THE ‘ISRAELI SUMMER’ CRISIS

 As a quarter of a million protestors took to the streets in July and August in what has come to be known as the “Israeli Summer,” much of the world has learned for the first time of the high cost of living that has proved so crushing to Israel’s poor and middle class.

With your help, Vision for Israel & The Joseph Storehouse has been assisting for many years those who have fallen through the cracks of Israeli society. Now, as the entire nation is focused on social justice, we are calling on all who have so faithfully blessed Israel to help us do even more.

Scripture tells us that “pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress…(James 1:27)” Now is the perfect time to model that love. The entire nation is watching.

At least 250,000 Israelis have been regularly taking to the streets in protest of the high cost of living, mounting healthcare expenses, failing educational system, and other injustices in the country. Tent Cities have risen up where young people camp out in thousands as a symbol of what they see as a disenfranchised future.

None of the chants and slogans we have heard came as a surprise. Every week Vision for Israel & The Joseph Storehouse vans personally visit families and single mothers who desperately need help. We bring them food, clothing, household items – all the necessities to make it through the shortfall they are experiencing each month – but we stay to hear their stories.

We are Israelis. These are our people. Our hearts break for them. But, over the course

 of many years we have seen how all your love and generosity has created a miracle. Now, these are also YOUR people. Those who have been helped by the aid you have sent through Vision for Israel & The Joseph Storehouse have heard in your gifts Ruth’s whisper, “your people will be my people, your God will be my God. (Ruth 1:16).”

Your love and generosity are answering vital needs. These needs are such a concern in Israel, that they are regularly bringing 250,000 protesters into the streets:

Israelis are concerned for their children’s education.  With your help, Vision for Israel & The Joseph Storehouse has given to-date more than 158,000 back packs filled with school supplies, and vouchers for text books through our Pack to School program.

Israelis are alarmed by mounting healthcare costs and afraid they will be unable to care for their aging relatives. Because of your generosity, Vision for Israel has been able to step into the healthcare gap – we purchase medical equipment for hospitals and clinics, make sure emergency services have the highest quality first aid kits and disaster relief supplies, and visit nursing homes to assess needs and return with everything from blankets and beds to high-end medical equipment that will allow residents to receive treatment onsite rather than being transported from home to hospital.

Israelis are finding it difficult to make ends meet. Each week Vision for Israel vans fan out from our Joseph Storehouse facility with your gifts of food, clothing, blankets, household supplies, and even financial vouchers. We come with smiles and the loving assurance that they are not alone in their need.

Throughout this “Israeli Summer” of protests, ones that are now spilling over into the Fall, Israelis have taken to the streets with their fears. The remarkable thing is that they have found us already there. We are already there in the streets, classrooms, hospital rooms, and transitional facilities – wherever Israelis are in need, Vision for Israel & The Joseph Storehouse is there with your love.

As the whole nation of Israel is looking for solutions and answers to their deepest fears, let’s do all we can now to communicate to them that they are not alone.

Blessings from Jersusalem,

Barry and Batya Segal

Co-founders of Vision for Israel

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By Phone

Call us on 01793 862121 to donate by card.