Women on Mission - April 2026

Jerry Claxton shared with Women on Mission about his and wife Liz’s interactions with Jewish, Muslim, and Christian people during their seven years living in Israel when WOM met April 13.

After opening with a blessing in Hebrew, Jerry taught the group the meaning of sabra, which is a Jewish person born in Israel and also the Hebrew word for the edible fruit of the prickly pear, which is spiky and tough on the outside but sweet as honey inside — much like the people of Israel. The people of Israel, he noted, are “engraved on the palm of God’s hand.”

Surrounded by 9 million Muslims and 300 Arabs, Israel is the only functioning democracy in the Middle East, he noted, a nation of 10 million people, 7.7 million of whom are Jews, and 2.1 million are Arabs, most of which are Muslims. Of the 7.7 million Jews, the largest subgroup is seculars, i.e, people who identify as Jewish but do not practice the Jewish religion.

Another interesting fact Jerry shared is Israel is home to 17 Arab Baptist churches. The religious makeup of Israel’s population is 73.5% Jews, 18.8% Muslims, 2.6% Christian, 1.8% Druze (a Muslim sect), and 3.9% other.

Jerry said he and Liz engaged with Israelis person-to-person, in churches, through English as a Second Language classes, in homes, and at parks and camps. Israelis also were invited to visit a tabernacle in the desert built to Old Testament standards. Various holidays, such as the Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukot, also provided opportunities to meet people.

Israel has been undergoing a construction boom, Jerry reported, and some 100,000 Arab workers cross the Israeli border each day for work. He joked that the national bird of Israel is no longer the striped hoopoe but the striped crane because of all the high-rise construction cranes visible on the skylines.

Now into their second retirement, Jerry and Liz are working with Sudanese refugees in Cartersville. He and Liz have returned to Israel multiple times since leaving their work there in 2016.