I want to thank you for your prayer on our behalf while we were in Israel. Many people also texted and emailed to check up on us, which I really did appreciate. It’s always encouraging to know that people are concerned about your wellbeing when you are in a war zone. In saying “war zone”, I want you to know that although missiles were flying around us, none actually ever came close to where we were at. And even though the Israeli missile defense was blasting most of them out of the air over our heads, none of the missile debrie actually effected us either. Generally, we were safe and without threat of personal harm throughout our time in Israel. Praise G-d!
What was disappointing though was to read and hear about so many Americans, both Jews and Christians, running out of the country like an Iranian invasion was imminent. Yes it was stressful to be in the middle of a fight, but I know it was also very stressful for the people fleeing Israel over the boarders to Jordan and Egypt. 3,000 Jewish college students on a special Birthright trip were locked down for several days and then evacuated by ship to Cyprus without seeing anything in Israel. I am very glad that we stayed put, and so were the Israelis we met throughout our three week trip. They were very encouraged to learn about who we are: Jewish college students, believers in Yeshua, considering moving to Israel, and that we were not afraid to stick it out with the Israelis!
Sometimes when things are scary, we should take a pause and consider: maybe G-d has something for me to accomplish through my presence by sticking it out in this scary situation. That’s what we all came to understand by staying in Israel. After all, G-d is still in control, right?
Forward for Messiah,
Rabbi Kirk Gliebe
