There are moments in life when everything feels ordinary—another workday, another routine task—and then, in a single second, everything changes. Moments when there is no plan, no strength left, no words prepared. Only a cry from the heart.
Recently, I sat with my dear friend Nicola, a brother I love deeply, and listened as he shared what God did for him. As he spoke, I was reminded again that God’s nearness is not theoretical. It is real, personal, and sometimes revealed in the most frightening moments.
Nicola is a professional plasterer and painter. One day, while working high on scaffolding on a tall building, something went wrong. Without warning, he fell—from the seventh floor.
As he was falling, Nicola knew immediately that he was about to die. There was no time to think or react. In that moment, he cried out loudly the name of Yeshua.
Instead of falling to the ground, Nicola was suddenly caught.
His sweater tore as it hooked onto a metal pin at the back of the scaffolding, between the fourth and fifth floors. He was left hanging in the air—suspended, helpless, convinced that this was the end. No one could reach him. No one could help him.
It was in that moment, hanging there, that Nicola felt the presence of Yeshua come to him. He described it simply: “I felt that Jesus came to me and held me.” Strength came that was not his own. Somehow, in a way he cannot explain, his body was thrown back onto the scaffolding at the fourth floor.
When it was over, Nicola felt no pain from the fall itself. But being caught by his sweater caused a serious injury to his shoulder. That injury remains with him today, a physical reminder of the moment his life was spared.
Later, when he looked down, Nicola saw what had been waiting below—wooden boards, iron bars, sharp metal. Death had been right there. And yet, he was alive. Standing on his feet.
Today, Nicola is in a difficult season. Because of his shoulder injury, he has been unable to work for a long time. The financial pressure on his family is real. Yet even in this season, he continues to speak with gratitude—especially for the love of Yeshua that met him in that moment and has not left him since.
Through our humanitarian aid center, we continue to walk with Nicola and his family, helping them in practical ways. We do this with joy, because this is what it means to follow Yeshua—to stand with those who are hurting, long after the moment of crisis has passed.
Dear friends, this is where your partnership becomes real.
Because you stand with us, we are able to stand with families like Nicola’s. Because you give, love takes form—through food, support, and steady presence. This is not charity from a distance; it is shared life within the body of Messiah.
This testimony reminds us that God is still near. He still protects. And His love continues to move through people who are willing to care.
This is the fruit of your love.
Together, we continue to be light in the darkness—serving Arabs and Jews across the land of Israel—not with pressure, but with presence; not with words alone, but with love that can be felt.
May Nicola’s story strengthen your faith and remind you that even when we are hanging between life and death, we are never outside the hands of God.
With gratitude and love,
Pastor Saleem