Paul Calvert spoke with Jeremy Smith about moving to Israel

Jeremy & Lissa Smith

Jeremy Smith moved from England to Israel when his wife was 7½ months pregnant. In making Aliyah he has faced many challenges, but he has also seen God's continual hand of guidance and protection. Paul Calvert spent some time with Jeremy, who is the Director of Shepherd's Heart Israel.

Paul: How long have you lived in Israel?

Jeremy: I've now been in Israel eight years.

Paul: Why did you come?

Jeremy: Both my wife and myself felt very strongly from the Lord that he was bringing us here. It happened very quickly with quite extraordinary circumstances when my wife was 7½ months pregnant.

Paul: Was it easy coming?

Jeremy: Initially it was incredibly challenging. I came with two young children, a seven year old and a five year old and with my wife who was expecting a baby. We were thrust into what was a very difficult society. Obviously we didn't know the language, but God has been faithful and he has walked us through the whole time. In three years we had six house moves, had two children, and started a business and many other things. We tried to learn a language; it has been one challenge after the next.

Paul: Did people think you were crazy moving here?

Jeremy: Oh yes, we were very much considered crazy. In fact when God spoke to my wife and I independently that we were coming, she was 7½ months pregnant and we couldn't actually fly, so we didn't know how we were going to get here. I remember I was teaching in Germany at the time and my wife rang me up on the phone; she said, "I've found out how we can do it". She had been on the internet and she had found out that we could take the euro star train from England to Brussels, then from Brussels to Germany and Germany to Poland on the train. Then we could catch the 26 hour train from Poland down to the Ukraine where in Odessa we picked up the boat and came into Haifa. It was an incredible journey.

Paul: Did you sell everything just to come here?

Jeremy: We did. In fact we gave most of our things away. We were starting on a new journey; we knew we were coming, but we didn't know the end of the journey. A bit like Abraham, we stepped out not knowing where we were going, but praise God he has been faithful every step of the way. There is a scripture that says he will lead the Jewish people back with tenderness and kindness and that's exactly what we experienced. Looking back even though it was incredibly difficult and incredibly challenging in many ways, I can definitely say in my heart of hearts that he has been faithful.

Paul: Was it easy for the children to settle here not knowing the language and not knowing any people and friends?

Jeremy: It is an amazing testimony. When we were going through the hard times, a number of times I considered leaving, but when I looked at my children I saw the blessing of God upon them. When I left England, Rachel who was my seven year old, she was actually very shy, but as we have come here, over the last three years she has blossomed; she has just come out of herself and is more alive here than she ever was in England. It's just like God has blessed her while being here. My son Jordan, it took him a little bit longer. He was five years old when we came and it took him three years to adjust. Many times he would have loved to be back in England with the rain and I was over there one time with him in Lancaster and we were both crying, he said, "Dad why am I here?" But now he has adjusted and he's just as happy here if not happier here than being in England. Again God has been faithful.

We have a wonderful school that they are in here. When we came we really didn't know what to do with them. We knew they needed to learn the language, but we had also heard that the schools here were very difficult and tough and they are, but we found a wonderful messianic school, which teaches in Hebrew. We took our children in and they taught them very well the basics of Hebrew and so now they are speaking Hebrew fluently and are growing up as part of the society.

Paul: Do they tell you the correct pronunciation for Hebrew?

Jeremy: Oh it's just ridiculous. Every time I try and learn Hebrew they just laugh at me and they tell me, "Dad you will get it at some time but don't hurry". They are so fluent they sound like natives. They are part of the society and you know some people say to me, "Did you need to come when your wife was pregnant, what was it all about, couldn't you have waited the two or three years till everything had settled"; but I look back and I know in my heart of hearts that Rachel who was seven and Jordan who was five, if they hadn't have come then, if they were 11 or 12 then the language would have been so much more difficult for them and now they are a part of the Hebrew speaking society. Praise God he has a heart for them, just as much if not more so than me. I now have two younger children, Daniel who is eight and Yaakov who is six and they are growing up multi-lingual, so they are already 20 steps ahead of us in their language.

Paul: They were obviously born here. What was it like for them to be born here and what difficulties did you face with that? I understand that there is quite a story with your first child that was born here?

Jeremy: Yes there is. When we came to Israel my wife was 8½ months pregnant at this point and when we first came we were in a hotel and it's an amazing story. When I first said to some friends of mine that I was going to Israel, one of them who was a pastor said it was very interesting because three days before he had had a phone call from a woman in Jerusalem and she was going past a hotel and God spoke to her and said, "I want you to rent a room" and she said, "I have no idea why I have rented this, I don't need a room, but God has told me to do it". She had this room and she rings Morecambe in England and says to this pastor, "If you know anybody coming to Israel then there is a room waiting for them" and so that was us. When we stepped out to come to Israel we knew there was a room waiting, so the boat came in to Haifa and we had a wonderful trip. We travelled down to Jerusalem and eight days later had the baby in a hotel. There were no other people at that point. I didn't know very many people so we delivered the baby. I delivered the baby in the bathroom of the hotel and another wonderful story is there was a man next door, an Englishman, who was studying and the last two pushes when my wife gave birth, she screamed understandably because it's quite an experience and so he knocked on the door and I opened the door and there was blood on my chest from the birth of the baby and he took one look at me and said, "What have you done to your wife"? Then he heard the baby crying and then he said, "Oh praise God, a baby has been born". The next thing he said, fortunately he was English and he said, "Jeremy, do you need a cup of tea"? And so I had my cup of tea.

