June 2, 1996 — Now that the counting of the votes has ended, congratulations are in order to premier-elect Binyamin Netanyahu. What he has wrought is the most stunning political upset in Israel's history, surpassing even the 1977 toppling of the Labor government. Thanks to the new election system — whose passage was made possible by Netanyahu's vote in defiance of his own party — he is the first Israeli leader to receive a direct popular mandate and an outright majority.

What must please Netanyahu most is that despite the very close vote, he led Prime Minister Shimon Peres by more than 11% in the Jewish population. Since the central issue in this election has been the security, size and future of the Jewish state, this is a significant fact. The result should help stem the trend against the state's Jewish identity.

Israel is a Jewish state, not just a state which happens to have a Jewish majority. That Labor officials such as Deputy Education Minister Micha Goldman have suggested changing the national anthem and even the flag to accommodate the country's non-Jewish citizens may have had something to do with the repudiation of the Labor government.

Netanyahu must be pleased, too, by his success in overcoming the most formidable array of world leaders and media pundits ever mobilized to help an Israeli politician. Particularly untoward and improper was the US administration's open intervention in an ally's democratic election.

In a move as unprecedented as it was distasteful, President Bill Clinton implied — most likely on the advice of the Middle East team he inherited from the Bush administration — that a vote for Netanyahu was a vote against peace. His ambassador in Tel Aviv has been acting — as one of the most prominent Jewish-American leaders put it yesterday — "more like Peres than Peres." The Netanyahu victory may suggest that the American interference was not only improper, but unwise. At least some Israelis resent being treated as citizens of a protectorate.

A much more positive note was struck by Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole, who said after the elections: "With so much focus on the democratic process in Israel, a central fact has been overlooked: the fate of peace in the Middle East is not simply up to Israel. In Israel, both major parties and both candidates support peace. They have different approaches, but their goals are the same: a secure Israel living within recognized borders and at peace with all her neighbors. Likud's platform, for example, states clearly: 'Peace will be a central aim of Israel's policy' . . . I well understand Likud's emphasis on 'peace through strength' and I am confident I can work closely with the next Israeli prime minister."

But Dole's sensible words have been drowned in the quasi-hysterical chorus of anti-Netanyahu voices, and many seem to believe that his election heralds the end of the peace process. If anything, the opposite is true. The government's plans have included allowing the establishment of a Palestinian state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, the division of Jerusalem (the blueprints for which have been developed by Labor's "100-day team"), and complete evacuation of the Golan.

Such steps would have been a sure prescription for war.

Netanyahu's challenge is to convince the West that hope for peace lies in transforming the region's regimes into democracies, not in appeasing its tyrants. A dozen years ago he was able to persuade Washington to change its policies on international terrorism. One should like to hope that he will be as successful in affecting its policies on the Middle East.


REGARDING THINGS IN ISRAEL...

By Norma Archbold

June 11, 1996 — I understand that the coverage in the USA of the Israeli election was almost continuous. The atmosphere after the bus bombings several weeks ago was very strange. The mood was strange. There was a quiet that was like when people have had enough and they have made up their minds about something. No one knew how the election would go. Most of the national camp went to bed election night thinking that Peres had won. The mood was quiet resignation. In the morning when it looked like Netanyahu won, the mood was still quiet. No one dared to hope for a while. Then when it looked sure, it was still quiet. People in the national camp began to smile. They didn't shout and cheer — they just smiled. And they are still smiling. The terrible burden that had settled over all of us has lifted. We hope again. There is no celebrating, because we know that the battle is not won — it is still ahead. But now we can fight back — like the Jews in the Persian kingdom at the first Purim [the deliverance of the Jews from the massacre plotted by Haman — see the book of Esther].

The terrible split caused by the demonization of the right by the left is healing. The right is not demonizing the left. Their mind is upon the battle to keep the land. It is upon reeducating the young to appreciate Jewish history and the Bible.

We were invited to the Brit [circumcision ceremony] of Nadia Matar's baby Yisrael Amichai at the Cave of Machpelah. About 200 attended. (Nadia and Ruth Matar founded Women in Green. Goons in police uniforms without name tags put both of them in the hospital. Nadia was arrested numerous times. Once the goons caught her on the way to a demonstration and choked her until she fell to the ground. They took her to the police station until the demonstration was over.) In her talk Nadia said, "This was not a victory of Netanyahu over Peres. This was a victory of belief over unbelief." Many with the quiet smiles are saying that the glory of victory belongs to the Lord. That is a very good start!


