12 Ministries Making a Difference in Israel
Meeting Needs
The needs Hilsden sees around Kings of Kings’ headquarters in an old theater in the heart of Jerusalem prompted the formation of new outreaches this year. Its Anchor of Hope counseling center is based in what used to be a sex shop, while its compassion center offering various forms of aid launched last July. It plans to open a soup kitchen there in January.
“What we’ve been finding is the recent Gaza-Hamas war caused a quick downturn in the economy, partially due to [lower] tourism,” Hilsden says. “There are a lot of needy people, especially in Jerusalem. I regularly see homeless people on the streets, digging through garbage cans to find food. Our hearts go out to them.”
That statement can be repeated by numerous ministries that not only help those in need, but also continue to shine a spotlight on the land that occupies a central role in the Second Coming of the Messiah. Some examples:
The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ)
Among its outreaches is hosting annual observances of Sukkot (this year observed from Oct. 8 to 15), a Jewish festival commemorating God’s faithfulness to the Jewish people during their exodus from Egypt. The ICEJ, which held the first Christian celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles in 1980, helps educate Christians worldwide about Israel’s unique calling in God’s plans.
The embassy also helps combat anti-Semitism, which has surged this year in places such as Germany, France, Great Britain and Eastern Europe. In September Greece strengthened its laws against anti-Semitism and other hate speech because of the rise of a neo-Nazi Party there.
During a trip to Ukraine last January, Ezra International’s Cristofaro encountered flyers containing “Blood Libel” claims. Popular in Nazi Germany, their primary accusation is that Jews murder Christian children to use their blood during holiday rituals, including baking Passover matzahs.
“It’s hard to believe this is happening in the 21st century,” Cristofaro says. “This happens in the Middle East and then is repeated by the Orthodox Church. Anti-Semitism is not just coming from neo-Nazis and Arabs but what many Jews see as the church.”
Maoz Israel Ministries
More than 35 years old, Maoz Israel marked its birth with the 1977 marriage of founders Shira Sorko-Ram and her husband, Ari, a former actor and professional football player for the Arizona Cardinals (formerly St. Louis Cardinals). Now as Israeli citizens, they have founded the Tifaret Yeshua (the Glory of Yeshua) congregation in downtown Tel Aviv.
In addition, they manage a nonprofit publishing company that prints and distributes Bible-based books in Hebrew and a humanitarian-aid organization (istandwithisrael.com) that supports widows, orphans, needy people and terrorist victims.
The organization also provides scholarships to help immigrants with Hebrew studies and career training, as well as college courses for Messianic Jews.
Revive Israel Ministries
Directed by Asher and Betty Intrater, this apostolic ministry is dedicated to bringing revival to Israel by reconciling its people with Yeshua as Messiah. In addition to past involvement with several messianic churches in Israel and the U.S., the couple now helps pastor Ahavat Yeshua (Love of Jesus) in Washington, D.C.
Revive Israel’s evangelistic strategy focuses on building personal relationships in the workplace, schools and neighborhoods. It also spreads the gospel through one-on-one street witnessing, broadcasts and literature distribution.
The ministry distributes a third of its donations to helping the poor, widows and orphans, and assisting Israeli business owners whose faith in Yeshua prompts challenges. Based in a residential community just outside Jerusalem, it also is cooperating on projects to develop a messianic industrial park and a residential development.
Operation Lifeshield
Responding originally to disruptions in northern Israel during a 2006 war with Lebanon, this year’s attacks from Gaza have shifted its emphasis to the country’s southern region. Bowman felt so strongly about the mission to protect residents from disruptions that he left his Orthodox Jewish temple to devote all his time to Operation Lifeshield.
Bowman draws key inspiration from Esther 4:14 and Mordecai’s admonishment to Esther that God had placed her in a strategic location to save Israel. He recalls how he and others who helped initiate this effort mused: “Perhaps this is our time.”
Since then the organization has distributed nearly 300 portable bomb shelters that can protect anywhere from a dozen to 50 people. The school, medical clinic or governmental entity requesting one agrees to provide ongoing maintenance.
“We’re such a boring organization,” Bowman jokes. “We have one mission and that’s to prevent Israelis from rocket attacks. Pastors tell me to allow congregants to make a donation, be able to see where that donation has gone and connect with Israelis—they won’t give to something abstract or undefined.”
Media Ministry
While their ministries don’t have an identical emphasis, two outreaches to Israel stem from those with roots in writing and commentary.
The co-pastor of Tel Aviv’s Tifaret Yeshua, Ron Cantor is the founder of Messiah’s Mandate, a teaching ministry aimed at raising up leaders for the coming Israeli revival.
The active blogger and author of Identity Theft (Destiny Image, 2013), Cantor is a thorn in the side of both anti-Semites and supporters of “replacement theology.” His novel explores how Jesus has been robbed of his Jewishness, while in a weekly podcast and blogs he explores the truth about such topics as Israel’s rebirth in 1948.
Through both novels and non-fiction, author Joel Rosenberg has written extensively about Middle Eastern and end-times subjects. His latest novel, The Auschwitz Escape, explores a Jewish prisoner relying on God’s power to escape the concentration camp and alert the world to Nazi atrocities.
In 2006, Rosenberg and his wife, Lynn, set up The Joshua Fund to mobilize Christians to bless Israel. They have led numerous prayer and vision trips to Israel, organized conferences and seminars on four continents, and provided food and other supplies to the needy.
