In the rising tensions, Ilya Butolin with Beit Hallel Congregation focuses on the return of the 20 living captives.

“After [the] seventh of October, each family, each person in Israel had either a friend or a relative or a close family that [has] been in captivity or [has] been hurt from the war,” says Butolin. “Seeing how they held the hostages was really hard, because it’s personal. It’s almost like your family [is] in captivity.”

The hostage’s release on Monday was deeply significant for another reason. October 13 marked the end of the Feast of Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles), which commemorates when God gave the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai. 

“So it’s a big celebration, on one hand, of when we received the Law, the Torah. But then, on the other hand, there is a big celebration that our people are coming back home,” Butolin says. “I can’t even explain in words how much of a big deal it is.”

There’s much to pray for

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. It’s the main thing that we as believers in Jesus have to stand on,” says Butolin. “It’s really important. It’s biblical.”

Jerusalem, Israel. (Photo courtesy of Dariusz Kanclerz/Unsplash)

Pray for the families of the hostages who did not come back alive, that they will find their hope and healing in God alone. Pray the same for the 20 men released from captivity.

“My prayer, it’s that there’ll be no other thing [for the freed hostages] — no PTSD — except one thing: there will be God. God will be showing [Himself in] this time,” says Butolin. “And I believe that these people will see the Lord. That’s our prayer, that all Israel will be saved.” 

Then, keep praying. Butolin says Monday was a massive celebration. But one quarter of the almost 2,000 prisoners that Israel released on Monday had been “convicted of crimes including murder and deadly attacks against Israelis,” the BBC reports. 

“But [for] the future, we’re still dealing with a terror organization. It’s one step closer to the peace, but it’s not complete peace in Israel,” Butolin says. “It will be really important to continue to pray for other [war] fronts, for the northern [front] with Lebanon and Syria, with Iran, with the Houthis. We believe that there will be peace with all of them.”

Header photo: Hostages Square, Tel Aviv, Israel, October 13, 2025 (Photo courtesy of Oren Rozen via Wikimedia Commons. Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0)

The airstrike came one day after terrorists killed six people and wounded more than 20 in Jerusalem. Hamas claimed responsibility for that attack. 

“This has shown the world that Israel is not messing around. They want to get Hamas out of Gaza,” says Tom Doyle with Uncharted Ministries. “But then, on the other hand, you look at Israeli hostages that are still trapped. What’s going to happen to them? Will there be a retaliation?”

Palestinian man. Image courtesy of hosnysalah via Pixabay.

The situation is incredibly complex. But Doyle shares that Palestinian Christians have strong opinions about Hamas. 

“As [the strikes] happened, we were getting texts from former Muslims in Gaza that were thrilled that, as they said, ‘The people who have made our lives miserable in Gaza — Hamas — are slowly going. So many of the leaders are gone now.’” 

Behind the headlines, Doyle says, believers in both Gaza and Israel are seeing greater openness to the gospel. 

“In the midst of the war, there are Muslim background believers with joy on their face,” says Doyle. “They’ve had times where they were struggling to get food without getting shot at or robbed, yet now they have the fruit of the Spirit on their face.” 

Their joy is leading fellow Palestinians to ask them why, leading to a chance to share about Christ. 

In Israel, Doyle says that one man who survived the Holocaust recently passed away. He had resisted the gospel for decades, believing that Nazis were Christians. But another Christian prayed for him for more than 20 years. At age 98, the man received Jesus as his Savior. 

“He became someone [who] just started sharing with his Jewish friends about Jesus,” Doyle said. “He would say this: ‘I don’t have a lot of time left in life, so I may not get to ever talk with you again. So please listen to what I say.’”

A Palestinian believer and Jewish believer pray together at the Gaza fence.
(Photo, caption courtesy of Uncharted Ministries)

This man passed away recently. At the funeral, his son accepted Christ. 

Find your place in the story

Pray for people to come to know Christ all across the Middle East. 