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Zola in The New York Times

The New York Times recently ran an article on the Southern Baptist Convention's call to prayer for Jewish evangelism. The article was by Leonard Garment, a former White House lawyer, who harshly compared this evangelism with the forced conversions of the past. I have written to the Times previously, and they have never run or even acknowledged my letters, but on July 3rd they did run the following Letter to the Editor. I know you join me in thanking God for a wonderful opportunity of testimony to so many. The letter printed below is what I originally sent; the underlined parts were cut out by the Times and the rest was lightly edited.

The letter on Jewish evangelism by Leonard Garment on June 27 gave one side of the story. He has not been "converted" and has no idea of the blessing this brings. While a great many people have done me a great many favors in my nearly 60 years in this life, I am more grateful to the people who showed me that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah than I am to anyone else. On my national television program and in my books I share the magnificent joy I have received. I have a new understanding of Judaism and a depth of love for Israel and I take much punishment from Jews who don't understand that the Baptists or whomever are merely trying to give the most precious of gifts.

Jesus is Jewish. He is alive. And He is the Messiah of all!


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A Tour with Zola: Visiting the Land of Israel

By Thomas S. McCall, Th.D.

Wake up on the Sea of Galilee

[Click here for the previous article]

Tom McCall
Thomas McCall
Imagine waking up one morning and seeing from your hotel balcony the sun rise over the Sea of Galilee! To some tourists this might not seem any more significant than a view of one of the Great Lakes of America or one of the glacial lakes of Switzerland, but to us who believe the Scriptures, this is a wondrous lake indeed. This is that lake where the King of the Jews and the Savior of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ, spent over three years in the great work of His first coming.

Around this beautiful lake is where He preached the Gospel to the poor, healed the sick of all kinds of diseases, fed huge crowds on the hillsides, raised the dead, walked on the waves, calmed the storm with a quiet sentence, proved His Messiahship in every way, and prepared a fish breakfast for His disciples after His resurrection. No wonder the Sea of Galilee holds such enjoyment for our pilgrims who visit Israel.

For the first part of our tour, home base was the bustling resort city of Tiberias, which rises from the western shore of the Sea of Galilee up the high hills overlooking the panorama below. That first morning we walked from our hotel down to the dock, where we boarded a large boat that took us much of the length of the lake from Tiberias to a kibbutz named Ginnosar on the northwest shore.

Why did Jesus Choose the Sea of Galilee?

One unforgettable experience of the tour was the service held on the boat while we were traversing the lake. Hymns of praise were sung, and Bible teaching was given on the amazing history of the most important lake in the Bible. When I am there, I like to think of the reasons why the Lord Jesus chose the Sea of Galilee as the place where He did most of His work of teaching and preaching during His life on earth:

  1. It was the fulfillment of prophecy. Isaiah predicted that the dawn of the light of the Lord would arise from the north, from Galilee, not from Jerusalem or the east (Isa. 9:1,2). Matthew rejoiced in the fulfillment of this prophecy (Matt. 4:12-16).

  2. The Sea of Galilee was a crossroads for the many thousands of pilgrims who came to Jerusalem for the feasts every year. Those who travelled over land from Asia Minor and Mesopotamia had to come by this area on the way to the Holy City. Several times the gospel writers mention that it was at a festival period that our Lord ministered to the pilgrims around the lake.

  3. There was a large population and numerous villages all around the lake in the first century, more than there are today, our guides informed us. It was relatively easy to minister in one town, then get in a boat and cross the lake to another town, as the Lord often did with His disciples.

  4. Last, but not least, I like to think that the Lord was attracted to the lake because of its refreshing beauty. After all, He created the beauty of the world, and He remarked about how the lilies were arrayed with more splendor than Solomon "in all his glory" (Matt. 6:28-29). He must have enjoyed the stunning beauty of this lake of lakes in the morning, at sunset, and all through the day.

What Did the Disciples Look Like?

Zola has often taught on the boat about the appearance of the Galilean disciples. The artwork we are presented with in the West often portrays the disciples as emaciated Europeans. But most of them were fishermen of Galilee. What did they look like? Although the Jewish people have been dispersed throughout the world during the past nineteen centuries, there has always been a Jewish population around the Sea of Galilee. Tiberias, for instance, is where the volumes of the Talmud were compiled in the centuries following the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.

Thus, many of the modern Israelis who man the tourist boats and work the fishing vessels of the lake today are actual descendants of the first-century Galilean fishermen. They are anything but emaciated weaklings. They are bronzed, rugged men who handle their boats with skill, and have a ready, hardy sense of humor. One could well imagine Peter, James and John fitting into their company as their peers before becoming the powerful apostles of the Lord.

