Proud to Serve

They are proud to serve and we are so very proud of them!

So much has happened since we did our last update.  With the war now being over after 50 long days, attention has been averted to other areas in the Middle East that are of grave consequence.  The news - including in the United States - was full of the conflict here, but what we'd like to share in this post is some of the "real" stories that the mainstream media doesn't usually share.

First we'd like to honor the fallen soldiers with a BIG salute from the depth of our hearts.  This picture was created before the last of the soldiers died giving their lives for their Land and their People, but most are represented.  They are not just a number - but real boys, with real lives, and real families & friends who will miss them desperately.  As a Nation, Israel mourns their loss collectively as a family.

Before the war ended, there was a plane of Jewish immigrants that arrived to Israel from the United States and Canada.  Included in these, were several young people ready to join the IDF and serve their new country and defend their homeland, even in the midst of war.

One thing we noticed from the beginning of the operation in early June all the way to the present, has been a very unusual cloud cover in Israel.  For those of you who aren't familiar with the weather patterns here, once we hit summer, we don't tend to see clouds again until Autumn when the rains come back again.  While the clouds haven't always stayed all day, they have been pretty constant nearly every day, especially in the mornings.  There are many scriptures in the Bible about clouds, and God's presence.  Here is just one....

"Ascribe strength to God; His excellence is over Israel, And His strength is in the clouds." 

Psalm 68:34

The Times of Israel (online newspaper) highlighted an account a couple of weeks ago that gave God credit for these clouds.  Colonel Ofer Winter of the Givati Brigade shared this story:

"Winter had come under criticism recently, after composing a letter to his subordinate officers in which he called upon the divine to assist Israel in fighting a “blasphemous” foe in the Gaza Strip.

“History has chosen us to spearhead the fighting (against) the terrorist ‘Gazan’ enemy, which abuses, blasphemes and curses the God of Israel’s (defense) forces,” he wrote.

“We have planned and prepared for this moment and we take the mission upon ourselves out of commitment, complete humility, and because we are prepared to endanger ourselves and lay down our lives in order to protect our families, our people and our homeland,” he added.

Several days later, Winter said that divine miracles protected his soldiers during the fighting in the Gaza Strip.

He said that a predawn raid that was intended to make use of the dark as concealment was delayed, forcing the soldiers to move toward their objective as the sun was about to rise. The soldiers were in danger of being revealed in the light but, Winter recalled, a heavy fog descended to cover their movements until the objective was achieved.

“Suddenly a cloud protected us,” he said, making a reference to the clouds that the Bible says protected the Israelites as they wandered in the desert. “Clouds of glory.”

Only when the soldiers were in a secure position did the fog dissipate, he said. 

 “It really was a fulfillment of the verse ‘For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to give you victory,’” he said, quoting a passage from Deuteronomy."  (Times of Israel)

“When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God is with you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt. So it shall be, when you are on the verge of battle, that the priest shall approach and speak to the people. And he shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel: Today you are on the verge of battle with your enemies. Do not let your heart faint, do not be afraid, and do not tremble or be terrified because of them; for the Lord your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.’"  Deuteronomy 20: 1-4

http://www.timesofisrael.com/senior-infantry-officer-describes-divine-protection-in-gaza/

            "Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds." Psalm 36:5

The commanders of the IDF are quite exemplary.  This first hand account by Dov Lipman shows just a bit of their leadership qualities:

"There was another moment which demonstrated a second dimension to why our soldiers are so special. As I approached some tanks and offered the commander ice cream, he said “first give to my soldiers.” In the Israeli army, commanders usually go first with the call “aharai” – “follow me.” But here, he did not want to go first. The man in charge who could sit back and enjoy some ice cream while his soldiers are preparing their tanks instructed me to first give his soldiers. That is the way it works in the Israel Defense Forces. The commander’s job is to take care of his soldiers – by leading them into battle, and by making sure there is enough ice cream for them before he takes. And in turn, the soldiers see this model of leadership and learn what it means to bear responsibility and to lead."

http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/our-soldiers-our-children/

During the war with Gaza, our soldiers' moral was very high.  This was not only due to the amazing support they received from the people of their Nation cheering them on.  Many of them knew they were fighting with God on their side and with His protection against their enemy.  Some of you may have already seen these, but the two videos below represent the strength and courage of these young men going into battle.  The first is at the Kotel (Western Wall) and the second on the battlefield before entering Gaza.