“[Lasting peace] won’t happen through government or the UN or any one country. Only Jesus can bring peace in their hearts, to where people won’t hate each other and the war won’t just keep going on and on and on,” Doyle says. 

“What we’re praying right now is for peace and for a great awakening in the Middle East, where millions are turning to Jesus as Savior.” 

Header photo courtesy of Kyle Glenn via Unsplash. 

It was the deadliest attack in Israel’s capital in years.

(Photo courtesy of Mike Labrum/Unsplash)

Against the backdrop of war, the nation has seen an increase in attacks targeting civilians. Pastor Israel Pochtar with Beit Hallel Congregation says that amid tragedy, Israeli Christians are offering the comfort of Christ.

“The Gospel is the only hope for Israel,” he says.

Beit Hallel Congregation is committed to advancing the Gospel in tangible ways — and with a sense of urgency.

In a few months, the church will open its new Evangelism and Discipleship Center in Ashdod, about an hour from Jerusalem.

“We have more and more people getting saved, coming to the Lord, and discovering Jesus,” says Pochtar. “But the building we use is built in a way that, besides a weekend service, we cannot do different activities.

“This new Evangelism and Discipleship facility allows us to reach out to people and, when they come to us, share the Gospel…and also discipleship. We needed a venue for Bible school, for trainings — for leadership training, for pastors’ training, for youth.”

Beit Hallel Congregation’s new Evangelism and Discipleship Center in Ashdod. (Screenshot courtesy of Beit Hallel Congregation)

Pochtar asks, “Pray for our team, to encourage and build us up. Pray for more leaders and evangelists.”

As Beit Hallel Congregation commissions the new Evangelism and Discipleship Center, pray that God will use it to grow His Kingdom.

Pray for Israel to know the peace and hope of Christ.

Header photo: Jerusalem, Israel. (Photo courtesy of Dariusz Kanclerz/Unsplash)

Iran stated the attack was in response to the killings of two leaders of the terrorist groups Hezbollah and Hamas in recent months. Israel has promised it will retaliate, and Iran has responded with threats as well.

On Tuesday night, Zev Sigulim with MegaVoice watched with his family near the Sea of Galilee as rockets flew toward the center of Israel. 

“My kids, we were in the bomb shelter just now. I feel kind of speechless, having just had a bunch of rockets fly over my house,” Sigulim said not long after those moments.

Iranian missiles flying over an Israeli city near the Sea of Galilee, October 1, 2024 (Video screenshot courtesy of Zev Sigulim)

“I was on the phone with some of our staff [discussing] ‘Do we come into work tomorrow? Do we not come into work tomorrow?’ So there’s that side of things. There hasn’t been school [for the children] for a few weeks.”

Sigulim describes daily life and work punctuated by sirens and sprints to the bomb shelter. 

“Every family in Israel is affected, whether you’re talking about families who have young children or young men in the army or fathers in the reserves, or uncles or sons or daughters,” he says.  

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Pray for children, soldiers, and families dealing with trauma. 

“In the spirit of unity, pray for also Christians on the other side of this conflict. That’s something that that we don’t want to lose sight of. We know that this war is not with flesh and blood, but with the evil powers [in the heavenly realms],” Sigulim says. 

“It’s really hard to to keep that in mind as you’re sitting with your family in a bomb shelter, but we have to remember to keep that in mind.” 

Learn more here about MegaVoice’s mission to bring God’s Word to people across the world. 

Header photo is a representative stock photo courtesy of Lara Jameson via Pexels. 

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.

Sebastian Schmidgall, a Christian pastor in Israel and a friend of MNN, shared his account of what it was like on the day of the attack.

“Saturday morning, I was outside sweeping in front of the church with my two-year-old and a familiar sound went off which were the sirens to warn people that there were incoming missiles. So I had quite a few backflashes.

“At that moment, I just grabbed my little girl and we went inside to check and make sure it wasn’t just a test. We realized this was serious and we were quite surprised. Within our region, usually the rockets do not reach this far.”

