Newsletter From Our Partners in Northern Israel

The following text has been copied from River's of Living Waters' January 2012 newsletter:

We'd like to thank you for encouraging, praying, and supporting us in such a time like this. We truly had a glorious time with the Lord in December, 2011. First we had a prayer marathon in Akko, Maalot and Karmiel cities together with local believers. We all have experienced such a powerful presence of God when we were crying out for the souls to be saved, for Messiah Yeshua to be revealed to His people. In preparation for outreaches we also distributed a lot of invitations to unbelievers. The next step was having outreaches in these cities. This whole project was done in partnership with "Tikvat Yakov" humanitarian aid organization.

December, 25 we had a special Chanukah celebration in Akko. This year it fell on Christmas time. And the very next day, December, 26 in the city of Maalot we also had a big Chanukah celebration. We had to rent a hall (it's a governmental place where God gave us a favor with its director who gladly again rented it to us). People filled these places in spite of the windy and rainy weather outside. Children and adults from Karmiel participated in the program. We even had to hire transportation to bring them all from Karmiel. As an answer to all our prayers the Lord brought totally about 100 unbelievers to these meetings .Some of them shared afterwards that it was their first time when they heard about God's love and experienced His touch. They asked us to come again. Praise the Lord for all He has done!

16 years ago "Rivers of Living Water, Israel" was actually born in Karmiel as a small (3 members only) home group. Together with our spiritual parents Daniel and Delia Hale we had our first meeting. Last Saturday December, 31 we celebrated our 16th birthday anniversary of God's goodness, His mercy and great faithfulness that He has been showing us all these years. Our children blessed us with songs, dancing and with drama "Bartimaeus." It truly touched our hearts and encouraged our faith. The best part of it was when 8 people came forward to receive Yeshua as their Lord and Savior. God is so good and faithful!

We thank Him for each of you - our faithful friends, who are standing with us in good times as well as in hard times. Your prayers, support and just friendship are very dear to our hearts and encourage us to go forward in reaching our people with the love of God. As you play such a big part in God's move here in Israel we believe you are opening the door to His blessings and favor for your lives, your families and your nation. "We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father." 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3

New Year

There is rarely either fun or glory in administrative work, nor is there much that one is able to share about it, but this has been the bulk of our work here in Israel as we prepare for bigger things. Much of our time in 2011 has been used preparing for 2012; getting the financial and legal papers needed, looking for a location for the Hope Center, raising the funds still needed so that we can remain in Israel, looking for partners for self-sustaining projects and continuing the work we have already started here.

Let's start by catching up on the events of 2011. We opened up two new centers, in Kiryat Shmona (Northern Israel) and Kefar Saba (Central Israel) to bring us to a total of 6 centers. We had several additional holiday events including Passover meals in Karmiel, Maalot and Akko. We made a trip to the States to raise funds and visit close friends and family. While there I attended funeral services for my Grandfather. We gave out blankets to 300 needy families during the High Holy days with Agape Ministries in Tel Aviv. Our children's Bible Club grew from 10 children to 21, and moved from our home to the facilities of a Russian-Speaking congregation in Hadera. We moved the location of our store front in Maalot, much to pleasure of our manager, since the old location had a leaky roof that was destroying the clothing. We hosted a tour group from the Assmblies of God which included the Director of International Ministries and Leadership from the Penn-Del District. We also had a special Chanukah outreach in Karmiel where many elderly Russians are coming to faith.

Although I lost my secular job here in Israel during the summer, the timing seems to have been heaven sent. It allowed me to pack our house before joining the rest of my family in the States as our previous landlords had raised our rent by close to 10%. It has also allowed my wife and I to dedicate ourselves full-time to Tikvat Yacov as the ministry is gearing up for future growth. Unfortunately, this means there is an increased urgency to raise the funds needed to support our family as this is now our only income. Please note that funds donated directly to Jacob's Hope go to support ministries around the world. To support our family in Israel, donations must be made directly to our account at Assemblies of God (click link here).

We are already on the look out to open a seventh compassion center in 2012 as well as laying the ground work for the Hope center and starting a self-sustaining ministry. As always, we will share more information as we work out the details.

Our Tabernacle in Israel

We are currently celebrating the Festival of Sukkot in Israel, the Jewish Holiday where we build sukkot (sukkot has been translated as tabernacles, booths, tents or temporary dwellings). We are commanded in the Torah to live in our sukkot for seven days, eating and sleeping in them, to remind us that the Israelites had to live in these temporary dwellings for 40 years when God used Moses to bring His people out of Eygpt.
For one week each year, God commands us to sleep outside and eat outside, in the elements, outside of our comfort zone, outside of our air conditioning or heat, outside of our beds, with the bugs and mosquitos and whatever else you may encounter. This is much different from Passover when we are commanded to lounge on pillows and enjoy our freedom. We are basically being commanded to be uncomfortable.
Why, you may ask, would God command us to be uncomfortable for one week each year? In Matthew 19:24, Yeshua tells us that it is easier for a camel to walk through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter heaven. When we have money, when we are comfortable, we tend to forget who it is that is providing for our needs. We tend to trust in our own ability to take care of ourselves, rather than our own inability to overcome all things without God.
In moving to Israel, God has taken our family out of our comfort zone. This Suukkot, as our family struggles to survive in Israel, we are reminded to trust God to provide for us just as he provided for the Israelites coming out of Eygpt. We are reminded, in the uncomfortable setting of our sukkah, to remember all of those who are less fortunate than ourselves, who live lives that are less comfortable than our own. We remove the focus from our own needs, as we give those burdens to God, and we put our efforts to providing for others.
As we work in Israel, I have constantly thought of the book of Esther. I think of how Mordecai told Esther that she was put in her position for this time, so that she could save God's people, but if she did not do it, that God would save His people another way.
We have been put in a position to help those who are suffering among God's people, and we understand that if we don't do it, that God will provide for them another way. But we chose to be a part of God's plan and take part in the blessings that God has given His people.

