What is God Doing in Israel?

Israel              

Population: 6.0 million

Capital:   Jerusalem

People Groups: 57

Main Religion: Judaism 81%

All Christians:  2%

 

Links to Testimonies of Muslims in Israel who have become Christians: WALID:  http://www.answering-islam.org/Testimonies/walid.html

A former Palestinian terrorist who's now a born-again Christian says Israel is wrong to give in to demands that it give up more land for peace. Walid Shoebat grew up in a Palestinian home in Bethlehem. He says from the very beginning, his father and other Palestinian leaders taught him to hate the Jews. When he was still a teenager, he was recruited into the terrorism business and was given death missions to carry out on Israelis. "I ended up being recruited to do my first operation to blow up [a bank] in Bethlehem. It failed; the bomb exploded, nobody was hurt," Shoebat says. "And my first attempted lynching of a Jewish soldier failed; we clubbed him. He was sitting there, he was bleeding profusely. I'm still looking for that soldier -- I'm looking to pay restitution." Through a variety of circumstances, Shoebat eventually began to study the Bible, with the intent to prove it wrong. Instead, he was amazed at what it taught about Israel and how God has always preserved the Jewish people, no matter how strong the enemy. God touched his heart, he says, and he asked Christ to be his personal Savior. "I did a simply prayer to the God of Abraham, asking Him to show me the truth -- and He showed me the truth," the former terrorist says. "[Thousands of] verses of prophetic nature in the Bible. I was in sinking sand, my friends. And every single Muslim in the world is in sinking sand if he thinks that they are going to destroy the State of Israel."    National Religious Broadcasters, February 2004

"For 25 years, Lebanese Christians fought side by side with the Israeli Army against terror, thus protecting Israel's northern border," reports German missions agency Philippus-Dienst. When the Israeli Army suddenly withdrew from southern Lebanon on 23rd May 2000, some 6,000 Lebanese had to flee their homes - remaining would have meant death. Then came the great disappointment. Although almost every family had lost someone in action for Israel, the Israeli State ignored their plight; their fellow Arabs in Israel regarded them as traitors because of their support for Israel, and most Jews misunderstood them because of their Arabic language and culture. "Sometimes, when I hear their sad stories, I can only hug them and cry with them," says pastor Joseph Haddad from the Lebanese fellowship in Nahariya, Israel. "But God is faithful, and through their suffering, many have recognised Jesus as the Saviour. Most were nominal Christians from a Catholic or Maronitic background. We recently held a baptism service in the River Jordan with 12 new believers." Haddad is convinced: "God has a plan. They came to Israel to find Jesus as their Saviour, be filled with the Holy Spirit and one day to return to Lebanon as a small flame to ignite revival in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and other nations."    Philippus-Dienst, January 2004

"We baptised five new Israeli believers on Rosh HaShana, the Jewish New Year's festival," reports Messianic Jewish pastor Avi. The number of Messianic churches is also growing: "Israel's population is currently 6.6 million. In 1948, it was only 600,000. Twenty years ago, there were very few Messianic churches; today, there are around 100," he says. "During a conference in Sarons Pal, Norway a while ago, I worked with pastor Victor Bahbah from Jaffa's Arabic church," Avi continues. "We preached together, and God used us as 'one new man' to tear down the walls separating Arabs and Jews, becoming one body in the Messiah. It was good to hear of some Palestinians at the meeting who then accepted Jesus as their personal Lord." Dugit, January 2004

In early September, a mission agency planting house churches among Muslims in Israel reported that some 500 Muslims have been baptised in the past 18 months. The leader of the movement, codenamed Barnabas, is convinced that lasting change is only possible if Palestinians and Muslims living in Israel meet Jesus Christ. The Society of Light movement helps children of ex-Muslims now following Christ obtain school material. The growing movement's members experience persecution and attacks, but also unexpected help from God. When the school material was about to run out, an acquaintance from a Muslim aid organisation brought Barnabas school books to be distributed to needy children.   IAM Partners, October 2003

