"How blessed are those who are persecuted because they pursue righteousness! for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. How blessed you are when people insult you and persecute you and tell all kinds of vicious lies about you because you follow me! Rejoice, be glad, because your reward in heaven is great -- they persecuted the prophets before you in the same way.î Matt 5:10-12

Imagine this: losing your job, being spat on, beaten up, and blamed for things you did not do, being harassed with phone calls all hours of the night, your family being threatened, your kids getting beat up at school, your community trying to ìthrough you out of itî, your car getting vandalized, your house burning from a Molotov bottle being thrown at it, a bomb exploding in your home from a package that was sent, and watching your teenage son fighting for his life as a result. Now imagine all of this, simply because of what you believe.

Many believers in the Land have to face the hard reality of persecution because of their faith in Yeshua as their Messiah. The persecution comes on different levels, from regular insults to threats to actual attempts on a believer’s life. (See Ami Ortiz’s story).

Hope for Israel has a two-fold goal with regard to our ìPersecuted Believersî project. The first is to show our brothers and sisters of the faith that they are not alone and that we stand with them. The support from the local Body of believers gives them strength to press on in the midst of facing persecution. This support comes in the form of financial blessing as well as joining them in prayer and actively encouraging them along their journey.

The second goal is to make the Body of Messiah outside of Israel aware of the situation and to mobilize prayer support for those suffering persecution. We strongly encourage believers outside of Israel to help and support their brothers and sisters who are being persecuted here in the Land of Israel.

Help us to help OUR brothers and sisters in the Land of Israel who are being persecuted.