Evangelical Solidarity Mission to Israel Takes Strong Stand for Israel
The ICEJ hosted its latest Christian Leadership Solidarity Mission to Israel in March, which resulted in a strong declaration of support for the Jewish State and people amid the current war with Hamas.
The mission consisted of 20 prominent Evangelical leaders from 12 nations representing millions of Christians worldwide. The global ministry leaders came from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, El Salvador, Fiji, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Tanzania, and the United States.
The group first visited places along the Gaza border linked to the Hamas massacres on October 7, including Kibbutz Be’eri, the Nova Music Festival site, and a parking lot filled with 1,200 burned-out cars from the terrible day of carnage. They also heard from Eshkol Region Security Chief Ilan Isaacson and IDF Lt. Col. (Res.) Yaron Buskila, who both bravely led efforts to turn back the Hamas onslaught.
Participants also met with Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz in his Jerusalem office and later heard from Emmanuel Nahshon, deputy director general of the Foreign Ministry, as well as Rachel Goldberg, mother of hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who lost his lower arm in a grenade explosion before being taken into Gaza.
Finally, the Solidarity Mission toured the northern border area, received a security briefing by IDF Maj. (Res.) Elliot Chodoff, and was hosted by Fijian troops in the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) contingent in the Golan. The group then visited the ICEJ’s Home for Holocaust Survivors in Haifa to see measures taken to protect the home’s elderly residents in case the war escalates in the North.
“I want to thank the ICEJ for allowing us to have the veil pulled away from over our eyes. To me, that’s what this trip was all about,” said Dr. Rev. Suzette Hattingh (pictured on left) from Germany/South Africa. “Virtually every day, there was something that peeled away another misunderstanding, or veil, like scales, from my eyes. People across the world do not know … how incredible the shock was from the October 7.”
“I have come to the conclusion while here that there is a lot of fake news going around about Israel. A lot of things in the news, they lie, they twist,” said Mattheus van der Steen from the Netherlands. “I also am surprised how strong the Jewish people are, spiritually as well … We should have everyone we talked to preach in our Western churches. Seriously, the messages of these people and their faith in God … is just amazing.”
“I was impacted by those who survived different situations of great crisis, and what I was stunned to see was the lack of hate in their sharing, even talking about people with loved ones still held hostage. I was amazed by that,” said Rev. Omar Cabrera of Argentina.
At the conclusion of their solidarity mission, the Christian leaders issued a joint statement in support of Israel in its ongoing battle against jihad terrorism. The statement noted that the mission delegates were “impressed by the strength, faith, and resiliency of the people of Israel in the face of the devastating attacks they suffered and the alarmingly swift way in which the international community has forgotten their pain and turned on Israel. … Israel’s cause remains just, and we encountered a united nation well on its way to a necessary and deserved victory.”
The statement also said that Israel’s wounds from October 7 will nevertheless remain grievously open until all the hostages are freed. The delegates further attested that “the cruelty of Hamas knows no bounds, even toward its own people.”
Join us this fall as we stand in solidarity with the Jewish people at the Feast of Tabernacles celebration.