Catching Up

It has been a few months since we have posted anything on this blog, but that doesn't mean we haven't been busy. In fact, we have been to busy to stop and catch up on our blog.

So, what's happening with Tikvat Yakov in Israel?

All of our six compassion centers are fully operational and we continue to provide food bags for approximately 400 families a month and provide clothing to over 500 families a month.

In addition to being able to provide financial support, which is always welcome (and needed now more than ever - details below), you can now provide material support. Details about what type of items you can send are listed on the Jacob's Hope website, on the donations page. Material items can be sent to:

Jacob's Hope
Attn: Bryan May
5141 Craig Rath Blvd
Midlothian, VA 23112

We are also looking to purchase a building in Israel which will serve as a warehouse to store and distribute material goods for our compassion centers in Israel. It will also serve as a job training center to help needy people learn the skills needed to get employment in Israel. There will be apartments for volunteers to live in while on work trips to Israel, including building projects and healthcare projects. This facility may even be used for conferences and to house weekly congregational meetings.

We are also pursuing other opportunities here in Israel, but I'll save those details for another post once our plans have some more momentum behind them.

The High Holy Days are coming up fast and we are looking to bless the people of Israel in special ways. In Tel Aviv, we are distributing blankets with our partners Agape Ministries. In Akko, Kamiel and Maalot, we are preparing special meals with the help of Rivers of Living Waters.

Just a reminder, as always, none of these things can happen without your support, and we want to thank all of you who faithfully give to Jacob's Hope or support a Jacob's Hope Team member. Unfortunately, things have been happening so fast in Israel, that our compassion team (that's us) has not been able to raise the support needed for their salary, office and travel expenses. Even with a supplement coming from Jacob's Hope we are only able to cover about half of our budgeted salary after we have taken care of the necessary office and travel expenses.

Although, Michael had been working in order to cover our personal expenses, he lost his job this summer and has not been able to find work here. We are not even sure if he will have the time to work with all of the new projects we are looking to take on here in Israel. So, now more than ever, it is important for us to raise support. We spent a few weeks this summer speaking at a few places to raise funds, and were able to get some much needed donations, but very little in the way of the long term commitments we need in order to continue our work here.

Please consider making a long term commitment so that we can continue all of the work we have started here in Israel, and continue to bless the people in this land through all of the projects and plans that God has called us do. Please click here to fill out an online commitment form to support this ministry.

What Happened to Passover?

Here we are in May already, but don't worry, Passover didn't just passover us. We had a very busy month in April with Passover. From our center in Tel Aviv, in partnership with Agape Ministries, we were able to bless 91 families with special Passover bags that had food and toiletries in them. We were also able to bless between 60 and 70 people in Karmiel with a Passover Seder Meal! Many said that it was the best Seder they have been too. Also, for many, this was the first time to here about who is the Passover Lamb.

Passover is the time that everyone cleans out their stuff. A local business heard about Tikvat Yakov and opened her doors to receive donations from anyone who wants to give clothing to us. I just took a full car load of clothing to our center in Ashdod, and the bags keep on coming.

The exciting news for May is we have just joined with Love for the Needy in Kfar Saba and now have SIX compassion centers in Israel!!! This center has been opened from 1997 and needed someone to help it stay opened. We are happy to come along side them and help.

Purim Outreach in Karmiel

Tivat Yacov, together with Rivers of Living Water Congregation in Karmiel, Israel, sponsored an outreach for the less fortunate children in that community. Many of the parents and grandparents who come to our monthly food outreach, were able to bring their children and grandchildren, 140 children in all, to receive Mishloch Manot (gift bags), who most likely would not receive anything like this otherwise. These gift bags are traditionally given out in Israel during Purim because of Esther 9:19;

"This is why the Jews of the villages, those who live in unwalled towns, make the 14th day of the month of Adar, a day for celebrating, and rejoicing. A holiday and a time for sending each other portions of food."

In addition to the gift bags, the night was filled with entertainment, including performances by many of the children from the congregation and biblical messages of God's love.

Announcing Our Fifth Center in Kiryat Shmona

Jacob's Hope would like to announce our fifth compassion center in Israel, located in Kiryat Shmona. This center is being run in partnership with a small branch of Rivers of Living Water located in this city. Kiryat Shmona, with a population that is 98% Jewish, is located in Northern Israel, along the Lebanon boarder and has been a major target for missile attacks. During the 2006 Lebanon War, a total of 1,012 Katyusha rockets hit Kiryat Shmona.

The small congregation located here has dedicated itself to helping the needy people in this area and is already giving out over 600 bags of food a month in partnership with the Joshua Fund. Jacob's Hope will be providing the funds for this compassion center to pay their rent and monthly bills, so that they can continue distributing this food, along with clothing and other household items.