{"id":5046,"date":"2024-07-17T22:50:51","date_gmt":"2024-07-17T22:50:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/not-a-problem-to-solve-but-people-to-serve-helping-persecuted-christians-in-israel-and-gaza\/"},"modified":"2024-07-17T22:50:51","modified_gmt":"2024-07-17T22:50:51","slug":"not-a-problem-to-solve-but-people-to-serve-helping-persecuted-christians-in-israel-and-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/not-a-problem-to-solve-but-people-to-serve-helping-persecuted-christians-in-israel-and-gaza\/","title":{"rendered":"Not a Problem to Solve, But People to Serve: Helping Persecuted Christians in Israel and Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>October 7<sup>th<\/sup>, 2023 is one of those dates that will always be remembered.<\/p>\n<p>On that terrible morning, Ben Barrett was working for VOM with persecuted Christians in the Middle East and leading the ministry\u2019s work in Israel, including Gaza and the West Bank. His phone began to light up with messages from both Messianic Jewish believers and Arab Christians\u2014even before the terrible attacks were announced in international news. The messages had a consistent request: \u201cPlease pray for us!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Families and individuals like Pauline Ayyad, <a href= \"https:\/\/www.vomradio.net\/episodes\/detail\/middle-east-forgiveness-is-a-decision\"> a previous guest on VOM Radio<\/a>, asked for prayer as contact with relatives in Gaza was cut off. A messianic Rabbi asked prayers for his daughter who was ordered back to her military base, not knowing when she might return home. Video footage from a pastor in Sderot, the closest settlement to the Gaza Strip, showed him barricaded and lying flat on the floor as trucks full of terrorists shouting \u201cAllahu Akbar!\u201d passed by his home.<\/p>\n<p>Listen as Ben shares about his last trip to the Middle East, where he met with pastors from both Jewish and Muslim backgrounds who are taking the gospel to radical areas despite the risk. He\u2019ll also tell the stories of Jewish-background believers in Orthodox or Ethiopian communities who face Christian persecution through shame, excommunication, and job loss.<\/p>\n<p>Pray for unity amongst believers in the Middle East. Pray for boldness in the spread of the gospel in spite of the risks.<\/p>\n<p>Never miss an episode of VOM Radio! <a href= \"https:\/\/www.vomradio.net\/subscribe\">Subscribe to the podcast<\/a>. Or listen each week\u2014and receive daily reminders and specific ways to pray for persecuted Christians\u2014in the <a href= \"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/app\/?_source_code=VOMRadio\">VOM App<\/a> for your smartphone or tablet.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vomradio.net\/episodes\/detail\/not-a-problem-to-solve-but-people-to-serve-helping-persecuted-christians-in-israel-and-gaza\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Listen to this episode on VOMRadio.net<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>October 7th, 2023 is one of those dates that will always be remembered. On that terrible morning, Ben Barrett was working for VOM with persecuted Christians in the Middle East and leading the ministry\u2019s work in Israel, including Gaza and the West Bank. His phone began to light up with messages from both Messianic Jewish believers and Arab Christians\u2014even before the terrible attacks were announced in international news. The messages had a consistent request: \u201cPlease pray for us!\u201d Families and individuals like Pauline Ayyad,  a previous guest on VOM Radio, asked for prayer as contact with relatives in Gaza was cut off. A messianic Rabbi asked prayers for his daughter who was ordered back to her military base, not knowing when she might return home. Video footage from a pastor in Sderot, the closest settlement to the Gaza Strip, showed him barricaded and lying flat on the floor as trucks full of terrorists shouting \u201cAllahu Akbar!\u201d passed by his home. Listen as Ben shares about his last trip to the Middle East, where he met with pastors from both Jewish and Muslim backgrounds who are taking the gospel to radical areas despite the risk. He\u2019ll also tell the stories of Jewish-background believers in Orthodox or Ethiopian communities who face Christian persecution through shame, excommunication, and job loss. Pray for unity amongst believers in the Middle East. Pray for boldness in the spread of the gospel in spite of the risks. Never miss an episode of VOM Radio! Subscribe to the podcast. Or listen each week\u2014and receive daily reminders and specific ways to pray for persecuted Christians\u2014in the VOM App for your smartphone or tablet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":182,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vom-radio","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Not a Problem to Solve, But People to Serve: Helping Persecuted Christians in Israel and Gaza - Stories<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/not-a-problem-to-solve-but-people-to-serve-helping-persecuted-christians-in-israel-and-gaza\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Not a Problem to Solve, But People to Serve: Helping Persecuted Christians in Israel and Gaza - Stories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"October 7th, 2023 is one of those dates that will always be remembered. On that terrible morning, Ben Barrett was working for VOM with persecuted Christians in the Middle East and leading the ministry\u2019s work in Israel, including Gaza and the West Bank. His phone began to light up with messages from both Messianic Jewish believers and Arab Christians\u2014even before the terrible attacks were announced in international news. The messages had a consistent request: \u201cPlease pray for us!\u201d Families and individuals like Pauline Ayyad, a previous guest on VOM Radio, asked for prayer as contact with relatives in Gaza was cut off. A messianic Rabbi asked prayers for his daughter who was ordered back to her military base, not knowing when she might return home. Video footage from a pastor in Sderot, the closest settlement to the Gaza Strip, showed him barricaded and lying flat on the floor as trucks full of terrorists shouting \u201cAllahu Akbar!\u201d passed by his home. Listen as Ben shares about his last trip to the Middle East, where he met with pastors from both Jewish and Muslim backgrounds who are taking the gospel to radical areas despite the risk. He\u2019ll also tell the stories of Jewish-background believers in Orthodox or Ethiopian communities who face Christian persecution through shame, excommunication, and job loss. Pray for unity amongst believers in the Middle East. Pray for boldness in the spread of the gospel in spite of the risks. Never miss an episode of VOM Radio! Subscribe to the podcast. Or listen each week\u2014and receive daily reminders and specific ways to pray for persecuted Christians\u2014in the VOM App for your smartphone or tablet.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/not-a-problem-to-solve-but-people-to-serve-helping-persecuted-christians-in-israel-and-gaza\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Stories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-07-17T22:50:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"vomtechsupport\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"vomtechsupport\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/not-a-problem-to-solve-but-people-to-serve-helping-persecuted-christians-in-israel-and-gaza\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/not-a-problem-to-solve-but-people-to-serve-helping-persecuted-christians-in-israel-and-gaza\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"vomtechsupport\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/5ff286fd5505fccd2d5ebfd9d4203216\"},\"headline\":\"Not a Problem to Solve, But People to Serve: Helping Persecuted Christians in Israel and Gaza\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-17T22:50:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/not-a-problem-to-solve-but-people-to-serve-helping-persecuted-christians-in-israel-and-gaza\/\"},\"wordCount\":301,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/not-a-problem-to-solve-but-people-to-serve-helping-persecuted-christians-in-israel-and-gaza\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/assets.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/VOM-Stories-VOMRadio-Placeholder.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"VOM Radio\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/not-a-problem-to-solve-but-people-to-serve-helping-persecuted-christians-in-israel-and-gaza\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/not-a-problem-to-solve-but-people-to-serve-helping-persecuted-christians-in-israel-and-gaza\/\",\"name\":\"Not a Problem to Solve, But People to Serve: Helping Persecuted Christians in Israel and Gaza - 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