Several things have got me down this week. Fairly dreadful weather, one minute pouring hard and then stopping. Weather is funny, as some places are short of rain and get none at all between the months of April and October or so. Like when I was living in the middle east.

Also, I watch with great sadness as Jews and Arabs are at war in Israel, as I spent over four years living there. A ceasefire is in place which is good, but things are tense.

The real enemy of both Israel and Gaza, is HAMAS the radical Islamic group that controls the Gaza strip, that largely leaves its residents struggling whilst spending aid money on weapons against Israel. All too often, the media portrays Israel as the aggressor and bully simply because they have lost less citizens.

On Saturday, I met with a friend in a coffee shop in Palmerston Road, in Southsea, Portsmouth, about 2 miles from my house. Lock down has loosened up and now I can sit inside any catering establishment with still a few limitations, like masks etc.

Whilst waiting outside for my friend, I did notice, two different men, of western descent, wearing a kefyir, a red and white scarf made famous by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. They didn’t have any other items that make it look they were going to a political event, but I suspect that was the intention. I have seen rallies like these before in Portsmouth though.

The rain started to fall quite a bit on and off, so I stood under the canopy which is on either side of this precinct here. Later when I met my friend we could see it raining hard. So maybe ruining any event that might cause people in the west to glorify and join a bandwagon on a cause based on deadly radical Islam! It would be nice for rain to fall on the Holy Land also right now.

Later, today (Sunday 23/05/2021) I’m actually in my new church which is in Chichester, a city 20 miles away. Last summer, when I was planning on leaving London and moving back to my home town, I did get a dream of visiting a church I’ve never seen before in a large industrial factory type building. I’m now going to Grace Church, Chichester regularly now limited number of seats in church are possible again.

When one of the leaders (sorry don’t know his name, still new and masks make it hard to remember people!!) emphasised the need for prayer for our cities and community, some rain suddenly started hammering on the roof of the building (metal roof so its loud) this finished when church finished and we went back to the car park.

2 Chronicles 7 : 13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Rain has a lot of significance in scripture, and I think today also.