Dear Israel Benevolence Fund,

“We thank you so much for your love gifts to us. You cannot imagine how timely this check was.

Recently we lost a man in our congregation that was 52 years old. It was shocking to us. He was running and had a cardiac arrest …his wife and his daughter are so needy right now. Your check helped us to help them when the last thing they needed to think about was finances…..

Also our widow in the south, ***, who we regularly help…when we asked her how things were going financially, she said, “Just barely getting by.” An extra amount this month just made her let out a sigh of relief.

Lastly is our widow here in our midst with the five children….her washing machine broke down, and because of IBF’s gift, we have extra funds so she can purchase another one…..

This is so rewarding to be able to help the needy. Your love to
us is so meaningful.

When you come…, give me a time frame that we can have others come to meet you and be available.  **** and I are at your service.

Blessings on you and your wonderful congregation.”

Love,

Friends in Israel

[Because of your generous hearts, three Israeli widows and their families recently received  encouragement of the L-rd's care for them.   Thank you, Mighty Defenders, from IBF.]

“One Israeli child out of three is poor, a poverty report reveals. Every third child in Israel lives below the poverty line, according to an annual National Insurance Institute (NII) poverty report released recently.

Over 400,000 families in Israel suffer from “nutritional insecurity,” a euphemistic term for “hunger.” 28% of Israeli citizens, or 1,600,000 people are living in poverty. Among them are more than 600,000 hungry children. Those experiencing “nutritional insecurity” eat smaller portions, skip meals and, in extreme cases, don’t eat for a whole day. Diets may be high in carbohydrates and lacking or almost devoid of meat, dairy products, vegetables and fruit. In Israel, 22% of families are deemed moderately insecure and 8% suffer from severe insecurity.

A family’s situation is considered moderately insecure when the parents deprive themselves of food to ensure their children get what they need. In families whose situation is severe, the children are deprived as well. 60% of nutritionally insecure are Jewish, 20% are Arab, and 20% new immigrants. 80% of nutritionally insecure people reported a deterioration in their situation in the last 22 years, as Israel economic conditions have deteriorated. About 24% of Israelis are forced to make choices between food and other expenses such as mortgage, rent, medicine, heating and electricity. About half choose to get along with less food. The ‘poverty line’ in Israel in 2002 was NIS 4,500 a month ($937.50) for the average Israeli family of four – mother, father and two children.

Signs of how severe the problem is are all too apparent on the streets of Israel. In Jerusalem, for example, nearly 1,000 people a day come to four soup kitchens at which hot meals are served. It is also commonplace to see older men and women picking through the garbage at outdoor markets in Israel’s cities. The collapse of the economy has taken a great toll on the lives of Israel’s poorest families, and many children from middle-class families are now joining their ranks. Unemployment in Israel is around 20%, and the difficult economic situation has taken its toll on huge numbers of Israelis.”

The above is a report from Israel News Agency– and many Jewish still people continue to experience poverty in the Land.

Israel Benevolence Fund sends the money you give to take care of practical needs to bless Israelis, along with helping local Messianic Jewish believers feed the poor in Israel. A local ministry wrote, “Our two soup kitchens in Haifa and Upper Nazareth continue to receive an increasing flow of referrals, many of them from municipal social workers. We now distribute 3300-3500 meals a month.”

When the Jewish believers came from Jerusalem to speak with Rav Shaul (Paul), Rav Shaul wrote, “All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.” (Galatians 2:10)

G-d takes note of what we do out of love for Him. He sent the angel to Cornelius, and the angel said, “‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor.” (Acts 10:31)

Thank you for what you do for the least of these, Yeshua’s physical brothers and sisters.

This report came recently from some Israeli believers in Yeshua that Israel Benevolence Fund helps support.

“We are blessed to be able to minister to the 23 single parent families in the Beer Sheva Congregations. Some of the women are widowed, some divorced, and some were abandoned. We long to see God manifested in their lives as “a Father to the fatherless, a defender of widows”. We believe that one characteristic of the Body of Messiah, to a large extent, should be that manifestation of the Father’s love in the life of single parent families. We can’t do this work without your help!

We also run a support group for single mothers with a Russian-speaking background. This is going very well as it presents the women with an opportunity to grow in their trust of the Lord and become a supportive presence in each other’s lives. It also validates their life and spiritual experience, helping to restore dignity to their lives. Single mothers and widows are also offered an opportunity for prayer counseling designed to bring deeper emotional healing, as well as receiving regular house visitations where prayer support and friendly council are given.”

“Every year in Spring we [in Israel as well as Messianic believers throughout the world]enter into a very festive season, and every Israeli household is preparing for Passover by cleaning their houses from any traces of leaven, since during the Passover Feast the only bread we eat is Matza bread (Unleavened bread) just like the one the Israelites ate during their exodus from Egypt. Every family gathers together for Passover night with all the relatives and they read from the Haggadah (the retelling of the story of exodus).

It’s a beautiful tradition that the Jewish people managed to preserve even during the 2000 year Diaspora. And every year there’s a wonderful opportunity for each one in Israel to hear and remember what G-d has done for His people when He delivered them from bondage and brought them into the Promised Land.

For us as believers, it is especially powerful to celebrate this Festival, because we see it as a shadow [symbol] of the fulfillment we have in Yeshua the Messiah, who delivered us out of bondage and slavery.

“It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians. Then the people bowed down and worshiped.” Exodus 12:27

“For Messiah, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed…” 1 Corinthians 5:7

Each year we have a wonderful opportunity to help those who are in need and we praise God that this year is no exception. This week we are doing a project together with [others in Israel].  We will be handing out gift vouchers along with food parcels for 150 people, and blessing them during this holiday season.

The following day we will be doing another project and blessing approximately 200 people with also gift parcels, and this time we’ll have a unique opportunity to also share with them about this Festival and its significance.

Please pray for these projects, for open and receptive hearts that God will be able to touch and lives He’ll have a chance to change.”