Pro-Life & Gospel Campaign Hits the Streets of Israel – and What an Impact!

Ariel:

Shalom, and welcome to the Tree of Life Israel Podcast. I'm Ariel Hyde.

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Eliel:

And I'm Eliel Fos.

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Ariel:

And we have some amazing testimonies to share with you this time from the recent Pro-Life and Gospel outreaches. They were really the first of their kind here in Israel. But before we share some about that, we just want to share a little bit of the background of the Pro-Life and Gospel Campaign that the Lord put it on our hearts to launch. We shared a little bit about that in the last podcast, but we just want to say here that there have been about 40,000 abortions happening every year in Israel, and almost no one is speaking out against it publicly here in Israel. And most Israelis just think, if you have an unwanted pregnancy, that's just the thing you do, is an abortion.

So Lord put it on our hearts to really fight against this and speak the truth about life, and also to share the Gospel together with people, especially those who have been involved in abortions. It's been amazing to see what God has done so far. The video has reached over 8,000,000 views here in Israel, and a hotline with women calling all the time, and 161 babies that we know of, so far, who have been saved. Yeah, praise God. And so, really, the next stage that we felt the Lord put on our hearts was to move into, not just on the videos, not just online, but really talking with people face to face.

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Eliel:

As usual, we always use every opportunity, especially when it's holidays in Israel, and every Sukkot, Feast of Tabernacles, we do outreaches on the streets. So this time, we prayed and the Lord put it on our hearts to do it three times during the Feast of Tabernacles - to go three times on the streets in Haifa, in the Carmel Center. And we always, on Sukkot, are having a film festival where thousands of Israelis are coming to Carmel Center.

And so, we created, first of all, booklets that are really beautiful booklets that are showing the development of a child and also some pictures, of course, of what's happening when you do abortions. But also, there is always a hope inside there. We are always offering a help and really support for women that are going through this pregnancy, and maybe they has difficulties. So we are offering - through other ministries - financial support, and also counseling. And really, we're trying to surround these women with help. And so, also for women that did do abortions, we also want to help them emotionally. And of course, Jesus is the only answer. Yeshua is the only answer for freedom, from guilt, and shame, to find forgiveness and freedom

So that's what we went to offer. Of course,  the organization Live Action gave us permission to use a video that is explaining and showing an animation of a baby's development from conception to birth. And so, we did a voiceover in Hebrew with subtitles and we put it right there on our stand with other posters, really beautiful posters, that are showing what we are doing here, and inviting people to come and have a conversation with us. And so, there were thousands of people. We shared about 1,600 flyers, that people took. It was amazing, and we are going to share some testimonies with you because we also went as Jews and Arabs

That was amazing to see how the Lord provided us with helpers from different congregations, of course. And we're so thankful to them for coming and strengthening our hands. And we want as one new man to share this amazing life with Israelis. Also, we had some Jewish pastors, and an Arab pastor with us, and we went together to the streets, and of course, we had always people praying for us. And also you were praying for us because we were sending updates. So, we're going to share with you now with some amazing testimonies.

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Ariel:

Yeah, yeah. Praise God. I mean, overall there were hundreds of conversations with people. Some of them got to go in more depth, some of them less, but each one were seeds, and quite a few conversations where we went into the Gospel as well. So also, as we expected, quite a lot of opposition, quite a few people who were just giving dirty looks, or even yelling, or other things. But we know when you take a stand for righteousness, you're going to expect that. And we know that Yeshua, Jesus, even said, we have a reward when we're standing for righteousness and we're persecuted. But we also saw some amazing breakthroughs.

Especially with young people, there were so many who came by, and they saw what we were doing, and maybe they asked something, or we got their attention and we asked them things like, "Hey, have you ever thought about when life begins?" And so many of them hadn't. They hadn't thought about almost anything related to unwanted pregnancies, or abortion, or anything. And so, it was amazing to see several dozen young people who either were against the pro-life position or were undecided who changed their minds by the end of the conversations.