The words to the song they are singing in both videos are as follows:

We are believers, children of believers
and we have none (else) to rely on
but on our father
our father in heaven

Israel Israel
believed in The Lord
for He is your aid and your protection

There is one conversation that Linda had with a soldier on the bus one morning on the way to work that she will never forget.  She was sitting across from a soldier (facing each other) and she felt she needed to encourage him. However, ultimately, he encouraged her.  She asked if he knew English, and he said a little.  As they leaned in towards each other to talk, she began to tell him how very, very proud we are of them, and thanked him for serving and protecting us - that without them (the military) we could not live here safely.  She let him know that there are many people around the world praying for them, and that we are doing our best to speak the truth about Israel, and the operation, to those whom we have contact.  This young man, so full of gratitude and sincerity, said thank you.  But it was what he said next with his whole heart and with deep conviction that Linda will never forget...WE ARE STRONG.  It was like he was trying to convince her that everything was going to be okay.  

If there is one way to show the Jewish people that you say what you mean and mean what you say, it's to stick it out in the hard times with them, and not be afraid - whether that means not leaving them behind, or coming to their aid when they need it.  Recently Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman made this statement, “a true friend is measured in the time of need and by his actions.” 

Linda had an interesting conversation at the bank recently.  While transacting her normal CFI banking, the manager who she has known for almost 4 years came up to her to talk.  She asked, Have the Christians stopped sending money to help Israel?  Linda was stunned, and said No, why?  The manager's answer was that she thought because of the war, they would not support Israel anymore, since most of the world was condemning them.  Linda was able to tell her that not only have the Christians not stopped, but they have been sending more to help support Israel during the operation.  This was definitely a good opportunity to show our sincere and undeterred support of the Jewish homeland. 

During the operation, Jim has been able to visit several bases of the Israel Defense Forces.  It is always an honor and privilege to meet those defending this Land, but especially during a time of war.  

A couple of weeks ago he was invited to a ceremony of a commander change-over.  After the ceremony, he was taken to a base near Gaza where tanks were having reliability maintenance performed on them.  It was an interesting time to learn more about both the tanks and to see the soldiers performing their duty in a time of war.

The picture below is quite outstanding.  Here in their mobile base, the soldiers have a mobile synagogue (knesset) set up.  Inside the cabinet is a Torah scroll (Bible).

The lunch was not the "normal" army base lunch.  It consisted of rolls (a small amount of lunch meat was to be had until it was gone) cans of fruit & corn, and packs containing a Pepsi & an Israeli candy bar.  And you know what - no complaining, just grateful to have a meal sitting down at a table.

Jim and another CFI volunteer spent the lunchtime learning about the soldiers and their ambitions for the future.  The young lady Jim spoke with shared that she re-enlisted in the army because she could think of nothing more noble to do with her life than to serve her country.

Not long before the operation ended, we were invited to visit our first Israeli Air Force base.  Jim's project at CFI - David's Shield - usually focuses on the Israeli Army, so this was a special treat.  We were given a tour of several areas and ate lunch with some commanders.  Due to the sensitivity of the base, we couldn't take pictures of their operational mission, but here's the medical facility.  All ready for Chanukah it seems...

Israeli Air Force logo

Even though the current operation appears to be over with Gaza, the soldiers are still on high alert with tensions on the Syrian border.  They have told us they are always in one of two modes - at war or preparing for war. 

May we, as Christian Friends of Israel, continue to be a true friend of the people of Israel.