Schmidgall recounts then rushing to get his other children out of their Christian school in the West Bank. (School in the West Bank takes place on Saturday, with Friday and Sunday as days off for Christian and Muslim holy days.)

“We actually cross checkpoints in and out. So thank God, that day a friend was already there and was able to bring them across. We prayed that morning because a lot of the points were already being shut down. The Lord answered immediately.

“We’re usually not used to saying ‘amen’ and getting a response. But literally, I said, ‘Lord, help. Help them get out.’ And I said ‘amen’…and I got a text message saying, ‘We got out.’

Missile explosion in the Gaza Strip in conflict between Israel and Hamas.
(Wikimedia Commons)

He continues, “So then we had to make the trek to our friend. When we got there, the sirens went off again so we sheltered there under their home for a while. When it seemed to clear up, we threw the boys in the car and took off toward home.”

Just as many Americans have vivid memory of where they were and what they were doing on 9/11 during the 2001 terrorist attacks, this pastor’s story is one of many that will be a horrifying memory of Israeli citizens and residents for generations to come.

What Can Christians Do In This Dark Hour?

Hamas terrorists still have up to 150 Israeli hostages, even as the Israeli military has begun counterattacks on Hamas in Gaza.

“The sad thing always with conflict, with war, is that the innocent people suffer most,” says Schmidgall. “It’s true on the Palestinian side. And it’s true on the Israeli side. It’s just heartbreaking when you see women and children that have to go through great evil.”

For Christians in Israel, Gaza, the West Bank, and around the world, it’s an incredibly helpless feeling not knowing how to respond.

Schmidgall offers this Gospel perspective:

“We have to actively resist resentment, anger, and hatred. We cannot allow that to take root in our heart. We really want to focus on that our battle is not against flesh and blood.”

(Photo courtesy of Nathan Dumlao/Unsplash)

Your prayers are needed. Now more than ever.

“We have the ability to commune with the living God. And we oftentimes neglect that. But there’s such strength in that. So I want to encourage the body of Christ to seek Him, to press into His presence.”

Schmidgall asks, “Pray for all those innocent involved, obviously, those that have been kidnapped. I can’t imagine. I’ve been hugging my kids a lot tighter this week. I can’t fathom the pain of a parent sitting there not knowing where their child is at…. Pray that God intervenes.”

Ultimately, the greatest tragedy is those who die without believing in Jesus Christ.

“It breaks my heart for the Muslim world because to commit an act of violence against an image of God and think you’re serving God, we all know that’s counter to our Scripture,” says Schmidgall. “Our greatest commands are love God and love thy neighbor. It breaks my heart that there are millions of people that think they’re serving their god by committing an act of violence against someone.

“Pray there that people’s eyes would be open, that they would see, ‘This is not a faith that I want to be part of,’ and that they would…find the Way, the Truth, and the Life in Jesus Christ.”

Header photo of Jerusalem, Israel. (Photo courtesy of Dariusz Kanclerz/Unsplash)

It was the first visit by a high-ranking Israeli official in years due to a tenuous political situation. The site is revered by both Jews and Muslims.

Denise Godwin with International Media Ministries says, “What I find fascinating is the wrestling over where you can pray and who holds a piece of the religious market. It’s just fascinating that in history, these things repeat themselves, whether that’s in Jerusalem or other parts of the world.”

Protests

Critics of Israel’s new government call it far-right or even theocratic. Protests have broken out across the country. Israelis have taken to the streets, holding signs saying “Democracy in danger” and “Together against fascism and apartheid.”

Israel’s new justice minister introduced a reform to allow parliament to override the supreme court.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regained power in December with the aid of far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties.

IMM

IMM recreates biblical stories through film, including many that took place in Jerusalem and surrounding areas. Godwin says, “We have always been very intentional, very careful to focus on basic biblical truths in our stories and actual history that’s provable. We don’t ever talk about politics. We don’t ever talk about other religions.”

“When we create a program in partnership with North Africa, for example, we never mention Islam or anything to do with that.”

