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Not Forgotten

March 22, 2021

“It feels so good that people remember us. Thank you so much for not letting us be forgotten.” With these words, Donna, a Holocaust survivor in Karmiel, thanked Patrick Verbeten, our Israel Operations Director. Patrick told me: “It was at this moment that I realized that this project was about so much more than food and gifts. When we help Holocaust survivors, it is about remembering and bringing dignity to a passing generation.”

This year, preparing food parcels for Passover was a labor-intensive act of love for our small team. Over the course of a week, team members from the different departments within Bridges for Peace as well as friends and family members rallied to make sure the Passover packages were prepared in a timely fashion. In addition to those who regularly receive food from us, we prepared packages for an additional 1,000 Holocaust survivors.

It has been 76 years since the end of the Holocaust, and today shockingly many are forgetting the events that destroyed families, killed six million Jewish people and deeply scarred a nation. Today, the youngest survivors are 76 years old. Many are slipping away. Now is the time to show them they are not forgotten.

We Will Not Forget

This week is the second anniversary of my mother’s passing. I will never forget her. I hear her voice in my mind in various situations. I think of her every time I make pie crust. She was determined that her girls could make a good pie!

Can God forget the Jewish people? Not at all! “But Zion said, ‘The LORD has abandoned me, and the LORD has forgotten me.’ ‘Can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are continually before Me’” (Isa. 49:14–16 NASB).

The survivors of the Holocaust often feel alone. Israelis often feel alone and misunderstood in the world. The Jewish people have experienced the soul-numbing pain of being rejected, forgotten and persecuted. Yet God says He will not forget them.

More than 22,000 people receive food from us each month—and not only here in Israel. We also provide food for elderly Jewish people in parts of the former Soviet Union. Our Project Tikvah reaches out to meet the needs of elderly, sick Jewish people who will never be able to come to Israel.

At Bridges for Peace, it is our joy to stand with Israel, supporting the lonely, the immigrant, the widow, the orphan, the elderly and children. It is our privilege to show unconditional love to those whom God says He will not forget.

Celebrating the Feasts

The biblical feasts are all about remembering the power and goodness of God. God speaks to His people through these special days that He ordained for them. Every year we do everything we can to make these feasts special for the people on our programs. Like them, we don’t ever want to forget God and His goodness. I realize that remembering God’s goodness in past events gives us faith to trust Him with our lives, even in the difficult times we experience today.

Thank You

Thank you for joining us in showing Donna and others like her that they are not forgotten. Your steadfast support through prayer and finances makes this holy work possible. Together we are showing God that we love those He loves, and showing the people that they are not forgotten—not by God and not by His Christian followers. Your gifts are gratefully received. No gift is too small or too large. God is using your contributions to bless Israel today.

I am praying for you today, that you will trust Him and His goodness today.

Blessings from Israel,
Rebecca J. Brimmer
International President and CEO

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