For our final Christmas Day reflection, we spoke with Pastor Israel Pochtar of Beit Hallel Congregation in Ashdod.

When talking about peace, the region of Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank may be the last place you’d think of. The war between Israel and Hamas rages on. Peace seems like a fool’s hope.

(Photo courtesy of Gerd Altmann/Pixabay)

Yet, Pastor Pochtar says peace is something Israelis deeply long for.

“When this disaster happened [on October 7], everyone knew we have no choice. We need to protect ourselves because Hamas is saying, ‘We will recover and we will do October 7 again and again and again until we destroy Israel.’ They really speak not just of attacking [soldiers], but about all the violence and raping women and killing children and targeting civilians. Not targeting soldiers — targeting civilians.

“Israel is very sorry that we need to fight this war. But, once again, we have no choice. So in this moment, many people cry to God.”

Beyond regional peace, the spiritual peace of Jesus Christ is needed now more than ever in Israel and beyond. Earlier this month, Beit Hallel Congregation gathered a few hundred people in Jerusalem where Pastor Pochtar preached the Gospel through the Christmas message.

(Photo courtesy of Robert Thiemann/Unsplash

“The message about who the Messiah is and what the Messiah is going to do — that He’s going to bring peace — is very relevant and very powerful…. We’re using the Scriptures to show people the Messiah surely will come to rule the world. But right now, He can come to your heart and rule in your heart and give you peace and shalom.”

Only 1.3% of Israelis know Jesus as the Messiah, and roughly 97% have never heard the Gospel, according to The Joshua Project. The stats aren’t any better in Gaza and the West Bank, where 99% of the people have never heard the Gospel.

Christ’s peace is needed both for Jewish Israelis and their Muslim neighbors.

“Real peace can only be through ‘Sar Shalom’ — the Prince of Shalom, Prince of Peace. That’s what we all need,” says Pochtar.

“So when you pray, when you speak, when you encourage people to help Israel, please include Arabs because they are a very important part of God’s plan.”

Pray today for the Prince of Peace to touch hearts across the Holy Land.

Header photo courtesy of Dariusz Kanclerz/Unsplash.

In the early verses of chapter 9, Isaiah foretells a royal Savior. “These verses have great meaning in the context of Sudan, given that the government has become the enemy,” says John*, an unfoldingWord partner.

“People are running like sheep without a shepherd, looking for security.”

Christmas reminds us that Isaiah’s prophecy and others like it were fulfilled in the birth of Jesus Christ, John adds.

“When it says ‘The government will be upon His shoulders,’ it’s a reminder that evil will not win because the ultimate, absolute rule belongs to Jesus.”

Sudan’s current events make it challenging to believe evil will not win.

(Graphic courtesy of unfoldingWord)

The civil war that began in April and has uprooted over seven million people continues to spread. Aid groups like the UN struggle to feed and shelter thousands who desperately need help.

Plus, Sudanese farmers couldn’t plant their crops because of the fighting, so a massive food crisis looms.

Yet, hope remains. “As I mentioned in previous interviews, Christians and Muslims are being driven into the same geographical location” by the war, John says.

“There is a harvest (of souls) taking place.”

Pray that many Sudanese will turn to Jesus for salvation as they hear the Gospel in their heart language.

In refugee camps outside of Sudan’s strict Islamic rule, “They (Muslims) are free, for maybe the first time in their life, to consider Jesus,” John says.

“It’s not religion, it’s not Christianity – it’s to consider Jesus the Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:7 says, ‘Of the increase of His government and His peace, there will be no end.’”

Support Gospel workers through John’s organization here. We cannot publish names or details for security purposes.

Pray for endurance and strength for Gospel workers as they lead new believers through Bible studies. Pray for Sudanese Bible translation teams as they continue working despite the war.

“The promise of the Son of God is a powerful one, and we are seeing that power unleashed as we do translation verse by verse, passage by his passage,” John says.

*Pseudonym

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Robert Thiemann/Unsplash.

This line stands out to our friends at Slavic Gospel Association. SGA supports the Church in several war-torn nations of the world such as Ukraine, Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Israel.

