Strength from God’s Word
When I retired my position as Director of CFOIC Heartland last September, I looked forward to a whole new life. I was particularly excited about one project—something that had been my dream for years—to create a Bible School for women in my community.
“Don’t we all love studying the Bible?”
I have always loved to study and teach the Bible and have found many opportunities to do both over the years. I was particularly excited by my regular Zoom classes through CFOIC Heartland, where I have been teaching the Bible to Christians all over the world. But the time had come to invest more time in my own community, to teach and arrange for others to teach the women of my community. As I approached retirement, I realised that many of my friends were at the same stage of life. We were all going to have more time to do the things we loved most. Don’t we all love studying the Bible?
I wrote a programme, solicited teachers and put a programme together. My goal was to create a community of women who teach and study together. No one would pay for the courses, and the teachers would not be paid. The teachers would teach, but they would also study with one another. We would all be involved in the Bible because we love it. I truly believed we would find community and camaraderie in one another because we would be sharing something of such value—exploring God’s word together. The programme was scheduled to begin on 10 October 2023.
“What better way to find comfort in times of trouble than to seek God’s word?”
On 7 October, all hell broke loose. We were reeling, not knowing how to respond. What should we do about the Bible school? Should we move forward? We couldn’t pretend that nothing had happened. Starting a class on a book of the Bible did not seem quite right that week. On the other hand, what better way to find comfort in times of trouble than to seek God’s word? So, we gathered all the women together in one of the local synagogues. My friend and fellow Bible teacher and I shared some words about a few of the Psalms that seemed to speak most directly to what we were experiencing. Then, we opened it up for discussion, led by one of the women, who is an experienced social worker.
Sondra Oster Baras “I love teaching the Bible” | Photo: Christians for Israel
A young woman who had only recently moved into the community began to share what was on her heart. She had tears in her eyes, and she was trembling. She kept asking—where is God? I am having trouble praying. What do I do? No one had any easy answers for her when experiencing trauma of this level. We hugged her, encouraged her, and assured her that even when God is hard to see and feel, He is there. Take your time, we told her. It is ok to feel as you are feeling.
Something amazing happened that evening. The group of women, some of whom barely knew each other, had found community through the word of God. We prayed together, and expressed ourselves to one another as we tried to absorb what was happening around us.
“We have created a new community of women who are studying the Bible together”
The following week, we began regular classes and have been studying ever since. I taught a series of stories in the Talmud, classic stories with timeless messages for us all. For the past several months, I have been teaching the Book of Samuel. Others have taught Jeremiah, Daniel, Esther and Ruth. We had one series on couples in the Bible. A very popular course is the study of an 18th- century classic text that examines a life of faith and moral behaviour. Women come from all over the community, mostly retirement age, but some younger women as well. We pray at different synagogues and have studied under different traditions. But we have, indeed, created a new community of women who are studying the Bible together.
We have also invited guest lecturers to teach and share with us. One well-known Bible teacher whose son had been kidnapped and then murdered by terrorists in 2014 brought incredible words of wisdom and insight to us. She shared valuable Bible teachings as she attempted to give meaning to the terrible events we are experiencing, drawing from her own personal tragedy. This summer, we will be hosting a well-known rabbi whose son and nephew were killed during this horrible war.
I have a few friends who go once a week to a farm in the south of Israel and volunteer to help pick the produce. The war has brought huge damage to farmers all over the country and has particularly decimated the working force—the foreign workers have mostly fled Israel for safer ports, and the local workers have mostly been drafted. My friends find enormous satisfaction in helping these farmers. I envy them for their ability to provide such direct assistance for such an immediate need. But I am not one for farms. I think I would end up complaining the entire time, praying for the day to end.
“I am optimistic because I have faith”
I do believe that, in my own small way, I have found a way to help. The news is always so bad—I have many friends who can’t bear to listen anymore. But I remain addicted—I need to know what is going on. But the picture painted each night is a grim one—the war seems to be dragging on with no end in sight. So many of the hostages have still not been released, and it is not clear how many of them are still alive. We have lost faith in our national leaders, and as we look around the world, we see that leaders of other countries are not measuring up in any way. It is so easy to despair, to lose hope.
And yet, I remain optimistic. I don’t know how we are going to get there, but somehow we will. I am optimistic because I have faith. As I continue to teach and study the Bible, I am strengthened in that optimism, in my faith. God is in charge. We may not
understand His ways, but we can rest assured He is running the show. As we study the Bible together, we increase our knowledge of God. I can truly say that more women are studying the Bible in my community today than they were one year ago. That is important. We are deriving strength from our study and from each other. We continue to pray for the safety of our soldiers, for the return of the hostages, and for the defeat of all our enemies, in God’s time.
Sondra Oster Baras is the Founder and International President of CFOIC Heartland, representing the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria to Christians all over the world.
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