Letting the Little Ones Come – 1st for Tel Aviv!
During our ministry trip to Israel last year, we spent time
with some good friends, hearing about a vision God had laid on their hearts to
become involved with. Along with a small
group of pastors and other believers, they had begun the work of pioneering Tel
Aviv’s first Messianic School – Tikvat Yisrael (Hope of Israel)!
Israel is a modern country, and despite the fact that the
Jewish faith defines the majority of people living there today, many of the
people are secular or nominal in their religious expression. From the Government’s perspective, when it
comes to education there is an effort made to balance secular and religious
beliefs, so mandatory subjects such as the Old Testament can be presented as
legend rather than history. Alongside
this watered down approach, there is great opposition to faith in Yeshua (Jesus)
within government funded schools. The
need for a Messianic (Christian) School was sealed in one Tel Aviv pastor’s
heart when his youngest daughter came home from school crying. She had been taught that God would only
listen to her prayers one day a year, on Yom Kipur (Day of Atonement)! Within the Messianic community in Israel
today, many children are not merely the only believer in their class, they are
frequently the only believer in their school.
It is during these informative years of primary/elementary school that
children make decisions about life, faith, and social involvement that can
affect them for the rest of their lives.
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| Classrooms ready to go! |
It is understandable why the youth of today would chose to ‘fit
in’ rather than follow the convictions that faith in Yeshua brings, but this
younger generation of believers in Israel is growing and becoming stronger
through meeting together in small groups and large events around the
country. Tikvat Yisrael School wants to
become part of this process, providing children with a quality education that
includes an integrated biblical world view in their daily instruction. Their heart is to see the total development of
each child – spiritually, morally, intellectually, socially, emotionally,
culturally, and physically. In Israel,
there are only two other similar schools that exist, but in Tel Aviv,
the population centre of the country where 60% of the people live, a school
like this has not yet been founded.
Tikvat Yisrael has a registered Board of Directors with the
Israeli Government and is in the start up stage of development. In order to go ahead with a first year intake
in September 2013, they need to raise £64k and have a minimum registration of
10 students. Your People My People fully
supports the vision to help raise up the next younger generation of believers
in Israel, to see them grow in their faith, to become strong believers that will
influence their nation with the gospel - the good news of Yeshua the
Messiah. Please prayerfully consider
partnering with us and Tikvat Yisrael, in prayer and finances – thank you!
