Pray For Israel

Pray for Israel.
That’s a lot more personal to me
Than it is to most people.
 
It’s Lee, the Jewish teenager I played tic-tac-toe with on the plane,
About to have her Bat Mizpah.
She must be twenty by now.
And her older brother,
The quiet boy on the other side of me.
He was going to join the army.
I still hope he’s ok after the war that happened while I was there.
 
It’s Fadi and Samuel and Yousef
And all the other CEF staff –
My coworkers, working hard to teach the children of Jesus
In the very towns He traveled.
 
It’s the precious children in all the churches, camps, and daycares we went to –
The boy we said was always in his own little world;
The other who knew Hudson Taylor should pray about it;
The girls I lead around the different activities,
Even though we couldn’t speak the same language;
And the little troublemaker named Isa.
 
It’s Magd and Younan and all the other teenage volunteers
Who gave their summer to the Lord.
We had so much fun becoming friends.
 
It’s my dear, dear Nazareth,
With all it’s crazy hills,
That Jesus once walked,
And all the other towns in Galilee where we ministered –
Shfamer, with its unique ice cream,
And Eilabun where my last week was spent.
 
It’s Fadi’s Baptist church in Nazareth,
And Samuel’s Messianic congregation in Hifa,
And the Russian and Ukrainian Jews whose Messianic congregation I visited
With a Brazilian and an Arab.
All part of one body in Christ,
Like the ladies Eman brings together for prayers meetings –
Both Jewish and Arab believers.
 
It’s the taxi driver in Bethlehem (West Bank)
Who was excited to have tourists during a time many considered dangerous,
And told us he liked Bush better than Obama
Because Bush helped Israel, but did it quietly, while Obama had to make a big show of it.
(That wasn’t a position I’d ever heard before)
 
It’s the shop owner in Bethlehem
Who gave me the best tea I’ve ever had in my life,
And the Muslim in Jerusalem
Who noticed my friends wearing the Arabic letter nun,
Used by Muslims in another country to mark Christians for persecution,
And wanted to make sure we knew not all Muslims hated Christians.
 
I cry out for all of them –
So many people I came to love,
And I know prayer requests from them
That others don’t think of too:
 
The Jewish youths, required to join the army
Who prayed their gun would never have to kill anyone,
And the Christian ministries who lost workers because they were called to war.
Provision for the people in Bethlehem and the rest of the West Bank
Whose livelihoods depend on tourism
When tourism drops because of fear.
Then there’s the riots in Arab areas of Israel.
 
So we pray for Hamas’ hearts to change,
And for racial reconciliation,
And for people, both Jews and Arabs, to be reconciled to God through Christ.
 
Everyone wants to pick a side, but I love both Jews and Arabs!
Well, I guess that’s what happens
When you spend a year learning Hebrew
And that summer ministering to Israeli Arabs.
 
But I have a hope for Israel
Few others do.
Because of the prayer meeting I went to while I was there.
Sisters in Christ, both Jews and Arabs,
Singing and praying in three languages.
So as hard as it is,
As complicated as it is,
I believe reconciliation is possible.
Pray for Israel.