Anna had only recently made Aliyah with her three children. As a single mother, she was beginning again in Israel with a 20-year-old son and two daughters, sixteen and five—new surroundings, a new rhythm of life, and so much still uncertain. Then, during one of our recent times together with new Olim, our team began sharing personal testimonies and speaking about Yeshua. Anna’s son sat listening quietly, but as he heard what God had done in the lives of others, tears began running down his face. His mother was watching. Something was reaching her children in a way she had not expected.
That day, Anna and her family prayed to receive Yeshua.
And beside them, another new beginning was taking place. Irene had also recently made Aliyah, but she arrived carrying the weight of years of trauma and painful experiences, along with anxiety and panic attacks that had been troubling her. Yet after hearing the Gospel and praying to receive Yeshua, Irene described something different inside her: joy, and a sense that the burden she had been carrying had lifted. Then came something that encouraged us just as much—questions. So many questions. She wanted to understand what she had heard. She wanted to know more.
And that is exactly what we hope to see, because a prayer of salvation is not the end of someone’s story with Yeshua. It is a beginning. Irene was invited to join us at the congregation and become part of a home group, where she can continue opening the Scriptures, asking questions, and growing alongside other believers. Anna was already taking those first steps too. She came to one of our services and brought her five-year-old daughter to the children’s ministry. Later, as she reflected on what had happened, she told us that her children had not merely been listening that day—they had been “absorbing everything.” We immediately thought again of her twenty-year-old son and the tears on his face.
There was also an older husband and wife among these new Olim. They spoke honestly about how difficult their first weeks in Israel had been and how alone they had felt trying to find their footing. Yet something as simple as being welcomed, sitting together, talking, and knowing someone was willing to listen began to open the door to deeper conversations. We spoke about faith and shared the Gospel with them, and they too chose to receive Yeshua.
Six people prayed that day, but when we think about what happened, we don’t really see the number six.
We see Anna watching God touch her children. We see a young man moved to tears. We see Irene arriving under the weight of so much pain and leaving with joy—and already hungry to know more. We see a husband and wife who had felt alone finding people ready to welcome them. Behind every number is a person, and behind every person is a story God is still writing.
Perhaps one of the most beautiful parts of this testimony is that the story continued after the prayers were over. Anna came to the congregation. Her little girl joined the children’s ministry. Irene kept asking questions. Relationships continued, invitations were made to fellowship and home groups, and these new believers began taking their first steps of faith. This is why our heart is not simply to share the Gospel, but to walk alongside people afterward—to help new faith take root through Scripture, prayer, relationship, and discipleship.
These precious new Olim are already learning what it means to begin again in Israel, and now another journey has begun. So today, rather than asking you for anything, we simply ask you to remember them in prayer. Pray for Anna and her children, for Irene, and for this husband and wife. Pray that what God has begun will take deep root, that they will grow in their knowledge of Yeshua and His Word, and that they will discover the strength and encouragement of a spiritual family walking beside them.
They came to Israel to begin a new life. And in the middle of that beginning, they encountered the One who makes all things new.
As more new Olim begin their lives in Israel, we want to be there to welcome them, walk alongside them, and help them find their footing in their new home. If this part of our ministry is especially close to your heart, your partnership helps us continue reaching new Olim with practical care, genuine friendship, and the hope of Yeshua.
