Shevet Achim

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Shevet Achim

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The name Shevet Achim is from Psalm 133: "Behold how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity."

Shevet Achim is a Christian community based in Ashdod and Jerusalem which helps Middle Eastern children with congenital heart disorders receive life-saving medical care at Israeli hospitals.

09/21/2026

As the sun set this Yom Kippur eve, the people of Israel entered into 25 hours of afflicting their souls (most are fasting from both food and drink) and seeking atonement for their sins, after a ten-day period of soul-searching and repentance.

Much of the public discourse during these days centered on the new documentary film “NAZA” (a Hebrew acronym for collateral damage) and its claim that the Israeli military, for the first time since independence, has knowingly caused large numbers of civilian deaths in the pursuit of Hamas fighters in Gaza. (Think of our little patient Naim and his mother, sheltering with us in Israel in the first weeks after October 7, receiving the call that all of his siblings were killed when the IDF took down an apartment building full of families in pursuit of a single target).
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09/18/2026

Over the last two weeks we’ve shared the saga of tiny infant Mohammad, born with a heart defect which requires intervention in the first few weeks of life. Since the hospital near his home in Ramallah couldn’t complete such an operation, it was absolutely necessary for him to be brought into Israel.

The transfer process was highly difficult. While work was being done day and night to ensure Mohammad would be allowed to cross the borders, he was fighting to live.

For nearly a week after arrival at the Sheba Medical Center he remained on a ventilator, while doctors performed a number of tests and took images to gain clarity on what exactly needed to be done in the surgery. After what seemed like endless waiting, the doctors finally shared that they planned to perform the operation on Wednesday afternoon.

With tears in her eyes, Mohammad’s mother bid goodbye to her son, and surrendered him into the hands of God. Four and a half hours later, we saw a team of doctors wheeling out Mohammad who was sleeping peacefully on his bed. Seeing her son alive, Mohammad’s mother was filled with so much joy and cried happy tears of relief.
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09/14/2026

In the middle of the night in the US Wednesday I cried out to the Lord in pain and frustration. Three-week-old Mohammed was on a ventilator in Ramallah, needing urgent heart surgery unavailable in the West Bank, and for two days had been denied permission to reach the hospital in Israel.

The Israeli permit coordinator became upset with us in July after we took home from the hospital the grieving young parents of Reda, carrying the body of their firstborn son, rather than waiting hours for an ambulance transfer. When we informed him afterward, the coordinator said this was illegal; we were ready to respect this, but last week two other Palestinian families followed our example and also took in their own vehicles their children who had died. Now as a consequence Mohammed’s path to life was blocked.

I couldn’t understand or accept this, and thought the solution was to expose the hardness of heart of the coordinator. For hours I’d been texting journalists in Israel and anyone else I thought could intervene, to no immediate avail. As a last resort I gave it up, with tears, to our Father in heaven.

And he showed me, against my own inclination, what I should have already known from the words of Messiah: that I must first take the beam out of my own eye, humble myself, and write to the coordinator committing to do all we could to prevent further unauthorized transfers.

Praise God, the next day Mohammed arrived safely to the Sheba Medical Center in Israel: shevet.org/?p=128645

09/11/2026

Little Samer, who’s spent all five of his years living in an orphanage in Bethlehem, came bravely to Israel on Tuesday to face open-heart surgery. Understandably he was quite nervous coming in, but was quickly surrounded by a great deal of care from many people.

The story of his life spread rapidly among the staff at Sheba hospital, and everyone who heard it reacted with so much love. Some women at the cardiology desk immediately offered him some candy, and once he was admitted to the ICU, all the doctors and nurses flocked to say hello and make him feel comfortable.

As a cherry on top to all of this, the kind ICU Dr. Evyatar asked the owner of a hospital therapy dog to pop in for a visit. Samer absolutely loved the dog, although he was a little bit unsure at first.

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09/07/2026

For nearly three long years we’ve mourned the growing division between Jews and Arabs in the land of Israel. It seemed the Hamas massacre had quashed the hope of brotherly relations between the ancient sons of Abraham.

But this week the counteroffensive began. Like the kingdom of God, it looked small and insignificant at first. A Jewish Zionist, a well-respected former police commander, announced he would run for the Knesset next month on the list of an Arab Muslim party. There’s never been anything like this in Israeli politics. And those with ears to hear know this is a seismic shift.

Of special note to our community is the source of inspiration for the bold move of this Jewish commander. "The future model for the State of Israel that I see before me is a model familiar to anyone who enters the doors of an Israeli hospital. There, a person sheds the narratives and identities they carry. There, first and foremost, human beings meet. Patients, doctors, nurses, administrative staff, families — everyone is equal."

Yes friends, this is the same picture which we see and share with you week by week, and year by year. What happens when Jews and Arabs meet in the hospitals in Israel is indeed a future model, a foretaste of the coming kingdom of heaven:
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09/05/2026

Just before Shabbat began here in the land, we received a text and a phone call from the hospital. Montaser went to be with the Lord. His body went into cardiac arrest as everything was too much for him to handle.

This loss is deeply devastating for so many who knew and loved this young boy. Even more so, the grief of this family is unimaginable. I have never seen such deep love for a child as this entire family has shown time and time again. Our hearts break for his family. Please join us in surrounding them in prayer as they walk through this inconceivably difficult time of loss.
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08/31/2026

Little Montaser lives next to one of the most violent West Bank outposts, which has been evacuated 65 times by the IDF. He’s now in the hospital in Israel, with unstable oxygen levels. And after some significant support received in recent days, we see that he needs just $2000 more for his big heart surgery scheduled for this week:
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08/28/2026

The heart surgery of Anas, which should have only lasted five hours, went on for almost 15 hours. Ever since, this precious child from the West Bank has been in critical condition in the ICU in Israel. He has been intubated, on dialysis, with an open chest for over a week. His kidneys have failed, his liver has failed, and his hands and feet have turned a deep blue color because of an extreme lack of circulation. He is teetering on the edge of life and death.

We praise God that Anas is still alive and fighting. We praise God that Anas’ heart function is now good. We praise God that the doctors are working hard day and night for Anas. We praise God for Anas’ parents who stay faithfully with him.
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08/23/2026

On Tuesday precious, shy, mischievous, blue, frail Montaser from Bethlehem is finally coming back to Israel for heart surgery, two years after his last one. We love his humble and sincere family, and simply cannot be quiet as their son is failing. So we’ll share with you tonight that $15000 is still needed to cover our share of his hospital costs: shevet.org/?p=128335

08/21/2026

Elisa and I were pleasantly surprised when a Palestinian father and his young daughter approached us and asked if we were with Shevet Achim. We soon had an unexpected new patient! Precious Watar, a seven-year-old girl from Hebron, had no one to help her gain admittance to the echocardiogram clinic in Israel.

It so happens that Watar’s father is an incredibly gifted oud player and singer, and brought his oud to the hospital. As an act of gratitude, he delighted us with his music. We sat in the echo clinic as he played and sang. A few doctors even gathered around:
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http://www.shevet.org/

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