The Sites of Capernaum

Somewhat enthralled by the experience of crossing the Sea of Galilee on the boat, we disembarked at Kibbutz Ginnosar and boarded the buses for our short drive to the ancient town of Capernaum on the north shore. This was actually the headquarters of Jesus' three-year ministry in Galilee. He taught and healed in the synagogue there on the Sabbath, and He often visited the home of Peter's mother-in-law. Archaeologists have found the site of the ancient synagogue. Its beautiful columns are from a later period of the second or third century, but it is believed to be standing on the earlier site of the first-century synagogue in which our Lord ministered.

They have also uncovered the remains of a Byzantine church building about a block away, between the synagogue and the lake shore. The church building was enlarged at various stages in history, but it appears to be built on the original foundation of a first-century house. It is thought by many to be the house of Peter's mother-in-law. Jesus taught and healed the sick in that home frequently, sometimes to large crowds that could scarcely be contained in and around the small building.

The Roman Catholics have built an unusual church building over this site. It is suspended on curved concrete stilts, and has a glass floor through which one may look at the ancient remains below. I think it is the only "glass-bottom church" I have ever seen.

Beatitudes and Baptism

Two other events our pilgrims appreciated at the lake were the visit to the Mount of Beatitudes and the baptismal service in the Jordan River. For the first one, we sat down on the hill overlooking the vista of the lake on the north shore, perhaps a couple of miles from Capernaum, and read the first part of the Sermon on the Mount in which Yeshua pronounced His blessing on those who followed Him and sought the righteousness which comes by faith in Him (Matt. 5:3-11). The shape of the hill provides a natural amphitheater, and one can imagine the great crowd that heard the Lord as He delivered that impressive message there.

At the other end of the lake, where the Jordan River empties out toward the south, an Israeli kibbutz has built a remarkable facility so that Christian pilgrims can perform their baptismal services in the Jordan River. The facilities are complete with dressing rooms and seating areas. Believers can witness the baptism of those who go down the concrete ramps into the river for baptism. Who can ever forget such an experience?

It was with some sadness that we boarded the buses to leave the Sea of Galilee after our memorable time there, but as we set our faces toward Jerusalem, we knew that even more meaningful experiences awaited us as we went up, like the ancient pilgrims, to the Holy City, the City of the Great King, to Gethsemane, Golgotha, and the empty Garden Tomb. Our next article will conclude our tour of the Land of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

[Click here for the next article.]

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A Note From Zola

Dear Friends,

At the recent Southern Baptist Convention in New Orleans, that very large and influential church resolved the following: "We commit ourselves to prayer" for Jewish salvation. As KDFW-4 News in Dallas pointed out: "Catholics, Presbyterians and Methodists encourage interfaith dialogue, but soft-pedal on conversion." At the judgment seat of Christ in heaven, I would hate to have to tell the King of the Jews when I meet him face-to-face that I "encouraged interfaith dialogue" and "soft-pedaled on conversion" rather than at least prayed for Jewish salvation.

Now, if only somebody would do the actual work of witnessing to the Jews!

Some other items in the news seemed relevant to our outreach this month. Tremendous security forces are being prepared in Atlanta for the Olympic Games this summer. It all harks back to the Munich athletes. In 1972, eleven unarmed Israelis were shot down in cold blood. It has taken 20 years to get some information from the Germans. A 25-million-dollar negligence suit was filed recently against the German security forces by the wife of one of the athletes, and that has helped to remind the world that once again we must beware of Arab terrorism — and especially that of the PLO, who proudly claimed responsibility for that cowardly act.

The recent Arab Summit served to reassure us that the Arabs still despise Israel and each other. It seemed to be held strictly in response to the Israeli election, the results of which would have surprised no one if the media had simply told the truth about the feelings of the Israeli people. Dictators all, the Arab leadership was disheartened by the results of the election, an exercise they are never troubled with in their own totalitarian regimes. Most encouraging was Gadhafi, who if he weren't such a nutcase would have been worth listening to. He observed that with Netanyahu you could at least see where you stood. The dictator of Libya since 1969, Gadhafi, with his staff of female bodyguards, is an embarrassment even among the other Arab loonies. Most noteworthy, the Summit distinguished terrorism from what it termed "legitimate national resistance." So if you want to murder somebody, or a bunch of somebodies, do it in the name of your country and you are innocent. Hence, the 21-gun salute that Arafat ordered at the funeral of "the Engineer," the bomber who distinguished himself as one of the world's few serial mass murderers.

