Cancelled Celebration of Christmas

December 28, 2021

Dear Friend,

It is hard to believe that Christmas is already passed. The students in my Monday evening Bible study last week expressed how different it is for them here in Israel. They planned to visit Jerusalem and Bethlehem, seeking a taste of Christmas. Although Haifa’s German Colony area is decorated for the “Holiday of Holidays” (a tradition that combines Hannukah, Christmas and whatever Islamic holiday happens to fall during the month of December each year), it just doesn’t seem very festive here overall to them.

We planned to have two celebrations this year. Thursday evening guests were to join us for our traditional Scripture reading and carol singing, and then a celebration with the Pinchasi family on Friday afternoon. Unfortunately, Heidi came down with a virus on Tuesday night and spent all day Wednesday and most of Thursday in bed. We cancelled all of our plans, settling for some family time on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. On Christmas day, I attended our congregational worship services commemorating the birth of the One promised so long ago. Heidi stayed home to continue to recover and prepare for an afternoon with the family.

The advent of Omicron threatened to interrupt our congregational celebration of the advent of the Messiah. The government guidelines keep changing along with the virus, making ministry a bit of a challenge. Our meetings have bounced between outdoor to indoor and back again. With the onset of winter, we enjoyed our first outdoor services under a somewhat leaky plastic tarp in our back yard a couple of weeks ago. This Shabbat we expect to shelter under the tarp again for our first service of the new year.

The Israel Ministry of Health is threatening to make even that impossible, proposing limiting the number of outdoor gatherings to fewer than 50 people. Over 100 individuals attended each of our two services these past weeks, braving the cold and rain in order to gather to worship around God’s Word. With most of our country vaccinated, our prayer is that they would not introduce further restrictions despite the Omicron variant’s contagiousness.

A significant number of new people have joined our congregation this past year, especially young adults. It has been a challenge to get to know them. Some are new believers. Others grew up in a Messianic congregation, left the faith during their service in the IDF and are returning to the Lord. Some have moved to Haifa and have chosen to make Beit Eliyahu their spiritual home. There have also been a few unbelievers joining us, invited by believing friends and curious to learn a bit about what we believe.

The fall started with me focused on getting home groups started and with Heidi seeking to broaden the women’s ministry in the congregation. She has begun leading two women’s groups during the week, one in English and one in Hebrew, as well as two morning prayer meetings.

My Hebrew speaking home group has grown, and I’ve started a new English-speaking group. The English group has enough participants now to meet every week and has made good progress on the study of the book of Philippians and its focus on the challenge of rejoicing even in the face of opposition and hardship. The Hebrew speaking group has grown even larger, but only meets every two weeks due to people’s schedules. We’re studying the book of 2 Corinthians and its focus on the New Covenant minister and his ministry.

The week of Thanksgiving was a particularly busy one. The week before, it was finalized that Heidi and I would speak together to the congregation on that Shabbat regarding the application of Ephesians 5:22-33. Early that week we were informed that the “Torch Race” would be held on that Friday, an event in which student athletes “run” to each of the memorial sites where people were killed in terrorist incidents here in Haifa. To prepare for this, we were asked to come and speak to the 8th graders at the school Abigail attended, sharing about her life, the events surrounding her murder and its impact on our lives.

How grateful we were to be able to present a picture of Abigail and her faith to these young people. Needless to say, each such presentation is an emotionally draining experience as we relive those events and reminisce on the one we miss so much. But for almost all of these 8th graders, this is the first time they will come in touch with Messianic believers and have been confronted by our faith.

The next day we hosted 23 guests including several of our non-believing friends for Thanksgiving. The Thanksgiving holiday offers an opportunity to share the story of the Pilgrims and of the faith that motivated those who sought religious freedom in a new world. Recounting the story and sharing personal items for which we are thankful around a table of very good food was truly enjoyable.

It is always difficult to coordinate a message with someone else and especially for Heidi and me to do so in Hebrew. And when it is very personal – delving into lessons learned about marriage through conflict stirred up by Abigail’s death – it is even harder. Thankfully, that Shabbat the Lord gave us the words and unity to present a picture of what He desires marriage to be to our congregation in both services, as well as encouraging a culture of honesty and transparency for those who are new.

The words of Psalm 133 come to mind as I think of the great privilege of serving at Beit Eliyahu: “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” One of the devastating effects of COVID has been division, dissension and discord among the leadership in many of our sister congregations here in Israel. This has resulted in some pastors being dismissed, some congregations being unable to agree on how to meet and many individuals leaving fellowships.

The leaders at Beit Eliyahu come from Israeli, Russian and American backgrounds; we each think a bit differently regarding health and authority issues. But we are grateful that in spite of our differences we’ve been able to focus on the preaching and teaching of God’s Word and its practical application in people’s lives.

There have only been a few individuals who have left Beit Eliyahu due to issues surrounding COVID. That doesn’t mean that members of the congregation haven’t been subject to relational pressures. For example, Michael (one of the young men I meet with one-on-one) has endured reoccurring disagreements with his father and grandmother. They firmly believe that COVID vaccination is the mark of the beast and being vaccinated means losing your salvation (Revelation 14:9-11). He has remained unvaccinated out of honor and respect for them, but his unwillingness to accept their opinion on this matter has created a lot of tension in his life.

On the home front, Sasha is growing up and struggling with those issues that arise with becoming a teen. In her case, it is complicated by the fact that she has two sets of parents – the biological ones as well as Heidi and me. Her meeting this past week with her mother was very unpleasant. And while Heidi tends to be very aware of how this effects her, things got a bit out of hand this past weekend. It didn’t help that Heidi had been so sick and was still not feeling well. Just before Sasha and I left for the worship service, there was a bit of a blow-up.

Sasha’s and my conversation in the car was a difficult one as she vented about how Heidi and I weren’t really parents, being too old and saying we should just be grandparents and she should be placed in a different home. She expressed how she didn’t fit in and about how she wasn’t like us because she didn’t really believe in God. I asked, “Why don’t you believe in God?” and her answer was, “Because He doesn’t answer my prayers!”

My response was, “God isn’t a genie to grant your wishes and to serve you. He is the creator and you’re to serve Him!” Like too many people, she seems to have a mistaken idea of who the Lord is and what His role should be in her life. We’re hoping and praying that Sasha will know the God who is really there and find peace and joy in her relationship with him during these troubling teenage years.

As you pray for us here, please be asking the Lord to:

• Keep the leadership united at Beit Eliyahu in the face of the changing realities of government restrictions and people’s tendency to turn opinions into issues of faith.

• Give us opportunities to get to know the new members of our congregation, particularly the young adults, in order to help each one find a place to grow and serve in the body.

• Identify potential future leaders in order to devote time to developing their gifts and realizing their calling in the body of Messiah at Beit Eliyahu and in Israel as a whole.

• Give Sasha knowledge and experience of the Lord and of the assurance of His love and presence in her life, as well as of Heidi’s and my love for her.

Heidi and I are so grateful for you and your partnership with us through prayer and investment in our lives and ministry. Thank you! It wouldn’t be possible without you. Know that we appreciate you and hope that your new year will be one of growing knowledge of our Lord as he blesses you in your walk with Him.

Yours in the Messiah,

Phil and Heidi