My Life In Israel Editorial
Power In Numbers
Callie Mitchell
SAVED News International
Correspondent
Jerusalem, Israel
[email protected]
Do you feel safe?
That is a question that I have
answered countless times since
moving to Israel nearly seven
years ago. Recently, it has come
up much more frequently in light
of the terror attacks we’ve faced
for going on four months.
Usually, the answer is “Yes!”
and right now, I do feel safe.
Last fall, however, presented the
first time since moving to Israel
that I honestly did not. I spend a
great deal of time on the bus with
two small children. Knowing
that civilians have been targeted
indiscriminately at bus stops has
left me in an extremely vulnerable
position for fear to grow.
Attacks persist outside of the city,
but have decreased in Jerusalem
due to some measures the
government has taken to protect
its citizens. It’s natural to feel a
sense of physical safety again.
Even so, I’m learning, daily, that
my sense of safety has to come
from confidence in the Lord, not
from external circumstances.
God’s word tells us: “For God
has not given us a spirit of fear,
but of power and of love and of
a sound mind.” (2 Tim 1:7). As
I’ve pressed into this scripture to
combat fear, I’ve learned that the
Greek word for “power” is a sort
of “power in numbers,” such as
an army. I can testify that it has a
great deal to do with the body of
Messiah!
We are blessed to be part of a
great Messianic Congregation,
to live in a neighborhood filled
with other believers, and to have
our son attending the Messianic
preschool where I am also
volunteering as an art teacher.
The preschool has been source
for this “power” to be poured into
my own life.
Unique in the Kingdom of God,
the preschool has a Messianic
Jewish teacher and an Arab
Christian teacher in each class,
as well as Christian volunteers
from the nations to assist. Twice,
I have been at the preschool
while attacks were taking place
only two blocks away. On both
occasions, rather than a spirit of
fear arising, I felt so blessed to
be part of a great reconciliation
work, seeing Jews and Arabs
in unified fellowship through
Messiah Yeshua.
My art lesson, on the same day
as one of the attacks, was an
illustration of the Lord providing
Hagar and Ishmael with the
well after they were forced to
leave Abraham’s tent. I saw
that well as a prophecy that the
descendants of Ishmael would
drink of the Living Water, and
looking around, I could see a
fulfillment! Fellowship with this
diverse body of believers gave
me tremendous hope that the
Lord can move in the hearts of
our Arab neighbors to know Him.
That has encouraged me into bold
intercession as I walk the streets
of Jerusalem.
The “power in numbers” found
through fellowship, can fan into
flame the gifts that the Lord has
placed in each of us for such a
time as this (2 Tim 1:6, Esther
4:14)! Be active in your church
and let that fire burn away all
fear!
2 SAVED News
February 2016