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“I Will Bring Them from the North”

December 20, 2018

Ukraine is once again in the news as the war between Ukraine and Russia has reached new levels of intensity. Russia captured three Ukrainian military boats and their 23 crew members after a firefight. Some of the sailors were wounded. In response to these events, Ukraine declared martial law. Now, Russia is amassing men and equipment on the border.

Ukrainian-based foreign correspondent Nolan Peterson said, “This is the most dangerous moment I’ve seen in Ukraine in years. Tonight, a war that many people in America can only imagine thanks to Hollywood movies, teeters on the razor-thin edge of becoming real. Tonight, in Ukraine we go to sleep not knowing what tomorrow will bring.”

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said, “Russia has been waging a hybrid war against our country for a fifth year. But with an attack on Ukrainian military boats it moved to a new stage of aggression.”

In 2018, eighty Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 560 wounded. The war is now in the fifth year since Russia invaded Crimea in 2014. Most of the world has forgotten because other news stories took over the headlines. Yet for those living in the nightmare of war, it has only gotten worse. Eastern Ukraine has borne the brunt of the war action. Basic infrastructure has been greatly damaged, and in some areas even basic goods are hard to obtain.

One family we are helping described huddling in the dark basement of their apartment block with no electricity or running water while hearing the regular sounds of gunfire and explosions. They had been brought to safety by our driver, but the wife cried and shook as she recounted the horrors they had experienced. Perhaps one gets used to such things, but the situation just got worse.

Day after day, the Bridges for Peace Project Rescue drivers risk their lives to enter war-torn areas and help Jewish families get to safety. They tell stories of being shot at, struggling with checkpoints (both Russian and Ukrainian) and escaping mine fields. The harrowing trips take many hours. Our drivers are all Christians who are called to help rescue Jewish people and spend much of the trip both into the war-torn areas and back out—in prayer.

Their passengers have been through great difficulty and are often suffering from fear and trauma. Once they reach the safer part of Ukraine, they rest in a lovely camp beside a river while they prepare to come to Israel. Christians cover the cost, providing safe accommodation and food. Generally, they have very few possessions. Everything must be provided for them. While they wait for their paperwork to be finalized, they study Hebrew and prepare themselves for a new life in Israel. Finally, departure day arrives. Our drivers take them to the airport, and they fly off to a new life in Israel. They are filled with a poignant mixture of joy, hope and anxiety. Once in Israel, they begin the process of acclimating to a new homeland, language and customs. Hebrew classes and finding a job are the first two priorities.

It is often at this point that our Karmiel Assistance Center team meets them and blesses these new Israeli citizens with gifts for their new homes. We received a short note from one such family:

Dear Bridges for Peace!

We are the Rappaport family from the city of Kherson in Ukraine. Our family consists of me Heorhii, my wife Anna and our two boys, Vladislav age 8 and David 6 years.

Your assistance is very timely for us. The cold days in Israel is on its way and there was but no space for blankets within our limited luggage when we came to Israel. The kitchen pots and utensils are just as a huge gift since there is a lack of finances that does not enable us to buy all these necessary things. Your assistance will lessen our financial expenses, giving us scope for other needs. Thank you for your assistance and support!

With thankful hearts,

The Rappaport family

Your Help is Needed

I am so thankful that we have been able to help nearly 70,000 Jews come home from the lands of the north. The Bible says, “Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the ends of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the woman with child, and the one who labors with child, together; a great throng shall return there” (Jer. 31:8).

We are some of those whom God has called to be His workers in this endeavor. Will you join with God in helping fulfill His prophetic Word? Together we can rescue many more families, provide them with a safe haven, help them obtain their paperwork and welcome them to their new home with encouragement and gifts for their new home..

The average cost to help one person return home is $300. Your gift to Project Rescue, large or small, when joined with the gifts of others, can provide miracles of hope for those from war-torn Ukraine. Your gift to our Immigrant Welcome Gift program can bless a newcomer with pots, pans, kitchen utensils, blankets, a Russian/Hebrew language Tanakh (OT) and school kits for the children.

Why just read about Bible prophecy when you can be a part of it? We are praying that you will be able to send a generous gift today to help bring the Jewish people home.

Blessings from Israel,

Rebecca J. Brimmer

International President and CEO