Operation Exodus - Ebenezer Emergency Fund

Summer 2010
Operation Exodus
A ministry of Ebenezer Emergency Fund International
IN THIS ISSUE:
Aliyah: fulfilling
God’s promise
Focus on Moscow base
3
6–7
From Kazakhstan to
the Promised Land
8
Joy for Moldova families
9
Special delivery: a
wheelchair for Valeriy
10
Eager to help in Greenland 12
A Christian ministry helping the Jewish people return to Israel
Operation Exodus
THE PRAYER
BATTLE FOR ALIYAH
Operation Exodus
By Joan Thomas
International Prayer Co-ordinator
‘Moreover the word of the LORD came
to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you
see?” And I said, “I see a branch of
an almond tree.” Then the LORD said
to me, “You have seen well, for I am
ready to perform My word.” And the
word of the LORD came to me the
second time, saying, “What do you
see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot,
and it is facing away from the north.”’
ALIYAH: FULFILLING
GOD’S PROMISE
Aliyah is the Biblical term for ‘going up to Jerusalem.’ It especially
referred to the mandatory ‘going up’ to the Temple for the
three pilgrim feasts of the Lord’ – Passover (Pesach), Pentecost
(Shavuot) and Tabernacles (Succot).
Jeremiah 1:11-13 (NKJV)
PRAYER MATERIAL
Prayer has been at the centre of the
ministry of Ebenezer - Operation Exodus
from the beginning. We offer two ways to
help those who support the ministry to
be meaningfully involved in prayer:
Over the years of praying for the ministry
of Ebenezer - Operation Exodus we have
experienced that prayer for aliyah, the return
of the Jewish people to Israel from the lands of
their exile, is seriously challenged and contested
by demonic powers!
This should not surprise us in the light of these
words spoken some years ago at an International
Prayer Conference in Jerusalem by Ofer Amitai, a
Messianic pastor:
‘Aliyah is at the centre of the Middle East conflict. Aliyah
comes by God’s initiative, preordained and promised,
each time involving conflict in both heaven and earth.
Israel’s restoration always signals the next step in God’s
plan; after the exodus from Egypt came the Torah, God’s
foundational Word, from Genesis to Deuteronomy. After
the return from Babylon came preparation for the Word
made flesh – the first coming of our Lord Jesus. Today
comes preparation for the second coming and God’s
Kingdom on earth. Each time it ends with complete victory
for God and His people!”
The Lord’s call to Ebenezer - Operation Exodus is to stand
in the gap in these increasingly urgent days, to co-operate
with Him as His prophetic Word unfolds for the ingathering
of the Jewish people from all over the earth.
We have learned the importance of basing our prayers on
God’s Word and we see from Jeremiah 1:11-13 that the Lord
Himself is watching over His word to perform it. As well as
seeing the almond blossom (which indicates alertness and
activity, blossoming in late winter), Jeremiah also saw the
boiling pot portraying the battle that was to break forth!
As we take up our positions as ‘watchmen’ for His word
to be fulfilled we will find that the full range of prayer
is opened to us under the Holy Spirit’s direction. He is
leading us in prayer like an orchestra conductor so that
we are in harmony. This scripture from Isaiah 41:15-16 will
The Everything by Prayer section in
this publication, the quarterly Bulletin,
is particularly for those of you who have
many calls upon your time but still want
to pray effectively for our ministry. This
feature draws key points from articles
in the Bulletin to focus your praying and
thanksgiving, with appropriate scriptures.
Confidential prayer material for those of
you who desire to spend time to pray for
the ministry personally or in partnerships
and groups. This consists of a bi-monthly
Prayer Alert and regular Information
Updates of our operations and work
across the ministry. Information Updates
are urgent prayer requests sent by email.
If you believe you are called to pray at
this deeper level, please contact your
national office.
