Yael's Holy Land Reflections

The Prophetic Work of Aliyah

July 14, 2020

 

One of my greatest honours is meeting with members of the Israeli government on behalf of The Fellowship, representing millions of Christians around the world who support Israel and love her.

In bringing Christian support directly to Israel’s leaders, we are able to work together and help millions of Jews in Israel and around the world. I am so grateful to God for the blessing of being part of this partnership.

From Making Aliyah to Minister of Aliyah

Recently, I met with Israel’s Minister of Aliyah and Integration. Supporting aliyah (immigration to Israel) is a critical component of The Fellowship. In the last few months alone, even during the height of the COVID-10 crisis, we brought several flights of olim (immigrants) home to Israel - all while carefully following Israeli government restrictions to prevent the spread of the virus and ensure their safety.

The fact that Israel devotes an entire ministry to overseeing the immigration of Jews from “the four corners of the earth,” fulfilling biblical prophecy, is truly amazing. Even more awe-inspiring is that the Minister of Aliyah herself, Pnina Tamano-Shata, owes her life to a daring rescue mission carried out by Israel decades ago.

Pnina was born in Sudan, Africa. She is part of the Ethiopian Jewish community descended from the once-lost tribe of Dan. When she was just three years old, Pnina, her father, and brothers were brought to Israel through Operation Moses, a 3-day covert operation in 1984-1985 that brought 7,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel. Her mother was only able to join them years later.

Today, Pnina is a Member of the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) and helps bring even more people from around the world home to Israel. She has earned the honour of becoming the first Member of Knesset of Ethiopian descent. And, after years of working together, she has become one of my own good friends.

A Friend of The Fellowship

After meeting with our colleagues, Pnina and I took a break to catch up with each other. We discussed our personal and professional lives and then Pnina asked me a question. She was amazed at everything The Fellowship was doing and wanted to know what advice I, as a woman in leadership, might offer her.

I knew exactly what to say, because it is something that I often say to myself. I told her that while our jobs may involve a lot of numbers, statistics, budgets, and deadlines, we can never forget that we are involved in prophetic, godly work, bringing prophecies of the Bible to fruition. I told her about how inspiring she is to me, as someone from the tribe of Dan now serving as a leader in the Israeli government. I shared with Pnina how, at times, stepping out of the mundane, day-to-day tasks and into the larger picture of what we are accomplishing is what encourages me to keep going. Never forget, I told her, where you came from - or the future you are helping to create for all of Israel.

‘For Such a Time as This’

The more I thought about my conversation with Pnina that day, the more I realized how the message applies to all of us. In our daily lives, we can easily get bogged down by our tasks and worries, especially with all of the uncertainty in the world right now. But when we step aside and look at our lives from a greater perspective, we can see how far our world has come, how prophecy is unfolding before our very eyes each day, and how we are getting closer and closer to the Messianic Era.

Moreover, all of us working together through The Fellowship to bless Israel are part of something bigger than we could ever imagine. In spite of all the challenges we may face, we are truly blessed to be alive today “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14)!

With blessings from the Holy Land,

Yael signature

Yael Eckstein
President

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