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Lech L'cha discipleship ministry has just began a really special programme with a new bunch of recruits. The 3-month residential course usually includes plenty of hiking in the land of the Bible - visiting sites from the Old and New Testaments - but for the first time, Lech L'cha will be hiking the Israel Trail. The Trail, known in Hebrew as Shvil Yisra'el is a hiking path crossing the entire length of the country beginning in the north at Dan near the Lebanese border and ending in Eilat on the Red Sea at the southern most tip of Israel. A whopping 1,015 km (631 miles) which takes an average of 45-60 days to complete. National Geographic listed it in their 20 most "epic trails." It is described as a trail that "delves into the grand scale of biblical landscapes as well as the everyday lives of the modern Israeli." The Lech L'cha staff spent a lot of time praying and planning this new course and are really excited to see how God will impact the lives of these young people as they hike through the Land. At the beginning of the course, everyone participated in team building activities and orientation at the Lech L'cha house, to get to know each other and then had a two week preparation time before beginning the hiking trail. They began in the most northern part of Israel and will trek all the way to the most south tip. Pray for this new group embarking on their Lech L'cha discipleship journey - that they would meet with God in new and deeper ways and understand the fullness of their identity in Him. Pray also that the Bible will come to life as they visit the places where it happened and the truths will take deep root. Pray also for the Lech L'cha staff as they lead this new style of discipleship journey - give them vision, wisdom and discernment and bless them as they invest in the coming generation. If you want to walk some of the Israel Trail when visiting Israel, markers with three stripes (white, blue, and orange), are painted on rocks and trees along the route - check out more info here: http://theintexperience.com/ Since January 2016, the Israel National Trail can be explored on Google Street View. Can you help support this discipleship group? DONATE HERE and note your gift is for Lech L'cha.

At the end of June, 230 Jewish and Arab youth took part in the Dor Haba Summer Camp. Four days of meeting with the Lord and with each other. “We witnessed His love, healing, forgiveness, unity, and creativity break out in our hearts and lives once again.” shared Tal, the Director of Dor Haba. During the camp the teenagers took part in various creative workshops in addition to spending time worshipping and praying and of course breaking down barriers and becoming friends across cultural and political divides. In the music workshops, teenagers prepared to lead worship and prophetic intercession for the whole gathering. It was amazing to see 14, 15, 16 year olds taking the lead in bringing their peers into the presence of God each meeting. The youth attending the dance, drama and film workshops worked together on a music video to the song, “Awake My Soul”. They came up with the storyline and ideas themselves and were excited to produce something together, as young Jewish and Arab Believers, that shared about their faith and hope in Jesus. On the third day, everyone went out onto the streets of the city of Netanya for an outreach. The art students who had been making original jewellery and writing scriptures to go along with each piece, went “treasure hunting”: as they walked around they asked the Lord who to give the jewellery to. This led to many conversations with people on the board-walk about their faith and the unity that Jesus brings between them. Those who did the dance workshops performed in several places along the promenade by the beach and those who had been working on music also played and sang worship songs in various locations. Many Israelis stopped to listen and even joined in. One local resident commented that they, “brought life back to the board-walk” and one of the worship teams were even invited to play in a cafe. After the outreach, all 200 or so teenagers ,with the helpers and leaders, returned to the camp venue to share their experiences. There were so many encouraging testimonies and this led into a powerful time of worship. At the end of the meeting the host on stage said there was time for one last testimony. A 16 year old girl came up to the microphone and shared how she had been severely depressed for two years, and had almost taken her life the day before the camp started, but she decided to go to the camp and give God and life, “one last chance.” She ended up giving her life 100% to Yeshua (Jesus) and getting filled with the Holy Spirit. She was glowing and had such a huge smile on her face, a genuine smile that her friends had never seen before. Her testimony led to 23 others coming up one by one, confessing that they too have struggled with suicidal thoughts, depression and anxiety. The whole room began sobbing quietly and turning to each other to receive prayer. Many were set free - it was a powerful time. “You could sense the power of death just breaking in the whole room,” shared Tal, “as young people began giving their fears and hopelessness to the Lord and repenting. Then, one by one, they began coming up to the mic (over 35 youth), praying and interceding for salvation and healing in their generation.” We pray that these teens will continue to push deeper into the Lord and that the friendships they built with each other will be an encouragement now they are back in their own homes and congregations. DONATE >>

Did you know that the character of Paddington Bear was inspired by Jewish refugee children arriving at a British train station as they fled the Holocaust? "A Bear Called Paddington" was published in October 1958. The author, Michael Bond, based the character of the now famous bear, on a memory of children arriving at Reading train station during World War 2. The young refugees wore labels around their necks to identify them and each carried a small suitcase. Bond transferred this memory into the image of a small bear sitting on his suitcase in Paddington Station with a note saying "Please take care of this bear" hung around his neck. The holocaust link goes further. In the story, Paddington befriends Mr. Samuel Gruber, the owner of an antique shop on Portobello Road in London. Mr. Gruber is an elderly Jewish man who escaped the Nazis from Hungary. Bond based the character of Gruber on his first agent, a German Jew who Bond said, "was in line to be the youngest judge in Germany, when he was warned his name was on the list, so he got out and came to England with just a suitcase and £25 to his name." When the Paddington 2 movie hit the screens in Israel in 2018, the voice of one of the characters was played by Nechama Rivlin the late wife of former Israeli President Reuven Rivlin. And did you also know that the voice of Paddington in the Ukrainian version is Volodymyr Zelensky, who used to be a comedian and actor before he became President and is also Jewish. In April this year, the Israeli government published figures stating 161,400 Holocaust survivors are living in Israel today (2022): victims of antisemitism during the Holocaust period. The average age of Holocaust survivors is 85 and a half years old, with 31,500 over the age of 90 and more than 1,000 over 100 years old. Over the past year, 15,553 survivors died in Israel, an average of more than 42 a day. Among those living in Israel, 63 percent were born in Europe: Eastern European countries of the former Soviet Union, Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Germany, Czechoslovakia and France. An additional 18.5% of survivors are from Morocco and Algeria, where they suffered discrimination and harassment under the Nazi-allied Vichy government. A further 11% are from Iraq, survivors of the Farhud pogrom of June 1941. Seven percent are from Libya and Tunisia, countries that during the Holocaust passed racist laws against Jews and imprisoned their communities in labour camps. Some of the Jewish community were also sent to Italy’s Giado concentration camp in Libya. They survived Concentration Camps and ghettos, lived under false names, went into hiding, or worked in forced labour, sometimes alongside their parents. According to a Survivors’ advocacy group, of Israel’s 161,400 Holocaust survivors, roughly one in three lives in poverty. Though most survivors receive government stipends, it is often not sufficient to meet financial needs, especially with soaring costs for rent and expensive medication needed for ailing bodies still suffering trauma inflicted during the Holocaust years. Many depend on food donations organized by Israeli charities and are forced to make heart-breaking choices between paying their rent or buying much needed medication. Your People My People is honoured to support an amazing ministry in Israel run by a family passionate about bringing hope and dignity to these remaining survivors in their last days. From distributing food vouchers, organising new eye glasses, dental treatments and mobility aids, to running events aimed at pouring love upon these special souls, Helping Hands Coalition is making a huge difference in the lives of Holocaust Survivors in Israel. We have known this family and organisation for many years and have seen first hand the cloud of heaviness lifting from the Survivors as they experience Helping Hand Coalition's 'Shalom House' events. Join us in blessing Holocaust Survivors living in Israel today - you can support them HERE