Galina, Mother of Eight

Woman with child at a center

Shalom Rav (Much Peace),

We would like to thank everyone who works at Jacob's Hope, those at the distribution center and those who donate.  I have a large family, eight children.  Only my husband works while I take care of the children.  We have received clothing, food, furniture and more from the Jacob's Hope distribution center.  The money we save on these items allows us to use the money my husband earns to pay our rent, utilities and other necessities.

Thank you for all that you do!

Galina

The Compassion Team is responsible for all of Jacob's Hope's projects in Israel, but they are funded independently of Jacob's Hope.  Without their guidance and hard work, many of the opportunities we have to work with local congregations and municipalities would not be available.  It is important to us to have their oversight on the ground.  They are currently raising support for a second term in Israel, but we can't afford to have the work we began together in Israel be interrupted in order for them to return to the States for an extended period of time (to raise the support they need to live there).  Please prayerfully consider supporting this family directly at https://giving.ag.org so they can continue with this important work we have started together.

Moving forward with our Eighth Project

Packing Bags for Distribution

As many of you may have deduced, Jacob's Hope has an eighth project in Israel. We have joined with "Love for the Needy," our partners in K'far Saba, to begin a food distribution in the city of Hadera.  Love for the Needy distributes bags of food to 17 families in Hadera and Jacob's Hope currently is supplementing these bags with "food vouchers" that can be used at a local grocery store to buy meat, fish and fresh produce. Additionally, we are working with a local congregation to find a small storefront we can rent, where we will be able to make clothing and household items available to the 12,000 people in this city living below the poverty line.  The total population of Hadera is 77,000, 99% Jewish and other non-Arab, and has a significant number of immigrants from Ethiopia.  

Last week I was able to help put together the bags for distribution and joined a small group to deliver some of these bags. We were invited in to the home of a Russian-speaking woman who's children were adults, but are not in the position to assist their mother financially.  This woman was being visited by her sister when we entered with the bags of food.  Although their Hebrew was still basic, we were able to communicate our concern for her welfare. Her sister sat and watched us quietly as we asked this women about her needs and offered to pray for her physical aliments. After we prayed, I looked up at the sister and saw she was crying. She was very touched and appreciative of the love and concern we showed for her sister. It means so much to these families to see that someone cares, and it gives them hope.

Rivers of Living Water

This is an excerpt from a newsletter we received from our partners, Rivers of Living Waters.  We work with them in Ma'alot and Karimel:

Dear brothers and sisters in Messiah, shalom from "Rivers of Living Water, Israel"

You all probably know about the war that our nation went through. In all these events that have happened for the last month we can testify of the supernatural protection and faithfulness of our God. He is still the Mighty God of Israel! More than 1000 rockets were sent to the central and southern cities and settlements in Israel: especially to Ashdod, Ashkelon, Beer-Sheva and even Tel-Aviv area. All this time as a congregation we were standing in prayer, holding special prayer meetings, people were led by the Holy Spirit to come to the church every day and intercede before the Lord in such a critical time. Many miracles happened. God literally protected His people.

Passover Outreach in Karmiel

As the war situation came to the end we held a special outreach (food project) where about 200 unbelievers came. We ministered to these people through songs, poems, testimonies, prayed for them, comforted them, shared God's love, care and peace that only God can give even in the midst of the storm. Many were touched and drown closer to God; some opened their hearts to receive Yeshua as their Messiah. How good is our God! We thank all our friends and partners for supporting the work of the Lord, especially “Tikvat Yakov” [Jacob's Hope] Organization for donating funds for this project.

In this time we feel such an urgency to intensify prayer and intercession for the salvation of people in Israel for them to realize that the only hope in this life is the Lord, for the eyes to be opened and the veil to be removed from the hearts that they may see their Messiah Yeshua. For that purpose November, 30th we had a 12-hour prayer marathon. It was like a chain of believers (each one praying for an hour)....

The Time is Now

Over the last year we have spent much of our time building foundations for the future.  The team in the States has been raising funds for the Hope Center while I have been busy raising commitments so that we can continue our work in Israel.  I spent five weeks in September and October in the States sharing with people about our work in Israel, sharing our needs and visiting supporters.  I apologize for not keeping up my blog during this time.  For all things there is a season, and this has been a season of preparation. 

One of the first things I did when I returned to Israel from the States was look at a potential location for the Hope Center.  It's exciting to see what was once a dream, slowly becoming a reality.  There are so many wonderful things we will be able to do with a building like this, but it is important we find the right location.  Please pray for God's wisdom and guidance.

Damage from rock thrown

While you are praying, please continue to pray for the safety and well-being of those who work with us in Israel.  Over this past weekend a rock was thrown at one of our centers (recently posters were put up in the town with pictures of a congregational leader we partner with and the manager of our center warning people to stay away).  We were able to identify the assailant, who threw the rock, through footage taken from a security camera.  Please pray for favor from the police.  While our work is appreciated in many communities, with local officials often reaching out to us for help, there are still locations where people believe any work done by Christians is based on ulterior motives.