In these modern times aliyah refers
to the return of the Jewish people
from their dispersion to settle in their
own land, Israel. For nearly 20 years
Ebenezer – Operation Exodus has
been helping Jewish people, mainly
from the former Soviet Union, to
make aliyah – to ‘return’ to the land
of their forefathers.
The British withdrawal from their
mandatory responsibility in what
was called Palestine on 14 May 1948
provided the Jewish people with
the opportunity to establish their
state. Under the leadership of Prime
Minister David Ben-Gurion, the first
legislation enacted by the State of
Israel was the Law of Return whereby
all Jewish people were not only
welcomed, but encouraged to settle
in their ancient homeland.
Traditional Bible interpretation
teaches that any prophecy regarding
the return of the Jewish people to
their homeland was fulfilled in the
Jewish return from Babylon in the
middle of the sixth century BC at the
instruction of the Persian king Cyrus.
Such thinking fails to recognise the
‘forever’ of the covenant promise of
land that God made to Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob and their descendants. It
also ignores the detail spoken by
Isaiah that God would ‘reach out His
hand a second time to reclaim the
remnant that is left of His people’ and
this time ‘He … will gather the exiles
of Israel … from the four quarters of
the earth’ (Isaiah 11:10-12, NIV). The
return from Babylon is immediately
disqualified – it was only from a
north-easterly direction and that was
only the first re-gathering.
Isaiah also specifies that this second
re-gathering of the exiles will claim
global attention as a ‘banner.’ That
is indeed the case today: the whole
world is aware of this small nation
bordering the eastern Mediterranean.
However, ‘banner’ is translated from
the Hebrew nes, which can also be
translated ‘miracle’: an excellent
statement of what God is doing.
By the outbreak of World War I,
65,000 Jews from Russia and
Eastern Europe had made aliyah
to the land of their forefathers. As
Europe darkened in the 1930s aliyah
escalated. Following the Holocaust,
survivors flooded to ‘Palestine’
although few were permitted entry
until the gates were opened wide
in 1948.
Michael Elkins, a BBC correspondent
in Jerusalem, described this miracle:
continued on Page 4
2
A Christian ministry helping the Jewish people return to Israel
continued on Page 4
A Christian ministry helping the Jewish people return to Israel
3
Operation Exodus
Operation Exodus
Overcoming
Singing about
the Land
A
n intensive week’s ‘fishing’
in the Kiev area of Ukraine
enabled an Ebenezer team to
visit between five and eight Jewish
families each day and distribute 100
food parcels. Accompanying the team
members were workers from the
Beiteinu Jewish organisation, which
especially helps families with young
children. As Tanya puts it, ‘Basically
all of them were potential olim
[repatriate] families.’
The Beiteinu workers were so
impressed by the way our team
the obstacles
talked with Jewish families and gave
them the heavy food parcels that they
asked many questions about
the ministry.
They visited a 16-year-old girl in a
wheelchair. Tanya says, ‘She was
taking a singing course and we
asked her to sing a song for us.
It was about a little country where
the dreams became reality and
where she could find her future
happiness and her prince.
We told her that the little country
was Israel!’
The Prayer Battle for Aliyah
Continued from page 2
help our understanding:
‘Behold, I will make you to be a new, sharp,
threshing instrument having teeth; you shall
thresh the mountains and beat them small, and
shall make the hills as chaff. You shall winnow
them and the wind shall carry them away, and the
tempest or whirlwind shall scatter them. And you
shall rejoice in the Lord, you shall glory in the Holy
One of Israel’ (Isaiah 41:15-16, Amplified).
Ebenezer - Operation Exodus is an intercessory
ministry with a prophetic task. This can be seen
as we pray to undergird our operations and
intercede for prayer initiatives across the nations
which prepare the aliyah highways for the exodus
to come. We see evidence as we go forward
in obedience and unity that the Holy Spirit is
moulding us into a threshing instrument of prayer
for the ingathering of His Jewish people from the
four corners of the earth. Interwoven in our prayers
must be an appeal to the Lord for the revelation of
His call to be received by the Gentile Church
to become involved and help the Jewish people
go home.
