Songs From The Wasteland
Psalm 137:4-6 (Msg) “Oh, how could we ever sing God’s
song in this wasteland?”
This was the
question Ahuva* had an answer to as she watched the group of secular and Orthodox
Jewish women, all terror victims, pray together during the Rosh HaShana (Jewish
New Year) celebration a few months ago.
“Bless us all
with a year of peace.”
“Amen!”
“Bless our
children that they might come and go in safety.”
“Amen!”
“Bless us that
this year we will learn to love the Arabs and not hate them.”
And all
gathered echoed another hearty, “Amen!!”
This is not
the kind of exchange one would expect to hear from those whose lives have been
changed forever by personally experiencing a terrorist act. Yet this is the kind of response Ahuva is
beginning to see with the women she works with in Israel.
 |
| Orthodox women praying at the Kotel |
Ahuva runs an organisation dedicated to helping terror
victims recover from their traumatic experiences. She reaches out to this broken group of
people and gently, with the compassionate love of God, helps them to
take steps towards regaining some sense of normality and healing in their
lives. This year, Ahuva was able to
provide special events for these ladies during the fairly long Feast and
celebration season which is part of the Jewish calendar. It was her delight to report, “We have been
awed to stand on the side lines over the past weeks and watch the kindness of
God, drawing these women back to the land of the living. Those, who even last year wept with loss and
grief, who went to ‘sleep’ for a month to avoid appearing before God with joy
during the Feasts, have this year been singing a new song!”
When Your People My People learned of Ahuva and the work she
is doing, we knew it was a vital ministry and one that we support
wholeheartedly. The organisation
arranges trips for these women, to go away together for a few days, away from
the pressures of home and the reminders of the trauma they experienced, to
relax and unwind a little. Ahuva also
has regular informal gatherings where the ladies come and work on projects
together, like learning to make soap, or creating a special meal for the holidays
with the help of a trained chef. Through
these times, the women build relationship, learning to trust once again,
helping and encouraging one another by a shared sense of pain, yet desiring to
move forward into hope and life. Ahuva facilitates
the opportunity for the women to experience the love of the Father through all
the events she organises, and she is seeing victimised people begin to heal as
they walk together through grief and sadness.
It is as though they are moving from the ‘wasteland’, to Zion, from
those who could not sing, to those who are finding the song of joy!
Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs
of joy.
Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has
done great things for them.”
The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled
with joy!
Psalm 126: 1-3
*Name changed