A friend loves at all times.

Proverbs 17:17

Terror attacks in Jerusalem

In the midst of the war in Gaza, things are heating up in Jerusalem.  As the rockets continue to fly into Israel (about 3,300 rockets since July 8th) there have been several incidents in the area in the past few weeks, and a few serious attacks today.

Last week at a checkpoint, a terrorist tried to get into Israel proper with bomb explosives.  A very quick border police officer foiled the attack by jumping into the moving car and stopping it.  Here's an actual video of the brave police officer.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/watch-in-foiled-attack-cop-jumped-through-car-window/

Friday evening, cars in the German colony neighborhood of Jerusalem were set on fire for flying Israeli flags.  

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4553524,00.html


The neighborhood where we used to live, and where many of our staff currently live, has seen an uptick of terrorist acts in the past few weeks, including molotov cocktails and rock throwing.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/arabs-and-jews-at-odds-in-east-talpiot/

This morning, there were once again, riots on the Temple Mount - which is actually getting to be quite normal in the past month.  However, police are injured, and it prevents those who want to visit the site.

On our way to work this morning, the police were looking for someone, as they were stopping traffic, and boarded our bus - not finding who they were looking for.

Most disturbing, are the two most recents attacks today in Jerusalem.  First, earlier this afternoon, a terrorist ran a heavy duty back end loader into a bus, injuring the driver, running over (and killing) a pedestrian, and injuring about 6 others.  Residents are familiar with this kind of attack from July 2008 when a front end loader went down Jaffa Road killing 3 and injuring 50 people.

http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/Terrorism/Palestinian/Pages/Terrorist-attack-on-Jaffa-Road-Jerusalem-2-Jul-2008.aspx

Last week Hamas Spokesman Fauzi Barhum called for exactly such attacks: "Do you not have cars, motorcycles, knives, clubs, diggers and trucks? If you do and do not hit Jews or settlers, and do not kill dozen of Zionists - then you are not Palestinian."  The family says police shot him dead for a "bumping into the bus."  The video shows otherwise, this link provides a video of the attack, the 3rd video in the article.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/183705#.U9-t1FbAw7c

Then, later this afternoon, a 20 year old soldier was shot  in the stomach at close range in a drive by terror attack on Mount Scopus, Jerusalem.  The suspects fled into a nearby arab village.  

http://www.timesofisrael.com/gunman-opens-fire-at-pedestrian-in-jerusalem/

After these two terrorist acts today, Jerusalem Mayor Barkat says: Israelis and especially Jerusalem residents must remain vigilant during this tense time “and no less important, continue with their daily lives.”  Disrupting Israeli life “is exactly what the terrorists are trying to do to us. We mustn’t give them that reward.”   And so we do.  Please continue to pray for Israel and Jerusalem.  

         Psalm 2

Why do the nations rage,

And the people plot a vain thing?

The kings of the earth set themselves,

And the rulers take counsel together,

Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,

“Let us break Their bonds in pieces

And cast away Their cords from us.”

He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;

The Lord shall hold them in derision.

Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,

And distress them in His deep displeasure:

“Yet I have set My King

On My holy hill of Zion.”

“I will declare the decree:

The Lord has said to Me,

‘You are My Son,

Today I have begotten You.

Ask of Me, and I will give You

The nations for Your inheritance,

And the ends of the earth for Your possession.

You shall break them with a rod of iron;

You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’”

Now therefore, be wise, O kings;

Be instructed, you judges of the earth.

Serve the Lord with fear,

And rejoice with trembling.

Kiss the Son, lest He be angry,

And you perish in the way,

When His wrath is kindled but a little.

Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.

In the midst of it all

Today's post will be very short, as we are preparing to go away for a couple of days for our 25th wedding anniversary.  Jim likes to joke that if he had told me 25 years ago that he was going to take me to Israel for our 25th anniversary, I would have been thrilled!  Which of course I would have been, and am. :)  I now say to him, if you would have told me 25 years ago that you were going to take me to Israel in the middle of a war for our 25th anniversary, I would have told you that you were crazy!!  We can only say, we would truly rather be nowhere else on earth than where we are right now.

