I will raise my eyes to the mountains; from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth (Psalm 121:1-2).
As the conflict in Israel continues, the people living in war-torn areas are facing very difficult circumstances. Please keep them and the SGA-supported ministers in your prayers as they are living their faith through service. God is walking with them, guiding them along the way. Pastor Boris leads a drug rehab ministry in Beer Sheva, with outreach in additional locations including Ashkelon.
Boris sent the following testimony from Israel, where they are ministering to people living in fear and desperation. We pray that God gives them the strength to continue their work of helping people find their way out of darkness through the Gospel. May God shine His perpetual light on the people in Israel living in constant distress.
Testimony from Pastor Boris, an SGA-supported minister:
“Dear brothers and sisters, shalom!
We are very grateful to the Lord for all of you who pray for Israel and our ministry these days, and for all those who have sent financial support for our relief work in Ashkelon! This ministry started with “five loaves and two fishes,” when our team member Eduard and his group took whatever funds they had, including their personal savings, and used them for serving the needy around them. Then God multiplied their ministry resources greatly—through you, our friends and partners!
The situation in Ashkelon remains tense. Rocket warning alerts still sound daily, many grocery stores and other vital shops are closed because they lack manpower or bomb shelters, and many people are afraid to go outside, especially if they do not have private cars and have to get to a shop by foot or public transportation. The situation is particularly complicated for the elderly and the handicapped.
Here is the story of one family that Eduard has been helping these days…
Tatyana and Constantine are in their 70s and do not have close relatives (their only daughter is deceased). During one of the bombings from Gaza, a rocket hit their building, but thankfully they were not harmed because they hid in the bomb shelter room on their floor. The couple suffered from psychological shock, especially Tatyana, whose emotional state became very fragile. The municipality arranged for them to stay in a small hotel, but several days ago this “vacation” came to an end and the couple had to return to Ashkelon, back to its tension and rocket alerts.
Their neighbors, who managed to move to another city for the time being, let them into their vacant apartment, since the couple’s own apartment needs repairs. Constantine is physically challenged and Tatyana hardly functions because of all the trauma she has been through. Eduard and his team are taking care of this family, bringing them food and helping them with other needs.
One day Constantine called Eduard in the middle of the night and asked him to bring Tatyana to the ER, as her emotional state worsened. Now she is back home. Eduard and his team prayed with the couple and gave them a Bible. Please pray for them and for many other Ashkelonians who keep suffering from traumatic realities of the war.
The rest of our projects continue. . .
In Tel Aviv, all our teams keep coming and serving in the rehab center as usual, despite the situation and any rocket alerts. Please continue praying for our volunteers, the addicts, and the homeless to whom they are ministering, and especially those who decide to go to rehab centers—that they will remain in the rehab program and not return to the streets. Also please keep praying for our Women’s Shelter and Rehab residents. Sadly, our long-term volunteer who had lived with the ladies in the shelter for almost two years had to leave in the beginning of October, and while rocket alerts in Beer Sheva are not as frequent as in Ashkelon, they are still traumatizing for our ladies, since their emotional state had been far from stable even before the war began.”