About Lema’ancha

The day before we left, I was given a Bible passage from Isaiah 61: ‘Strangers shall stand ready and graze your flocks, strangers shall be your field workers and your wine growers.’ And suddenly there we were in a millennial prophecy. us strangers at work in the fields of Israel.

There in that field with a tomato grower in Nahala. In a village near Gaza, thoughts spontaneously began to come to me. As helicopters and bombers flew over all day long and we heard the bombs falling in the distance, the thought occurred to me, ‘How can we bring more believers from the nations to Israel to come and help in the harvest?’

On the one hand, I saw the enormous need that was and still is in Israel. On the other hand, I thought of the many people in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany who love Israel. If we could mobilize large portions of those people to come to Israel NOW, NOW while the whole world seems to be turning against Israel, what a great encouragement that would be for the farmers. I could also see that if this were to happen, this could become very big, much too big for a simple man like me. If many volunteers were to sign up, it would take a good organization to manage it all. So I asked God, the God of Israel, our Heavenly Father, ‘If these thoughts are from You, if now is the time when strangers will be the field farmers, You will have to open the doors and You will have to bring competent people my way, because I have no idea how to manage this.’

And exactly that That is what happened and is still happening. One contact after another in Israel presented itself. That same week, a team of motivated people in the Netherlands naturally formed a team of people working in front of and behind the scenes, a team of skilled people without whom Lema’ancha could not even exist. A foundation was established, a website was built an ingenious registration system was developed, and people began to apply to come and help in Israel.

We as a team may plant and water, but above all it is God Who cares for His people and land it is the Father of Israel Who opens the doors. It is the Father Who uses believers from the nations to bless His people. This is also what the deeper meaning of the name of our foundation is. Strictly speaking, Lema’ancha means ‘for your sake’ but because none of what we have or what we do is ours, everything we give or do or what we are, comes from God’s Father’s heart at its deepest. Therefore, the deeper meaning of Lema’ancha is, ‘God’s blessing through you for the sake of others.’

I believe that the coming of the Mashiach is imminent. I believe that we as believers from the nations can even contribute to hasten that coming. Therefore, I want to encourage you as believers from the nations, you as believers in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, believers in the God of Israel, I want to encourage you to join us in this ancient prophecy of Isaiah and others.

What has come into being in 4 months in the Negev cannot be only human work. So far we have already welcomed just under 500 volunteers from different denominations to Nitzana. Here in the southern Negev, we are working with the farmers. We bring hope to the farmers. We let our light shine on the farmers. We have many testimonies from farmers who are incredibly grateful. One farmer said with tears in his eyes, ‘While the whole world is against us, you come voluntarily to Israel to help us. Could there still be a God of Israel who cares for us?’ An Israeli woman said, ‘Since Oct. 7, the corners of our mouths have been hanging down but when we see what you are doing here, a smile comes back to our mouths.’

In addition to working at the farmers, there is also time for relaxation. We take short trips. We pray together. We take prayer walks. We make music together. We think together about what unity is. We think together about what we have in common.

At Nitzana, we experience unity. And not just unity among believers from nations, but precisely the unity Yeshua prayed for in John 17:20-21: ‘And I pray not only for these, (His Jewish disciples) but also for them the believers from among the nations who will believe in Me through their word, that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You have sent Me.’

It is my passion to narrow the historical gap between the Jewish people and believers from the nations in order to become one together in the Mashiach of Israel. I hope that the testimonies on this website of those who have gone before you will fuel your desire to come to Israel. I hope to greet many of you here.

Lehitra’ot (Goodbye)
Wiljo Beerens – Chairman and Founder