A Tale of Three Women
While in
Israel, we had the privilege of meeting with some beautiful, courageous
women. You probably wont find them on
the cover of a magazine, or read of their exploits in newspaper headlines, but
these three Israeli believers are beautiful and courageous nonetheless. We were touched by their stories and asked if
we could share them with you so you could pray for them. They said yes…
Yohana* is
the mother of three lovely children, and wife to an emotionally abusive
husband. She is a gentle and kind
believer, working part time for a local congregation. She knows the members by name, being sure to
send a card with words of encouragement to each of them on their
birthdays. Everything she does is with a
servant heart, a desire to help and encourage everyone she comes into contact
with. Sometimes Yohana finds herself
more than discouraged by her situation at home.
She makes every effort to model her faith to her children and train them
in Godly living, yet she finds herself thwarted and undermined by their father
at every turn. “The place I most lose
my testimony is at home with my husband’, she confessed, frustrated by her
inability to maintain what she considers to be a Godly attitude within her
circumstances.
Yohana has
seen God bring healing to her marriage in years past. She desires deeply that her husband will
return again to his faith and that their children too will have a love for and
relationship with Yeshua. While she is
praying and contending for her miracle, she continues to be the strong, kind,
woman of encouragement, who takes every opportunity to serve, and every
opportunity to be a shining example of what the love of God looks like when
modeled by a woman of faith.
Naomi* is a
single mother of a teenage son, Ben*.
Naomi’s husband was physically abusive to her and their son, before
their marriage finally ended some years back.
She too has kind, servant heart, and works for a local city
ministry. Naomi suffered much heart ache
as she watched Ben grow up into a depressed young man with little motivation
for life. Out of desperation, Naomi
determined to find a way to help him.
She knew he had become reclusive and detached, sitting at home every
night on his computer, refusing to interact with her or his own friends, and
how detrimental and destructive these patterns had become, so when she heard of
a boarding school that had a reputation for helping struggling young people
like Ben, she took a financial leap of faith and enrolled him for his final
few years of schooling. “At first it was
not easy. Ben was angry with me for
‘sending him away’. I had to drive him
many miles to the school each week to make sure he went and pick him up each
weekend to spend at home. But now, after
two years, Ben is not the same person he used to be. Before, he didn’t care about anything. Now he is doing well academically and getting
good grades. He even takes the bus to
the school each week by himself and when he is home, spends time with his
friends, going out and being a normal young person again. He is so much happier in himself!”
Seeing the
change in her son, has given Naomi the faith to believe God can work miracles
in her own situation. The apartment she
rents is run down and she has a desire to move to a better area of the country,
but she knows she needs a financial miracle for this to happen. Today, because of the work God has done in
her son, Naomi has hope for some miracles of her own!
Ruth*moved
to Israel to work many years ago. She
met a believing Israeli man, fell in love, married and started a new life with
her ‘Boaz’*, both working with an organisation run by Israeli believers. They could have lived ‘happily ever after’,
but sadly this was not the case. Ruth’s
husband walked away from his faith, and was eventually incarcerated for
mistakes he made, and life seemed to turn over on its head. Ruth’s faith held strong. She continued to serve and help the poor,
sharing the love of Yeshua and praying for those in need that came across her
doorway. When Boaz returned home, he was
not the same man, being heavily medicated due to depression and guilt over his
crimes. At times he was even suicidal,
and Ruth shed many tears and solicited many prayers for husband, believing God
for a miracle for their relationship, and frequently challenging Boaz to return
to his faith in Yeshua. Finally, out of
desperation, Ruth came to the end of her strength and became angry with God,
asking why she did not have an answer when the bible said God will answer when
we call. “My life did not line up with
what God had promised. I felt like I too
was now living in a prison, suffering the same fate with no hope for the
future.”
Then a
miracle happened on Rosh HaShana, the Jewish new year. Boaz got up that morning and said it was time
for him to come back to God! He started
praying and reading his bible again. He
repented for his mistakes and began to change.
Instead of shouting at her when she talked to him, he began to take care
of her, offering to make tea and even gave her an encouraging scripture when
she became discouraged. One day, Boaz
had a meeting with the bank manager about an overdraft they couldn’t pay. Before he went to the meeting, the couple
prayed together for God’s help. When he
got the bank, the manager said there is no overdraft for you to worry
about. It has been paid already! Ruth and Boaz were incredulous, “No one has
our bank account number so how could anyone have done this? We know it was God!”
Ruth’s determination
to hold onto God’s promises for 9 years has brought about amazing miracles in
her husband and their financial situation.
They still need miracles – the finances to move out of the apartment
they rent into a safer area, healing for Boaz as he continues the process of
restoration, but as Ruth said, “If God can do this, He can do anything!”
As we sat
and shared over lunch, it was evident that these three women had forged a deep
friendship and prayer partnership between them.
A common bond of perseverance through tough times had brought them
together, even though each of their situations was quite different to the
other. And above all, their commitment
to their faith in Yeshua (Jesus) shone through with a determination that no
amount of opposition would cause them to give up.
 |
| Women praying at the Wailing Wall, Jerusalem |
*Names changed