Holy Land (MNN) — Around 900 people have been sheltering together in a church building within a conflict zone of the Holy Land — many of them Christians.
Joe Willey with SAT-7 says they recently interviewed one Christian in their current affairs program, You Are Not Alone.
“He’s taking refuge inside this church building, living inside church halls, sleeping on the floor, and this has been for six months,” Willey says.
The believer says he was living in a building that housed mostly Christians – until that building was destroyed in the conflict.
“This person says, and I quote, ‘We made the decision to either all die together or live together inside the church. We protect the church, and the church protects us. We will not leave our churches no matter what or how difficult it becomes.'”
(Photo courtesy of Mohammed Ibrahim/Unsplash)
Difficult is an understatement. Willey describes the economic realities of the conflict zone according to the believer: “If you can buy food, it’s very expensive. Two pounds of meat costs about $100 US dollars. One egg is $3 US dollars — if you can get it.”
With the constant stream of news coming out of the Holy Land and ongoing war developments, it’s easy to lose sight of the Body of Christ in the chaos.
“I think something for listeners now to remember, because I speak to people about this, is that there are brothers and sisters in Christ who live in the conflict zone,” says Willey.
“They live in the Holy Land. They live where there is war where there is destruction. It’s less than 2%. But nonetheless, there are people that we would definitely call brothers and sisters in Christ.”
SAT-7 broadcasts Gospel programming via satellite television across the Middle East and North Africa. They also use digital means and social media, so even people in the Holy Land conflict zones can get SAT-7 on their phones.
For many, it’s a spiritual lifeline as SAT-7 talks about the existential questions people are facing.
Willey says, “One of the major things – if not the most important thing – is, ‘Why am I here? Is there hope? What happens when I die? Death may be around the corner.’ I believe SAT-7 is at work addressing those issues and saying that there is hope, and hope’s name is Jesus Christ.”
Pray for people in the war-torn Holy Land to find and cling to Jesus.
Connect with more of SAT-7’s stories at their website.
Header photo courtesy of Shutterstock.
