Many people are surprised to find that an Arab and a Jew can live together peacefully and I, too, would have been surprised at one time. But with Christ, all things are possible!
I grew up in a small Arab village. Both my parents are Christians and we went to church every Sunday. We rarely were in contact with Jewish people and I did not think much about them?until I moved to “the big city.” I was often treated with fear or suspicion and always it seemed at some point in every day I was regarded as a terrorist or friend of terrorists. Of course the fact that I was raised in a Christian family was not known, and I was not living a life in keeping with that upbringing. I rarely prayed or consulted God about my life. Yet I was angry with Him for abandoning me (so it seemed) in the midst of people who did not respect me.
I spent some time in Switzerland where I met a woman, fell in love, and planned to marry. When we returned to Israel, things changed and the relationship fell apart.
I left Israel, angry and depressed, but the God of Israel never left me. I flew to Australia hoping to start a new life. I’d been offered a job there from a man who turned out to be a liar and a thief. He stole pretty much all I had and left me on the street. God had mercy on me and a Christian evangelist helped me through this time. I was able to get to New Zealand where I did start a new life, but not in the way I expected.
My brother was living in New Zealand. He and other believers challenged me to turn to God. It was the right time for me; there was no other answer to my problems. As I trusted Jesus with my hurts and my anger, forgiveness flowed through me. And as I was forgiven, I was able to forgive others. To my surprise I began to feel a love for Jewish people I had not known before, and I sensed that God wanted me to go back to Israel.
There I began to meet Jewish believers in Jesus and to evangelize with them. At a festival in Akko, I was the only Arab on the evangelism team. Yarden was witnessing to some Arabs, and someone pointed her to me to help with translation. Our love for Jesus and desire to tell others about Him brought us together. When we were engaged, we were invited to participate in a 2005 Behold Your God campaign in France. There I learned more about the goals and practices of Jews for Jesus, and once more I found Jewish people who were like-minded about Jesus and the need to tell others about Him.
When I tell Jewish people, “My faith in Jesus is coming from your Tenach, [Bible]” and I begin to show them prophecies, they’ll say, “We’re Jewish and we don’t know these things. How do you know these things?”
When it comes up that I’m married to a Jewish woman, some are incredulous. They wonder why she would marry me or why I would marry her. I say, “It’s God’s plan for us. I love Jews and she loves Arabs and we have peace with each other.” Together we are a testimony that Jesus truly is the Prince of Peace.
If you would like to read more about Peter and Yarden, go to: http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/havurah/10_03/04 There you will find an article from Havurah, our publication for Jewish believers in Jesus.
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