An Israeli Orthodox Jewish man went through horrible trauma, became a suicidal atheist, but then found healing and new life in a place he never expected – in Jesus, Yeshua!
Join the movement!
Thank you so much for standing with us in prayer and support over this last year – God has done some incredible, unprecedented things, and we’re excited to share some of them with you. You are an important part of this harvest!
The Gospel Spreading Like Wildfire
In the last year, God caused the Gospel to spread like never before here in Israel – our evangelistic videos have now reached over 90 million views just in Hebrew – nearly 38 million views were from this year alone! Praise God!
So many Israelis contacted us and ordered New Testaments that we had to literally stop all ads for a while because we were overwhelmed!
And more and more Israelis from every background are beginning to turn to Jesus as Lord. But after being steeped in a culture full of opposition to Him, sometimes it can take a while before they’re ready for a new birth – like in the case of Elijah from Jerusalem.
Desperate for Hope
About two years ago, Elijah, a 22-year-old religious man who had studied in a pre-yeshiva, pre-seminary, saw our evangelistic videos and contacted us, asking questions about the Messianic prophecies in the Hebrew Bible. He had left his religion deeply scarred and traumatized, but now was searching for truth, wanting to investigate whether God exists and whether Yeshua is the Messiah.
So our team member Daniel travelled to Jerusalem to meet with him in a café. Daniel showed him the prophecies pointing to Jesus as the Messiah of Israel. Elijah was intellectual and critical in his approach, questioning everything Daniel tried to explain to him.
At the end of the meeting, Daniel asked if he could pray for him, and Elijah quickly replied, “No, no – I don’t want any prayer because I don’t want any emotions to influence me or my decisions. Let’s keep it rational.”
Despite Elijah’s objections, the two continued to meet and every time they met online or in person, they would talk for hours. But while he kept in close contact with Daniel, Elijah also regularly had in-depth conversations with a well-known counter-missionary rabbi in Israel whose profession – and obsession – is to distance Jews from faith in Yeshua.
Elijah would go back and forth, presenting arguments from one side to the other and hearing their responses. It was basically an online debate with this famous rabbi, with Elijah being the moderator!
One day, during one of their video calls, Daniel suddenly sensed in the Spirit that Elijah was thinking about committing suicide. Daniel spoke gently to him, “I feel that you don’t believe in God, not because of these intellectual objections, but because of matters of the heart – deep wounds you may be carrying inside.”
Elijah was silent. Then, in a broken voice near tears, he confessed, “You know, maybe you’re right. I’ve gone through many painful things in my life. Maybe that’s why I don’t believe in God. How do you know that God is good?”
Daniel responded, “Look at the world – at nature, at the stars, it’s all put together like a house that a father prepared for his children out of love.”
Elijah pondered these words. He seemed to open up, and even set his criticism aside, beginning to lean more and more towards the truth about God’s nature and love for him.
The Choice: Salvation or Death
But then, Elijah disappeared. He didn’t answer calls or messages for five months. Daniel began to fear the worst, and we as a team interceded for Elijah.
Then one morning, Daniel received a message on his phone from an unknown number – it was Elijah! As though nothing had happened, he wanted to reconnect.
A few times Elijah contacted Daniel in the middle of the night, having deep questions and heavy burdens to share. One of those times, Elijah opened up, “I’ve reached the conclusion that either I’m going to believe in Yeshua, or I’m going to end my life.”
He shared that he had asked God to show him the truth about Yeshua – and that he heard a clear voice say, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” He was shocked and shaken, but still couldn’t believe it.
Daniel cut to the heart of the matter, “Elijah, you already have all the knowledge you need about Yeshua. God has spoken to you personally. You feel the presence of the Holy Spirit when you listen to Messianic worship songs. All you need to do now is decide.”
Baptism in Jerusalem
Elijah agreed to meet with other believers praying in Jerusalem. And exactly at that moment, Daniel and others were praying for him in Haifa, and Elijah suddenly felt God’s presence descend on him in a way he had never felt before.
He turned to the believer next to him and announced, “I want to receive Yeshua into my life!” He prayed in his own words to accept Yeshua and asked, “Is there a place to be baptized here?” They said, “Well, we have a bathtub.” They didn’t waste any time, and he immediately got baptized in the bathtub!
Soon afterwards, Daniel and another team member, Roger, travelled to Jerusalem to pray for healing and deliverance for Elijah. He shared the traumas he had experienced, and they encouraged him to forgive everyone who had hurt him. He wept while praying, but by God’s grace he was able to forgive. Then as they prayed more for him, he was beautifully and dramatically delivered, and was even filled with the Holy Spirit to overflowing!
You could see the change in Elijah immediately – he not only looked like a totally new person, but he also stepped into a totally new life. He immediately started sharing the Gospel with his siblings!
Online Prayer Meetings: Join Us Live
Please pray for Elijah and all the other new believers, and for the new discipleship group we’re starting with them, Lord-willing.
It’s so encouraging for us to see how several of them are actively beginning to make disciples themselves, including the former New Age guru Ofir, who recently asked us to join him for the baptism of someone he led to faith! Let’s pray for a great wave of disciples making disciples in Israel, like in the Book of Acts!
Actually, you can join us and pray live together online! We’re starting up the Tree of Life International Prayer Meetings again, where we’ll share testimonies of what God’s doing as well as key insights from Scripture and prayer points, and then pray together as “one new man” in Messiah! Click here to join us!
One Last Thing
And one last thing: For many more stories of God’s amazing works here in Israel, you’re welcome to sign up for our newsletter, and get these stories straight to your inbox. You can also follow us on social media, and don’t forget to like and share this video so that others can be encouraged in their faith!