Anna had only recently made Aliyah—immigrating to Israel as a Jewish person returning to her ancestral homeland—with her three children. As a single mother, she was beginning again in Israel with a 20-year-old son and two daughters, sixteen and five—new surroundings, a new rhythm of life, and so much still uncertain. Then, during one of our recent times together with new immigrants, our team began sharing personal testimonies and speaking about Yeshua.
Anna’s son sat listening quietly, but as he heard what God had done in the lives of others, tears began running down his face. His mother was watching. Something was reaching her children in a way she had not expected.
That day, Anna and her family prayed to receive Yeshua.
Beside them, another new beginning was taking place. Irene had also recently made Aliyah, arriving in Israel carrying the weight of years of trauma and painful experiences, along with anxiety and panic attacks that had been troubling her. Yet after hearing the Gospel and praying to receive Yeshua, Irene described something different inside her: joy, and a sense that the burden she had been carrying had lifted. Then came something that encouraged us just as much—questions. So many questions. She wanted to understand what she had heard. She wanted to know more.
And that is exactly what we hope to see, because a prayer of salvation is not the end of someone’s story with Yeshua. It is a beginning. Irene was invited to join us at the congregation and become part of a home group, where she can continue opening the Scriptures, asking questions, and growing alongside other believers.
Anna was already taking those first steps too. She came to one of our services and brought her five-year-old daughter to the children’s ministry. Later, as she reflected on what had happened, she told us that her children had not merely been listening that day—they had been “absorbing everything.” We immediately thought again of her twenty-year-old son and the tears on his face.
There was also an older husband and wife among these new immigrants.
They spoke honestly about how difficult their first weeks in Israel had been and how alone they had felt trying to find their footing. Yet something as simple as being welcomed, sitting together, talking, and knowing someone was willing to listen began to open the door to deeper conversations. We spoke about faith and shared the Gospel with them, and they too chose to receive Yeshua.
Six people prayed that day, but when we think about what happened, we don’t really see the number six. We see Anna watching God touch her children. We see a young man moved to tears. We see Irene arriving under the weight of so much pain and leaving with joy—and already hungry to know more. We see a husband and wife who had felt alone finding people ready to welcome them.
Behind every number is a person, and behind every person is a story God is still writing.
For those of you who love Israel from around the world, there is something especially beautiful about seeing what can happen when Jewish people return to Israel and begin building their lives here. They arrive in the land of their ancestors expecting to begin again—to find a home, learn a new language, build new relationships, and create a future for their families. Yet sometimes, in the middle of that enormous transition, another door opens. Here in Israel, they encounter believers who welcome them, open the Scriptures with them, and introduce them to Yeshua.
Perhaps one of the most beautiful parts of this testimony is that the story continued after the prayers were over. Anna came to the congregation. Her little girl joined the children’s ministry. Irene kept asking questions. Relationships continued, invitations were made to fellowship and home groups, and these new believers began taking their first steps of faith. This is why our heart is not simply to share the Gospel, but to walk alongside people afterward—to help new faith take root through Scripture, prayer, relationship, and discipleship.
These precious families are already learning what it means to begin again in Israel, and now another journey has begun. So today, rather than asking you for anything, we simply ask you to remember them in prayer. Pray for Anna and her children, for Irene, and for this husband and wife. Pray that what God has begun will take deep root, that they will grow in their knowledge of Yeshua and His Word, and that they will discover the strength and encouragement of a spiritual family walking beside them.
They came to Israel to begin a new life. And in the middle of that beginning, they encountered the One who makes all things new.
For those who stand with Voice of Judah Israel, thank you for helping us be present for moments like these. As more Jewish immigrants begin their lives in Israel, we want to be there—not only to welcome them and help them find their footing, but to build genuine relationships through which they can encounter the hope of Yeshua.
Your partnership helps make that possible: welcoming Jewish people home to Israel, walking beside them as they begin again, and helping them discover the Messiah waiting for them in the pages of their own Scriptures.