Jesus Is Changing Lives In Israel

I recently returned from a difficult trip in Israel; the war with Iran began when I was there with about sixty staff and partners! You may have heard our new Tel Aviv Messianic Center was damaged by an Iranian missile. Please pray for us as we begin the repairs.

Despite these setbacks, we have seen remarkable growth take place since war started in October 2023, including eleven new believers whom our staff are now mentoring and discipling! What an encouraging sign of God’s work in Israel. Attendance at our Bible studies continues to increase, with many eagerly coming to engage deeply with Scripture.

So, allow me to share with you some wonderful testimonies of how Jesus is changing lives and resurrecting hope in the hearts of many forlorn Israelis who live beneath the grim shadow of war and hate.

• Upon reaching rock bottom and planning to end her life, Devorah* encountered Jesus and came to faith! She began attending our young adult group and read through the entire New Testament. She also meets every other week with one of our staff for mentoring, Bible reading, and prayer. She is passionate about following the Lord and eager to use her large social media platform to share about the radical way Jesus has transformed her life. 

• One of our ministry staff members, along with his Greek-Israeli friend, an accomplished bouzouki (a stringed instrument) player, unexpectedly found himself in high demand for concerts among Israeli soldiers. What began as an outreach to severely wounded soldiers in hospitals has grown into a broader and greater ministry where our staff member and his friend minister regularly through music and the Psalms to entire units! Our staff member explains, “We always make it clear that we are believers, that they are not alone, and that Christians in the United States are praying for them.” The impact is visible as many respond with weary but grateful smiles, singing, and even dancing! In one particularly moving moment, a young woman suffering from chronic pain was brought to tears as the team gathered around her in prayer. What began as a simple offering of compassion, the Lord has multiplied into a powerful display of love, encouragement, and hope amid overwhelming need.

• A few months ago, one of our workers came across an elderly believer friend in the mall who needed strength to care for his ailing wife. Our staff members now make regular visits to his family, which has helped our friend better care for his wife. God wonderfully redeemed a dire situation!

• At a recent Sabbath dinner, one of our staff members engaged in a meaningful conversation with a new believer, Hadas*, who began following Jesus only a few months ago. Hadas came with many questions, which led to a deep and enriching spiritual discussion involving several believers. Afterward, she shared that the conversation had significantly increased her understanding and sparked a desire in her to read and grow in her knowledge of the Bible!

• Recently, one of our staff joined a ladies’ brunch and small prayer meeting where each woman shared how God had stretched her faith and revealed His faithfulness. One woman testified how the Lord led her to the right apartment outside Tel Aviv and then provided a car within her budget. Another woman shared how, just as her lease was ending and while she was still job hunting, God miraculously provided both a new job and an apartment nearby—right on time! We are grateful for this growing community and sisterhood where younger and older believers alike are able to come together and encourage and pray for one another. Praise God for such sweet fellowship!

• Our staff recently had the tremendous privilege of exploring the book of Ruth with a group of young adults. We noticed that the young adults were not just listening but were engaging thoughtfully, reflecting personally, and connecting the teaching to their own lives. After the sessions, our staff had meaningful conversations with the men and women in attendance. Many shared how the study opened their eyes to new perspectives, challenged them to think deeply, and even stirred some to action. When the teaching ended, they did not just rush off to chit-chat but lingered, asked hard questions, and shared what was on their hearts. They wanted to pray together, wrestle with the truth of Scripture, and let it shape their lives. The Bible study is alive and bearing fruit! God’s truth is transforming lives!

As we transition into our new facility in Tel Aviv this month, we believe even greater opportunities for ministry lie ahead because of the Lord’s blessing on our work and because of your faithful prayers and support! We could not have made it this far without you. I pray and ask you to continue partnering with us to show the love of Jesus to His own people in this hour of dire need.

Let’s Act Now!

Like many heroes of the faith during World War II who saved Jewish lives and fought antisemitism, the actions we take now will write history, as the next generation of Bonhoeffers and ten Booms rise up to take their stand with God’s chosen people.

First of all, please pray for the peace of Jerusalem and for the safety and well-being of Jewish people in Israel and around the globe. I was recently in England where there are pro-Hamas protests almost every day throughout London. As the psalmist wrote, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: ‘May they prosper who love you’” (Psalm 122:6).

This is a prayer with a promise. So, please pray for the Jewish people, for Israel, and for your Jewish friends and associates. Please pray that, by turning to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob through Jesus the Messiah, the peace of Jesus would fill the hearts of Jewish people who are seeking answers to questions about the fragility of life.

Jewish people feel threatened by the plague of antisemitism spreading throughout the world at this critical moment in human history. As Charles Dickens wrote, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” The worst because Israelis and many Jewish people feel threatened by growing antisemitism in the West, and even in the United States; the best because Israelis are turning to spiritual truth to fill the void in their souls. Many, especially those under forty, are seeking hope, peace, and stability, and they are finding it through the love of Messiah Jesus. Please pray and take action against anti-Jewish and anti-Israel hatred around the globe, and continue to spread God’s Word to the Jewish people.

I always ask my Gentile believing brothers and sisters to think about sharing the gospel with the Jewish people and to keep Jewish evangelism from becoming the Great Omission of the Great Commission! As the apostle Paul shared in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

Paul reminds the Gentile believers to make the Jewish people jealous of the Jewish Messiah who lives in the heart of every true follower of Jesus. He wrote in Romans 11:11, “I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous.”

We recently held two gospel proclamation campaigns in both the United States (Shalom New York) and in London (Shalom London). These went well, although we did receive some opposition from anti-Israel protestors, who waved Hamas and Palestinian flags together, making it clear what these misinformed souls supported. The Lord gave us the opportunity to share the gospel with many of these who seem to hate the Jewish people, but for whom Jesus died. We spoke to hundreds of people about the Lord on the streets of these two great cities with a combined Jewish population of about three million.

We are about to walk into the hornets’ nest by beginning a residential university outreach at Columbia University. Undeterred by pro-Hamas and anti-Israel sentiments at the school, we will be renting an apartment and deploying three workers on campus. They will align their schedules with the university calendar and spend each day sharing the good news with students. We are doing the same at New York University, which has similar challenges with anti-Israel activists.