This week, I had the privilege of spending time with soldiers in Kiryat Shmona, up north near the Lebanese border, a place where the air carries both tension and resilience. I was there with my team from Christian Friends of Israel (CFI), and together we had the opportunity to serve, speak, and just be present with those who are constantly putting their lives on the line.
We shared laughs, food, stories, and more importantly, the truth that changed my life.
I shared my testimony with them. how I once hated Israel and the Jewish people… how I threw stones, how I lived angry and lost… and how one day I found out that I was, in fact, a Jew myself, born to a Jewish mother. That moment, and the journey that followed, changed everything in me. God took my hatred and turned it into a love I cannot explain. I went from anger to healing, from blindness to belonging. And I told them that.
After sharing, we offered them copies of the Tanach (Old Testament),and twelve of them gladly received it. Then something unexpected happened. Their officer approached me quietly and asked if we had a complete Bible, including the New Testament. I remembered I had my personal copy in Hebrew in the car, I handed it to him. He was visibly moved. One of our team members is now following up with him, as he started asking questions.
Please pray for that officer, that the Word planted in his hands will also take root in his heart.
On another occasion, Gert and I returned to the north to visit another group of soldiers. We brought them food for Shabbat everything they needed. Again, I shared my story with them. How God turned me from someone filled with hatred for this land into someone who now loves it deeply. We sang together. We laughed. We listened. And they shared their burdens too, what they’ve seen and felt in Gaza and Lebanon. Young hearts carrying heavy things.
I don’t go to these places with a plan or a sermon. I go as someone who’s been broken, healed, and sent back into the world to carry comfort. I don’t always know what to say, but I know who changed me. And if He could change me, He can reach anyone.
“We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.” 1 John 3:14