Ask God to bring peace and justice to Jerusalem and the surrounding land. Pray the love of Jesus would foster healing.

Header photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. 

The course will cover Herod the Great and also his sons and grandsons. The Herods ruled in the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD, including the time of Jesus’ ministry.

Haytham Dieck, the course instructor, says, “They had a wide impact, especially in the Bible. Each one of them did something in some way or another. Truly, there is a Herod’s heritage. Of course, the biggest heritage is of Herod the Great, his building, and his legacy.”

Herod the Great built a temple in Jerusalem that was even larger and more magnificent than Solomon’s. He also constructed the Herodium, a lavish palace built into a small hill.

Herods vs. kingdom of God

But he treated his people brutally, slaughtering Jewish scholars and even members of his own family. The magi visited Herod the Great on their quest to find Jesus. His fear of losing power led to a massacre of children in the region.

His son Herod Antipas followed in his footsteps. Dieck says, “He ordered the beheading of John the Baptist. Jesus called him a fox (Luke 12:32), and even in the trial of Jesus, the Herod he met was Herod Antipas. He mocked Jesus.”

The course contrasts the Herods with the kingdom of Jesus. The Herods constructed buildings, but Jesus builds a people. The Herods ruled through force, But Jesus through love.

The course goes on to cover Herod Agrippa. Dieck says, “He died in Caesarea when people start to glorify Him as a god. And he accepted that. He did not say anything. In a way, he was happy to know that. And then suddenly, he was struck down. And according to the Bible, worms actually ate him.”

“For this kind of Kingdom, eventually the ruler wants to stay here forever. They want to be glorified as a god.”

Paul encountered Herod Agrippa II, who expressed interest in the news of Jesus.

Header photo courtesy of Bethlehem Bible College. 

That’s why Bethlehem Bible College now offers the Discover Galilee from your Place online course. Participants will get a virtual tour of significant places in the ministry of Jesus. Click the link to register or get more information.

Discover Jerusalem

This was proceeded by Discover Jerusalem from your Place. Participants in that course got a virtual tour of the city, especially locations important in the final hours before Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Haytham Dieck, who lead the course, says it explored the history and archeology of the city. “And then afterward, we will follow the path route of Jesus, the Via Dolorosa. And then, of course, the whole course will end by Golgotha, which is today the Holy Sepulcher Church.”

The college offered a similar course, Discover Bethlehem from your Place, last year. Dieck says, “At first, we thought the number would be around 10, 12, or 15. But we were very happy to see the number reaching 29. We were even thinking to do another course about Galilee.”

The Discover Galilee course will run from June 5 to July 31 and will include 9 sessions, with 13 total hours.

Dieck says, “We are so happy that so far, we are receiving very positive feedback from all those who participated. So far, everybody has said the lectures are very informative. And they are actually using this information for their ministry or their work.”

The header image shows a cross near the Sea of Galilee. (Photo courtesy of KaPilz from Pixabay)

Last week, Palestinian young people carried out protests near Bethlehem Bible College. Israeli soldiers met them with tear gas.  College president Jack Sara asks readers to pray for the safety of everyone involved.

In the middle of all this, Sara says, “I don’t hear Palestinian Christians calling for revenge or violence. So may their voices be lifted high and their voices be heard by the people around us.”

How things got this bad

The current unrest began in Jerusalem, where some Palestinians were being evicted from their homes. But the situation changed when Israeli police stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque. “And in that Dome of the Rock, basically anything happens intensifies things all over the country because people are passionate. This is the most sacred religious place for Muslims in our land.”

Sara says a lasting peace is in the best interest of both Israelis and Palestinians. Pray also for the safety of Palestinian Christians. “I have a few friends who live in Gaza, and all of them are really in fear. So let’s pray for courage, hope, and protection for the Christians in Gaza. [Pray for] the same thing in the West Bank. Christians are asking for protection and a just peace to come amongst Palestinians.”

The header photo comes courtesy of Bethlehem Bible College on Facebook.