Pray for Partners Bracing for Imminent Rocket Attacks
Israel is at WAR, with enemies on multiple fronts.
Are we in the early stages of the War of Gog & Magog?
It’s possible.
Either way, as Christians, our hope is in Jesus and our prayers should be for the redemption of many.
As the conflict brings unimaginable pain and heartache to communities throughout the Epicenter, we should also be praying for what I call the Living Stones.
Who are the Living Stones of Israel?
In the video above, my wife Lynn beautifully illustrates how the believers in Israel—and around the world—embody this biblical description.
Lynn and I recently journeyed across the northern tier of Israel, meeting with these living stones—Messianic pastors and their wives.
Kiryat Shmona, the largest Israeli city in the north with a population of around 23,000, resembled a ghost town during our visit.
Almost the entire city of able-bodied men, women, and children have been evacuated.
As of writing this, Hezbollah has launched over 1,000 attacks on Israeli cities, towns, villages, and military bases since October 7th.
Kiryat Shmona had even experienced missile hits just days before our arrival.
Pastor Israel Iluz leads the sole Messianic congregation this far north.
Despite the increasing number of Hezbollah attacks, he, his family, and their team have decided not to evacuate.
Why?
To deliver boxes of groceries every week to Holocaust survivors and elderly shut-ins who, for various reasons, could not or would not evacuate.
To prepare and deliver 300 to 400 hot meals daily to grateful recipients who would otherwise be relying on cold canned goods.
To pray for and encourage the remaining residents of their city and those defending it.
And to be ambassadors for Yeshua – the Hebrew word for “Jesus” – explaining why He is the Jewish Messiah and answering the many spiritual questions people are asking as fears of war and death grow.
Pastor Iluz and his team don’t force anyone to talk about the Gospel message or the New Testament.
They’re simply demonstrating the unconditional love of the Messiah and caring for their neighbors.
It’s generous supporters like you that enable The Joshua Fund to invest financially in congregations and ministries led by devoted couples like Pastor Iluz and his wife Marti. Give a gift today.
We traveled to the north to connect with these followers of Jesus, provide encouragement, and pray together.
We also wanted to hear what they are seeing and sensing spiritually and geopolitically.
What we learned was sobering.
While every pastoral couple told us they were praying for peace, they also told us they are preparing for war.
They are cautioning their congregations to brace for a massive war with Hezbollah in Lebanon this year—possibly even by the time you receive this newsletter.
“Yesterday, an Arab pastor friend of mine asked me what I thought the likelihood was of a much larger war in the North this year,” said one Messianic Jewish pastor with extensive experience in the Israeli Defense Forces.
“I told him, ‘On a scale of 1 to 10 – with 10 meaning a big war is certain – I’d say it’s a 15,’”
this pastor told us.
The other pastors we spoke to readily agreed. They are encouraging people to stock their bomb shelters with enough food, water, medicines, and other supplies to last a month or more.
To help our partners and their communities in northern Israel, The Joshua Fund is supplying them with essential emergency items—including first-aid kits, radios, flashlights, batteries, and power bank chargers.
While we hope these items won't be necessary, the memory of the Second Lebanon War in 2006 lingers.
In August of that year, Hezbollah fired 4,000 missiles at northern Israel, causing extensive damage and casualties.
The pastors we met with expect the next war with Hezbollah to be far worse.
More deadly.
More devastating.
More costly.
Please continue to pray for all Israelis – including the living stones, our brothers and sisters in Christ – as they pray for peace and prepare for a potentially larger and more devastating war in the north.
