“They’re Home”—Voices from Our Israel Team

This week, 20 living hostages finally returned home to Israel after 738 days of unimaginable suffering. We praise God for their release and pray for their healing; we pray also that the remains of those murdered in captivity will be returned to their families. Hear what our missionary team in Israel has to say about the long-awaited return of the hostages.

One of our staff members in Israel reported:

We have prayed for and dreamt of this day for two years. The 20 living hostages were returned to Israel and to their families! On Monday, I spent the early morning hours in Hostage Square watching their return with 70,000 other people. As we stood shoulder to shoulder, there was no dry eye—a collective sigh of relief. Strangers hugged and looked at each other in disbelief, as if to say that yes, this is really happening. This long-awaited miracle will begin the process of mending and healing the nation of Israel from the trauma felt for two years. Our captives are returned!

Healing will take time. There is still mourning as Hamas holds the bodies of about 20 hostages they murdered. There is no perfect deal. But for now, we will rejoice as we celebrate Simchat Torah (“the Joy of the Law”) and the ending of Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles). The Lord provides and He is faithful. He hears the cries of the captives and sets them free (Psalm 146:7). I will never forget the moment after the hostages were all on Israeli soil—the whole crowd prayed the Shehecheyanu (“Who has given us life”) prayer, which is said in celebration of special occasions to express gratitude to God.

“Blessed are You, Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe who has given us life, sustained us, and allowed us to reach this day.” Amen!

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה, יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ, מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, שֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ וְקִיְּמָנוּ וְהִגִּיעָנוּ לַזְּמַן הַזֶּה

Another of our staff working to reach Israelis with the gospel reflected:

I feel such mixed emotions and I feel terrible that I even have mixed emotions. I am overjoyed for the hostages to be home and for their families! Yet . . . all of a sudden, the weight of the loss of our soldiers, particularly those whose lives touched mine even distantly, feels really heavy. Why do I feel more sad than joyous? What’s wrong with me? On Monday, my husband said that tonight we celebrate and tomorrow we mourn. I love that idea, but . . .

I saw our flyer for an upcoming event next week which still says in small print that our facility has shelter nearby. Should we remove the statement in light of the ceasefire? Yet the need to run to shelter ever looms over us. How are we to trust those who have shown themselves completely untrustworthy? So do we leave the text, or does that seem ungrateful or lacking faith?

As I prepare to teach the final chapters of Daniel, thoughts of the future Antichrist and final battle loom heavy. Reading Zechariah 14—houses plundered, women ravaged, half of Jerusalem taken into captivity—Israel will face this again.

So many young Israelis have come to faith in Yeshua within the past two years. I would characterize their faith as “having met and fallen in love with the person of Yeshua.” How I hope and pray for continued hunger for the Lord among our people—not a return to the “status quo,” but instead a “tea bag in boiling water” crying out to God for His deliverance.

Gracious Heavenly Father, help us as we teeter between the hope of this fragile “peace” and healing from personal and national trauma on a knife’s edge.

Another one of our workers in Israel had this to say:

It feels like we were all holding our breath for the last two years, and finally we have a collective exhale and can breathe. 

I often went to Hostage Square to join the rallies calling for the release of the hostages. The details of what the hostages were going through were heart wrenching. Like most Israelis, I came to know about each one and pray for them as if they were my own family and close friends. Arriving at Hostage Square on Monday morning felt completely different. Hope—even joy—was in the air. As our people returned home, the tears of joy and cheers were nonstop. Twenty pieces of our hearts returned. 

In the midst of it, moments of sadness would come . . . seeing pictures of hostages that will return for burial, realizing how many of our soldiers fell in this war, and remembering all those we lost on October 7. We held both deep sorrow and intense joy. 

After two years, to watch a mom run to hug her son, to see a father reunited with his small children, and to see brothers and husbands embrace their families again is so wonderful that at this point it felt miraculous. Many returning praised God, and repeatedly the crowd burst into a traditional Jewish prayer thanking God for keeping us and bringing us to this time. 

The rest of that day I was watching videos of the now former hostages reunited with their families on repeat. Tears of joy streaming down my face each time. All of the people of Israel are doing the same.

Another missionary wrote:

As a resident and citizen of Israel, I rejoice in the return of the living hostages and pray for the return of those no longer alive. I am not naive concerning Israel’s safety but am still optimistic that the Israeli search for peace—and more importantly in Messiah—will continue. Our mission and ministry are still strong and vibrant!

Finally, an Israeli staff member currently abroad describes:

Though I am abroad, I watched the events live at the Hostage Square and joined my heart with tens of thousands of other Israelis, who were anxiously awaiting the return of our hostages. I and others were struck by the enormity of the crowd, and one of the commentators, a former military general, said this is the spirit of Israel—that we’re gathered together to receive 20 hostages alive. This is the spirit of Am Yisrael Chai, that “the people of Israel live.” It’s hard to express in words but the visual picture of tens of thousands of Israelis gathering—and hundreds of thousands of Israelis and Jewish people around the world joining our heart to the return of our hostages—expresses the unity and the love that exist amongst the Jewish people, even in spite of ourselves from time to time. With the return of the hostages and the uniting of the spirit of Israel, all I can say is Am Yisrael Chai. This is a gift from God, may it live forever.

Stand with Israel Today

Praise God for the return of all 20 living hostages, and for bringing peace at this time! Please pray that all the remaining bodies of the hostages murdered in captivity would be returned to their families; pray also that the peace plan would continue to hold. Continue especially to pray for Israel and the Jewish people to find salvation in Yeshua, the Messiah.