7th October 2023, will be remembered as the day in which evil-doers, cursed, bloodthirsty terrorists, raped women, murdered thousands of Israelis, and kidnapped children, teenagers, women, men, and the elderly. Many lives were taken that day and during this war, and yet, many lives were saved through the shelters placed in these southern communities that were hit with an absurd amount of rockets.
One of the areas that were hit the hardest during the 7th October attack was the Eshkol region. Many of the residents of the settlements in this region are security officers, reservists, and strong heroic citizens. These brave citizens and heroes defended their communities with their own hands and saved many lives. We also recognize the trauma they have been through because they were the ones to witness firsthand their friends and family being murdered and slaughtered. The cruelty and wickedness are something we have not seen since the founding of Israel and in the modern history of the people of Israel.
By God’s grace and your faithful support, Barry and VFI became well known to the Eshkol Regional Council over the last two and a half years due to the large number of shelters donated. We are grateful to have built relationships with these people before the war and now, we can love and support them in even deeper ways.
As we communicated with the emergency response teams in the Eshkol Regional Council, we discovered their need for equipment and immediately started raising funds for those items. We were able to raise the funds to purchase defibrillators, radio devices, and scanning flashlights for 32 teams. The total cost of all of this donation was 500,000 Shekels.
On 17th January 2024 we were invited to personally give the equipment to the security officers of the 32 settlements in the Eshkol Region. There were new security officers that we didn’t know because sadly, nine were murdered in the massacre of 7th October. However, many of the security officers recognized Barry and knew him as a hard-working and caring donor who came to all the placements of the shelters to protect the residents. They thanked us and told us that hundreds of lives were saved as a result of those shelters.
The commander of all the security officers in the Eshkol Region led the event along with the head of the council. They expressed deep appreciation for the donation of equipment that is contributing to the defence of their communities during the war. They shared their heavy grief, severe trauma, deep loneliness, and feeling unsupported. They expressed the heart-wrenching pain of the murder of hundreds of local residents and many of their friends who are still held hostage in Gaza. We could see and hear the sorrow and pain they were going through. And yet, we also saw their resilient hearts to fight and protect what is dear to them — their home.
Most of the families in these communities have been evacuated until the war ends, their communities are restored, and new security measures are in place. And yet, these security officers remain in their communities near Gaza to defend their nation and their people.
Batya and Barry expressed their great appreciation to all the security personnel. Batya said, "You know that the greater the pain, the greater our spiritual strength. Thanks to God’s plan, we are here. Faith brought us here. We were persecuted in the diaspora, but now we have a home. Our spirit will not be broken. We have many friends around the world who love us and know that the nation of Israel is alive. There are many dear Christians who love Israel, and thanks to their generous support we can give you these donations today. If they could, they would come to fight for us here, and some would even send their children to help fight, too. You may not hear them and their voices, but we are here to tell you that they are many and they mean what they say.”
After this, Shai, our VFI team member, presented the donation. Each emergency response team received one kit, which included: 1 defibrillator, 3 radio devices, and 3 scanning lights.
Vision for Israel will continue to do as much as we can to support the settlements in the south during this war and afterward, until they are fully restored. We came to encourage them, and they encouraged us. We came to strengthen them, and they strengthened us.
Our VFI team wants to give our partners, donors, and friends around the world a strong hug and big thanks for all of the love and support that you have so faithfully given to this nation. You, our dear friends, are the silent heroes! God sees your generous hearts, your faithfulness to Him, and your support of His Jewish people. Thanks to you we can strengthen and rehabilitate the injured residents and victims of terrorism here in Israel.