Funds sent by Christian Aid recently reached the hearts and homes of Palestinian refugees living in Gaza. The money was sent by a personal envoy traveling in the area who placed it in the hands of leaders of a Christian ministry in Gaza. With the resource provided, local Christian workers distributed aid to the "poorest of the poor" in some of the most heavily populated refugee camps in the Gaza Strip.They were guided on their way to 35 specific homes by seven Muslim volunteers. At each home, they would say, "Hello, we are friends in Gaza and want to give you a gift during this hard time." They then gave each home a coupon that could be exchanged for food. Then the Christians would ask the resident if they could pray that God would bless and protect them and meet all their needs during the coming year. All of those visited agreed. Sometimes the resident mentioned a specific need to be prayed for, but most of the time a general prayer was offered, such as: "Father in heaven, to whom can we go but to You in these difficult times? Pour out your Holy Spirit on this home. Reveal to them the awesome love You have for them. Meet all their needs. If there is sickness, heal, and protect this house from sickness and evil. Bless them, Lord, above all that they would know Your great salvation." Often before the prayer was finished, the residents would start crying and pray with the visitors, "Yes, Lord, come and heal and bless us," showing their earnest longing for the reality of God. Many of the homes had experienced a recent death, a father or oldest brother. Many residents were widows living in squalor. In one house lived a widow with five daughters. The house had no windows, doors, tile, paint or furniture. The open holes meant for windows and doors were filled with sticks in a feeble attempt to keep out the wind, rain, mice and birds. The simple aid given meant a great deal. Many times the visit took place to the accompaniment of tank fire, gun shots and F-16 fighter jets flying overhead. "But we came with a message of peace, God's peace, the only peace that will overcome the hurt and heartache of this tumultuous region," said one of the participants. "God did many wonderful things that we are not free to mention," he said. "Surely God's heart is with the people of Gaza and He is desirous of reaching them with His cords of everlasting kindness."  Christian Aid, Missions Insider, September 2003

It all started last February, when a bearded young Palestinian was wandering in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. He had dodged checkpoints even to be there, since under stringent Israeli closures, no one from his village four miles away was allowed to enter Jerusalem. It was the month of Ramadan, and like most others in his family and community, Ata [pseudonym] was meticulously observing the Muslim fast from sunrise to sunset every day. Overhearing [three] lost tourists speaking a mixture of English and French, Ata offered to help them find the Wailing Wall... "The American lady was a Christian," Ata recalls, "and both of the French were Jewish, but they believed in Jesus! This point really caught me--it was like a Muslim sheikh believing in Jesus! Himself a graduate of a French university, Ata could not forget this encounter. "Something really touched me," he says, and he began visiting a local church almost daily. ...before the month of Ramadan finished, Ata had an unusual dream..."I saw myself on the second set of stairs at the Damascus Gate, and a light came to me. It was becoming stronger and stronger, and I saw it was a person coming towards me...there were no passersby, no sun, just his light," Ata says. "[Twice] He asked me to take [his] Bible, but...I refused." The third time, Ata said, the person in his dream came close to him, gave him the Bible with both his hands and called him by name. "Then he breathed on me, and it was like my whole body was enveloped..." Ata said he was drenched in sweat when he awoke, and was afraid to tell anyone about his dream of Jesus. "I knew that the Sheikh would say it was of the devil!" he admitted. But suddenly, the young Palestinian had a burning desire to read the Bible, and that was all he wanted to do. "I dreamed on Monday," Ata says, "and on Thursday I went to church and told the pastor I wanted to believe and follow Jesus." Now 24, Ata had grown up through the punishing years of the Palestinian intifada uprising against the Israeli military occupation. Like everyone he knew, he classified the Jews as his enemies, and he hated them passionately. "Whenever they ordered a closure, and we couldn't come to Jerusalem from our home just a few kilometers away, I would want to fight the Jews," Ata recalled. "I hated them, I wanted to kill them for the way they were treating us." But after accepting Jesus, Ata realized, all he wanted to do was sit at home and read his Bible! "There was no bitterness left," he marveled. "I just wanted to love them, to understand, to show tolerance and forgive them--things no one taught me before....Now I'm talking with my best friend, also a Muslim," Ata said. "After 10 days, he said he wanted to give his life to Jesus too..."  Ata admitted to ongoing fears that Palestinian Christians will mistrust him. "But visiting and fellowshipping with them lessens my fears," he said....Still, [one]...Jewish believer could hardly restrain himself when he saw that Ata had a Palestinian flag and map displayed in his bedroom, along with a picture of the symbolic Dome of the Rock. "He told me, 'I hate all that!'" Ata said with a sigh. "But I had to tell him, 'I don't. I love it. It's my people.'" "I will never dishonor the Israelis," Ata declared, "even though they killed my cousin, shot my father and me as well, and others. I am learning to drop my prejudices, to be humble, to love and respect others, and to share Christ with them."    Compass Direct, June 1996