FOI-NZ BLOG

Over recent months, the fragility of peace in the Middle East has been impossible to miss. A war with Iran that many feared could widen even further appeared to come to an abrupt diplomatic pause with the signing of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding.

In March I returned to the Central North Island together with our Australian intern Jordan Dorr for our "Meet at the Mountain" initiative. Over four amazing weeks we welcomed more than 50 young Israelis.

Tensions existed from the outset between early Christians and the Jewish religious leaders. Though Christianity was a distinctly Jewish movement, the book of Acts reveals persecution soon arose against the new teaching turning violent with the stoning of Stephen and Saul’s zealous imprisonment of believers...