News commentators and social media influencers focus almost exclusively on the war in Gaza and the people who live there. But another type of war simmers under the surface, behind the scenes, within the hearts of the people of Israel. This invisible war, however, is spiritual. During ordinary life, most people manage at some level to ignore the spiritual conflict for their soul, but in Israel, since October 7, life has been anything but ordinary.

Our staff in Israel continue to serve the physical needs of Israelis—Jewish and Arab, elderly Holocaust survivors, evacuees, displaced families, those who have lost jobs, soldiers called up to duty, folks of all ages who lost loved ones in the attacks, and unsettled students. Still, our core work is to serve the spiritual needs of those whose hurting hearts and shell-shocked souls are searching for hope.

Every conversation nowadays goes deep, and we do not even have to try! Everywhere we go, people hear who we are (believers in Jesus), who He is (the Messiah and Savior), and who the Lord invites to come (anyone who is weary or heavy-laden)!

Focus on post-war ministry among women and children.

One of our staff—from Tel Aviv—writes:

• I recently had the chance to go and visit a mom with two young kids at her home. They live outside Tel Aviv toward the south. She was regularly involved with our activities but has been unable to attend our events at the Tel Aviv center since the war started. Although she would like to come, she cannot get both her little kids unbuckled from their car seats and to safety in ninety seconds if a rocket attack occurs on the way.

While I was at her home, a rocket attack from Gaza suddenly interrupted our lovely visit. We had to take shelter in the stairwell with her young, red-headed son and baby. The moment the siren sounded, she had been changing the baby’s diaper and had to hurry to get out the door with him and down to safety. Her toddler is terribly frightened by the sirens, and this sweet mama worries about how her child has been handling the stressful situation. The many hostages still in Gaza, among them little red-headed boys (the Bibas baby and toddler), are ever on our hearts and in this young mama’s mind as well. 

• Another young wife I met with received the happy news she and her husband are expecting their first child. Soon after, October 7 came, war began, and her husband was called up into reserve duty in Gaza. The worry for her husband’s safety has made the nausea worse.

Another one of our staff—in Jerusalem—writes:

• After the war began, we met a woman whose husband had tragically died six months before, along with her twelve-year-old daughter. They were already going through difficult times, but when the war came, and their city began to be heavily shelled, they lost all hope. By “chance,” they ended up in the group we were transporting from the south. The mother was wary of us, kept saying she was not religious and was closed to our faith. I invited them to live with other evacuee families in our Messianic center in Jerusalem anyway.

After they came, the Lord began to work in their hearts. The mother started asking questions, communicating more, smiling, laughing, and opening up. Then, surprisingly, she began coming to the Bible classes I was conducting, and we had long discussions. An answer to prayer became a turning point. They started praying more and telling the others about their experiences with God daily. Their lives changed. The mother said we were God’s light for them. They have now returned to their home and started going to the local congregation!