The Lord calls us to prayer and promises to be with
us in it. We are encouraged to go forward under the
Holy Spirit’s leading and resist the enemy, confident
that the Lord is with us in the battle. ‘Be strong
and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of
them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who
goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake
you’ (Deuteronomy 31:6; Hebrews 13:5b, NKJV).
4
ALIYAH: FULFILLING GOD’S PROMISE
Continued from page 3
‘They came from all of Europe, they came from Russia, from
the United States, South Africa, Canada, Argentina, Australia,
Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Tunisia, from the Atlas Mountains in Morocco.
They came from places where most people hardly imagined
that there could be Jews – from India, from China, from the
Hadramaut of Aden, from the mountains and jungles of
Ethiopia. They came from 42 countries; from Western cultures,
Eastern cultures, from tribal cultures as primitive as those of
the Stone Age. They were monogamous, polygamous. They
were doctors, lawyers, merchants, goldsmiths, witchdoctors,
goat-herders. They hunted with blow-pipes, with clubs, bows
and arrows. They were Jews, all of them Jews.’
Since 1948 over three million Jewish people have returned to
Israel. During the 1990s one million of them left the former
Soviet Union to make aliyah. Since being founded in 1991,
Ebenezer has helped many thousands of them to reach the
Promised Land and continues to be a key instrument in this
miraculous movement as the God of Israel fulfils His promise
not to leave any behind: ‘Then they will know that I am the
LORD their God, for though I sent them into exile among the
nations, I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any
behind’ (Ezekiel 39:28, NIV).
Murray Dixon
Author, international speaker and former rector
of Christ Church, Jerusalem.
With your ongoing prayer and financial support Ebenezer
– Operation Exodus can help many more Jewish people to
make aliyah.
A Christian ministry helping the Jewish people return to Israel
T
o the great joy of our regional
representatives in the Republic
of Alania, in Russia’s northern
Caucasus, five members of a family
flew to Israel at the end of February
after a four-year struggle to prove
their Jewish roots.
Galina, son Alexei, his wife Ilona
and their daughters, Kira and Anna,
were very downhearted about
being refused permission to make
aliyah, but Ebenezer representatives
encouraged them to persevere, telling
them about God’s plan and promises
to Jewish people to bring them back
to their own land and that nothing
was impossible for Him. This inspired
them to obtain all the necessary
documents. Ebenezer helped them
in practical ways through the drawnout process. Then the day came when
the family returned in triumph from
the Israeli consul in Moscow with
their visas.
A few days before making aliyah the
family gave Ebenezer a letter. Here is
an edited version:
‘We found out about
Ebenezer from some
of our friends by
chance. We had
made a number of
attempts to go to
Israel but did not
succeed, no matter
how hard we tried.
Galina’s father,
Leb, was born in
China and lived in
Dagestan, whereas she
was born in Azerbaijan. He
belonged to the Communist
party and had to cover up
his Jewish origin for several
years, so it was not easy
to find the documents
proving his roots. It is
through the support and
assistance rendered to us
by two dear people, Alan G and Alan
K, representing Ebenezer, that we are
able to make preparations for flight
to the Promised Land.
most important of all was the
understanding and kind words from
these two young men.
We faced some difficulties, including
finance, and Ebenezer, as usual,
was always there to help. But
Today, as we are on the threshold of
a new life, we express our heartfelt
gratitude to Ebenezer.’
Struggle over: Galina (centre), Alexei, Ilona and their
daughters, Kira and Anna, have reached Israel at last.
