Eman scanned the small simple room. In less than an hour the woman she met on the phone would be transferred from the police station to her workplace, an emergency domestic violence center. She smoothed the freshly laundered bed sheets, placed the toothbrush in the bathroom, and took a deep breath. Finalizing the last touches for the guest she prayed, “Lord God fill this person soon to come with your peace. Oh God, be with them.” Eman, 26, lives in northern Israel.
Eman began working at the domestic violence emergency center 4 years ago. “It’s such a hard time for them, their whole life is changing.” Different religious and ethnic backgrounds call, mostly women trying to leave abusive families. While the shelter beds are not always taken, the phone is always ringing with people in crises.The center is secure—detectives have their own room in case women need to consult them or get guidance. They walk around without uniforms, and guides like Eman are well trained and carefully selected for the work.
“Really, it was like a plan from the Lord (how I got this job).” When the day for the interview came she remembered “I’m usually nervous in such interviews, (and this one I should have been especially) because it was in Hebrew and I’m not really fluent in Hebrew.” Eman is an Arab Christian, a minority ethnic and religious group in Israel. But almost miraculously she went in and as she could feel herself speaking well…she knew the Lord had helped her and heard her prayers. Even today the Lord continues to help her in this as she now speaks Hebrew fluently.
Back at the center beauty and brokenness coexist. When the residents come out of their rooms, helpers like Eman just talk and make food with them. Sometimes they have their kids with them and they all play together. Other times Eman just lifts her hands in prayer up towards the room they are in and prays. “I really feel like I have so much love within and I would like to share it with others to make them feel safe and loved.”
Eman recalls a woman of a different faith background who had called from the police station. Everyone had refused to house her, and she called on the Lord in her moment of need.
“God please help me if you want me to go out of my house,” she had prayed. “Let this emergency center accept me, and let me go there.” The woman called, and Eman answered. Her manager quickly gave the approval. After hearing the decision, the woman was so happy and no longer devastated. She arrived at the center, and took the next step in her healing journey.
God once spoke through Eman to a woman in crisis. The woman had been through much trauma and was reliving her own actions. Eman said, “I remember she was really stressed and I felt the shame that she was feeling, it was really heavy.” Eman reminded the woman how all of us have made mistakes… All of us have sinned. She said to the woman, “You are not a shame for your family.” The woman was visibly relieved and Eman felt she had delivered just the right words with the Lord’s help at just the right time.
In a world we cannot always visibly show or speak our faith even in the Holy Land we have examples like Eman who is listening well to the good shepherd’s leading. She is salt and light in a world seemingly rife with violence and division.
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Matthew 5:13-16
