When Irina came to Israel, she was beginning again in more ways than anyone around her could see. Like many Jewish people who make aliyah—the return to Israel—there were practical things to navigate, a new life to build, and the enormous adjustment of making a new country home. But something else was beginning inside her, and she was only just starting to understand it herself.
A short time earlier, Irina had met the ministry team from Beit Hallel in Jaffa. During their time together, she heard about Jesus and prayed with the team, opening her heart to Him. There was no dramatic moment afterward when everything suddenly became easy. Instead, the evidence began appearing quietly in everyday life.
The fear and anxiety she had carried for so long began to lose their hold on her.
She noticed greater peace.
Even her speech started changing.
Irina comes from a military family where rough language had always been normal, but suddenly she realized she simply wasn’t speaking that way anymore. Nobody had told her to stop. She wasn’t trying to demonstrate that she had become a different person. Something inside her was changing, and eventually even her family began to notice.
Not long afterward, Irina joined the Beit Hallel team and a group of new Jewish immigrants for a day in Jerusalem. As they traveled, she began talking about everything that had happened since that prayer in Jaffa. Finally, she found her own words for it: “I feel as if I’ve been born again.”
There is something beautiful about the simplicity of that statement. Irina was not trying to give a polished testimony or find the right Christian language. She was simply describing what she was experiencing.
That discovery continued when the group reached Jerusalem.
Irina had brought prayer notes that she intended to place in the Western Wall, but before reaching it, the group spent time in the prayer garden at Christ Church. There they talked about what Jesus taught concerning prayer and worship—that we can come before God wherever we are. Irina listened and then responded very simply, “Then let’s pray here.”
The group held hands and prayed together in the name of Jesus for a healing need that was on her heart. When they finished, Irina described what she was experiencing with another simple sentence: “My heart is filled with peace.”
But Irina was not the only person experiencing something deeply personal that day. Anya and her young son, Nikolai, had arrived in Israel only two weeks earlier. Anya is raising three children on her own, and behind their arrival was a story of leaving the familiar behind and beginning again with many uncertainties still ahead. They had heard about Jerusalem and the Western Wall before coming to Israel, but hearing about a place and finally standing there are very different things.
When Anya and Nikolai reached the Wall, Anya began to cry. Soon Nikolai was crying beside her. Later they said, almost with surprise, “Now we understand why they call it the Wailing Wall.”
For generations, Jewish people scattered across the nations prayed toward Jerusalem and carried the hope of returning to their ancient homeland. Now this mother and her son were standing there themselves, only two weeks after beginning their new life in Israel. Jerusalem was no longer somewhere far away. They were home.
Yet perhaps one of the most meaningful parts of the day came through the people who welcomed them.
Believers in Jerusalem opened their doors to these newly arrived families. They listened to their stories, offered practical help, prayed with them, and explained why they loved Israel and wanted to stand with the Jewish people. For families navigating the uncertainty of starting over in a new country, being received with that kind of love meant more than anyone could easily put into words.
By evening, the group was gathered with the congregation in Jerusalem, surrounded once again by people talking with them, praying for them, and making room for them. Something that began as a day of seeing Jerusalem was becoming a day of relationships, belonging, and unexpected encounters with God.
On the drive home, everyone was tired. Then Irina suddenly announced that she already wanted to take another day off so she could come back to Jerusalem with the team. Everyone laughed. But there was something beautiful hidden inside that moment.
That morning, Irina had been talking about the woman she used to be—the fear she carried, the anxiety that followed her, and the changes her family was beginning to notice. By evening, she was already looking forward to what might come next.
This is why walking alongside new immigrants to Israel is about far more than meeting practical needs. These families have made an extraordinary journey, often arriving with only a small part of their story visible to us. They need help finding their footing, building relationships, understanding a new society, and discovering that they are not alone.
Through Voice of Judah Israel and our partnership with Beit Hallel Congregation in Israel, we have the privilege of standing with families during these first steps. Practical help opens doors. Friendship builds trust. And sometimes, somewhere along the journey, a conversation about Jesus begins.
For Irina, one homecoming brought her to Israel. Another is drawing her closer to God. And perhaps that is what makes her words so difficult to forget: “I feel as if I’ve been born again.” God’s words through Isaiah still speak powerfully to us today:
“Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God.
Isaiah 40:1
Your prayers and generosity help make that comfort tangible for families beginning again in Israel—welcoming them, walking beside them, and creating opportunities for the hope of Jesus to be shared through genuine relationship. Thank you and God bless you!