Exodus from Poland
‘I still do not understand how we ended up speaking
in Poland, but I saw the mighty hand of God in it,’ says
Tanya, Ebenezer Prayer Co-ordinator for Ukraine. She and
husband Viktor, fSU area director based in Kiev, gave
an illustrated presentation about EEF’s work in churches
in Warsaw and other places. Viktor spoke about how
Christians can be involved in helping Jewish people return
to Israel and the practical help we give, and Tanya spoke
about prayer for aliyah and ‘fishing’ – seeking out Jewish
families in Ukraine.
fSU arrive at the main railway station in Warsaw en route
to Israel.
Piotr, EEF National Co-ordinator in Poland, was much
encouraged by Viktor and Tanya’s ministry. Viktor spoke in
Polish at each meeting – ‘the Lord knew 10 years ago that
we’d need that language in due time to speak of exodus
from Poland,’ says Tanya.
Viktor and Tanya explained to audiences that the Jewish
return to Israel is worldwide and that God hasn’t forgotten
the Jewish people in Poland. ‘We encouraged them to pray
for aliyah from Poland.’
Response was encouraging and in one church in Warsaw
30 people committed themselves to pray for Israel and
aliyah of Jewish people from Poland. The pastor of that
church, a former head of the Pentecostal Union of Poland,
spoke of how years ago he saw Jewish people from the
Encouraging aliyah (from right):
Tanya, Viktor and Piotr
A Christian ministry helping the Jewish people return to Israel
5
Operation Exodus
FOCUS on our fSU bases
We continue our series on Ebenezer – Operation Exodus bases
in the former Soviet Union, from where teams carry out the vital
tasks of finding Jewish people and helping them to go ‘home’
to Israel in accordance with God’s prophetic Word, distributing
humanitarian aid and encouraging Russian churches to take up
the ministry of aliyah.
Operation Exodus
MOSCOW:
A gateway to Israel
Boris and Elia (front, 3rd
and 2nd from left)
with some of the Mosco
w team.
M
oscow is not only the
capital, the largest and most
populous city in Russia, but
it is also the major transportation
centre of the former Soviet Union.
The main train routes and motorways
run via Moscow. Flights to different
destinations go from Moscow’s
airports. The 18 oblasts (regions) of
central Russia around Moscow are the
most densely populated of this vast
land. The largest Jewish community
lives in this part of the country. So
it was hardly surprising that the
leadership of Ebenezer Emergency
Fund took the strategic decision
that led to the opening of a base in
Moscow in 2000.
Base drivers and staff meet between
50 and 180 Jewish people each month
as they arrive at the six railway
stations and four airports. From there
they are either taken to the Israeli
6
consulate as part of their aliyah
process or, if they are departing for
Israel, are taken to join their flights
to Tel Aviv. In March we helped 120
potential olim (repatriates), mostly
young people, when they arrived
from 18 places in central Russia. The
young people had appointments
with the consul to join Jewish Agency
programmes in Israel, so we provided
or paid for hotel accommodation and
covered their travelling expenses.
We have established very friendly,
open and trustful relationships
with Jewish organisations which
enables our local representatives and
‘fishermen’ to find and help more
Jewish families in their regions every
month. Many Christians in central
Russia have become involved in the
work and we have representatives
in almost every oblast centre. With
their pastors’ blessing and under their
churches’ prayer covering they follow
their calling of helping Jewish people
make aliyah.
As well as the many people we help
to go to the Promised Land there are
a particular group of Jewish people
we can never forget: the Holocaust
survivors. Through one special
Ebenezer project we are able to buy
medicines for 60 of them each month.
The wonderful Passover feast is
celebrated by Jewish people every
spring to commemorate their
ancestors’ exodus from Egypt.
Because many of them are unable
to come to Moscow to buy matzo,
the main Passover symbol, Ebenezer
workers deliver it to the surrounding
towns. Since we started doing this
eight years ago we have had many
opportunities to share about the
exodus from all over the world,
A Christian ministry helping the Jewish people return to Israel
including the land of ‘the north’
(Isaiah 43:6) which is going on today.