We  were honored once again to visit another army base near Gaza on Friday night, to visit corporately and one-on-one with the soldiers to encourage them.  We were literally "dodging rockets" during the entire time - the drive there, during our visit with them, and driving back home.  Once again, we could sense a strong peace and the Hand of God's protection.  Fear or anxiety was no where near us, just an overwhelming privilege of being able to cheer on those protecting this Land.  We are grateful for the invitation from the commander to come encourage his troops, it was a blessed time right before Shabbat (Sabbath) began.

Iron Dome taking out 2 rockets above us

On our way home, we stopped to watch the sun set, and thank God for yet another gift of Shabbat as we blessed the bread and the juice in remembrance of all He has done for us.

Yesterday, Saturday, we had a temporary cease fire.  We used this opportunity to spend a relaxing Shabbat day at the beach.  The peace of God was so evident, we even took a nap in the sun.

Today, even though Israel agreed to another 24 hour ceasefire, Hamas continued firing rockets, starting last night.  Israel has thus again begun protecting Her people as well.  Here's a 2 minute video review of the operation posted by the IDF yesterday.  We pray, and ask each of you to join us, for the innocent Gazan civilians.  The leaders of terrorism know no limits to the evil schemes they use (including putting their own people in harm's way) to continue their confessed desire to exterminate the Jewish People.  This is not a new war, it's just the latest.

So, now we are headed to the central coast to reflect on the blessings God has given the two of us to be a team - in unity for His purposes.  And if opportunity arises, and another invitation is given......we will go visit our boys.

Thank you for your continued support, prayers and encouragement - we are representing YOU when we tell the troops of those around the world who are praying for them.

Friday night with the troops

Delivering hugs and other essentials

Our eyes are on You Lord!

It is said that a picture is worth a 1,000 words.  Today's blog will have many pictures.  We want to share this experience with you as best we can, and pictures tell the story better than we ever could.  We pray you can feel the heart of these boys as we did, and love & pray for them as if they were your own.

Tuesday we had the honor and privilege to deliver supplies to soldiers in the south near Gaza.  It was quickly put together to meet the current needs at the commander's request.  A van-full of CFI volunteers, along with one of our founder/directors (Sharon Sanders) travelled to Tel Aviv to pick up the order from our supplier.

We would be delivering 400 packets to an Engineering Corps just outside of Gaza.  The packet included a towel, t-shirt, underwear, socks, a card with our contact information & a prayer, and a personal postcard from us.

Front of the card that has our CFI contact info: The heading says, "We are with you!"

The back has a prayer for the soldiers.

The personal postcard we had made below says the following:

Dear Soldier

This gift comes from the supporters of Christians from the Nations

To say thank you for all you give to protect Israel,  

The God Given Land of Promise.

We love you and salute you and pray for you, 

We are so proud of you, as your own parents must be.

For The Lord your God goes with you, to battle your enemies for you, to save you. (Deut. 20:4)

CHRISTIAN FRIENDS OF ISRAEL

We also had the privilege to assemble the last 50 packs before we left on our journey.

Good thing we brought the big van!

This is our main supplier of equipment for the soldiers, 

wishing us well before we head toward the battlefield.

But first - a code red rocket siren goes off in the Tel Aviv area.  We all head to the safe place of the building - the stairwell, until we hear the blasts of the rockets being taken out by Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system.  This alert, around 10:30 am Tuesday, was the one that had a rocket hit not far from us, near the airport - this caused quite a stir, as you know, shutting down the airlines in and out of Israel.

After the all clear, we get ready to leave, but not before meeting these soldiers on their way to Gaza.  We were able to encourage them and pray for them before heading out on their mission.  And for Linda, these brave young warriors were the beginning of many recipients of hugs this day.