And after I had seen how so many of the young people were open to it, a few of the times I saw young people far away and I even just ran to them. And maybe that's saving one more life, so it's worth it just to reach out to those people. And just one of those young men that especially was a touching story was we started talking with them about, "Hey, did you know that the baby has a heartbeat from day 21 of pregnancy? And he has unique DNA from the moment of conception. And all of his traits, they're already imprinted in him, in the DNA." He looked at his friend, he's like, "Wow, did you know that? I didn't know that. That's amazing." And he was so touched by it. So he took a big stack of our booklets, and he started going all around the area and handing them out to people as well. Praise God.

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Eliel:

Yeah, praise God. Just to see how young people are so open. They're being brainwashed so much right now in this generation. And it's just that nobody tells them the truth. The were two young girls that came to me and they're like, "Oh, what are you doing here," and, "Why are you this doing here?" And they said, "Oh, both of our mothers didn't want us and they wanted to abort us, and here we are, but why did they bring us into this life, into this world." And I said, "No, girls. You are not a mistake here. There is a plan for your life." And they don't usually hear those words of life. And we were really sowing seeds of life into theirs. And I said, "It doesn't matter what your mothers wanted to do. You are not a mistake. There is a calling on your life."

And in many conversations, we could share the Gospel. Like, these three young girls came to us, and usually, some people were just immediately yelling at us or against us, but they were really genuinely asking good questions about abortion. And I could see... that it wasn't "throwing pearls to the pigs." They were really receiving every word that we said. And of course, we went prepared what to share, how to share, but we always needed God's wisdom and grace to speak with love, and to be gentle with them. And so, every time they asked questions, genuine questions, and when we answered them really well, fully answering their questions, in the end they said, "Wow, thank you so much for sharing this with us." And one girl, her eyes were like, they lit up. And I was amazed just to see with my own eyes how people's hearts changed and minds. It was amazing.

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Ariel:

Yeah. Praise God. Yeah, it's exciting. And in quite a few of the conversations, the Lord opened up the door to share the Gospel. And one of them was a man that our hotline counselor, Rene, started speaking with him and she asked him what he thinks about abortions. And he said, "Well, I'm actually against it." And so, we always said to people ahead of time, if that happens, then try to move toward the Gospel, because they're already on our side on the first point.

And so, she called me over and we both shared together. And this young man was thinking things through, really, every point that we said from the Tanakh, he would just sit there for a little while and he would think, "That's a really good point. Wow, I'd never thought about that." Just each thing, and he was coming from a rabbinical background, like the traditional Judaism. So he had a lot of thoughts from the rabbis, but each time, he was really open, and at the end, he wanted for us to pray for him. And he was like, "Wow, what a blessing. This is amazing." And he wants to meet with us as well.

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Eliel:

Yeah. On the first day, we were going for the first time to our spot on the street. And on the way there, we suddenly met some young person in his 20s that we had been reaching out to him in the past and lost contact a bit. And suddenly, I saw him with some satanic symbol on his necklace. I came to him, I said, "Hey, what's up? How are you doing? What is that?" And my friend that came out from this background and was with us, came to share about his life and he said, "Hey, I want to talk to you." And he really got engaged in the conversation with this young guy. And then he asked him, "Hey, can I take your phone number just to stay in contact with you?"

And his name is Roger, the man that is with us, one of our Arab brothers that going with us to outreaches. And then when he started to write his number and he said, "Wow, I already have your number in my phone. And in my phone it says 'Michael for Messiah'." Basically, already somebody had given him this phone number to call him and reach out to him. So, God is working in this person's life. So I would really ask you to pray for Michael. He's really lost. He's trying every well, every empty well. Please pray for him, because there is only one well that really can satisfy and it's Yeshua the Messiah, Jesus.

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Ariel:

Yeah. And a lot of the people that we encountered there were so deeply wounded in different ways. Some of them responded by just yelling at us. But other ones, you could even just see the brokenness, in general, but also especially when these sensitive topics were brought up. So there was one lady that was walking by and I just saw that she seemed quite sad. She actually already had one of our booklets. Somebody else had given her one on the other side of the street, I guess. But I just felt God saying, "No, you need to talk with her." And so, I just started talking with her, and it turns out she had actually been raped just a couple of weeks ago. And this is an amazing woman, just some of the background things that she had told about herself. I don't want to give away too many details to identify her, but she's actually somebody who has some amazing achievements even on the international arena.

