march for Israel<\/a> in the Kenyan capital last year to counter local and global anti-Israel activity, underscoring the biblical foundation for participants support of the Jewish state and seeking to cause an awakening among Christians in Africa.<\/p>\n\u201cOur destiny will not be secured if we cannot connect ourselves to Israel,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u2018Like no other place\u2019<\/p>\n
Ugandan Pastor Drake Kanaabo said that Israel needs to further its outreach to young Africans who are less connected to the Bible and the history of African-Israeli relations than their parents, and who, like their counterparts around the globe, are susceptible to negative social media reports about Israel.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe young generations know Israel according to social media, and what they see and hear is negative,\u201d he said. \u201cIsrael has to step up countering bad news with good news.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pastor said nothing compares to a visit to the Holy Land.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou land in the land of the past, present and the future, and it gives you the biblical picture,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can study theology, but when you come here you have the spirit of the Land by walking in the land of the Bible. There is no other such place in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
The weeklong tour, which was organized by the Israeli embassy in Kenya in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem and included Christian leaders from Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda, crisscrossed the country and included holy places as well as tech centers and a site from the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks.<\/p>\n
With 600 million Christians and 54 U.N. votes at stake, including 30 Christian-majority countries, Israel has homed in on the strategic value of religious diplomacy on the continent at a time of international opprobrium over the fallout from the war in Gaza, growing antisemitism in the West, and continued persecution of Christian in Africa.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 30 years, Christians in sub-Saharan Africa will make up 40% of Christians all over the world,\u201d Israel\u2019s special envoy to the Christian world, Ambassador George Deek, told JNS on Wednesday. \u201cIsrael attaches great importance to its relationship with Africa and wants them to see Israel as their home, if not politically then biblically and culturally.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Israel is coming back to Africa, and Africa is coming back to Israel.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a Malawian, we regard Israel as a partner,\u201d said Pastor Matilda Matabwa. \u201cYou hear on the news that Africa is isolated, but Africa is in support of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBe strong,\u201d advised Kenyan Bishop Abraham Mulwa. \u201cWe are with you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pastor Kanaabo recounted the words of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a decade ago, at the 40th anniversary of the Entebbe rescue mission: \u2018Israel is coming back to Africa, and Africa is coming back to Israel.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just a matter of putting this into action,\u201d Kanaabo said. \u201cWe are seeing this being realized.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Sept. 3, 2026 \/ JNS) A delegation of 14 African Christian leaders from four countries is visiting Israel…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":604537,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43],"class_list":["post-604536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=604536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/604537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=604536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=604536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=604536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}