This year over 1,000 Jewish families
in 30 towns around Moscow received
matzo and a lot of them said they
were interested in going to Israel.
Your prayers, as well as the
commitment of our representatives,
fishermen, office staff, volunteers and
helpers across central Russia, have
resulted in a 3,000-strong prayer
network of intercessors and local
church members. We wish to thank
every one of you who supports the
work of Ebenezer – Operation Exodus
in prayer and financial giving. Every
time we say goodbye to our dear
Jewish people flying from Moscow
to Israel we are reminded that your
labour and ours is not in vain!
Boris and Elia, Ebenezer Moscow
base leaders.
Please continue to support the
ministry of our Moscow base through
prayer and financial giving as the
Lord leads.
FACT FILE: Moscow Base
Total Jewish population: Approximately 108,000 (in city itself)
Number helped to make aliyah: 1,090
Number of families our teams visited in 2009: 1,445
Visits to churches and pastors: 699
Food parcels purchased: 908
Visits to Jewish organisations: 266
Jewish people helped with consul visits: 125
Cost of operating base: approximately $500,000 per year.
Helped with documents: 105
A Christian ministry helping the Jewish people return to Israel
7
Operation Exodus
Operation Exodus
Misha (centre) helps his
parents go ‘home’ to Israel.
From Kazakhstan to the
Promised Land
Journey of tears –
and joy
We are here
thanks to you!
For elderly Jewish people, leaving the familiar
places and faces behind to move to Israel is not
an easy step to take. But the Lord comforts His
people as He leads them home.
Yakov and his wife, Nelea, both over 70,
left Kazakhstan for the Promised Land with
tears in their eyes. Their son, Misha, came
from Israel to help them with preparations,
pack their suitcases, accompany them on
a 24-hour train journey from Pavlodar to
Almaty and then fly with them to Tel Aviv.
This elderly couple admitted that their
decision to make aliyah was influenced
by the need for their children’s help and
support. Their daughter has been in Israel
for 15 years and Misha went there in 2002.
Ebenezer also encouraged them to go
and helped them with the aliyah process.
Thanks to the generous giving of our
supporters the whole family is reunited in
the land of their forefathers.
We need your ongoing prayer and financial
support to enable us to help reunite many
more Jewish families in Israel.
Joy for Moldova families
B
ut for you it would not have
occurred to us even to think
of repatriation to Israel, let
alone making the decision to go and
start the process of all preparations!
We are here today thanks to you!’
said Anna as she and her family
stood in Chisinau airport, Moldova
saying goodbye to Ebenezer team
leader Pavel.
‘
‘God’s ways are so wonderful!’ says
Pavel, explaining that Ebenezer first
came into contact with the family six
months previously through meeting
Anna’s mother. She was encouraged
to tell her daughter’s family about the
opportunity to go to Israel. This got
the family interested and Ebenezer
encouraged them all not to delay
making the decision. Soon they were
making preparations. Ebenezer paid
for their passports and as soon as
they received them they booked their
flight to Tel Aviv.
Departing for Israel:
Anna and her family,
with her mother (right).
.
Natasha
decides to go
elatives’ concerns about disabled
Igor travelling from Chimkent,
Kazakhstan to Almaty to fly to
Israel disappeared when they saw
all the care Ebenezer gave. Igor was
accompanied by four other olim and we
met the party at the railway station in
Almaty, provided them with overnight
accommodation and then took them
with all their luggage to the airport
the following day. The relatives were
so thrilled at how carefully Ebenezer
helped Igor that they phoned relatives
to assure them that Igor was being very
well looked after and they had no need
to worry!
benezer – Operation Exodus works
closely with the Jewish Agency in
many places to help God’s special
people ‘return’ to the land of their
forefathers. So it was a special blessing
when we learned that Natasha, former JA
co-ordinator in Petropavlovsk, Russian
Far East, had decided to move to Israel
with her family. We helped her son and
one of her daughters to go there on a
study programme some time ago, so
in November she and her other two
daughters were reunited with them.
