The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, which furnished Isaacson’s truck, was on the ground soon after the Saturday morning attack, distributing flak jackets and first responder kits, according to CEO Yael Eckstein. In the days since, it has positioned 30 mobile bomb shelters along Israel’s northern border to protect against Hezbollah rockets coming from Lebanon, where cross-border fighting erupted after the Hamas attacks in the south.
Some of the $14 million raised within the first few weeks by IFCJ has been used for immediate needs, including vehicles to transport elderly and disabled people from the war zone and to feed thousands of displaced families. An emergency war campaign by the Genesis 123 Foundation allowed it to send survivors of a farming community to a hotel for two weeks and provide “non-lethal equipment” such as bullet-proof vests, as well as Shabbat meals and laundry detergent to IDF soldiers in the field
But like the International Christian Embassy, the Christian groups are planning to provide long-term assistance. Genesis 123 is considering the traumatic effects of the war on youth and the economic impact on farmers whose crops cannot be harvested. “For many of the farmers, their livelihood has been decimated. There is no one to work their fields,” said Jonathan Feldstein, the group’s president.
Aid workers from Bridges for Peace, which feeds thousands of Israelis every month, managed to deliver essentials to people in bomb shelters a few miles from the Gaza border as air raid sirens were blaring, said Ilse Strauss, the organization’s bureau chief in Israel. “We’re doing whatever needs doing.”
In partnership with the Isaiah Project, Bridges for Peace will provide appliances for 50 families whose homes were destroyed and sponsor mental health services.
Strauss said the motive of evangelical Christians is simple. At a time when hundreds of other organizations around the world are focused on supporting Palestinians in Gaza whose homes have been destroyed by Israel’s military response, “we want to make sure the world doesn’t forget the 1,400 Israelis and foreigners who were murdered and the 240 Hamas is holding captive in Gaza.
“Strangely, it seems that the Hamas attack has sparked hatred against Jews that was simmering under the surface,” said Strauss. “We want survivors to know there are thousands and thousands of people who will probably never come to Israel but who are praying for them.”
This article originally appeared here.
