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Clara: A Holocaust Remembrance Day Story

January 06, 2021
Clara: A Holocaust Remembrance Day Story

“She’s not my daughter; she’s an orphan. Will you take her?” Clara’s mother lied to the Catholic priest overseeing an orphanage. She also pretended she and the three-year-old girl weren’t Jewish. The priest, already looking after 12 Jewish children, had compassion and took Clara in. Her mother continued the pretense of being Catholic to work at the orphanage and be near her.

Sometime later, the Gestapo came looking for Jewish children. They killed the priest, and Clara ran into the restroom and locked the door. But the men had dogs who sniffed her out. They pounded on the door, shouting at the small girl behind it, “Get out! We know you are Jewish!” When they seized her, they pulled her by the hair to a car where she saw the other Jewish children.

When Clara’s mother learned the children were taken, she confessed to being Jewish so they would take her too. Only her persistence convinced them, and she joined her daughter at the Sered labor camp. What came next, however, was the most traumatic for little Clara.

The Transportation

At Sered, soldiers herded Clara and her mother into a railway car for cattle. They jammed so many people in ­that not a single person could sit down. Old, young, sick, they all stood – for a journey lasting four to five days. Clara recalls the unbearable smell. People died standing up. When the train arrived at Theresienstadt, the doors opened, and people, both alive and dead, fell out together.

Theresienstadt was a ghetto-labor camp and a way-station for Jewish people being deported to other camps and killing centers. It also served as a grand Nazi deception, a propaganda weapon. It was described as a lovely community where elderly Jewish people could retire safely. Due to outside pressure, the Germans allowed the Red Cross to visit a carefully staged Theresienstadt.

Nazi Deception

In preparation for the tour, Nazis reduced the camp’s population to a more comfortable size by stepping up deportations. They renovated barracks, planted gardens and then put on social and cultural events for the visiting officials. Afterward, life in the camp returned to its horrible normal. Food was scarce, and many children were among those who died of respiratory and other illnesses.

Haunting Memories

Clara remembers the gunshots she heard day and night at Theresienstadt. Executions, sickness and deportations thinned the camp population. Then new trainloads of Jewish people arrived, and the cycle repeated. Clara remembers another sound, too – SS troops laughing and enjoying themselves as they watched entertainment shows in the evenings.

How could such callous cruelty come to be?

Anti-Semitism, simply put, is racism or religious discrimination toward Jewish people, and it has been around for centuries. It has spurred forced religious conversions, expulsions from countries, violence, cruelty and murder. The same prejudice that escalated into the Holocaust still exists today. Each year, people unleash it on Jewish synagogues, cemeteries, businesses and people through vandalism and violent attacks. Anti-Semitism is a hatred that has gone on entirely too long.

Never Forget

January 27 is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It’s a day to honor the six million Jewish people who died in the Holocaust and those who survived it. It’s a day to remember how far anti-Semitism can go and an opportunity to speak out against it.

Clara was in her eighties when she told her story to one of Jewish Voice’s partner ministries in Israel. She vividly remembered the fears she felt during the Holocaust: fear of the Gestapo, separation from her mom and being alone. Her capture led to a lifelong fear of dogs. And she still doesn’t like being alone – because that’s when fears threaten to overtake her.

Clara volunteers at Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial center. She also receives visits from a JVMI partner ministry and attends their weekly Bible study. She doesn’t know Jesus yet, but she enjoys the atmosphere there and likes learning the Bible.

Remember Clara

This January 27, remember Clara and others who survived the Shoah, the Hebrew word meaning “the catastrophe,” and pray for them. So many of them continue to endure consequences of the trauma they experienced as children.

Many Holocaust survivors often must choose between groceries and medications or heat in the winter. 25 percent of the survivors in Israel live below the poverty line, suffering still. Jewish Voice’s Israel partners provide relief to elderly Holocaust survivors facing financial hardship, dental needs and loneliness. They show the love of Jesus to them and let them know that God has not forgotten them.

The Covenants (Part 1)

Summary
Discover the five covenants of the Bible and see how they build upon one another in this first of a three-part series.
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The Covenants (Part 1)

JVMI Holiday Bible

Summary
Discover how vital it is not only to read and meditate upon the Holy Scriptures but also to study the original Hebrew context.
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JVMI Holiday Bible

Entering 2021 with Thanksgiving and Praise!

December 23, 2020
Entering 2021 with Thanksgiving and Praise!

We’ve come to our last “Prayer Points” for 2020, and we are ending the year with some wonderful praises. After having to cancel or postpone several Outreaches and congregational trips in 2020, we were finally able to visit both Ethiopia and Zimbabwe in the last months of the year. What a blessing it was to minister in person!

