It has been 30 wonderful and challenging years of leading Vision for Israel.
The Iron Swords War came upon us by complete surprise, and the enemy succeeded in penetrating Israel by harming innocent civilians — a cruel and brutal massacre like no other. However, in this war story, we are encouraged by all of our amazing heroes.
We all know that you cannot defeat the enemy without courage and heroes. We have heard heroic stories of men and women who have laid down their lives to fight, protect, and save the lives of many. There are many stories of heroism, and we want to recognize and honor a few special heroes we know.
Our heroes are the staff members at VFI, who readily extended help and assistance wherever they could throughout this war. It was a beautiful phenomenon, not only among our staff but also among the people of Israel, unifying together to help one another. This is also what it was like for Israel after the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War.
One special hero I want to honor is my husband and co-founder of VFI, Barry. He is such a hard worker and goes to every placement of the safety shelters. He travels throughout the nation of Israel, to areas of conflict, right on the borderlines, and endures all kinds of weather conditions and rocket fire to ensure these shelters are placed to protect the people of Israel!
And now VFI wants to take a moment to honor another wonderful hero — YOU! When the war began, we saw a wave of financial donations flowing in from you and many others. Before we even had a chance to ask, you generously gave to VFI, so we could help the people here in this time of crisis. In faith, we were donating large amounts of aid that we hadn't raised yet. And by faith, you generously gave, and we witnessed God do amazing miracles of providing for His people through your enormous support.
In December 2023, we had to approve a budget for 2024. As I spoke with the CPA and accounting department, I explained that in light of the war, we wanted to help as much as possible. So, I presented a budget that was three times the amount of the budget of the previous year. Today, three months later, the distribution of donations is already fourfold!
At the beginning of March, we planned to purchase gift cards for Passover and we had an increase in the number of families in need. Then we received a request to help an additional 200 evacuee families. During the conversation with the applicant, we had to decide if we would increase the budget or not. Even though we hadn’t raised the funds for it yet, we had peace from the Lord to commit to helping all of these families for Passover.
Just one hour later I received a text from a local donor asking, "Do you have a special project to help evacuees from the south?" I said, "Of course, we are preparing for Passover right now!" They said, "We have a large donation for the evacuees, and we will transfer the donation to you immediately."
Before we even asked anyone, God already put it on the hearts of His people to provide financially for this need! What a wonderful thing to see the hand of God working through the body of Yeshua to take care of His people!
This is the beauty that is in you, dear friends. Today, three months into the year, our outgoing donations have already increased wonderfully, so that we can be a blessing to this nation and tangibly show them the love of God.
We are so grateful for you dear friends and heroes!
Love,
Batya