But she went through that. And so, I started talking with her about Isaiah 61, and the Messiah who came to heal the broken hearted, and to bind up our wounds, and what Yeshua had done. And she had a little bit of difficulty just understanding it at first, but as we talked about it more and more, it started just sinking in more and more. And just to show also at the same level of how God was moving, we had some really crazy attacks happen during these things. One of them was that this homeless guy, right at that moment, that intimate, deep moment, started yelling at us and saying that we're liars, all this stuff. So anyway, we could really sense the spiritual battle going all throughout this whole event, but God is stronger. And so, I was able to just bring her over to the side and just pray with her. And she wants to meet together with a woman who has actually had a similar background and who Yeshua has healed. And she's found the deliverance and freedom, so she wants to meet with her next.

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Eliel:

There is another story with the shop owner that was where we were standing. Two members of our team went to talk with him. He is a Muslim guy and his name is Hamudi. And he was so excited that we're actually there, right next to his show with all our posters. And then he started to share his personal stuff about what he went through. Him and his wife, they did an abortion, and he felt so ashamed of that. He was carrying that guilt. And in the Muslim culture, they give the baby (to the parents.) And he opened the baby that was aborted, and he saw the baby and he said, "Wow." It was a wrapped up and when he opened and he said, "Wow, it's looked like a doll, looked like 'Booba'." So he felt, how could he do that thing to his own child?

And so what happened is that two members of our team, together with a pastor, Arab pastor, they prayed for him in the name of Yeshua, and really tried to comfort him. And he thanked them for that. And they're staying in contact with him, and they're going to continue to follow up. And so we say, for now he's a Muslim, but it's only for now. We believe that he will get saved because his heart is opened up to what God wants to do.

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Ariel:

Yeah, yeah. Praise God. And something that I really felt that I learned through these kind of events was: during the second outreach I was more focused on trying to win the arguments with the people. And there were several people who came and were just really anti-God, anti-life. But then at the third one, I just really released everything to the Lord. "I just want to be led by your Spirit, God, and just really have Your compassion, Your love for these people, and not get too much into the...yes, we need to answer with truth, but just to really have Your compassion, God. And so, I really felt the Lord guiding more in that one. That story I mentioned last time happened then, which I would've missed otherwise, because she already had a booklet, so I would've just let her pass. There was another lady that was walking by really fast, and usually, I would've just maybe let her pass, but I felt God saying, "No, talk with this one."

And actually I just asked her if she had any pain in her body, just starting totally in a different direction. And she did. And so my wife and I, and our little girl, prayed for her, and her pain in her leg was completely healed. A pain in her arm was brought down majorly. And she was just in shock. And then her friend came and she was telling her also what had happened. And so, we got to share the whole Gospel with them as well. And they want to connect some more. So, praise God. God moves in ways that we're maybe not even expecting, but He's the one who's able to change lives and change hearts.

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Eliel:

Yeah, maybe you want to share about Orli.

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Ariel:

Yeah. That's another just amazing story that-

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Eliel:

Wow. Powerful story.

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Ariel:

Yeah, that Rene mentioned earlier was she saw this woman who was looking at our posters and everything, and stopped. Rene started talking with her and she asked who we are. And after Rene explained it, and then started talking with her more, she just said, "It seems like you've gone through some very difficult things." And this woman, Orli, just started to break down in tears and told about, growing up with a single mother, she doesn't know who her father is at all. She has obsessive eating disorder. And Rene just embraced her for a really long time, several minutes. And then, Orli was struggling with being with others because she's gone through all these traumas.

And then Rene was able to share her testimony of some traumas that she has been through, and how Yeshua has healed her, and released her from those bondages, and enabled her to be able to even receive God's love, and then show that love to others, and experience release from rejection and shame. And so, this lady was just so deeply touched on the middle of the street, just weeping. And then several others believers came by, Roger, and another guy, David. And so, they were just enveloping her with love there, and sharing testimonies, and sharing God's love. And at the end of it, she was so touched, she wanted to give her number to be able to connect with us. And she said she'll be coming to the congregation this next week. So, praise God for her.

