Israel (MNN) — Yesterday, Israel hit southern Beirut in Lebanon with airstrikes targeting Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters. The move comes days after Iran launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel. Hezbollah has also continued to shoot rockets over Israel’s northern border.
For Israelis, it’s been almost a full year of war, with the anniversary of the October 7th attack next week.
(Photo courtesy of SGA)
Slavic Gospel Association (SGA) is in contact with ministry-supported Israeli pastors and Christian leaders. Although SGA primarily operates in Slavic countries, up to 30% of Jewish people in Israel are Russian-speaking immigrants.
SGA’s Eric Mock says, “Remember the movie Fiddler on the Roof where there was a Soviet pogrom that was driving the Jews out of Soviet Russia? A lot of them settled in Israel, and some of them who are settling, they’re believers. So that has grown.
“SGA works specifically with the faithful Bible-teaching Russian-speaking Jewish pastors and their churches that are in Israel, and they are responding in this crisis.”
These Christian leaders tell SGA that the latest Iranian attack — in addition to the last year of war and missiles and hiding out in bomb shelters — has taken the largest toll on their children.
Mock says, “For one pastor and his family that hid in a shelter, they said when the all clear was sounded, it took a while before their daughter wanted to go outside [after] the sound of the sirens and the reality of the explosions. It’s one thing as an adult to process. It’s quite another as a child.”
SGA supports a network of churches that Mock calls “God’s light in the middle of the darkness.” The ministry equips the church leadership with biblical training, offers encouragement, and helps provide resources so the churches can aid their communities.
“We have an Israel Relief Fund where we have been sending support directly to the churches there,” says Mock. “They purchase aid locally and then deliver it to a lot of people that, out of fear and anxiety, won’t even leave their apartments. They’re struggling.
(Photo courtesy of SGA)
“So this is an open door for them to minister to people, and we don’t know how badly this will all escalate. There are all kinds of issues. So by donating to Israel Relief, this is allowing the churches we serve to be ministers of God’s compassion — both in word and in action.”
Israelis, Iranians, and the rest of the world wait to see what Israel’s response will be to the latest attack.
Yet, Mock says, “The response of the Church is very predictable. The response of the Church is to point people to hope in Christ, to the solid rock of Jesus Christ, to the solid rock of His Word that remains unchanging, the promises of God remaining unchanging. In such times, this is where we find our hope.”
Donate to SGA’s Israel Relief Fund here.
Please also pray for the people of Israel to trust Jesus as the Messiah and claim God’s promises of hope and salvation in the Bible.
“We can easily be slaves to the news cycle and trying to understand what’s going to come next and how can we respond?” says Mock. “It’s at times like this that it’s vital that we fix our eyes upon Jesus.”
Header photo courtesy of SGA.
