Christian solidarity mission to tour battered communities

By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
A joint Christian-Jewish solidarity mission from the US will arrive in Israel on Monday to give moral support to the country during the war against Hizbullah. The 30-member delegation, which is headed by the prominent American Christian broadcaster Earl Cox, will visit front-line communities in the North, including residents living for a third week in bomb shelters, and offer financial and moral support for those displaced and wounded in the conflict. "We're going to put our prayer boots on the ground in Israel and stand with this nation at a time when they need our friendship the most," Cox said. "We know there's no better time than now for Christians to demonstrate that our profession of love and concern for Israel is sincere," he added. In recent months, Cox's Israel Always organization has conducted pro-Israel rallies in a number of US cities, in cooperation with local Jewish community leaders. The visit, which is being organized in coordination with the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, comes at a time of burgeoning relations between Israel and the strongly supportive Evangelical Christian community around the world.