“I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Genesis 12:3

Henry and Ilse bid farewell to South Africa and Namibia in 2018 to serve as Christian volunteers in Israel. Logically speaking, the move made absolutely no sense. They were heading to one of the most controversial, difficult cities in the world, located in a nation embroiled in perpetual war, to love and serve a people in the crosshairs of every terror group in the neighborhood. They were going to serve as unpaid volunteers in one of the most expensive cities in the world, with no way of supporting themselves financially, nowhere permanent to live and no guarantees of what our life would be like.

But God…God had called. And so they answered.

The Strausses have had the honor of walking alongside Israel through upheaval, a few waves of terror, two military operations, the worst period in Jewish history since the Holocaust and one full-scale war. They’ve consistently poured out the one thing to which this war-weary nation that feels universally hated and despised is unaccustomed: unconditional love. Great, big rivers of love from the heart of God, demonstrated through practical acts of devotion, care and affection. The kind of love that 1 John 3:18 highlights, love that is not “in word…but in deed and in truth.”

It’s quite the story. We’ll tell you all about it…