About 45 minutes down the road - parallel to the Mediterranean Sea - we were at the Israeli city of Ashkelon, the city just to Gaza's north, where many of the rockets have been 

directed these past few weeks (months, years...).

We began to see military vehicles everywhere we went.

Then the next code red rocket alert went off, although we didn't hear the siren.

We did, however, see the Iron Dome take out one of the rockets.

Once we turned to continue east, we could see Gaza covered with smoke in the distance.

Once we again turned south to continue in the direction we needed to go, we were stopped by a road block.  Apparently there had been a "security situation" (possible infiltration) and they weren't letting most people through.  Knowing we'd made it this far and weren't going to turn back, we contacted our supplier, who had the commander call and talk with the soldiers at the road closure.  

In the meantime, while we were awaiting permission to continue, a soldier came to the military vehicle ahead of us with a slight head wound.

One of our volunteers, Frank, is a retired surgical nurse, so he asked if he could take a look at the injury.  The soldier was concerned that he may have a concussion, and Frank encouraged him that he'd be okay.

Once the commander explained who we were and where we were headed, the soldier at the road blockade gave us directions another way to get to our destination.  

We met the commander at a gas station off base, and we followed him to the army base.  We were very impressed that when we arrived, those guarding the base wouldn't let the commander on base without full procedure of checking identity.  Normally, he would arrive, they salute, and you're on.  But now, with Hamas terrorists wearing IDF uniforms, they cannot be too careful.

As you will see, we're out in the middle of no where.  

These temporary bases are set up like MASH units.

The soldiers begin to congregate when they see our arrival.

They listened very intently as we shared why we have come.

And are very appreciative of our support of them.

Jim spoke with a soldier for an interview to share through CFI.

We shared our love & encouragement with as many as possible one-on-one.

They have been here for two weeks.  This is where they eat, sleep and carry on throughout each day.

We were blessed to be able to hand deliver some of the packets we brought.

They were so grateful, they asked us to take their picture.

Giving thanks.

With much appreciation, there were many hugs to go around.

We shared with them that they are younger than our own daughter (25), and that they are like sons to us.  As many as possible received a hug, being told the hug was from their mothers (who could not be there themselves to do so).  Look how young these boys are.  When told our daughter was 25, they began telling us their ages, 18, 19, 20, 21.....our hearts were overwhelmed.   It was not long before they were coming up to Linda to receive hugs, not waiting for her to come to them.

A few soldiers stayed for a group photo.

Every time we visit an army base, they are so kind and generous.  It's like they can't accept they we came to bless them, without blessing us in return.  This soldier went to bring us each a cup of cold water.  We didn't want to accept their supply of water, but they insisted.

And then it happened.....the Coca-Cola truck arrived!!

We were honored to help these brave warriors unload their delivery of water, Coke and iced tea.

Happy guys!  What more could you ask for on the battlefield - clean underwear and a Coke! :)

Love this!  Carrying a box of tea while drinking a Coke.

This was another base not far away that would also receive the packets we delivered.

They didn't want us to leave, and we didn't want to leave either!  So after unloading the shipment of drinks, we were invited to join a few soldiers under a shade tent.

We spent quite a lot of time talking with the boys.  They expressed how they felt about the situation with us, and we shared our thoughts with them - always trying to encourage them.  Many thanked us for "risking our lives" to come see them.  We also gave away as many Psalm 91 cards as we could.  They willing received them with sincere thanks.

We believe it was a good reprieve for them, to break up the monotony of the days.

We also let them know we were praying for them.  And that as Christians, how grateful we are to the Jewish people - where would we be without being told about the God of Israel, of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob??  And also that we know that without them - the physical guardians of this God-given Land, we could not be here, we would not be safe.  We thanked them for being our protectors.  For being willing to put their lives on the line to keep us safe.

Friendships form quick.

