Israel (MNN) — October 7, 2023: the darkest day for the Israeli people since the end of the Holocaust, when Hitler’s acts of genocide shocked the world.

Palestinian terrorist group Hamas led attacks on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people; nearly 400 died at the Nova festival alone. Militants took 251 hostages into Gaza; only 168 returned alive. Three years later, a third of Israel’s population struggles with the fallout.

A home in Kibbutz Nir Oz after the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. In the October 7, 2023 surprise attack on the Gaza border communities, Hamas either killed, injured or abducted about one quarter of the 400 residents of Kibbutz Nir Oz.
(Yael Yolovitch, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

Triggered by the Hamas attacks, wars began across the Middle East and continue to this day. An immediate Israeli offensive devastated Gaza, triggering widespread displacement and a humanitarian crisis.

The conflict then expanded into fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping, and finally, direct warfare involving Israel, Iran, and the United States.

“October 7 signals a lot of memories of grief and struggle, yet for the people that live there, there’s always a struggle,” Eric Mock of Slavic Gospel Association says.

“The people of Israel have always been under attack since the nation was reformed in 1948. There continues to be the threat of Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.”

Ministry amid painful memories

SGA supports Jewish-background believers who came to Israel from the former Soviet Union. More about that here. Many of them remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when the traumatic events of October 7, 2023, unfolded.

By extension, so does Mock. “October 7 was a horrific experience, especially for the people in southern Israel,” he says.

“I remember the people there showing me videos of hundreds of rockets passing to the left and the right and striking buildings they were in in Ashkelon.”

Anniversaries often stir up traumatic memories, yet believers “continue to press on to advance the Gospel to their people,” Mock says.

“We’re helping through biblical training, supporting national missionaries, and helping them reach their communities.”

How to pray

(Photo courtesy of SGA)

Religious leaders say the 2023 attacks on Israel were evil. Yet God is using them to open the door for SGA-supported churches to share the love and Gospel of Jesus. You can support that work here.

Pray for open hearts to receive the hope only Jesus can offer. “Israel, in many ways, remains a very unreached country [and] increasingly, a secular country,” Mock says.

“Orthodox Jews are very antagonistic towards Christians and anyone outside of their closely held beliefs.”

Pray that Jewish-background believers will remain faithful to their calling to model Christ amid opposition.

“Churches are underground because they cannot obtain registration, so it is difficult for them to meet. Yet they strive daily to respect the law of the land, to meet in private, as well as to be salt and light in all that they do,” Mock says.

“Pray that the Russian-speaking brothers and sisters in Israel will continue to faithfully preach the Gospel, independent of circumstances,” he adds.

“They’re continuing to reach out to those in need who are displaced under the original October 7 attacks, and it has opened many doors.”

 

Header image depicts damage following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on an Israeli kibbutz. (Kobi Gideon / Government Press Office of Israel, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)