As ballistic missiles rained down on Israel, shattering homes and lives, something unexpected began to stir in the hearts of many Israelis: a deeper openness to faith, not just in God, but in Yeshua, the Hebrew name for Jesus.
Michael Mistretta, CEO of the Fellowship of Israel Related Ministries, joined CBN News from Jerusalem this week to describe the horrifying reality on the ground. “We were thrust awake in the middle of the morning Friday morning, June 13, as Israel decided to do a preemptive strike on Iran,” he said. Iran responded with force. “Iran retaliated about 24 hours later firing over now 370… ballistic missiles… directly at civilians really.”
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The attack has left 24 Israelis dead, more than 500 wounded and over 1,200 families homeless. Many are now displaced, seeking refuge and reeling from the loss of everything they once knew. “It’s amazing how our entire reality can shift just in a matter of a couple days,” Mistretta said.
But it’s not just the landscape of Israel that’s changing, it’s the spiritual atmosphere as well.
Mistretta, who leads a network of gospel-centered congregations throughout Israel, said that the war is shaking people’s confidence in the institutions they once trusted, and in that shaking, many are turning to eternal truths.
“Since Oct. 7th, there’s been more openness to who Yeshua, who Jesus is in Israel,” he shared. “Why? Because the things we had our faith in have now been shaken, our government, our military, our intelligence.”
Even Israel’s Iron Dome, often seen as an impenetrable shield, has its limits. “It only prevents 90 to 95% of the missiles,” Mistretta explained. “We’ve had 30 direct missile strikes in the middle of the night… that have been shocking to our country.”
In the middle of this chaos, FIRM has focused on being the hands and feet of Jesus, showing up, loving people, and sharing the Gospel. “Perfect love casts out fear,” Mistretta declared. “And as we show up and serve and be the hands and feet of Yeshua… we know that our faith is going to rub off on them.”
Fear may be rampant, but faith is rising.
“There’s a spiritual reality,” Mistretta said, reflecting on the larger war at hand. “We’re reminded in Scripture that we don’t wage war against flesh and blood… We ask that your kingdom would come, that your will would be done… that you would vanquish evil, you would vanquish darkness.”
As missiles fly and families huddle in bomb shelters, many in Israel are crying out for a peace that only God can provide. And in that desperate hour, the message of Jesus, Yeshua, is breaking through.
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“We’re longing for that messianic age where you’ll wipe away every tear and where there will be no more fighting,” Mistretta prayed at the end of the interview. “God, we pray… that your gospel be made known.”
For believers around the world watching this unfold, now is not the time to look away. It’s the time to pray, for the peace of Jerusalem, for comfort in Israel, and even for the Iranian people suffering under an oppressive regime.
And perhaps most of all, to pray that what the enemy meant for evil, God is using for good, to bring His people home, not just physically, but spiritually, to the feet of the Savior.
James Lasher is staff writer for Charisma Media.