I wonder if the deaths of a score of Americans in Saudi Arabia is being termed "legitimate national resistance" by the terrorists who set off their truck bomb next to the building where American Air Force personnel were staying. Saudi Arabia, which is more of a family-owned business than a real country, is not immune to terrorism. Even rich, complacent Arab nations are liable to the whims of Moslem extremists, and the hostility toward Americans revealed by this event is typical of backward people everywhere. We seem to never learn about the treachery of the Arab terrorists and their hatred for America. When exactly the same catastrophe occurs a second time, we would do well to appreciate the animosity of the Arab enemy. Is it possible to achieve peace with terrorists such as these loose in the world?

In reality, the so-called peace process has been a loss to all parties, including the Palestinians, the Americans, the Europeans, and certainly the Israelis. The Palestinians were saddled with a police state, and truthful observers among them admit that they are being more oppressively crushed by Arafat and his henchmen than they ever were by Israel. Americans lose because we picked the wrong side and were crusading for the destruction of a sister democracy, our only true ally in the region. The Europeans lose because their anti-Semitism has caused Israel, truly a leader among nations, to regard Europe as practically an enemy. Arab friendship could not possibly be worth Israeli aversion.

Terrorism anywhere disheartens all but the terrorists, and prejudices their cause. The church burnings in America will hurt African-Americans far less in the long run than they hurt the hate groups that perpetrate them. Like Hamas and Hezbollah in Israel, the hate groups in America become outcasts. It will be a refreshing time when we can drop the term "peace process" and let those Arab nations who wish to trade with Israel do so, and those who don't can please themselves.

A corollary to the remarkable Israeli election is that 80% of all Israelis voted. In this country, we're lucky to have half that percentage vote. Why was the election of such importance to the international community? The answer is oil and the inappropriate belief that the price will go down if the Israelis give away their land.

It's possible that our ministry's television program got Netanyahu some important votes. A Jewish news agency carried a story of my interviewing him, and tried to paint Netanyahu as hopelessly contaminated since he had Messianic friends. I imagine that caused the opposite reaction.

The election was also a defeat for President Clinton, who heartily supported Peres, and it created a new term for the Holy Land, used over and over by CNN and the networks: "divided Israel." If we consider the candidates running in our own election, we should be embarrassed in front of this brave young democracy where nearly every citizen voted. The New York Times on May 31 called the election "breathtakingly close," although they certainly know that if we remove the monolithic Arab vote, Netanyahu won by 56-44% — what the Times itself would call a landslide. Also, what we call "illegal aliens" in this country got in quite a few votes in Israel, and they, being entirely Arabs, were practically 100% for Peres. At a recent speaking engagement, I had to spell Netanyahu's name and explain what it meant (gift of God) because he received so little coverage in the American media that people simply didn't know who he was.

The excellent newswatch agency CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America) detailed coverage of the Israeli election by CNN, the New York Times, and specifically Robert Novak and Thomas Friedman, both famous as Jewish enemies of Israel. Without going into too much detail, the conclusion of writer Andrea Levin was simply this: "What makes Friedman's analysis and that of so many other media commentators sterile and ultimately useless to the public is its contempt for the facts and, in this instance, its contempt for the people of Israel." God has spoken on this subject: "I will curse him that curseth thee," He told his friend Abraham regarding his seed, Israel (Gen. 12:3).

On a different note, our Fall Festival Tour is beginning to fill up. We are looking forward to travelling in Israel under its new government and seeing for ourselves what changes are underway. Our pilgrims will be in Jerusalem on the Day of Atonement, which is Judaism's holiest day of the year, and the tour will climax with the glorious Feast of Tabernacles. Our Israel-only tour departs New York on September 18 and returns on the 27th. This year, our Fall Grand Tour runs from September 18 to October 1 and will feature a trip into Jordan for Mount Nebo and Petra, as well as a stay in the southern Israeli resort city of Eilat on the Red Sea. Please call Cynthia at 214-690-1874 or our answering service at 1-800-WONDERS (966-3377) for a free brochure.

We have completed some of the programs for our new series, A Pilgrim's Journey: An Armchair Tour of the Holy Land. Our television viewers will be able to experience our Spring Tour just as our pilgrims did (but without the jet lag). Our television program has often shown you various sites around Israel, but this series will help tie them together. We hope to begin airing it later in the summer. If you would like to help us bring Israel to those in the U.S. who are unable to go there themselves, please know that your help would be appreciated and put to a very good cause. Thanks.

Your messenger,

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Copyright © 1996 by Zola Levitt Ministries, Inc., a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. All rights reserved. Brief passages may be quoted in reviews or other article. For all other use, please get our written approval.