God, Could This Be True? 

     Part 2

I understand you had a friend who was killed by Hamas.

     Aaron: "My military roommate was kidnapped by Hamas. He was tortured for several days before being executed by his captors. It was a traumatic experience which left me questioning the existence of God."

     "Once my service ended, I traveled and encountered Christians who shared the gospel and challenged me to read the New Testament. And after reading it and asking God, 'Could this be true?' I felt drawn to Jesus. I just couldn't get enough. I kept reading Gospel after Gospel, for six, eight hours. I started to turn my life toward Jesus, and say, 'What would it look like to follow you?'" 

     "When I went back to Israel and tried to share my faith with Jewish friends, I (thought) 'Wow, this is hard work. How do I do this?' So, I found Jews for Jesus, and they said, 'we'll help train you'. I've been on the staff since 1999." 

What do your experiences bring to the organization, especially in light of current middle east conflict? 

      (He mentioned his life, his military service and experience in conflict): "I can empathize with the current conflict. I've...seen Israelis grappling with what has happened since Oct. 7. Many of our team were called up to reserve duties. We also had staff in Gaza."

How did Oct. 7 and the war affect your outreach efforts?

     "Everybody was in shock, but our team said, 'What would Yeshua do--what would Jesus do?' We partnered with Jewish and Arab Christian congregations, and other ministries provided food, basic supplies. It was a powerful witness. When people experience something like this, they start asking deeper spiritual questions. In the first three months of the war, we had over 600 orders for Hebrew-language New Testaments."

Tomorrow: How to encourage hope