It all started when I was privileged to hear a fellow Christian’s testimony of his pilgrimage to Israel. He spoke of the way the Bible came to life as he walked on Mount Carmel and could envision what it might be like to see Elijah standing before the nation of Israel and crying out to God for fire to rain down upon the alter. Or when he saw the valley of Megiddo and cried at the thought of what will one day happen in that beautiful valley. As he spoke on these things, God ignited a fire in my heart to one day experience the exact same things.
Over those next weeks, I would do anything and everything I could to find a way to go to Israel. To keep that fire burning, I would constantly research the land and her people.
After a while I fell in love with the Jewish people and I was drawn to their testimonies of God’s faithfulness. My heart leaps with joy to see God’s mighty hand working through the very existence of these ancient people. Oh, how it hurts to see them in pain. It tortures me to read or watch things concerning the Holocaust. I know I have to hear it, for it is the only way to really understand what these people go through, even now.
Over the last couple years, I have seen a growing “intolerance” for the Jews. Even among my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. At times I have been mocked or criticized by fellow believers concerning my love for the Jews, but the burden to urge fellow Christians to reach out to the Jewish people is still so strong. I cannot be silent! “For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest.” Isaiah 62:1a.
I have no idea what my future holds, but I pray to God that it involves Israel and her people. I am so in love with these people and their land that nothing, no terrorist attack, no bomb, nothing can take away the desire to go visit the land of Israel and minister to her people. Nothing can take away my desire to see the Bible stories spring to life or to walk in the very footsteps of my LORD and savior.
The time of the Jews is drawing near. Christ will soon return to take his Church. The people of Israel need a glimmer of hope that only the Christian people have.
The one thing my heart desires more than anything is to share with the Jewish people the hope that is within me. There is only one that can give them true “Tikva” (Hope) and that is Jesus Christ.
In His service, Rachel
