VICTIMS OF TERROR AND WAR

Ofrah: "I Will Never Forget My Christian Friends"

Ofrah is a religious woman who lives with her husband and eight children in the Israeli southern city of Netivot. “Children are a blessing and God has been good to us,” smiles Ofrah. “We’ve done our best to instill in them the values of God, love of Israel, and respect for their fellow man.” Supporting a family of this size, however, has been a great challenge for Ofrah and her husband. They have trouble putting food on the table and Ofrah cries to see that her children have trouble concentrating because they are hungry.

Sadly, the family’s situation has gone from bad to worse. Ofrah lost her job in a clinic after Israel’s disengagement from Gaza, because most of the clientele that had lived in Gaza stopped coming in. More recently, Ofrah’s husband worked as security guard at a school in Netivot and received no paycheck during the time when terrorist rockets were falling on their community and the school was forced to close.

As difficult as it was for Ofrah to ask for charity, she knew she had no other option when she received a Notice to Disconnect from the electric company and had bills piling up that she simply could not pay. When Ofrah learned about The Fellowship’s Special Needs program to assist families like her own, she says she “couldn’t believe my good fortune.” The Fellowship provided Ofrah with a check to pay her electricity bills and money to buy groceries.

“I will never forget that it was Christians who helped me in my time of need,” she says gratefully.”It’s a great comfort to know that our Christian brothers and sisters care. Thank you.”

rabbieckstein@ifcj.org International Fellowship of Christians and Jews