It has now been 30 days since Israel was brutally attacked by Hamas terrorists from Gaza. The images and sounds of that bloody October 7th will haunt us forever.
If there was ever any doubt that there is a real spiritual war between good and evil, light and darkness, then this war has removed that doubt.
Israel has always had to fight for its survival, and now it also needs to wage war against the world’s public opinion dehumanizing Israel and legitimizing the brutality that the people of Israel face.
As believers in Yeshua, there’s endless comfort in knowing Israel is never alone. The promises of God to protect His nation are eternal. We are his sojourners and partners in bringing comfort to His own, and being his hands of mercy in Israel during this difficult time is one of the many ways we can shine light in the midst of terrible darkness.
It is no secret that Israel’s Defense Forces are composed of the people of Israel. Our soldiers and officers are our sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, fathers, and mothers
When it was time to present for duty, over 360,000 reserves were called in. That is an incredibly high number of reserves mobilized, considering Israel’s population is only 9 million.
That also means that there is a struggle to provide all the necessary equipment at such short notice for such a large number of reserves.
One of our primary goals is to provide all of the crucial protection for our reserves from Beit Hallel Congregation that we can.
Out of the 35 soldiers from Beit Hallel currently serving in the war, five of our young men are on the frontline as reserve combat soldiers, having been called up to fight in special elite units, engaged in actual warfare. However, they haven’t been provided with bulletproof ceramic vest plates, as there aren’t any available for reserve soldiers.
These ceramic-plate vests are prioritized for combat soldiers serving in a full-time capacity, which means that the combat soldiers from Beit Hallel who have already been serving in the army when the war broken out, do have one of these vest provided by the IDF, but due to the unexpectedly high number of reserves that were mobilized, there’s a great shortage.
We want to make sure we give our boys all the protection we’re able to provide as they’re out there protecting this nation with their lives.
We’re currently raising $5,000 to purchase 5 ceramic-plated vests for five of our Beit Hallel reserves combat soldiers, Ya’akov, Daniel, Samuel, Eli and Iliya.
On regular days they would be standing next to us at services, praying and worshipping, but now they have to be on the frontline defending us. Aside from covering them in prayer, the least we can do is to ensure they are protected and get to come home to their families in one piece.
Each ceramic vest costs $1000, and we need five, one each for Ya’akov, Daniel, Samuel, Eli and Iliya.
Would you lend us a hand in providing our boys with protection while they are fighting for this land?
The Plight of Displaced Families
When the war broke out, entire southern communities were evacuated and displaced. They were removed from their homes so urgently that the only thing they took with them was what was on them at that moment.
Most of them don’t even have a home to come back to, whether it was burned down, destroyed by terrorists or is now in a closed-off war zone, they have no way of going back for anything, even if they had a home to go back to.
We were contacted by several of these families, asking us to lend a helping hand in providing some basic clothing items (t-shirts, socks, underwear, etc) for them, as well as some shoes for their children.
It’s impossible to turn away when people are asking for help in such basic simple things when their homes lie in ruins and they’ve lost everything.
As Christians and believers in Yeshua the true test of our faith is now, when it’s time to reflect God’s character and mercy.
While our soldiers are defending us on the frontline, we have to make sure we are taking care of people that are fighting their own battle to survive these terrible days.
Please donate today. Thank you and God bless!
Beit Hallel is a Messianic Jewish congregation in Ashdod, led by pastor Israel Pochtar, serving holocaust survivors and the poor and needy locally and throughout the nation of Israel, while building up the body of Messiah in the promised land of Israel.