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A Race against Time

October 1, 2009

More and more signs are arising across the former Soviet Union that there may not be much more time to get the Jewish people out before borders close. Rev. Barry Wagner, vice president of Ezra International—the BFP partner organization for Project Rescue—writes that we’re in a race against time. A Christian worker at the Ukrainian Passport Office told a Project Rescue staff member that they had been instructed to purposely prolong the process for Jewish people wanting to go to Israel.

At the present time public acts of anti-Semitism are increasing, particularly in Ukraine. At the beginning of July, fascist organization Patrist perpetrated a range of anti-Semitic actions in Kiev, painting anti-Semitic slogans like “Kill Jews,” “Kill a Jed and save yourself,” and “Jeds corrupted the government” on fences and buildings. The incident was shown on Ukrainian TV, but a few days later, authorities removed the graffiti as a quick “fix.” In August, a news report revealed that Kiev police found Nazi uniforms and paraphernalia being sold on the market. Thankfully, the vendors were arrested and their goods confiscated and destroyed, upon the request of Jewish citizens.

“One evening,” writes Wagner, “after a soccer game held at the Kiev stadium, a riotous crowd with blood in their eyes marched through the city streets. When they arrived at the central synagogue, they stoned out every window in the building, drug the rabbi out onto the street, and stoned him. He survived the attack but was severely injured. A few weeks later, arsonists set fire to a Jewish school in Kiev.”

The most shocking incident was one in which Project Rescue staff were involved. A concert had been sponsored with the Jewish community of Kiev invited as well as Israeli dignitaries. After the concert, shockingly  the streets outside were full of riot police “holding their Plexiglas shields in front of them, carrying their automatic weapons and their night sticks. Their vast numbers could be seen up and down the city street and even spilling over onto the intersecting side streets. The most shocking thing to witness was the hundreds of neo-Nazis who had taken their positions between the concert attendees and the riot police. The crowds were shouting, ‘Six million was not enough,’ ‘We will finish what Hitler could not finish,’ ‘Death to the Jews,’ ‘Let’s all kill one Jew,’ and many more hate filled slogans. Fear immediately ran up and down the spines of the Project Rescue staff and our attending Jewish guests. We were seeing and hearing first hand the hatred for the Jewish people that is boiling over in many countries of Europe and the former Soviet Union.”

Project Rescue Works!

Bridges for Peace takes these “signs of the times” seriously and wants to work as hard as possible to rescue as many Jewish people as possible before the borders close. We have “rescued” more than 33,000 since we started the program, and of course, we couldn’t have done it without faithful donors who understood and empathized with the Jewish plight. With the need becoming increasingly critical, we need to quickly raise the money to bring God’s people home to Israel. Each of those 33,000 has a unique story, but all of them testify that they could not have made it to Israel without our help.

 

Lyubov faithfully took care of her 10 children because her drunkard husband could not provide for them. The state gave her no help, so the family subsisted on her small earnings as a cleaning woman in a local hostel for years. She would not permit her daughters to marry local men, instructing them to wait for their husbands in Israel. Calamity struck, and she was hospitalized with a heart attack. She was told, “If you die here in this hospital, you will spoil our statistics” and was sent home to die. However, God brought her through.

When the Project Rescue team proposed she go to Israel, she said she had no money for the transport back and forth to the consul in another city.  With our financial assistance, which included accommodations and food as well as transportation and obtaining passports, the entire family was able to prepare for their departure and in December arrived in Israel.

More than Money

Victoria writes her story “to tell about people who supported me; therefore, I have not withdrawn and have overcome all difficulties!” After having two daughters, her first husband died. She remarried and life was good for a season. They learned about a Jewish Sunday School for the children, but the whole family attended and was thrilled to learn about the history of Israel, the language, and programs by which they could go to Israel. She sent one daughter to Israel, but she died in 2004. In 2006, Victoria and her husband divorced, and she had to start all over, living in a hostel with only what she had in some hand luggage.

When she was inspired by a dream to move to Israel, her ex-husband requested a huge amount of money for his permission for her daughter to leave. That’s when she met up with the Project Rescue team. “I felt such care and love,” she writes. She was amazed when a car, as well as the gasoline, was provided for the trip to the airport. “They pray for me!” she enthused and concluded, “Thanks for your support, friendship and love! Thanks that you have believed in me and, the most important, have helped me to overcome all circumstances.”

We obtain the necessary paperwork and provide for the people’s needs (rent, food, utilities, etc) until they leave, but much more is happening in the process. The love and genuine concern over what seems to them to be impossible circumstances are solace to the troubled soul. Think about it…33,000 are here in Israel today because Christian love was shown to these desperate Jewish families.

Righteous Gentiles Needed

I have often remembered the Christians who selflessly risked their lives to save Jewish lives during the Holocaust. Some of their names we recognize—Corrie Ten Boom, and Oskar Schindler. At Yad Vashem  the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, you can walk amongst many trees which have been planted in memory of these righteous Gentiles. I remember telling my father that if I had been alive during those dark days of pain, I would have been a righteous Gentile. The dark days of the Holocaust are in the past, but the spirit of anti-Semitism is rampant once again.

Now is the time for us to step up and say “Yes, Lord, we will rescue your people.” Your gift to Project Rescue literally gives Jewish people who are at risk, a new life in Israel.  Please send your gift today. The average cost to rescue an individual is US $400 (check if this is right), but any size gift will help. You can be part of God’s rescue plan! “He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth—Praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and will trust in the LORD” (Psalm 40:2–3).

In His service from Jerusalem,

By Rebecca J. Brimmer
International President and CEO