Sharon was able to have great discussions; sharing her heart, and the heart of CFI.  And we can tell you, from what they told us, they do not want a cease fire.  They know the price being paid, and their hearts are heavy with the loss of their fellow warriors, and still they feel it would be a defeat to not fulfill their mission.  They know that if Israel was to stop now, it would only be a matter of time before we would be in this same situation again.

We stayed for a long time having talks with with different soldiers as they would come and go.  If there was one question that was difficult to hear, it was when one brave warrior asked, "How does America see us?"  What we wanted to say was - who cares? - but instead we encouraged them that while it may not seem like the government is supportive, most of the citizens are behind them, believing in them, and praying for them.

Even though they were in no hurry to have us leave, we realized that we must go and let them rest.  They had gone to bed at 2:30 am, and awakened at 6:00 am - that was a good rest they said!  However, when one of the soldiers took the camera, he got these photos of these sweet young men sleeping.

They really listened to what we had to say, they wanted to know what we thought of them and their mission.  These soldiers know what the media has to say about them, and they really, really need encouragement.  They believe in their heart that what they are doing is right, but they need others to know it as well.  We always tell them that we not only believe that they are right - but righteous - in defending the Land God gave them, just as thousands of years ago, they are the modern day "David's army."  They don't take this lightly when we tell them this.

While we were at the base, most notably while we sat talking, cannon fire could be heard in the distance.  At one point this helicopter flew overhead.  They said it had probably brought a wounded soldier out of Gaza.

When it was time to leave, the GPS showed where we were at - in the middle of nowhere. :)  Hungry and ready to eat lunch, we headed north. 

More army vehicles and temporary bases.

They know we are friends - we wouldn't be down here if we weren't! :)

We were not far from Gaza City (in the background).

Wanting to support local residents, we chose to eat lunch here, about 2 miles from the Gaza border.

A bull is a good symbol to know there is food inside. :)

Several medic trucks & tanks.

Waiting for our food.  There were only soldiers and reporters at this establishment.  What we realized while we were enjoying our lunch, was that we were inside the firing zone.  To our east, Israel was firing cannons over our head at Gaza to our west.  Every few minutes you could hear (and feel) the cannons going off.  It almost sounded like someone kept slamming the door.  

This precious young boy was our "waiter".  He was so proud to be helping us.  He would stop by every few minutes and ask if we needed anything, and if everything was good.  He said the food was "delicious, just for us." :)  He also asked if we liked the chips (french fries), when we said they were great! He said, "I made them!"

Along with a nice tip for our friend, 

we left him one of the Psalm 91 cards which he promptly began to read.

As we continued north, we began to see signs for many of the towns 

we continually see listed on the code red rocket alert app.

The towns around Gaza have lived with rocket fire for many years.  

In these towns close to the border, there are bomb shelters everywhere.  

Especially at public places like playgrounds and bus stops like the one below.

The white building in the very middle is an "add on" bomb shelter to a home.

From there, we continued north back to Jerusalem.  For the five of us on this journey we had an amazing adventure that will not soon be forgotten, nor lived up to.  Nothing can compare to what we experienced that day.  We never once felt unsafe, knowing God was with us, and was directing our path.  Each one of us would do it again in a heartbeat.  And we may get a chance....

Psalm91

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;

My God, in Him I will trust.”

Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler

And from the perilous pestilence.

He shall cover you with His feathers,

And under His wings you shall take refuge;

His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,

Nor of the arrow that flies by day,

Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,

Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

A thousand may fall at your side,

And ten thousand at your right hand;

But it shall not come near you.

Only with your eyes shall you look,

And see the reward of the wicked.

Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,

Even the Most High, your dwelling place,

No evil shall befall you,

Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;

For He shall give His angels charge over you,

To keep you in all your ways.

In their hands they shall bear you up,

Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,

The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;

I will set him on high, because he has known My name.

He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble;

I will deliver him and honor him.

With long life I will satisfy him,

And show him My salvation.”