Something good is coming out of Nazareth, where an Arab pastor is helping both Jewish and Arab families in need. Since Islam first swept into Jerusalem in 638 A.D., there has been animosity and distrust between Muslims and Jews in the Middle East, a reality that Saleem Shalash, pastor of Home of Jesus the King Church in Nazareth, knows well from firsthand experience.
“It’s not easy,” he said. “As Israeli Arab Christians, we’re in the middle, like a piece of cheese between two slices of bread. The good news is that this piece of cheese gives the taste to the bread. God put us here in this special place, Nazareth, to serve all people and be peacemakers.”
Shalash and his congregation deliver aid packages to more than 150 families every month, including Arabs, Jews, Muslims and Christians. They run the largest Israeli-Arab aid center in Israel, supported by Joseph Project International, the largest importer of humanitarian aid into Israel.
Nazareth, located in northern Israel about 90 miles from Jerusalem, is best known for being Jesus’ boyhood home where his father, Joseph, was a stonemason and carpenter. Here, Jesus also studied at the local synagogue. It once had a Christian majority population but after years of harassment by local Muslims, today, it’s known as the “Arab capital of Israel” and has a population of about 88,000, mostly Muslim residents.
Shalash says he grew up hating Israel because of the way he perceived Arabs were marginalized. But when he became a follower of Yeshua (the Hebrew name for Jesus), all of that changed. Jewish families, facing hardships because of the war’s impact on Israel’s economy, are often shocked to find an Arab pastor on their doorstep with an armful of free groceries and other items.
“Sometimes, you need to be the ‘black sheep,'” Shalash said. “An 80-year-old Jewish woman, a Holocaust survivor, looked at me and said, ‘Are you Arab?’ I said, ‘Yes, ma’am.’ She said, ‘How come an Arab brings food to a Jew?’ She was shocked to learn that Christians would bless the nation and the Jewish people.”
Joseph Project International continues to help Shalash’s church and others build bridges between the Israeli Arab and Jewish communities, as well as help minorities such as the Druze community. “Now is the time to bring hope and healing to the nation of Israel by sharing with them the compassionate, loving heart of the God of Israel and the Messiah of Israel through countless acts of kindness,” said Joel Chernoff, founder and executive board chairman of the organization.
–Alan Goforth
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