Now to Israel?

Review

‘To Israel now? Are you crazy? Why at this tense time?’ some friends and family members asked us shortly before our trip. Yes, why now of all times?
‘Because we want to stand by Israel's side. Because we want to pray like the watchmen on the wall (Isaiah 62:6) in Jerusalem. Because we want to lend a hand and encourage. Because we had the impression that our Father in heaven wants to give us open doors,’ we replied. So Torsten and I set off in the last week of June. Many friends prayed for us during this time and we felt supported by these prayers throughout the journey. Thanks again to everyone who prayed!!!
We were the only Germans on the plane. Tired because it was a night flight, we arrived in Tel Aviv. Our first stop was the Father's House on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, a house of prayer in the middle of an Arab neighbourhood with a wonderful view of the Old City. Together with Christians from Switzerland, Poland, Russia, Germany and a Messianic Jewess from Israel, we prayed for Israel and Jews all over the world for two hours every morning and evening in a fun mix of different languages. Every day we travelled on the Arab bus and were able to feel God's love, especially for the Arab people. Of course, we also met twice with our long-time friend and Holocaust survivor Josef Aron in his favourite café in the Old City of Jerusalem. Josef is now approaching 90 and we were happy to be able to spend time with him once again. At theSuccat Hallel prayer house, we had a wonderful time of worship with the brother of a friend from Leipzig and on Shabbat we attended the service in Benjamin and Ruben Berger's Christchurch . After this intensive week in the House of Prayer, we almost felt like a family and so it was very sad to say goodbye to our brothers and sisters from all over the world.
Now as a couple again, Torsten and I travelled to Sderot, a town close to the Gaza Strip. We from the Tor nach Zion organisation have been supporting a soup kitchen there for a year. Daniel, a young and dynamic Jewish woman, showed us round the premises. We were impressed by how many people are fed and blessed through this work. The poorest of the poor live in Sderot because the rents are cheap. For many years, this city was constantly bombarded with rockets from the Gaza Strip, so everyone who could afford it moved away. What remained were many people in need of help. After 7 October, most of the residents were evacuated because it had become too dangerous to live in Sderot. In the meantime, 90% of the population has returned. The need is great and the soup kitchen urgently needs financial help to alleviate this hardship. A forklift truck was purchased from the donations that reached the soup kitchen last year via Tor nach Zion , which was absolutely essential for transporting the food. We arranged to meet Daniel the next day to lend a hand. In the afternoon, we had the opportunity to go to Kibbutz Be'eri with our host Chava. A friend of Chava's lives there with her family. Be'eri is only a few kilometres away from the Gaza Strip. On 7 October, the residents were attacked, abducted and killed by Palestinian terrorists. Chava's friend told us her story of survival: ‘ In the early morning of 7 October, a 15 or 16-year-old Palestinian with a machine gun suddenly came in the door. We just managed to escape to our shelter. However, this room cannot be locked and I didn't feel safe. ‘Let's climb out of the window and hide somewhere,’ I urged my husband and son. We jumped out in mortal fear and hid in the bushes first. There were screams everywhere, machine-gun fire, burning houses and smoke. Then we crept to my father-in-law's house. We crouched on the ground behind a corner of the house and tried to hide. At some point we managed to sneak into his house unseen. We found refuge in my father-in-law's safe room, which could be locked. We waited there for two days in a very small space until we finally heard the voices of the Israeli soldiers."
Then they led us through the destroyed neighbourhoods. It was horrific!!! Burnt and devastated houses everywhere. It was as if time had stood still. The open fridge, shoes on the shelves, broken children's toys on the floor, blood on the wall...... There were large posters on the houses with photos of the people who had lived there and were cruelly killed or deported on 7 October. It was almost unbearable. When we said goodbye, we plucked up all our courage and asked if we could pray for the family. They were not believers, but we were able to bless them.
This visit was pretty heavy on our minds. During the night, we again heard rockets and machine gun fire from the nearby Gaza Strip. So, a little tired and depressed, we drove to the soup kitchen the next morning. But we were in for a surprise!!! Loud music greeted us. Around 20 young female soldiers had come to help in the soup kitchen. They sang, danced and did a bit of work. So full of life and hope. They sang‘Israel chai!’ at the top of their voices. That translates as THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL ARE ALIVE! Hallelujah, Israel will not be defeated. They get up again and carry on. We worked side by side with the young women. It was so encouraging!!! When we had finally packed all the potatoes in bags so that they could be picked up by the needy people, we drove back to our accommodation with somewhat aching backs and happy hearts.
The next day we travelled on to Sde Boker, a small village in the middle of the desert. There we visited our friends Kelly, Yaron, Baruch, Jeanie and their families. We celebrated Shabbat together, attended their small church service on a campus for students from all over the world, only took a short walk through the desert that I love so much because of the heat and visited Kelly and Yaron at their new food truck on the last day. As both have lost their jobs due to the war, they try to keep themselves and their large family afloat with the food truck. We had a wonderfully aromatic coffee in the middle of the desert and then said goodbye in the direction of Haifa.
Our long-time friends Avishay and Chava were already waiting for us there. On the same day, Avishay and I visited his friend Yona, who was dying. Yona was a Holocaust survivor and visited the Jewish Week in Leipzig with his wife last year. He was now in a coma due to a brain haemorrhage. We were able to pray for him. Yona went home a few days ago.
With our German friend Uta, who has been living in Israel for some time, we met up the next day and visited the prayer house on Mount Carmel together. There we got to know the lovely leader couple from Australia.
On the last day, we travelled back to Tel Aviv. There we met up with a former colleague of Torsten's, her husband and her daughter. We sat by the sea one last time and ate one last delicious falafel. We travelled back to Germany that night.
We look back with gratitude on two richly filled weeks in Israel. We felt that we were travelling on prepared paths. We were able to bless Israel from the Mount of Olives, encourage people, lend a hand, visit friends and tell them anew: ‘We are at your side.’ Thank you Lord for this precious time!!!
Kerstin Kluge