Julia Fisher - What Is God Doing in Israel?: When Jews and Palestinians Meet Jesus

Also by Julia Fisher:

Meet Me at the Olive Tree
Israels New Disciples
Israel, the Mystery of Peace
Future for Israel?

Text copyright 2016 Julia Fisher
This edition copyright 2016 Lion Hudson

The right of Julia Fisher to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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ISBN 978 0 85721 685 4
e-ISBN 978 0 85721 686 1

First edition 2016

Acknowledgments
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised. Copyright 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. NIV is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.
Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Extract pp. 235236 taken from Six-Day War in Encyclopaedia Britannica www.britannica.com/event/Six-Day-War. Used by permission of Encyclopaedia Britannica Online .
Extract pp. 23637 taken from Moqattams hidden treasure: Saint Samaan Church by Abdel-Rahman Shereif, 14 February 2013. Used by permission of Daily News Egypt .

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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Introduction

If you are already thinking this is a rather audacious title, let me explain!

In reading this book you will be entering another world; a world of persecution, trouble, conflict, and fear. You will be experiencing everyday life for Jews and Palestinians who believe in Jesus and who live in Israel, the West Bank, and the Middle East. Their stories are challenging because they are about people who, because of their faith, have variously been disowned by their family, have suffered personal tragedy, have lost jobs and personal reputation, or are living in fear of losing their life.

At the same time, these are stories that are full of hope and life and excitement. The same people will tell you that their faith in Jesus, Yeshua, is more important to them than anything else and that if they have to die for what they believe and who they believe in, they are prepared to pay the ultimate cost.

So who better to ask, What is God doing in Israel? than the people who believe in Him who live there? After all, they are the ones who are living out their faith there.

In this book you will meet Muslims who have become believers in Jesus, some of whom are now suffering greatly as a result as they have lost not only their jobs and reputations, but they have also been disowned by their families and in some cases are living in fear of their lives. You will read about Jewish people who have immigrated to Israel from the four corners of the world, including India, Russia, Morocco, and America. What was it that persuaded them to leave the land where their families had lived for generations and move to another country where life would be hard? And what about those evangelical Palestinian Christians living as a tiny minority group among the much larger majority Muslim Palestinian population? These are people who often feel ignored by Christians in the West yet, as you will discover, they have a strong sense of calling to live out their God-given destiny in Israel and the West Bank today. Surprisingly, perhaps, you will read of Arab Christians who have come to Israel from neighbouring Arab countries. As for Jewish believers who are emissaries to the Muslim world, yes, even this is going on! In short, when asking about what God is doing in Israel and the Middle East today you find there are some very unexpected things happening, especially when placed against the backdrop of the turmoil that is the Middle East.

And by being prepared to open yourself to the diverse stories of these people, you will, I hope, gain an insight into what God is doing in Israel and the Palestinian areas of the West Bank today. I am sure that all Christians would agree that the Bible has much to say prophetically about the land of Israel and its people. However, when interpreting prophecy, it seems there are many opinions! Perhaps the stories in this book will reveal some hitherto hidden threads that will help in your understanding.

While the people whose stories have been included in this book do not all share the same political and theological views, it is not the intention of this book to engage in political or theological debate. Rather it is simply to present another view, a view that can only be gained by spending time with people and listening to their stories told humbly and honestly, from the heart. Listening to these people sharing their stories and explaining their understanding of what God is doing today in light of their understanding of Scripture is, as you will read, revealing.

For the past twenty years I have been privileged, as a journalist, to be able to visit Israel and the West Bank regularly to research and record the stories of believers in Jesus who live there, both Messianic Jews and Palestinian Christians. Because of the personal cost to them of living in the region, the question, What do you believe God is doing in Israel and the wider Middle East today? seems the most pertinent question to ask. Why else would they stay? Perhaps because of the personal cost involved, I have not met any half-hearted believers in Jesus living in the region. This is an area of the world where what you believe defines who you are and where you come from. To switch belief from being either an observant Jew or a religious Muslim to become a believer in Yeshua, Jesus, is therefore a decision that is not taken lightly, as you will discover.

All the people you will read about in this book are people I have spent considerable time with. Many I have met several times over the years as I have followed their stories. Others are new contacts and represent stories that are emerging. I thank them all for being willing to share their lives and be included in this book so that you can engage with them and, more importantly, with what God is doing in Israel and the rest of the world in these days in which we live.

Julia Fisher
July 2015

CHAPTER 1

David and Leah Ortiz in America

On 20 March 2008, fifteen-year-old Ami Ortiz was almost killed by a bomb that was left in a Purim parcel outside the familys apartment in the city of Ariel in Israel. For months afterwards I read with both anguish and interest the news of his recovery. The reports, regularly written by his mother Leah, reflected the shock and pain felt by the family as well as the ability to forgive the man who had committed this atrocity. The Ortiz family displayed great dignity, integrity, and faith.

This is the story of a family who, when they moved to Ariel, experienced a level of harassment and persecution from Jewish people living in their neighbourhood who were prepared to resort to violence and intimidation because they found the faith of the Ortiz family unacceptable and threatening to their Jewish way of life. The name and person of Yeshua was so abhorrent to many of the Orthodox and secular Jews who lived in Ariel that they were determined to hound this missionary family out of town.