Lara is a 40-year-old woman who has been living in Israel for the past 8 years. She had made the decision back then to make aliyah (immigration to Israel) from her native Russia, due to the fact that she was Jewish, and felt a connection to the Land. She was also looking to build a new and better life for herself in Israel.
It was a couple of months back that we met Lara for the first time, when a friend of hers, called Phoebe, invited her to one of Beit Hallel’s services. Phoebe had been walking with the Lord for many years and saw that Lara was in dire need of the Lord’s light and salvation. The only thing she could think of doing was to bring Lara into the Lord’s presence at Beit Hallel.
We met Lara that night when she came to visit us with Phoebe. We shared the Word of God with her, and kept in touch with her ever since. We would often get to pray with her, to share the Gospel message, and what it means to live a life of faith in Yeshua.
After a few weeks, we unfortunately lost touch with Lara, despite our best efforts. Sometimes we simply don’t know what people are going through and might make all kinds of assumptions. It was then to our great delight that a few weeks back we managed to get back in touch with Lara again.
She told us how she had been going through a very tough patch, as her mother had died and that had been a terrible blow to her. In addition to that her brother had been having serious troubles with his life, and all these things had added up to bring Lara to a point of severe depression and unhappiness.
We set a time for our outreach team members, Joanna and Beatrice, to meet up with Lara, as she expressed her sincere desire to talk and to unburden her heart. And so our team met with Lara, and she told them about the sadness that her mother and brother’s troubles had caused her, as she had felt responsible for their wellbeing.
Joanna and Beatrice shared their own testimonies of how God had dragged them out of deep waters and set them on solid ground. They shared with her the principles of the faith, and how you could unburden yourself from sin, by accepting Yeshua’s sacrifice on the cross and receiving Him as your Lord and Savior.
Lara immediately knew, and shared with them, that it was the Lord that had been knocking at the door of her heart. When Joanna spoke about inviting Yeshua into her heart, Lara understood the relevance of her own need for salvation.
Joanna and Beatrice then invited Lara to pray the prayer of salvation with them. Lara knew that this was her moment to make right with God, and she answered, yes, that she would like to pray. And so Lara received Yeshua as her personal Lord and Savior. It was evident almost immediately that Lara had become a new creation, as her face practically shined with joy and peace.
Joanna and Beatrice invited Lara to start attending a home group and to join our women’s meetings. She was very inspired to hear that and joyfully agreed, and she was eager to learn more about God and to find her calling in God.
Ever since, Lara has been attending our meetings faithfully and has even started volunteering at our women’s meetings. It’s simply wonderful to see that the seed of God’s Word is not sown in vain, but in time will bring forth a harvest, like it did in Lara’s life. Hallelujah!
