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In Israel, we say that whoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved the entire world. And we’re delighted to share that even in this time of war, God has been working powerfully through our Pro-Life and Gospel Campaign and saved many lives!
By God’s grace, 11 children that were saved from abortion were born during November alone!
Also, for many, this period has put things in life into perspective, and helped people see the value and beauty of the gift of life itself and to choose life.
We were moved to be a part of these stories. And one family we’ve been helping experienced God’s miraculous deliverance from death in more than one way.
Staggering Story of Lives Saved Twice in Israel
On October 7th, during the brutal massacre perpetrated by Hamas terrorists, Koral* had to flee to save the life of her two toddlers and the life of the baby in her womb – the same one she wanted to abort just two months earlier.
Koral called our hotline in August looking for a private abortion. She was single with two small children and now she was pregnant again. She was very concerned about how she could raise another baby and said, “I simply can’t have another baby – I won’t make it.” Our counselor Rachel encouraged her that she just spoke to a woman in a very similar situation who decided to keep her baby, and now says that she can’t imagine life without her three little babies.
Rachel told Koral that her third baby’s life was in her hands and that it was possible, although not easy, to raise three children close in age and promised that we would also help her financially. But Koral was flooded with memories of her own childhood, when her father couldn’t work as he had epileptic seizures. The images of her mother looking through trash when she was a child haunt her like a dark shadow to this day.
She said, “My biggest fear is that I will fail to be a good mother and will not be able to raise my children well. These fears and doubts don’t leave me and now I’m pregnant again.”
Rachel asked the team for prayer and sent Koral the video showing the miracle of how a baby develops in the womb. Rachel urged her, “Before you have an abortion, please watch this video which has real footage of a baby like the one you have in your womb.” Rachel also sent her a gift card to help in her difficult situation. And ultimately, Koral decided she would not abort the baby!
Rachel was so delighted to hear this! But none of us knew the nightmare that Koral was about to experience.
A Pickup Truck Loaded with Armed Terrorists
Shortly after the massacre, Rachel contacted her to see how she was doing, especially since Koral lived very close to the Gaza border. Rachel was concerned that Koral and her children were either killed or taken hostage.
“You won’t believe what happened to me and my little ones,” Koral confided in Rachel, “I had spent the night at a friend’s house near my city the night before the massacre, and at 7:00 am on October 7th, I was making my way back home. I stopped at a red light at an intersection which usually changes quickly, but not this time. Suddenly, I noticed a pickup truck loaded with armed terrorists, chasing another car.
“In the car they were chasing and shooting at, there was a woman trying to escape. As they turned the corner, they shot at my car. Then they kept chasing the other car. Later on, I was told they murdered the woman who drove it. I was so scared that I put my car in reverse, but the car malfunctioned!
“So I spread toys all around the car to make it look like it had been attacked and raided. Then I called the father of my girls to come get us – I hadn’t spoken to him until then – and he told me to hide somewhere and he’d come quickly. The only place I could think of hiding safely with the two little girls was in the trunk of the car, so we hid there until he came to get us.
“As soon as he came and got us out, we drove insanely fast to my mother’s house where we have a bomb shelter, passing straight through the red light. On the way, my life and my children’s lives passed before my eyes as our car got shot at again. We saw horrific sights such as a car where all five passengers were shot dead.”
What She Saw Changed Everything
After they had been cooped up in the bomb shelter for four days, the government evacuated Koral and her girls to a hotel by the Dead Sea. She and her children are all suffering from PTSD, but haven’t yet received treatment. Every night she’s tossing and turning, still reliving this nightmare in her dreams, even though she had returned home.
Rachel contacted her prayer partners asking for prayer for Koral and her children. Rachel has stayed in touch with her throughout this period of uncertainty, and even though she promised to keep her baby, she still had questions about how she can have another one when she and her children are experiencing fits of uncontrolled anger.
Rachel consoled her, “I know it’s hard for you. But you saw for yourself how precious life is. Think about how those terrorists wanted to kill you and your baby – please don’t kill your own baby! He’s got hands and feet and his brain is already functioning.”
Recently, Koral was finally able to go to an ultrasound and saw her developing baby with her own eyes. She found out she’s carrying a boy! Her fears were relieved, and she’s now looking forward to having her first son!
Please pray for Koral and her children – that they would be completely healed from all effects of trauma, and that they would have an open heart to the Gospel as we reach out to her with God’s love and the message of the Messiah who heals the brokenhearted.
Babies Saved in the Midst of War
Elena, an ultra-Orthodox Jewess, called our hotline looking for an abortion. She told our counselor Rene that she was married off at age 17 and then divorced at 18. And now, as a pregnant 19-year-old, she didn’t want to keep this child.
But as our team prayed for her and Rene stayed in touch, she was excited to see a sudden change of heart. It turned out that the war caused Elena to think about issues of life and death, and she realized she should keep this precious life inside of her!
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Liraz, a 37-year-old from a kibbutz near the border with Lebanon, called the hotline a few days after the war broke out. “I’m already a single mother of a 4-year-old and I don’t want another child,” she told Rene. She felt overwhelmed being pregnant during a scary war.
She had to flee her kibbutz because of the war, and decided to go to Portugal for a while. While abroad, she couldn’t go to a doctor or have an abortion in the first trimester when she wanted to. But now that she’s returned to Israel, Rene contacted her again and was delighted to hear that Liraz now had a clear decision: She would keep her baby!
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Shula is married with a 2-year-old child. Her marriage was on the rocks and they wanted to divorce each other. She told us, “I’m 15+ weeks pregnant, considering an abortion, and would like information about what kind of abortion procedure I would have.”
After Rene shared with her the truth about abortion and encouraged her to choose life, she stayed in touch with her and asked how they were doing. Shula told Rene that they had quite a few war sirens because of bombardments, but they were OK. Her husband was also drafted into the reserves.
The whole situation caused them to rethink their life, their marriage, and her pregnancy. She said, “I decided to keep my pregnancy. We will try to go to couples’ counseling.” They are expecting a boy!
Please Pray with Us
- For anointing to produce our discipleship video series quickly and effectively – so many Israelis have come to faith recently and we see an urgent need for this, even as we’re beginning discipleship with many of them.
- For grace and fruit in our online evangelism – that many Israeli seekers would come home to their Father through the Son
- For guidance and anointing in new street evangelism outreaches – we sense God is bringing Israel into a new period and He’s doing something new as we go out on the streets. We want to hear clearly His direction and be faithful to reach everyone He’s calling us to!
- For more breakthroughs in the Pro-Life and Gospel Campaign – for God to open up doors to share the Gospel with all these families we’re visiting after birth, and for our hotline ads to fully function (there are still significant problems with social media giants blocking ads!)