Her husband is due to join them once
his work commitments have finished in
Kazakhstan.
R
8
E
‘Homeward’ bound: Na
tasha and
her daughters.
A Christian ministry helping the Jewish people return to Israel
A
mong those Pavel, Ebenezer
Moldova leader, brought to
Chisinau airport for their flight to
Israel recently were ‘two precious families
whom we had known and encouraged for
years to make aliyah’.
One of the families was a young couple
with two little children from Beltsy. When
Pavel first met them, Leonid and his wife,
Elena, with son Denis and daughter Alina,
were living in desperate conditions in ‘a
very old lopsided house. They realised
they should go to Israel but there was so
much fear and hesitation in their hearts
that it seemed impossible to persuade
them. But we continued to pray for them,
the Lord did a wonderful work in their
hearts and they made up their minds to
go!’ At their first appointment with the
Israeli consul they were given permission
to make aliyah immediately. We paid for
their passports and soon came the day
when they flew off to the Promised Land.
‘They will come with weeping; they will pray as I bring them back.
I will lead them beside streams of water on a level path where
they will not stumble, because I am Israel’s father, and Ephraim is
my firstborn son.’
Jeremiah 31:9 (NIV)
Care thrills
relatives
Goodbye to
the lopsided
house
‘… you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and
outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.’ Jeremiah 32:17 (NIV)
Pavel and his team had known the other
couple for 10 years, always receiving a
warm welcome on their visits. Ebenezer
first helped Yakov and Raisa’s son, Igor,
make aliyah in 2000. Igor’s grandmother,
Tsipoira, followed four years later and
Igor kept urging his parents to make
aliyah too, with our team doing the
same. The day came when they arrived
at Chisinau airport with 11 huge bags
and Pavel saw them wing their way to be
reunited with Igor.
A Christian ministry helping the Jewish people return to Israel
9
Operation Exodus
Operation Exodus
EVERYTHING
Special delivery:
by Prayer
a wheelchair for Valeriy
1. THE PRAYER BATTLE FOR ALIYAH &
FULFILMENT OF GOD’S PROMISE
A recent aliyah flight from the UK carried something very special in
addition to Jewish immigrants: a new wheelchair provided by Ebenezer
for Valeriy, who was born with cerebral palsy and autism.
On arrival at their home in Jerusalem,
Shirley Lawrenson, Olim Liaison,
and the team were warmly greeted
by Marina, Valeriy’s mother. His dog,
Bandi, was barking excitedly. Valeriy
was in the kitchen, one of the places
in the house he sits all day in, but
came into the living area to greet
his visitors. He then returned to the
kitchen – until the team opened the
wheelchair.
Great delight lit up his face as he
went to the wheelchair and got into
it – without any help. He slapped his
breast with his hand – the way he
Thanksgiving for our faithful prayer partners
around the world and those who give themselves
to intercession for the return of the Jewish people,
including the inter-church groups in the former
Soviet Union and Greenland.
had been taught to say ‘Thank you.’
Please pray for:
‘To try to explain what this wheelchair
means to him and his family cannot
be expressed in words,” says Shirley.
‘Marina explained that this gift of
love is a miracle. Praise the Lord for
His provision!’
When Valeriy’s teachers and fellow
students at his school heard about
the wheelchair they also called it a
miracle. Shirley has visited Valeriy at
school as well as at home.
Valeriy and his family made aliyah
from Ukraine eight years ago. Valeriy’s
father works long hours to support
his family. Older son Sasha supports
Marina in caring for him and before
the team left he called his father at
work to tell him of Valeriy’s delight
with his new wheelchair.
Alison Eastwood, from our Head
Office staff in Bournemouth, England,
flew to Israel with the wheelchair
and helped deliver it. She shares:
Valeriy and mother Marina with the
‘miracle’ wheelchair.