Please join us in these celebrations and ongoing prayer requests:

Medical Clinic in Dawro, Ethiopia

  • This small Medical Clinic was like a family reunion as our U.S. Global Outreach staff members joined our Addis Ababa staff and Ethiopian medical professionals to spend some quality time in fellowship
  • We held corporate worship each morning, and it was the first time since 2016 that we were able to pray together on Medical Clinic grounds
  • Local officials and residents greeted our arriving team with a parade and sent us off with one as well, giving us a hearty welcome and a grateful farewell
  • The team served 8,232 patients, including some local prisoners, and some received eternal freedom in Yeshua (Jesus)
  • There is more work to be done in Dawro, but we know the Lord made a lasting impact through this Outreach
  • PLEASE PRAY that the fruit of our time there will remain and grow and for the Lord’s direction regarding possible future ministry in Dawro

Ministry Trip in Zimbabwe

  • A team of two JVMI staff along with several congregational and local leaders visited five different regions in Zimbabwe
  • At each stop, they brought blessing ministry and practical aid
  • We saw the Lord work everywhere we went as we ministered to individuals, small groups, and even larger groups gathered safely outdoors
  • 75 Jewish people came to faith in Jesus as Messiah
  • PLEASE PRAY for these new Believers and also that we would have favor with governmental authorities and direction for next steps

Congregation and Leadership Development Trip

  • We had a significant time of preaching in both Ethiopia and Zimbabwe to a great and grateful response
  • We shared an emotional but redemptive time with those who are walking through a season of loss
  • In Zimbabwe, the pastor of our host church led a powerful time of blessing, praying for and recognizing Lemba Senior Leaders in front of his congregation
  • All the leadership meetings we held with the various congregations and groups in both countries were some of the best we have had in recent years
  • We were encouraged by the ways these congregational leaders have met the numerous challenges of 2020
  • PLEASE PRAY for each group we partner with in both nations as they seek to grow amid ongoing COVID restrictions and the uncertainty of 2021. PRAY ALSO regarding an economic decline in Zimbabwe and civil unrest and war in Ethiopia
  • PRAY ALSO for the strengthening of the Messianic leaders there, some of whom are in new roles

Let’s pray:

Lord, may we each enter 2021 with thanksgiving and praise and renewed dependence and expectation. You have enlarged our faith and stretched our capacity to trust. May You continue to lead and grow us to follow You wherever Your Spirit leads, saying “not my will, but Yours be done.” In Jesus’ name, AMEN!

We are so grateful for your support!

December 22, 2020

We are so grateful for your support and feel blessed to have you as part of the Jewish Voice family. Please watch this special message of thanks from Jonathan Bernis, President and CEO of Jewish Voice Ministries, and Ezra Benjamin, Vice President of Global Ministry Affairs.

May the Lord richly bless you in the coming year!

God made the way

December 22, 2020
God made the way

There’s nothing like a global pandemic to disrupt the best-made plans. We had scheduled four Medical Outreaches for 2020. Our first was cut short by local opposition, and then, coronavirus struck. Throughout the months of travel restrictions, we turned our focus more to the Israel ministries that your gifts to Jewish Voice support, helping them address the increased ministry demands there.

 

With your help, we were also determined to do what we could in Africa amid COVID’s complicating factors. And God made the way.

 

After some cancellations, postponements and rearrangements, we were excited to conduct two Outreaches in the Fall. Due to travel conditions, only a few staff joined local teams to oversee and carry out the ministry made possible through your generosity.

 

Dawro, Ethiopia is in the country’s Southern Nations region and where we held our first Outreach under COVID-19 restrictions. Patients were required to wear masks and sanitize their hands as soon as they entered the Clinic.

 

The spiritual care ministry was a little different, as well. Due to last-minute circumstances, our partner congregation couldn’t work with us, but God provided pastors from nearby evangelical churches to serve as chaplains. They led 39 people to the Lord.

 

Here’s a glance at the number of lives you helped change in Dawro.

 

Dawro, Ethiopia

Medical Outreach

  • 8,232 patients were served, including:
    • 2,200 people received eyeglasses
    • 750 people received dental care
    • 113 had eye surgery for cataracts or trachoma
    • 94 patients underwent minor surgeries
    • 3 babies were born
  • Clean Water Project
    • 400 people received personal LifeStraws®
    • 70 families received larger Family LifeStraw® units
    • 2 community LifeStraw® units were given
  • Spiritual Care Ministry
    • 39 people came to faith in Jesus as Messiah

In Zimbabwe, you also made an enormous difference in the lives of people in five different regions. Due to COVID-19 and Government restrictions limiting large gatherings, we teamed up with local congregations and conducted a number of small events. Through your gifts, we distributed food and shared the Gospel in five locations.

Zimbabwe

Food Distribution and Gospel

Buhera, Chitsungo, Gutu, Masvingo and Mberengwa

  • Distributed essential items, 20,000kgs (44,000lbs) of rice, and 40,000kgs (88,000lbs) of cornmeal
  • Over 3110 households received food
  • Each food recipient also heard the Gospel message
  • 75 people placed their faith in Jesus
  • Local Believers listened to an inspiring message about our mighty spiritual “weapons”
  • Local leaders encouraged Believers to remember to bless others and share both food and the Gospel with their neighbors

Your support of Jewish Voice made all of this powerful ministry possible. God is working through you to bring life-changing (and in some cases, life-saving!) food, medical care and eternal life to the people of Ethiopia and Zimbabwe. Thank you!

YOU can make a difference!

December 18, 2020
YOU can make a difference!

With just two weeks left in 2020, I’m praying you are able to reply right away.

It’s been quite a year, but God has carried us through the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and quarantine. He has brought blessings — including historic peace deals for Israel with Arab countries. And I believe in all that is happening, God is showing us the End Times are near.

I feel greater urgency to fulfill our vision “to transform lives and see all Israel saved.” Please partner with us one last time in 2020 with your best gift of the year by December 31.

Your response will help us enter the new year ready to respond to all the needs God puts before us — from Outreaches in Africa to our ongoing efforts to support Jewish people in Israel.

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