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Eliel:

Yeah, there was really such a strong presence right there when this whole thing was happening. And Rene, which happens to be my mother and the hotline counselor. And so, God told her and showed her that there will be special people that she will meet, and they need special care. So, maybe we can ask about prayer needs-

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Ariel:

Yeah, yeah. Maybe just one last thing and then we can pray. Just that I really wanted to encourage everybody who has the pro-life movement on your hearts. You've been praying for it. Maybe you've been sharing with others. Just to really pray about including the Gospel as you're sharing with these people. Because as you can see from some of these stories, people who had been through abortion, people who have been through these hard things. And just in general, when you're bringing up topics like abortion, it opens up the door so many times. If you're praying for it, and you're looking for it, and you're willing to use those doors to share the Gospel as well. And that's really ultimately the solution. Yes, we want to save the lives physically and we're going for it with all that we can, but we especially want to see these people saved - an everlasting salvation.

Maybe we can just pray for some of these people that we mentioned and just this whole movement, really, it's a movement being launched. I mean the pro-life movement has been here in Israel for quite a few years, but God is really just taking it up to the next level, reaching out with videos, and on the streets. And also we can just be praying, in general, for God's salvation, even outside of just these recent movements. We don't have time to share them all right now, but there's always people calling us, writing us, new people coming to faith here in Israel, and even around the world through the different evangelistic videos. So, maybe we can just take a moment just to pray for some of those things right now.

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Eliel:

Yeah. Yes, Lord. We just want to thank You Lord for everything You are doing here in Israel, Lord God. Lord, I just want to thank You for saving Your people, revealing Your truth to them, Lord God. Lord, the same decision that Israel has to make, to choose either life or death, curses or blessings, Lord. And that we pray that Israel will choose life, that they will choose blessings, Lord God. Lord, we want to pray that Your purity, Lord God, and holiness, Lord God, will sweep throughout the land, Lord. You promise, as You will bring Your people back, You will pour out clean water upon Israel, Lord God, and will clean them, Lord God.

Lord we just pray, Lord God, that Your presence will sweep through Israel, Lord God. And Lord, I pray that Your revelation of Messiah, that He is the son of God, Lord God, that He is the true Messiah of Israel, Lord God, will be revealed, Lord God. And we pray for all the seeds that were sown, Lord God, let them grow, Lord God. Let them fall on the good ground, Lord God. Lord, I pray that those seeds will grow, Lord God. And they will, Lord God, eventually will bring fruit, Lord God. We pray and we bless everyone that we spoke with, Lord God. We pray that they will go and they'll be curious to search more, Lord God, and find Your Truth that will set them free from lies, from deceptions, Lord God. In the name of Yeshua, Jesus. Amen.

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Ariel:

Yes, God. And we pray for all those who seem so hardhearted at the moment, Lord, that the seeds of Your truth would work in their heart over time, Lord, and through our prayers as well. Lord, we ask You, please remove the hearts of stone and give Your people a heart of flesh to choose life, to choose compassion, Lord. And we ask that You would just move according to Your power, and Your plans, and Your perfect ways, Lord, to move this pro-life movement forward. From glory to glory, Lord, that You would send out more laborers, that You would give the wisdom of the next steps. Lord, I pray that You would stir up your whole body here in Israel and really all around the world, Lord, that we would not be ashamed to save lives.

That we would not be ashamed to speak the truth in love. Lord, and I ask that we would be able to combine that together with the Gospel here in Israel and around the world, that there would be more and more lives saved physically and eternally. And that your Gospel would continue to spread, and all the videos, and all the other outreaches that are going on, Lord, here in Israel, and around the world. Lord, we ask that Your light in Your life would spread more and more. And we thank You for all those standing with us, all those praying with us

We bless them as well in the name of Yeshua, that Your grace, and Your strength, and Your blessing would be upon them and their families. In Jesus' name, in Yeshua's name, Amen. So, thank you so much for joining us this time, and we really want to encourage you to subscribe and follow us on social media platforms, on podcast platforms, and really help spread the word of what God is doing here in Israel. You can share this video and other videos, and also if you'd like to get all of the updates, you can subscribe for our newsletter at treeoflifeisrael.org. All right. Shalom, and God bless you.

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Eliel:

God bless you.

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