The message of a day of prayer and fasting went out to all Messianic congregations in Israel, as well as some Arab congregations.
“It was very blessed,” one of the people who attended testified. “We really felt that we came together as one body.”
During the day, everyone prayed individually or with their congregation. In the evening, people came together at 7pm for a general zoom meeting led by the organizers.
One of the organizers was Erez Soref, president of the Israel College of the Bible, told Kehila News Israel, “The meeting started at 7pm, but we know there were several congregations who met to pray both before and after it. I don’t have the exact number, but at the peak there were hundreds of people connected to the zoom. Probably more, since most phones connect more than just one person.”
Pastor Yossi Ovadia, another one of the organizers of the event and Pastor of the Kerem-El congregation in Haifa, opened the meeting with greetings. He laid out the general structure of the evening and said an opening prayer. After that, Shilo Ben-Hod led worship with his wife, Sarah. After a few songs, three pastors led the congregants in prayer for four specific prayer subjects:
- The end of COVID and its consequences
- A spirit of brotherhood and reconciliation in a time of confusion
- Prayer for medical staff
- Prayer for children at home and a return to school and routine
The three pastors were Meno Kalisher, of the House of Redemption in Jerusalem, Seth Postell of the All Nations Congregation in Petach Tikvah, and Shmuel Aweida, of Beit Eliyahu in Haifa.
The evening was built as three “rounds” of prayers like this, with worship in between. After the three pastors had concluded the first round of prayer, Shilo and Sarah Ben-Hod led worship with another two songs, before the second round. In this round, three other pastors prayed for:
- Unemployment and the many who lost their income source
- That God may use the situation to bring salvation to many Israelis
- Wisdom for the leaders of Israel
- Wisdom for pastors and congregations
The three pastors of the second round of prayers were Yakim Figueras, of the Hasdei Yeshua congregation in Arad, Alexey Raikhstadt of Beit Immanuel in Tel-Aviv, and Beni Magos from an Ethiopian congregation in Haifa.
After another few songs of worship with Shilo and Sarah, the third and final round of prayer focused on the following subjects:
- The upcoming fourth elections in Israel
- Unity and the adherence to truth within the Body of the Messiah in Israel
- Unity for the people of Israel
The pastors who prayed for these subjects were Carlos Damianos, of an Arab congregation in Haifa, Zvi Randelman of the Messianic congregation in Jerusalem, and Avraham Ben-Hod of the congregation in the West Bank settlement Ma’ale Adumim.
“After the third round of prayer, I said a few words to sum up the evening,” Erez Soref told KNI, “and we ended with a general prayer together for God’s mercy on our country, our people, our leaders and our congregations. We ended the meeting at 8pm, one hour after we started.”
“It was incredibly positive,” he added. “People were really encouraged. Our Arab brothers prayed in Arabic, and there was a general feeling of unity. We felt that despite all the limitations of zoom, it’s such a blessing that we can use the technology to come together like this, even if just for one hour. People attended from all over the country, from north to south. It was a blessing to see such a unity.”