by an Alliance worker serving in the Middle East

She’s the first one in the door for our Mommy and Me class. I greet her in both Hebrew and English. No response. I try Arabic. Nothing. She points to the toddler in the stroller.

“José,*” she says. Another mom enters. She speaks more Spanish than I do. They talk briefly, and we learn the first woman’s name is Camila. She is José’s nanny.

Despite Camila’s lack of local languages, she engages with all the activities of our class. She and José sing and dance and listen to the story. When it is time for snack and craft, she gets him settled and goes to make a cup of tea.

That’s when Sandra enters, a local mom who often spends time at the community center studying. She’s a fluent Spanish speaker and a believer. As she pokes her head in the door of the class, I call her in.

“Sandra! I have a lady here that only speaks Spanish. I’d love for you to meet her.”

They begin talking and soon bow their heads to pray. Camila’s tears begin to flow. It is hard for her in this country. She feels alone, and her family back home is going through a tough time.

She’s a person with a story, a heart with hurts and needs. And because of the work you make possible through the Jerusalem Community Center, she now has a heart with hope.

A Vision For Community

In the spring of 2023, we began to ask the Lord what He wanted for our team in Jerusalem. We heard clearly, “Steward well what you’ve been given.” That meant the property on Hanevi’im Street.

The Alliance property in Jerusalem has been here for over 100 years. It has launched many congregations and ministries. But since COVID, apart from hosting a couple of congregations, it operated primarily as administrative offices for the different ministries around the country.

The Lord began to birth a new vision for the property. Hanevi’im Street is a perfect cross section of Jerusalem. Every major people group can be found there, along with six schools, apartment buildings, businesses, the Ministry of Education, and hostels and hotels. We began to ask ourselves, “What would it look like to serve this community well?” If we can reach our surrounding community with the good news, we can reach our whole city.

So, we began to serve. We opened our building up to be a blessing to our community, hosting prayer groups and graduations. We started doing teacher appreciation events at the local schools. We led a fine arts camp that was received tremendously well. We began planning programs and events for the fall of 2023.

And then the war began.

“Lord, is this still what You have for us?” we asked. “Did we hear you correctly?”

In December 2023, we took a leap of faith and opened our building up to the community for a holiday movie night. It was standing room only. Every people group on our street showed up.

We continued our teacher appreciation events, and the testimonies from them were overwhelming. Teachers in our community were feeling seen, valued, and loved.

We took a bigger leap of faith and began offering programming that responded to the expressed needs and desires of the member of our community—things like a robotics class, dance lessons, and a Mommy and Me group. As one mom said, “Thank you. When everyone else is closing things and canceling things because of the war, you’re starting them. This place is close to my son’s school. It’s safe, and he loves it here. Thank you for seeing the children.”

The war has been overwhelming. But for us, it has just underscored the need for the Body of Christ to offer places where all people feel seen, valued, wanted, and loved. By God’s grace, and through your generosity and prayers, the Jerusalem Community Center is becoming that place.

Where We’re Headed

This year, we are excited to expand our programming and outreach. And we are excited to begin equipping local believers to lead in these spaces. One of these people is Sam, who will be managing our coffee space. An Arab believer with a heart for all peoples to know the love of the Messiah, he makes the best cup of espresso you’ll ever taste and has a beautiful vision of how the ministry of hospitality can change a community. Another is Hannah, a Jewish believer who will be teaching Pilates. She believes strongly in helping women learn to care for their bodies and minds well, enabling them to be the best they can be.

Volunteers from every background and ethnicity are coming together under the banner of God’s love to offer hope and healing to our community.

Partner With Us

Your investment in this work ensures we can continue to provide accessible spaces, quality programs, and meaningful outreaches to the people of Jerusalem. It also means we can:

• continue to improve our building to be more practical, accessible, warm, and inviting;
• expand the programs we currently have, making classes like robotics accessible to more students and allowing for more local believers to get involved;
• bless even more schools and businesses around us, letting them know they are seen and valued by their neighbor;
• host more parties and events that display the joy and generous heart of our Father to our neighbors; and
• continue to be a beacon of light and hope in our city.

Thank you for being part of what the Lord is doing in Jerusalem. None of the stories from our community center would be possible without you.

*All names changed

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