Israel & Ishmael

Don’t worry about safety issues. The French police are aware of our worship events in every city in France we will visit,” I told my team.

I could tell a few of them were nervous about the anti-Jewish sentiments in France. It seems ironic. People are usually scared to come to Israel because of what they see on the news. But despite being surrounded by enemies, in Israel we go about our daily lives, alert but not fearful. Statistically speaking, in Israel we are safer than anywhere else in the world. We actually get nervous when we leave Israel’s borders. 

Why? Because in Israel, our leadership understands the threat. In Israel we are allowed to defend ourselves. And of course, in Israel, at any given time, you’re likely only a few steps away from an off-duty or former combat soldier. 

Outside of Israel, you can encounter a planned attack by Muslim extremists or be spontaneously assaulted by some random liberal activist who’s convinced we kill babies for fun. And, of course, outside of Israel, you’re more likely to be within an arm’s reach of someone with an iPhone, more excited to post your takedown on social media than help rescue you.   

I did warn the team though, when we landed, “You know the drill. Careful where you speak Hebrew. English is preferable for those of you who know it. If English is hard for you, pick another language, Hebrew should be a last resort. Also, don’t wear any clothes or jewelry that identify you as Jewish...” 

“And, you guys—” I pointed to our Arab members of the team, “feel free to speak Arabic as loud as you want, France has been flooded with Muslim refugees, it’ll help us blend in,” I quipped.

We made efforts to blend in when we were out in public—but it’s hard to hide who you are when you aren’t used to having to hide. More than once, someone on the team was wearing one of our Maoz T-shirts with the word “Shalom” or had on a Jewish symbol when we were on a spontaneous excursion to a public place. The cold customer service and stares from people as we walked by made it clear this message was not welcome there. 

It is rare that we take our Israel team outside of Israel, as we have so much going on in the country. But Israel is at war and her greatest ally is not any one nation—but the Church. Somehow the jihadists know this and so they bombard Christian circles with stories of suffering Palestinians and genocidal Jews. They don’t, however, tell those same Christians that when jihadists rule an area, the first thing they do is enslave or murder all the non-Muslims, including Christians. 

If you don’t believe it, look up what’s happening under Syria’s new jihadist government. 

Syria is not an isolated incident—it’s just a good example because the progression there happened so quickly when Syria fell last December. In most Western countries, the road to extremism takes decades of migration, multiplication and institution of Sharia Law. 

Just this past month, dozens of French Jews landed in Israel—abandoning their established lives and businesses and moving to the one place on the planet dedicated to protecting their existence.

On the Offensive

Our Israel and Ishmael Tour was a month-long worship trip in France and Belgium. Why? The French-speaking world has very little exposure to biblical teachings about Israel and news that isn’t filtered through the Islamic agenda. These two dynamics mean there is very little support for Israel among Christians in France. 

But apparently there are hidden pockets of strong supporters. And the only way we were able to find so many of them in such a short time was our partnership with French-born Israeli minister Jacques Elbaz. Through his many lifelong friendships with ministers across France, we visited 18 cities, rarely spending more than 24 hours in any one city. Night after night, we worshipped in Hebrew, Arabic and French. Every night, we were shocked as each place packed out, whether it was the middle of the week or the weekend.   

We weren’t there to turn people into “Christian Zionists.” We were there to demonstrate how Jews and Arabs who love Yeshua are not only the solution to the Middle East conflict, they are evidence of God’s transformative power to the unbelieving world. 

Honestly, what we were showcasing was our daily life together. We weren’t getting on a stage with a token Jew and Arab for a song and dance. We actually work together on a daily basis and have done so for years. It took multiple ministers telling us, “People need to see what you have going here. You need to take it to them. It will give people hope and clarity on the situation.” 

The Israel and Ishmael Worship Tour had two target audiences: Christians in France (who know little about Israel scripturally and are uninformed about Israel today) and Muslim refugees (who are newly accessible to the Gospel since they have fled their Islam-controlled nations.)   

Three of our team members are born-again Christian Arabs (four, if you count one-month- old Hannah who joined us for the entire trip with her mother    ). It was the first time in years that the Sakhnini Brothers from Nazareth had led worship outside of Israel—and the first time the youngest brother Timothy (who had to skip his last high school final to come) was able to join.

What a Christian Arab Looks Like 

Our vision to raise up modern-day Psalmists isn’t just about getting gifted musicians to perform well on stage. We work hard to support a healthy life behind the scenes as well. In this case, Elia Sakhnini, our oud (a Middle Eastern stringed instrument) player was concerned about spending a month abroad, when his wife, Viola, had just given birth to their first child. So of course, we said, “If she wants, bring her along!”

You’d think having a baby in the mix would make things harder, but it actually contributed to the warm family environment we maintained during the trip. At the end of the trip, Viola shared the following story with me. She wrote it so well, we just had to share it from her perspective:

“When we arrived at our last stop—where we were to stay in caravan cabins—Elia and I and our newborn found that no cabin had been reserved in our name and there were no more vacancies.

Thankfully, the woman in charge from our host church didn’t hesitate for a second. She immediately offered to host us in her home, along with her husband. That evening, we all sat around the kitchen table—just chatting with her, her husband and their pastor. 

When our host found out that Elia is an Arab Christian, she lit up and told us her son-in-law is Muslim and had expressed interest in coming. Without wasting time, she and the pastor began calling people, inviting them to come and hear us. The pastor also shared that one of his members had put up a poster in her shop to advertise our Israel and Ishmael worship concert—and a Muslim man came in, threatening her to take it down. She didn’t. 

Several Muslims showed up to our night of worship and after the service, something amazing happened. The Muslim son-in-law came up to talk with us and said he had never met an Arab Christian before in his life. He was visibly moved by the service, thanked us so much, and even invited us to eat and talk together. So we went with him, and he and his wife asked many questions. His wife didn’t speak much English, so he translated everything into French for her— you could feel their curiosity and openness. 

They asked questions like: How do Christians, Muslims, and Jews live side by side in Israel? 

And then, his wife—who grew up Christian—looked at us and asked, “How do you speak with Muslims and tell them about Jesus?” (while her Muslim husband was sitting right there, listening carefully). 

Elia responded and said, “We just share our stories. We tell what God has done in our lives and how He works in us.” Like in Mark 5:19, where Yeshua told the man who had been delivered from demons, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” As he translated for his wife, the man exclaimed, “That’s exactly what Yazeed did today in the church!” 

Then Elia added, “It’s better to focus on what Jesus has done and how much He loves us than to try and point out what’s wrong in Islam. No one wants to be told they’re wrong—but we can show the goodness we’ve received from God and His love.” 

The man was so moved, he couldn’t even eat his meal. He said he had never heard anything like that before. Before we left, he asked for Elia’s number—he said he really wanted to stay in touch, and that one of his dreams is to visit Israel one day.” 

Francophones

The long-term effects of France’s 19th and 20th century colonization means that, while France has around 70 million people, the world’s French-speaking population, which includes countries in the Middle East and Africa, is projected to reach 700 million within a decade or two! The key factor here is that these Francophones (French speakers) are spread throughout Islam-dominated countries in Africa and the Middle East.  

The open doors we now have through our partnership with Jacques Elbaz (who has significant relationships in these countries) means we can have a huge impact on the Islamic world through our French Jewish and Arab team members! Just think what a beautiful thing it is for the Islamic world to receive the message of freedom from Israel and through support from the nations!