En hilsen fra Joanna - original tekst

Joanna Feldhege skrev i maj 2026 en hilsen til joffisiderne i Magasinet Ordet og Israel. Teksten blev oversat til dansk, men her kan du læse den fulde hilsen på originalsproget. 

"My name is Joanna Feldhege, I am 24 years old and live in Herzliya, a city in the center of Israel. I am originally from the north of Israel, living most of my life in Nof Hagalil (the Jewish town that is right next to the city of Nazareth – yes, the one that is mentioned in the New Testament). The meaning of the name of my hometown is: “view of the Galilee”). I grew up approximately 25 minutes away from the sea of Galilee where Jesus spent so much of his life and did incredible miracles. The Hebrew name of the sea of Galilee is: “Kineret” and it comes from the Hebrew word for harp or violin “Kinor”, because of the sea’s shape. 

Joanna (længst til højre) i uniform sammen med nogle venner fra hæren. Privatfoto. 

I was born to a Messianic-Jewish family (Jews who believe in Jesus) and was raised since I remember myself on the foundations of faith, going to church (for Jews it is harder to relate to the word “church” so rather we call it: congregation, in Hebrew: “kehila”). I grew up knowing that God is real and true, that through Jesus is the only way for our salvation, and that the word of God is true and relevant for our times. I never doubted that all this is true - not only because my parents raised me that way, but because I understood that faith is a personal choice and that I can have a personal relationship with God, I saw how real he was through daily life and how he always provided for and protected me and my family. 

Being a young believer in Israel is probably different from anywhere else in the world. 
Israel is a Jewish country – Jesus and the New Testament are something strange and foreign to most, and even considered “dangerous” teaching in more religious circles. 
There are about 30,000 Jewish believers in Israel, it is a very small group considering we are a country of 10 million citizens (2 million of them are Arabs, there are Christian Arabs in Israel – about 100,000 living in Israel’s borders and approx. 25,000 living in the west bank). 
I grew up in a secular environment, where the motto is: “everyone has their own truth” or: “believe whatever feels right to you”. So I was never criticized for my faith, my non-believing friends knew about myfaith but didn’t show much interest in it. When I was in high-school, one of my majors was “Arts” – for my final project I decided to make an art piece that I could share my faith through, and that opened up a lot of good conversation in school with teachers and with fellow classmates. 

Growing up as a believer in Israel, there is much focus on youth – there are multiple youth- conferences and summer camps to attend. They are all run by believer-organizations who have a heart for youthministry and understand the value of teaching teenagers and kids from a young age what is really true and important and help them shape their identity around Christ! These camps and conferences for the youth have great importance – they impact the lives of so many. I remember deciding to get baptized after one of the camps I went to, it really affected me deeply! 
I have a great privilege to be currently working in a youth and soldier ministry called “Netivah”, this ministry has been operating for 20 years already and held countless conferences for youth and soldiersand works to unite the body of Christ in Israel. These conferences are defiantly life changing and have a huge impact on the youth in the body of Christ in Israel! 

In Israel it is mandatory to serve in the IDF (Israel defense force). Before joining the army, there is opportunity to participate in a pre-army program (in Hebrew: “Mehina” comes from the word “lehahin” which means: “to prepare”). It is very common for a lot of 18 year-olds to join pre-army programs all over Israel, usually for 6-12 months before joining the army. The program usually consists of traveling all around the country, learning about the army, preparing physically, cultural studies (Israel has a very diverse culture), governmental studies, value and moral studies, volunteering in places – and all thatwhile learning to live with other young people your age and sharing duties and living space. These programs are meant to mature and prepare teenagers for their time in the army. 
Until 10 years ago, there were no pre-army programs for believers – but in 2016, “Netivah” (the ministry I work for) decided to start a pre-army discipleship program of their own specifically for youngbelievers. The program is called “Hitzim” which translates to – “Arrows” (from the verse in Psalms 127:4) - I had the greatest privilege to participate in the 4th year of the program in 2019. The program has been a blessing for many young believers who joined the army, and it’s goal is to ground and root the young believers in their faith and prepare them for the difficult time ahead of them, and to create deepmeaningful friendships between them especially because they are going to go through similar experiences in the army. 

Her ser vi et hold unge, der deltager i et pre-army program, som Joanna er med til at arrangere med organisationen “Netivah”. Privatfoto.

I joined the army in March 2020 (right when the Covid lockdown started). There were so many opportunities to share the faith with fellow soldiers. The army is sort of a “melting pot” where so many culturesand beliefs meet in the same place, and young people in these ages 18-21 are very open to hear about new beliefs they haven’t heard of before. I was particularly surprised by the openness of religious-Jews who were open to hear about the faith, before the army I didn’t have many interactions with religious-Jews (grew up in a more secular community). 

The army can be a very difficult time for many believers. Many go through a period of a “spiritual desert” – the army brings many to a point of burnout mentally, physically and spiritually.  And that is why it isso important to keep going to church, to conferences and keeping contact with believing friends – it is so vital! Thankfully there is a lot of support for soldiers from the local churches and ministries. Manytimes, believers in the army feel alone because they might be the only ones who believe on their base, but it is also a blessing because many young Israelis have never heard about the faith and that gives the chance to share. usually if a believer shares his faith with people in his base, word spreads fast J and that leads to many great conversations! 

Sadly, the reality is that the army is a point where some drift away or lose their faith. The pressure to fit in has a very strong effect. That is why staying connected to the Messianic community in every waypossible is do important (Church, conferences, staying in contact with believer friends…) because that can help go through the time in the army – people to keep you accountable of your actions and decisions and point you back to God every time! 

Alle unge i Israel har værnepligt. Mænd har typsik 2 år og 3 måneder, mens kvinder har 2 års værnepligt. Privatfoto. 

When the war broke out, I was still serving in the army as an officer of human resources (HR). 
The war caught most of the public by surprise and caused a lot of shock and disbelief in the public. People where grieving and the sadness and sense of loss was national. Everyone was linked somehow to a person who was murdered, killed or taken as a hostage – even if you didn’t know anyone personally, you probably knew someone who knows them. 
But something beautiful about Israelis is that at times of trouble we unit more than ever. 
People just wanted to help and support each other. Everyone wanted to support the army in any way possible, and I remember feeling very loved and strengthened by the endless support we received.

I think the war definitely opened many hearts to search for answers for the more serious questions in life and it gave people “proportion” on how short life can actually be. We lived all our lives surroundedby enemies that always tried to threaten our existence, and we are all used to hear sirens, having rockets in the sky and having terrorist attacks every other week – but this time it was different in a scalethat no one was ready for. And I think it did change the way people view God – people needed something to hold on to – and the physical became a disappointment so many turned to seek comfort and answers from a spiritual point of view. 
 I feel like the conversations I had with other young people my age since the war started were way deeper, people are so much more open to hear about God and about salvation. 

I had the greatest privilege to travel all the way to New Zealand and volunteer at a hostel that hosts Israelis in hopes of forming connections and sharing our faith with the Israeli travelers passing through. I had the best, most deep and meaningful conversations there – and being out of Israel and the chaos there helped many of  them to open up and want to hear and learn more. So I think that as much as thiswar was painful for us as a nation – God is still using it for his glory! 

Joanna sammen med en masse af hendes troende venner fra hæren og det pre-army program hun deltog i i 2019. Privatfoto.