Julia Fisher reports

Julia Fisher
Julia Fisher

It's easy to get into a groove in our thinking and there's no better time than the start of a new year to wake ourselves up and look beyond our immediate horizons!

Take the news for example. Do you tend to listen or watch the same news programmes, or read the same newspaper, or look at the same websites? If that's the case then maybe you're in danger of being biased in your understanding, even misinformed.

Let's take Israel and the Middle East as a specific example. The message put out from certain news outlets can persuade us that Israel is the cause of much of the trouble and insecurity in the world today. What would happen if Iran launched a nuclear strike against Israel? What would happen if Syria attacked northern Israel in a bid to win the Golan Heights? What would happen if the terrorist organisations Hamas and Hezbollah unleashed another wave of suicide bombings or rocket attacks on towns in Israel? We can soon find ourselves believing that Israel's very existence is a threat to world peace.
Whilst these threats are very real and have to be taken seriously, I believe we have to hold them in tension with other news that's coming out of Israel. What do I mean by this?

A couple of weeks ago I received a letter from Jonathan Miles, the Founder and International Organiser of an organisation called Shevet Achim. (You can read Jonathan's story in my book, 'Israel: the Mystery of Peace'.) This Hebrew name is found in Psalm 133, "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in unity." Put simply, this organisation arranges for Palestinian, Jordanian, Iraqi children suffering from life threatening heart conditions to come to Israel where they are treated in Israeli hospitals by Jewish doctors.

In his letter Jonathan wrote,
"..we would like to share with you the work the Lord has accomplished among us in 2006. We have seen a total of 58 children receive life-restoring surgeries and 69 children undergo medical evaluations and monitoring. Your prayer and physical support has helped fulfil the needs of these precious children from Gaza, Jordan and Iraq. Without your interventions these little ones would quite possibly not have made it through this year. The transformation in their lives is not only in their vitality but also in the attitudes of their parents, grandparents and extended family. We have witnessed these children restored to life through the care of their supposed enemies. Their family members witnessed care for their beloved children given freely and with joy from the hands of Israeli doctors and nurses. May God continue to heal hearts and inspire forgiveness through these acts of mercy. Only grace can break down walls!"

If you look at the website of Shevet Achim, you will see faces of the children currently awaiting surgery. Faces of Iraqi children peer at you. Can you imagine what their parents are thinking; agreeing for their children to enter Israel and be operated on by Jewish doctors? Can you imagine what their wider family members might be saying to them about allowing their children to be treated by 'the enemy'? Can you then imagine those same people witnessing the safe return of the child whose life has been saved by Jewish doctors. It's incredible. Multiply that one instance by hundreds and you start to see the ripple effect; of how attitudes in a community change when they hear the life of a precious child has been saved in a county and by a people they are taught to hate.

When taking groups to Israel I always encourage them to keep one question at the back of their minds, 'What is God doing here?' Asking that question helps to keep things in perspective.

Meanwhile, here are some other websites you might like to discover at the start of this new year and add to your Favourites list! All of them are people I know well and respect enormously. These are people God is working through in Israel and Middle East...people who are mirroring the heart of God in a region being savaged by war and hatred.

The Joseph Storehouse
The House of Light
Musalaha
Beit Al Liqa
Community of Reconciliation  CR

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.