SGA’s Eric Mock says, “Let us remember the government is on His shoulder. Let us remember that He alone is the Prince of Peace.

(Photo courtesy of Slavic Gospel Association)

“Therefore, for SGA, it’s okay for us to serve churches in Russia. We’re not affirming Russia. It’s okay for us to serve churches in Israel, to serve churches in Moldova, Poland, Ukraine, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and all these other countries — to serve the ones that God is ready to.

“Why? The primacy in these days is God’s Church, God’s people, and His message through His people. So there is our uniting factor.”

Looking to the year 2024, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by war and rumors of war.

Isaiah 9:6 reminds us we don’t need to despair over the fate of the nations before a sovereign God.

Mock says, “Ultimately, our joy is found in Christ. Ultimately, our hope and peace is in Christ. He is the Prince of Peace.

“Let us have that as our focus in ministry and ministering to others in a world filled with wars between nations, social issues, and the things of the day. Let us find our peace in Christ, for the government is upon His shoulder.”

Learn more about SGA’s critical ministry supporting the Church here.

Pray for trust in Jesus as SGA advances the Great Commission in every nation. Pray for the Lord’s will to be done in the hearts of leaders and rulers. Ask God to open the eyes of suffering people to the comfort only found in Christ.

Header photo courtesy of Greyson Joralemon/Unsplash.

The last five years brought waves of despair to Lebanon – financial and economic disaster, government collapse, pandemic fallout, and the Beirut port explosion – on top of an existing refugee crisis driven by the civil war in neighboring Syria.

As Christ-followers, “We are called to be prepared for conflict and wars because we live in a broken and fallen world,” Camille Melki with Heart for Lebanon says.

“Unfortunately, those wars and conflicts in the Middle East are reoccurring, and at a higher percentage maybe than [in] the other parts of the world.”

Then, Hezbollah started a war with Israel on Lebanon’s southern border in October. That battle continues today.

“In times of war, we look for peace in earthly matters. We look for peace through political leaders, governments, and a good economy,” Melki says.

“We [tend to] look for peace in things that don’t have everlasting life, whereas Jesus promised us His peace.”

The promises in Isaiah 9:6 help Lebanese Christians move from despair to hope.

(Photo courtesy of Heart for Lebanon)

“This is the peace and the assurance that we would live eternally with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords,” Melki says.

As agents of hope and peace, “instead of digging trenches and hiding or running away from conflict, let’s run towards the opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus to a broken community.”

Pray that Lebanese people will see the light of Christ through believers.

“I want to [remind everyone] as we celebrate Christmas that Emmanuel, God with us, the Prince of Peace lives in us and sends us as messengers of His peace,” Melki says.

“Pray that we learn how to counter hatred with the love of Jesus Christ, violence with a message of his peace, despair with the hope in Christ alone.”

Header and story images courtesy of Heart for Lebanon.

Satan may have authority on earth, but the Lord remains sovereign.

“When you see the tragedies going on – in the border situations, Israel and Palestine, Ukraine and Russia – recognize that, while this world is so broken, God is at work,” International Media Ministries’ Denise Godwin says.

“God is at work, whatever the headlines say.”

Sign up for MNN’s daily emails to learn how the Lord moves “behind the scenes” of global current events.

International Media Ministries uses media and film to introduce people everywhere to the Prince of Peace. Learn more on the IMM website.

“People in tragedy [or] war situation or chaos are always more open to the Gospel than otherwise. That dissonance of suffering makes people seek out more answers and more information,” Godwin says.

“Our specialty [is] to tell the stories in the Bible in a way that opens up Christianity to people who haven’t been exposed to it before.”

See IMM’s website for videos to share with a coworker or neighbor that reveal the true meaning of Christmas.

“We have an older Christmas story. It’s about eight minutes, and it’s in probably 25 languages,” Godwin says.

“It’s so fun to see that a very simple version of the Christmas story can be used again and again to put Christmas and Christ in context, especially when it’s becoming a commercial event worldwide.”

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Tim Wildsmith/Unsplash.