Returning to Israel from Georgia, our follow-up team leaders, Haim and Miriam, along with their family, found themselves standing in a long baggage check line at the airport, surrounded almost entirely by Israeli travelers heading home. The queue barely moved, and everyone simply waited their turn. Then an open bottle of Coca-Cola began making its way from the front of the line toward the back. Since liquids couldn’t be taken through security, someone had the practical idea of sharing what remained rather than throwing it away. One disposable cup accompanied the bottle as it passed from person to person.
After taking a sip himself and handing it to his wife, Haim found himself holding the bottle with nowhere to dispose of it. Just then, he noticed a man standing behind him, watching with an amused smile. Half joking, Haim offered him a cup of Coke, explaining that it had already made its way through quite a few travelers. Smiling, he added that it almost reminded him of Israel in the wilderness, when the people all drank from the water God provided through the rock Moses struck.
To Haim’s surprise, the man laughed, accepted the drink, and introduced himself. His name was Yaakov, though everyone called him Kobi. What began as light conversation about their recent trips to Georgia soon became something much deeper. Kobi had traveled alone and spent most of his time in Tbilisi, while Haim shared how their own journey had been filled with visits to believing families, meals in Christian homes, and worship with a local congregation.
Curious, Kobi asked whether they had relatives in Tbilisi. At that moment, Haim sensed the Holy Spirit prompting his response. “No,” he replied, “but we discovered we have many brothers and sisters there.” Borrowing the words of Yeshua, he explained that those who do the Father’s will become part of God’s family, and from there the conversation naturally opened to the hope found in the Messiah.
Standing in the middle of an airport queue, Haim found himself reading from Isaiah 53, speaking about the promised Messiah’s birth in Bethlehem, and explaining Daniel’s prophecy of the seventy weeks—all pointing to Yeshua. What made the conversation remarkable wasn’t simply the opportunity to share the Scriptures, but Kobi’s genuine interest. He listened carefully, asked thoughtful questions, and wanted to hear more.
As they moved through airport security, they were separated more than once, yet somehow found themselves together again after each checkpoint. Every unexpected reunion became another opportunity to continue the conversation and to share what Yeshua has done in Haim’s own life and what He continues to do among His people today.
Even after landing in Israel, the story wasn’t over. Before leaving the airport, Kobi sought Haim out one last time. Rather than trying to force a decision, Haim simply encouraged him to seek the Lord personally, to receive Yeshua, and be reconciled to the Father. He left Kobi with his phone number and reminded him that there were believers in Beersheba—his hometown—who would gladly continue the conversation whenever he was ready.
We don’t yet know how Kobi’s story will unfold. Perhaps this was the first time he had ever heard Isaiah’s prophecy explained through the life of Yeshua. Perhaps the questions that began in an airport queue will lead him to open the Scriptures again once he is home. Those answers belong to the Lord.
What we do know is this: God is still arranging ordinary moments that become extraordinary opportunities. A shared bottle of Coke, a long line at the airport, and a simple question about family didn’t seem significant at first, yet in God’s hands an ordinary journey home became an opportunity to plant seeds of eternal hope.
As we read stories like this, we’re reminded that we rarely know which conversations God has already been preparing before we arrive. Our part is simply to remain attentive, willing to speak when He opens the door, and to trust Him with everything that follows. Sometimes the most ordinary moments become the ones God uses in extraordinary ways—and perhaps, somewhere in Beersheba today, the stranger from the check-in line is still thinking about a conversation that began with a shared bottle of Coke.