‘It was a very emotional visit and
even more so because Marina told
us she is undergoing chemotherapy.
Each morning she asks God to help
her through the day. It is not easy
as Valeriy can now open doors and
reach items that can be dangerous for
him. One day he managed to get out
and Marina was frantic with worry,
but thankfully his dog found him.
The family is deeply touched by
our love in action, but needs our
ongoing prayer.’
Out of tragedy a ‘simple
milkmaid’ goes to Israel
The Jewish Agency in Omsk, south-west Siberian Russia, called Ebenezer: could
we cover the travelling expenses of an elderly woman with an appointment to see
the Israeli consul in Novosibirsk?
The Watchmen of Israel inter-church
prayer group donated the money.
The consul granted Galina her visa
immediately and, moved by her story,
arranged for her to be interviewed by
an Israeli TV channel on arrival in
Tel Aviv.
Galina’s father, Israel, was a military
man serving in Odessa, Ukraine. In
1941, at the outbreak of hostilities
with Germany, he was sent to the
front, arranging for his wife and son
10
to be evacuated by ship. But as they
prepared to depart the boy suddenly
ran away. His mother vainly searched
for him and the vessel sailed without
them – to be bombed and sunk.
Israel was informed that his wife and
son were among the dead. In the fog
of war it seems that the authorities
assumed that all on the passenger list
had actually sailed. Though both were
alive, Israel never saw them again.
Believing he was a widower, he soon
1 Corinthians 15:58
remarried and his second wife gave
birth to Galina. Israel did not survive
the war.
After the war Galina’s mother was
told that Israel’s son had been found
– the first time Galina knew she had
a half-brother. Life became hard for
Galina because she was berated and
beaten for being a Jew by her mother’s
second husband, who was also violent
towards his wife. Galina subsequently
married twice and both husbands
A Christian ministry helping the Jewish people return to Israel
•
More people to respond to God’s call to be
‘watchmen’ and see His Word for aliyah being
fulfilled.
•
For our intercessors to know the Lord’s leading for
the return of the Jewish people.
•
For spiritual breakthroughs to occur as more Jewish
people hear God’s prophetic Word and realise in
their hearts that they must go to the land of their
forefathers.
•
God’s glory to be seen in the nations as the Jewish
people return home.
2. ALIYAH FROM RUSSIA
Jeremiah 31:8
Thanksgiving for all that Moscow base staff,
volunteers, helpers and regional representatives
have been able to accomplish in helping many
Jewish people leave for Israel.
Please pray for:
Shirley keeps in touch with Valeriy
and his progress.
insulted and beat her for being
Jewish. One of her three daughters
urged her to go to Israel but she
retorted: ‘I am a simple milkmaid.
I have worked on a farm all my
life. Who needs me there? Besides,
how can I leave you here?’
Galina’s biggest desire was to find
her half-brother, whom she had not
seen for many years and did not
know whether he was still alive.
Her daughter decided to help her
by looking on the popular Wait
for Me TV programme’s website.
To her amazement, she found that
the half-brother had been looking
for Galina. He and his family had
made aliyah several years before.
Now a pensioner, Galina could not
afford a trip to Israel to see him.
Then it came to her: make aliyah!
Ebenezer representatives met
Galina at Omsk railway station to
buy her ticket to Novosibirsk for
her consular appointment. She was
surprised to hear from the team
that her children and grandchildren
had a right to repatriation to Israel
as well. After her successful visit
to the consul we took her to the
passport department. In late March
she flew to Israel.
Ebenezer has contacted her
daughters with information about
aliyah. Her youngest daughter and
her family immediately said they
wanted to go to Israel. Along with
Galina, we look forward to the time
when all of them are united in the
land of their forefathers.
•
Health and travel safety as our workers in Moscow
region assist Jewish people, many of whom arrive in
the Russian capital en route to Israel.
