Last summer, during the 12-day war between Israel and Iran, a young Israeli software developer named Oren* was overwhelmed by fear and uncertainty. Constant sirens, sleepless nights and anxieties about the future left him searching for something he couldn't quite define.
In the middle of that uncertainty, Oren came across our advertisement inviting him to order a New Testament. His curiosity led him to request one, but after it arrived, he became angry with himself for taking that step. Years of assumptions about Jesus nagged at him, so he threw it away.
Yet the questions wouldn't leave him alone.
I think Oren's story is a good example of why so many people today are searching for answers. We live in a world marked by conflict and division. When the world is ugly, people begin to look for something beautiful. And in times of uncertainty, God speaks to us of hope.
In Isaiah 52:7, the prophet foresaw a moment after Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed when God would send Israel hope in the darkness: ‘How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news.’
I don’t know about you, but I have never used the adjective ‘beautiful’ to describe feet – especially the feet of ancient travellers on dusty mountain roads. And yet these feet are called beautiful because of the message they carry.
This messenger running toward Jerusalem wasn't simply bringing news. He was bringing hope, a lifeline to a devastated people. Isaiah describes that hope in vivid detail in the following chapter. Hope would come in the form of a suffering servant who would be ‘pierced for our transgressions’ and ‘crushed for our iniquities’. Someone would take our punishment upon himself so we could have real, lasting peace.
That is still a message our world desperately needs today.
Months after throwing away his first New Testament, Oren ordered another. This time, as he read, the Lord opened his eyes through the Scriptures. Simon and Liz Stout, two of our missionaries in Jerusalem, walked alongside him and discipled him as he grew in his faith. Earlier this year, Simon had the privilege of baptising Oren in the Jordan River.
Recently, since the latest conflict with Iran erupted, Simon and Oren shared breakfast together. Oren reflected on how different this war had felt. The circumstances were frightening, but his heart was no longer filled with fear. He had found hope in his Messiah.
The apostle Paul loved the words in Isaiah so much that he quoted them in Romans 10:14–15 as an answer to the questions, ‘And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?’
The gospel does not travel on its own. Someone has to go. Someone has to speak. Someone has to bring the message with a personal witness and real-life connection. That is why feet matter.
Whether it is on a campus in Los Angeles, a coffee shop in Tel Aviv or a street in Paris, thank you for helping send people with beautiful feet. Through your prayers, your generosity and your own witness, the good news continues to reach people who are searching for hope.
Because when the world becomes ugly, people need something beautiful. And God is still sending people with beautiful feet.
*Name has been changed to protect identity.