Chosen People Ministries
Founded 120 years ago in Brooklyn by a Hungarian immigrant and now directed by Dr. Mitch Glaser, this ministry seeks to evangelize, disciple and serve Jewish people. It operates in 13 nations with programs that equip churches to do Jewish evangelism, support messianic congregations, print messianic materials and participate in benevolent distribution.
Representatives of Chosen People Ministries also conduct “Messiah in Passover” presentations in churches across the U.S. The ministry hosts an annual messianic Jewish retreat in Maryland and leads tours of the Holy Land annually.
The Joseph Project
The Joseph Project is the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America’s humanitarian-relief arm. The alliance, which will observe its centennial anniversary next year, has distributed more than $100 million in aid to the poor of all faiths in Israel.
The ministry collects, ships and distributes more than 75 tons of clothing, furniture, household goods, medical supplies and other aid annually. It supplies this assistance through a network of 35 relief-aid centers, more than 100 Israeli partnering organizations, and messianic congregations.
Donations have increased in recent years, with the Joseph Project tripling the number of 40-foot containers it shipped to Israel between 2010 and 2013, when aid totaled more than $5 million.
A Divine Mission
Those involved in ministry to Israel cite numerous Scriptures to buttress their support, particularly Matthew 25:31-40, which Segal says in context is a reference to helping Jews. They also cite Genesis 12:1-3, Job 29:11-17, Job 31:16-22, Isaiah 11:11-12, Isaiah 43:5-6, Isaiah 49:22, Isaiah 61:1-3 and the 36th chapter of Ezekiel.
“Ezekiel 36 speaks about how God’s name is profaned as the Jewish people have been scattered,” Cristofaro says. “God is mocked, and people think He can’t fulfill His promises. He reveals himself to the Jewish people and the nations with this (aliyah) process. We have a choice: to sanctify or desecrate His Name.”
Hoelzle sees encouraging signs that more Christians are warming to the message of support for Israel, saying Ezra International has more churches helping finance the ministry than it did a decade ago. He thinks that stems from more awareness of ancient prophecies about Israel being fulfilled in modern times.
Indeed, during his ongoing trips to Israel, Bernis senses the same kind of openness to Yeshua that he saw among American Jews during the heyday of the Jesus People in the 1970s.
Bernis, whose work in recent years has broadly expanded to establishing a network of medical clinics for Jewish communities in India and some countries in Africa, says he has talked to Orthodox Jews in Israel who have embraced Yeshua after supernatural experiences.
“There is a growing expectation of Messiah,” Bernis says. “We believe that ultimately the Jewish people—and particularly those in Israel—will cry out: ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord'” (Matt. 23:39).
Ken Walker is a freelance writer, co-author and book editor from Huntington, W. Va., and a regular contributor to Ministry Today and Charisma.
4 More Ministries Impacting Israel
Here are some other ministries that are making a difference for the people of Israel:
The Dugit Messianic Centre has been reaching Israelis with the gospel of Jesus Christ for more than two decades, discipling them to become stronger believers and grounding them in the Word. With 20 percent of Israelis living in poverty, Dugit’s Agape Distribution Center helps to provide food and clothing to the needy. Families are sent to the center by social services, including Holocaust survivors and those unable to work for health reasons. During the major Jewish holidays, Dugit distributes “baskets of love,” and the organization hands out free Bibles and testimony books in Hebrew, Russian and Arabic to quench spiritual thirst.
Succat Hallel: In the mold of the many sites of the International House of Prayer in the United States, Succat Hallel is a place where anyone can come to worship and pray 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Americans Rick and Patti Ridings were summoned by God to Jerusalem in 1999 and began worship services in their living room. In 2004, the Lord opened the door to Succat Hallel to relocate to a facility overlooking Mount Zion and the Old City of Jerusalem. In fall 2006, a second private prayer room opened in the City of David where the original Tabernacle of David stood. Since 2007, Succat Hallel has hosted a youth/adult conference known as ELAV, which means “Unto Him.”
Jerusalem Institute of Justice: This organization is dedicated to cultivating and defending the rule of law, human rights, freedom of conscience and democracy for all people in Israel and its adjacent territories. Founded by Calev Myers in 2004, JIJ was established to provide pro-bono legal assistance for those suffering from illegal religious discrimination, including Messianic Jews. Myers immigrated to Israel in 1992, graduated from Hebrew University of Jerusalem and became a licensed member of the Israeli Bar Association. Since 2007, JIJ has strived to free men, women and children trapped in the sex trade and has been working to change legislation in Israel, which currently allows both the sale and purchase of sexual services. Additionally, JIJ focuses on Palestinian human rights.
Bridges for Peace: Bridges is a Jerusalem-based, Bible-believing Christian organization whose desire is to see Christians and Jews working side by side for better understanding and a more secure Israel. Founded in 1976, BFP is a ministry of hope and reconciliation, giving Christians the opportunity to actively express their biblical responsibility before God to be faithful to Israel and the Jewish community. Its many programs include bimonthly publication of pertinent and positive news from Israel; its monthly teaching letter to bring fuller meanings of biblical concepts from the Hebraic roots of the Scriptures; its Chai Night prayer and study groups, which is a monthly intercessory prayer program for those desiring to pray for the peace of Jerusalem; and Operation Ezra, including a food bank and assistance to Jewish immigrants, Israel’s elderly and its poor.