•
Ongoing financial provision to meet all the
needs of the ministry, including providing hotel
accommodation in Moscow before flights to Tel
Aviv and for consular appointments, paying for
documents, and buying food and medicines (for
Holocaust survivors) in the humanitarian aid work.
•
Good relationships enjoyed with Jewish
organisations and churches to continue to be
built up.
3. MINISTRY IN ISRAEL
Isaiah 57:14
Thanksgiving for the meeting of special needs
among those who have made aliyah, including
the wheelchair for young Valeriy.
Please pray for:
•
The ministry of helping Jewish people from the fSU
and other parts of the world to settle in the Land,
that the Lord will lead our Jerusalem-based team to
those who particularly need help in various ways –
and encouragement.
•
For the yearning of many Jewish people who
have come to Israel to see parents, children,
grandchildren and other family members join them
in the Land to be fulfilled.
A Christian ministry helping the Jewish people return to Israel
11
Operation Exodus
Eager to help
in Greenland
This Wednesday Christians will be
meeting in three Greenland churches
to pray for Israel – something they
have been doing for nearly 20 years.
One of the churches is in Nuuk, the
capital, the others in Maniitsoq and
Sisimiut. It was these congregations
that Birgit Allin Klüwer, Ebenezer’s
National Co-ordinator in Denmark,
visited in March at the invitation of
Pastor John Østergaard. Birgit writes:
‘The Greenlanders are part of the
Inuit people group. So they pray for
those, like themselves, who live in
the nation and in Mongolia, where
they originated from, as well as those
in Siberia, northern Canada and
Alaska. And they pray for Israel!
Their love for Israel and the Jewish
people is evident – as it is in the
other churches I visited. The concept
of Christians from the nations having
the responsibility of helping the Jewish
people to go to Israel was new to them
and they listened eagerly to me. The
Saturday afternoon meeting in Nuuk
lasted four hours and the church was
packed for the Sunday service.
The church in Maniitsoq, a town of
2,400 people, has a leadership group
and two members of it, Gertrude
and Jens, live in an apartment above
the church. They took very good care
of me! I spent two evenings speaking
on understanding the times in which
we are living and God’s plan for His
chosen people. Aliyah makes absolute
sense to the Greenlanders.
The flag of Israel is prominently
displayed in the church in Nuuk.
Nuuk has a population of about
14,000 people and there are about
100 members in the church there.
A Swedish couple, Sven-Olov and
Kjerstin, pastor the church in Sisimiut,
a town with 3,800 people. The
atmosphere in the church was warm
and embracing. There was a hunger to
hear about how the Lord is bringing
His people home to Israel and how we
Christians can be part of the fulfilment
of prophecy.’
Birgit Kluwer
National Co-ordinator
Denmark
Op e ra t io n E x odu s i s an
inst rumen t o f th e L o r d to
e nc o ura g e an d h e l p th e J ew i s h
p e o p le t o r etu r n to th e L an d
o f I sra e l f r o m th e l a n d of th e
no rt h a n d a l l th e n a ti o n s a n d
t o p ro c lai m G od’s Ki n gdom
p urp o ses f o r th ei r r e tu r n .
Operation Exodus SE Asia Oceania
Level 2, 39 Leighton Place
Hornsby NSW 2077
Australia
Phone + 61 2 9482 4692
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.operation-exodus-seao.org
Ebenezer Emergency Fund USA
PO Box 568
Lancaster, NY 14086
Phone: 716 681 6300
Fax: 716 681 6304
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.ebenezerusa.org
Ebenezer Emergency Fund International
Ebenezer House, 5a Poole Road
Bournemouth BH2 5QJ. UK
Telephone: +44 (0) 1202 294455
Fax: +44 (0) 1202 295550
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.operation-exodus.org
All articles in this publication Copyright © Ebenezer Emergency Fund International June 2010. Operation Exodus is the operational part of
Ebenezer Emergency Fund International. Started in 1991 with just three people, it now has representatives in 40 countries worldwide.