Israel (MNN) — More than 30,000 people have fled from Russia and Ukraine to Israel in the past six months. Most of them are Jews.
For those who came from Ukraine, the conflict in the Gaza Strip brings back haunting memories.
“Here’s an email we received: ‘I’m watching the news, and it’s scary. In general, I’m not sure. What should I do? I don’t feel comfortable in this situation. To be home in Ukraine was not as frightening as being in this foreign country of Israel,’” Uncharted Ministries co-founder Tom Doyle says.
“Here is a Ukrainian that immigrated to Israel, [going] from the frontlines of that war to the frontlines of the Gaza war.”
Earlier this month, Israeli air strikes hit several targets in the Gaza Strip. In response, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group fired more than a thousand rockets toward Israel.
“A lot of Holocaust survivors there that we work with made it through World War Two, and then they’re under attack (in Israel). They were in bomb shelters for a couple of days,” Doyle says.
Believers from Arab and Jewish backgrounds break social norms when they gather together to pray for their countries. More about that here. “Pray for believers on both sides of the fence. The enemy would try to divide the body of Christ; we have to fight against that,” Doyle says.
“We can even send letters to the believers on the frontlines. If they (readers) want to send something through Uncharted, we can get words of encouragement to them.”
Pray the Ukrainian Jewish woman who contacted Uncharted’s partners will place her faith in Christ.
“The woman that sent this letter is not a believer but is getting very close to coming to faith in Christ. We should pray for her,” Doyle says.
“She’s seen that the only hope for reconciliation and change is in Christ. She’s seen that as she’s come to Israel and saw (Christian) brothers and sisters that live in harmony. There are Jews and Arabs that get together and pray in Israel.”
In the header image, a family from Zhytomyr, Ukraine arrives in Israel after fleeing Ukraine on March 6, 2022. (Photo credit: Chabad.org/Wikimedia Commons)
