The Singing Daughters of Zion
Springs of Hope has been reaching into their local community
for over ten years, assisting and giving hope to families and individuals who
have been irrevocably changed by a terrorist act. Many of these families have lost loved
ones. Others have been fortunate to
survive yet carry the great scars such encounters leave behind, both physical
and emotional.
Last month we had the opportunity to catch up with Ahuva*,
the founder and director of this amazing work and she shared the wonderful
things God is doing, particularly among the women she has faithfully served:
“We recently had a leisurely Jerusalem Day brunch with 15 of
the widows and bereaved Mothers, sitting in a restaurant perched above the
city, green, and quiet, with tablecloths and rosemary in pots and tubs on and
around the table. It was a hot day, the desert wind blowing in yet the ladies
were chilled and relaxed despite the heat. Some of them began to sing
songs about Jerusalem, it was one of those ‘Roni, Roni , Bat Zion’ moments
( Rejoice oh daughter of Zion, shout in triumph)! The Middle East is
in turmoil but here they were in a place of peace and joy, delighting in
their beloved city and in life. A sense of peace and serenity despite the
turmoil all around. Healing is part of their life experience.”
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| Kurdistan |
A few weeks before, Ahuva had taken a humanitarian trip into
Kurdistan (Northern Iraq). This journey back into Abraham’s land had an deep
impact as she witnessed the enormity of the fallout from the incredible degrees
of terror experienced by the Yazidi and Christian people fleeing ISIS. Ahuva also met other people who had suffered
for years under the regime of Saddam Hussein:
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| Yazidi Refugees |
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| Iraqi Refugee Camp |
“It was incredible to share of this journey with the ladies
as we ate. As I shared and showed some photographs, I was able to tell them
that it is because of them and on their behalf I was able to go to this
region. They became excited. Four of them came from Iraq, one from one of the towns
gassed by Saddam Hussein which I had visited. One came from a northern town
close to the Syrian border, where we had been in the Yazidi camps, another from
a town, very close to the camp from where the Yazidis had recently fled when
the massacre began, another from Baghdad. They began pouring their stories out,
stories of their families and community. They were in tears that we are
able to return there and offer help. Around the table on this hot
dry morning they began to say prayers of blessing and thanks.
“This is a joint journey,” continued Ahuva. “I am able to physically go there, but I carry them. Not as dead corpses exiting Iraq but as women to whom the breath of life has been given and now want to return that life to the land and former neighbours so very dear to them. When I mentioned the very vague and still dim possibility of one day them meeting the Yazidi women in a safe place outside Israel, they were like little kids, ready to pack their bags and go. Who knows, maybe the “one day” will become reality!”
“This is a joint journey,” continued Ahuva. “I am able to physically go there, but I carry them. Not as dead corpses exiting Iraq but as women to whom the breath of life has been given and now want to return that life to the land and former neighbours so very dear to them. When I mentioned the very vague and still dim possibility of one day them meeting the Yazidi women in a safe place outside Israel, they were like little kids, ready to pack their bags and go. Who knows, maybe the “one day” will become reality!”
Your People My People has worked with Springs of Hope for
several years and endorse Ahuva’s closing thoughts to us, “I hope that you will
continue to be part of this exciting journey. We so value all the kindness that you have shown over the years. The help, the
aid, the prayer, the care, carrying us so that we can carry others. You have
shown the true meaning of redemptive love.
We welcome you to join us, and the singing daughters of Zion as our
journey continues back the way many of them came.”