Paul: I understand there were problems after that with birth certificate. How difficult was it to get a birth certificate?

Jeremy: We had a unique situation; because the baby was born in a hotel, we had no hospital intervention, no doctors, midwives or anybody. We didn't know we needed all these things. Then when I came to get a birth certificate, obviously the Interior Ministry said to me, where is the hospital number? Where is the hospital information? Of course we didn't have any of that. Then began a process of lawyers and courts to try and get a birth certificate for Daniel. It took us three years to get this birth certificate. We did blood tests and all sorts of things. There were other issues because my wife is not Jewish and so they began to ask me, "Is she going to convert?" I said, "No she is not going to convert" and so it just went on and on and so three years later we finally with great triumph and great relief had a birth certificate for Daniel. Our second child was also born at home. We liked it so much we had another go at home, Yaakov in Baka (an area of Jerusalem) and again it was a wonderful birth and lovely seeing my wife tucked up in bed after the birth of the baby eating pizza. Again it took us a little while; not so long this time because we paved the way. Now we have two birth certificates for our children.

Paul: So technically the first child that was born in Israel didn't really exist until he had that birth certificate?

Jeremy: That's right. We knew he existed, the courts knew he existed, but not on paper, so finally we got that and they are now Israeli citizens.

Paul: Is it difficult living here?

Jeremy: It is incredibly challenging. When people ask me that, I never quite know what to say, because on one side it is a very tough society to live in. The people are not as I am used to; they always push you first before they say yes; nobody will ever say yes first, they will always say no; but I have learned in this society to push through. If I want something I keep going and eventually I'll get it. It's been a character change for me, but I believe for the better. It has been very challenging.

Paul: Do you regret coming here?

Jeremy: No I don't regret it. What I have found here is the society is very alive. If you want to feel alive come to Israel. There is so much going on; you don't know what's coming from one day to the next. Every part of your security has to be in God because you really do not know what's coming next. As a believer who wants to live life to the full, I can think of nowhere more alive to do that. Your trust is fully in God for the protection of your children, for the protection of your wife, for your walk with God, every day you are seeking him saying Lord where do you want me to go, what do you want me to do and so we are living life to the full.

Paul: Did you not have any fears bringing your whole family into a potential terrorist situation?

Jeremy: There were a number of emotional fears that I had to walk through and it was like waves of the sea. I had to walk through the waves and something would come up and someone would say, "How on earth can you do this?" But what had happened is God had put what I can only describe as a seed in my heart. He gave me the peace and the faith just to walk through every situation as if they were done. I know that was God because it's not my character to do that. He changed my heart so much that one morning I woke up and I knew no matter what came against me it would be ok. There were a number of issues; you won't be able to get a visa to go into the Ukraine in 10 days, which is all we had, well we got our visa; you won't be able to go on the boat because you have got a pregnant woman, although there was nothing to say we couldn't go on the boat. We went on the boat and so every part of the journey God did that journey. As I look in scripture in Jeremiah 31 it says, "He will bring them back from the four corners of the earth, with child and close to labour" and I could only describe it like it was like we were walking out scripture. God had us on this journey and I believe it's the first of many people who are walking this route and he did it all so as I look back I am full of amazement. It was very challenging, but when God puts something in your heart you can't help but walk it and that's what we've found.

Paul: What would you say to anyone else who is Jewish and living in other parts of the world?

Jeremy: I would say at least explore what scripture says. My Dad was Jewish, but he gave it all up when he was 13 and so when I came along I knew nothing of my Jewish background. I became a believer and there was a time when it was like God touched my heart. I had to be willing for him to do it, but he touched my heart and I started looking at scripture. What was it all about Israel? It was so new to me, but as I began to look through scripture I saw there was going to be a time when God was going to gather the Jews back to his land. It was part of his faithfulness and part of his promise and so I saw in scripture what I was experiencing in my heart. I started looking a lot about history; this nation that came into being and I saw since 1890 there were six or seven times where Jews have come on mass as times of Aliyah, coming back to the land and he brought them back. It wasn't like a one-off event that I was going through; it was something that has been happening since 1890; the last 100 something years he has been bringing them back to the land. For those who aren't here who think we are all a little bit crazy, I would ask them, go back to scripture and allow God to speak to your heart. It may be he keeps you where you are, but it may just be that he has a journey for you that you know nothing about.

Paul: What's your prayer for this nation?

Jeremy: My prayer is come Lord Jesus. I think more and more and I know I'm not the only one, there is a cry going up. It's a prayerful cry saying Lord come; enough Lord come and do the work in your people. When I first came to Israel I went up to the Western Wall and it was all very foreign to me and I saw a sea of Orthodox Jews and I began to cry. To me it was such a mystery. Why couldn't they see? Again we see in scripture where it says Jesus won't come back until the Jewish people say, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord"; but they are not seeing, so my hearts cry is God open their eyes, may it be the time that they see and that you come back to this land.