Many people, when they think of the work of the gospel in Israel, firstly think about the significance of the return of the Jews from the Diaspora and the growth of the Messianic movement among them.
But this has often obscured the fact that there has been a continuing Christian church in the Holy Land since the time of the apostles, and that indigenous Arab evangelical Protestant churches have been present and growing for over 100 years. Most of these are Baptist, with some Brethren, and, more recently Pentecostal fellowships.
Out of a population of 150,000 Arab-Israeli Christians, there are about 10,000 evangelicals (about the same number as the Messianic Jews).
Untrained pastors
Most of the evangelical churches are small and have unpaid and sometimes untrained pastors. The majority of those making up these congregations are from traditional Christian backgrounds, and have a poor grasp of the Bible. The Christian population here has lived under the shadow of Islam for centuries and therefore lacks the confidence of churches in historic Christendom. In consequence there is much work to be done in the training of pastors and developing the growth of spiritually mature congregations.
There are three institutes of higher education in Israel seeking to support the work of the evangelical churches in Israel. Nazareth Evangelical Theological Seminary (NETS) is one of them. The college provides internationally recognised theological qualifications in both English and Arabic, working in partnership with Hope International University, USA, and Spurgeon’s College, London. The student body is largely indigenous, as the vision of the college is to equip and support the evangelical Christian community in Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
Muslim background
Azar Ajaj, the acting President of NETS, believes that God is preparing the Arab churches to reach the Muslims in the land, and part of the work of NETS, along with providing theological training for pastors and church leaders, is in conducting research into the growth of Christians who come from a Muslim background and in the recent establishment of Muslim background congregations in the region.
Forging better relationships
NETS has links with Messianic congregations, and the faculty includes a Messianic Jew. We believe that the relations between Arab and Messianic believers could be better established, and that NETS could play a role in that.
The college also provides theological training to churches in Israel whose congregations are made up of foreign workers and refugees. There are two Filipino Baptist churches in Israel and a small number of African churches as well. Most of the Filipinos work as carers for Israeli families, and the core members of these churches are also attached to a Baptist church back home. However, many of them are involved in evangelism to other Filipinos working in Israel. The college seeks to support them by equipping them theologically for this work of witness.
Rejected
Lastly, we would value your prayers for all the Christians and Jewish believers in the Holy Land, for the work of the seminaries and Bible colleges, and indeed for all the Christians in this region. Arab Israeli Christians are a tiny minority — about 2% of the population — and are tempted by emigration. They are sometimes rejected by Muslims because they are more educated, prosperous and peaceable, yet they are also rejected by much of the Jewish population because they are Arabs. Your prayers and support for ministries like NETS make a crucial contribution to maintaining a Christian presence in the land that Jesus, the Messiah knew so well.
