Greetings in His Grace and Peace, to all the brethren who have been 
standing with the Ortiz family!
 
David and Leah are back in their remodeled home and are gradually 
getting back to a daily routine.  Ami is settled in at the rehab 
hospital (Tel Ha-Shomer in Ramat Gan).  It looks like he will get to be
 
at home on the weekends.  I popped over there last weekend and talked
 to 
Ami for a few minutes - it was the first time I had seen him since the 
bombing.  
 
I looked him over like any good Israeli "aunt" who has known him all
 his 
life, made a mental note that we need to fatten him up, kidded him
 about 
his blond hair (he had dyed it for Purim, like many of his friends),
 and 
gave him a hug (carefully!).  He of course has the marks of what he has
 
been through a
 ll over his body, but the doctors say the skin scars will
 
mostly disappear, either from plastic surgery or natural healing 
["natural"? - ha - they must have redefined that term, since the word 
"miracle" was getting too much use.  It would be more accurate to say 
"natural for Ami's astonishing rate of healing..."]. 
 
Leah also tells me that Ami still has hundreds [!?!] of bits of metal 
splinters in his body, which they expect will work their way to the
 skin 
surface without intervention.  This is amazing to think about, yet 
it's something every healthy body does on its own, to get rid of
 foreign 
bodies that cannot be broken down and absorbed. 
 
(What a spiritual lesson for the Body of the Lord, and a true test of 
our collective spiritual health.)
 
When I saw Ami, however, I spent more time looking into his 
eyes than studying the physical marks.  He responded like the same kid 
we've known all these yea
 rs... but there was a faraway look that 
spoke about things going on inside.  The marks of what he has been 
through are on his soul too, and we need to pray for continued healing 
there, where plastic surgery has nothing to offer, and where the Lord 
Himself will have to bring to the surface all those needle-sharp barbs 
the enemy has thrown at him, trying to wound his trust in God.
 
Leah also remarked that Ami is now looking ahead to the next stage of 
long-term therapy, plus several rounds of surgery, and he is getting 
depressed.  It's a very natural response which even an adult would 
have... the vision of countless pain sessions - most of it 
self-inflicted through the therapy - stretching on to the horizon and 
beyond... and even after the therapy is over, hundreds of tiny things 
in his life will never be like they were... like they are for his 
friends, who are going on with their teenage lives and thinking
 thoughts 
that belong to another world. 
 
Please pray that Ami will learn the hardest, most valuable lesson
 anyone 
can learn in walking with the Lord:  To live for this one day, this 
one hour, this one moment that He has set before him to live through, 
and not look at what comes after that. 
 
The Lord knows that when we look beyond what He has given us the faith 
for (usually one day's ration is given to us, like the manna was given 
to Israel), we sabotage our ability to walk with Him in the here and 
now, AND ALSO our ability to walk with Him later.  It's today's 
experience with Him that prepares us for tomorrow's challenges.  
That's why Yeshua commanded us to "give no thought for tomorrow".
 
For most of us, this discipline of focusing on the "now" with God might
 
last about 1/2 hour at a time (for me,
  some days the average is about
 10 
minutes...).  And most of us don't have half the challenges that are 
facing Ami.  He needs extra enablement to walk in the "now" with his 
Lord - but where the walk is tougher, the needed Grace is there, and
 His 
Peace comes in even stronger.  So pray with confidence... for Ami, and 
for your own needs in this area.
 
With this I will close.
 
This was a needed service for the family in their time of crisis.  It 
was a time to encourage Body teamwork and to organize support to 
meet their spiritual/emotional needs (prayer and visits) and their 
material needs (meals and financial help).  As I wrote about events and
 
impressions, sometimes the Lord opened up spiritual tidbits that I have
 
also shared with you, which I hope were edifying. 
 
These are all things we (Restorers of Zion) are called to do from time 
to time as part of our ministry.  Once the Body is in gear and 
 the
 needs 
are being met, we move on to other assignments. So it's time to turn
 the 
updating over to Ami's parents, or to someone in their own fellowship 
that they might want to delegate that to. 
 
If you want to receive further updates about Ami, please send an email 
to Leah: ldortiz@netvision.net.il <mailto:ldortiz@netvision.net.il>. 
 
Anyone wanting to send additional financial support, you can do this 
through the special fund set up by Jerusalem Institute of Justice:
 write 
to Attorney Calev Myers: myers@yraveh.co.il 
<mailto:myers@yraveh.co.il> for details on how they process donations.
 
Postcards (for Ami's growing collection) and checks made out directly
 to 
David Ortiz should all be sent to: PO Box 1903, Ariel, 40700, Israel.
 
May this experience teach all of us to how to bond together more 
effectively in the future, when we discover one of our members nearby
 is 
hurting or sick or weakened.  There will be plen
 ty of opportunities 
for practicing this in the last days!
 

blessings,
Hannah