When World War II started, Mila was only 6 years old. Yet she still remembers evacuating with her mother and siblings from their home in Russia, while her father left for the army. “There were bombs exploding all around,” she recalled. “God spared us.”
Mila eventually married and immigrated with her family to Israel, since they were Jewish. They made a life there, but after her husband passed away, she endured years of financial struggle and loneliness. “My budget is very limited,” she explained. “I cook very simple food.”
Then one night, Mila felt so ill she thought she was dying. An ambulance rushed her to the hospital with very high blood pressure. She recovered, but insurance did not cover all her expenses. “I owed a lot of money,” she shared. “The bill was very high. And I have to take expensive medicine.” Where could she turn for help?
Thankfully, you were there for her. Through CBN Israel, you paid Mila’s costs for the ambulance, hospital, and medicine not covered by insurance. You also provided her with a new
blood pressure monitor and brought her bags of groceries. Plus, you invited her to join other seniors to socialize and eat healthy meals at a center supported by CBN Israel. “I feel honored by your kindness,” she exclaimed in tears. “I’m so grateful that they haven’t forgotten the tragedy we lived through. May God bless you!”
With thousands of lives in crisis since the war with Hamas began, your continued support is crucial in bringing food, housing, and emergency aid to Israelis in need. Thank you so much for your compassion.
THANK YOU FOR MAKING THE DIFFERENCE!
HUMANITARIAN WORK
Your support provides food, assistance, education, economic development, and hope to Israelis in need. You are blessing Holocaust survivors, victims of terrorism, single mothers, immigrant families, and others who desperately need our help.
BREAKING NEWS
Your gift allows us to produce unbiased, independent journalism through broadcasts, podcasts, and online media dedicated to informing the world about what is happening in Israel and the Middle East through our news bureau in Jerusalem.
PROVIDING EMERGENCY FOOD AND SUPPLY BOXES FOR NORTHERN ISRAEL
Life in northern Israel has been hard. Tensions have risen over the past several months, with attacks from Hezbollah continuing to escalate on the nation’s border with Lebanon and threatening an all-out war. Hezbollah has fired over 5,000 missiles and drones from Lebanon into Israel.
This Iranian-backed terror group is well armed, with an estimated 150,000 rockets, drones, and other weapons that can be launched from land or sea—and target any point in Israel.
With that stark reality in mind, Israelis have faced the prospect of spending weeks—or possibly even months—in bomb shelters. As a result, both the military and civilians increased preparations. Israel’s food industry stocked warehouses as supermarket chains geared up to be open 24/7 during emergencies.
But when rockets are flying, people can’t leave the bomb shelters to replenish their food and
DOCUMENTARY FILMS
Your support allows us to produce educational documentary films that tell the true history of Israel, its right to exist in the face of growing anti-Semitism worldwide, its innovative and entrepreneurial culture, and its commitment to helping others—even its enemies.
other necessities. How can they survive?
Thanks to you, CBN Israel has partnered with Latet, the country’s largest distribution center. They created emergency preparedness boxes with critical supplies needed in a bomb shelter. Each box contains “combat rations,” with enough canned goods to last a few days. Plus, it includes electrical chargers, a transistor radio, batteries, and items for children and babies.
CBN Israel staffers have helped Latet pack these boxes, while also increasing support to supply people with urgently needed groceries. Your gifts made it possible to provide thousands of food packages to those in crisis in just the first months after October 7.
Your support is delivering meals, lodging, and essential aid to thousands whose lives have been devastated by the war. Thank you for sharing God’s love at this crucial time!
UNIVERSITY STUDENTS VISIT ISRAEL TO WITNESS THE IMPACT OF WAR
By Chris Mitchell, CBN News Middle East Bureau Chief
Recently, American universities were roiled by pro-Palestinian protesters and rampant anti-Semitism. Having witnessed the conflict on their college campuses, Jewish and Christian students traveled to Israel to get a front-line perspective of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. They told CBN News they wanted to arm themselves with firsthand knowledge and be better equipped to advocate for the Jewish nation at their schools.
Joshua Shain from Columbia University described the difficulty of advocating for Israel: “I’m not going to pretend it’s easy. It’s a lot tougher than I would like it to be.” He referenced Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace, two radical groups that have been at the epicenter of the uproar on campuses, frequently chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free”—meaning to wipe Israel off the map.
During their visit, the American students met with Danny Danon, a member of the Israeli
Knesset who has since been appointed as Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations. He expressed solidarity with them and acknowledged the parallel struggles, stating, “We are at war here in Israel fighting Hamas and Hezbollah, but also those brave students are at war on the campuses in North America.”
Michael Eglash, co-founder of the student mission Take Action for Israel, emphasized the goal of this visit. “Not too long after October 7, we saw that there was a tremendous need to bring student leaders, both Jewish and non-Jewish, to Israel to see firsthand the terrible atrocities and to bear witness to what happened.” He believes this personal experience will better prepare them for their advocacy work back home.
The students visited several sites directly affected by the conflict, including Kibbutz Nir Oz, the Nova Music Festival site, and the city of Sderot. Joshua Shain described the emotional impact.
“To actually be there where these things were
UN Ambassador Danny Danon with Jewish and Christian university students.
happening, where people were being killed or people were being raped, to see the houses of little kids—toys spewed all about half broken—and to see a bomb shelter door blown to pieces with bullet holes in Nerf guns is horrifying, because it makes you realize that this isn’t an obscure thing,” he said. “In the process of the protests and everything that’s going on and all the excitement, you can start to forget what this is actually about.”
Jack Landstein from the University of Michigan told CBN News, “The rush of emotions I experienced and the personal stories I’ve heard really humanize this whole situation. It gave me a lot of perspective, and that’s hard to achieve when I’m in the United States and experiencing antiSemitism on my campus.”
Now, he says he feels more equipped to share the truth of what happened. “Everybody is human. The massacre that occurred on October 7 was horrific. And these stories must be shared because people understand personal interactions. And this
is something I’m really learning again.”
Fellow Michigan student Evan Cohen is president of the pro-Israel group Wolverine For Israel. He agreed it’s important to bear witness to what happened.
“I’ve watched documentaries,” he said. “I’ve watched graphic videos. But there’s something about being here in person. Different places have different impacts on you. For me, the Nova Music Festival site was the most painful experience, because it’s the one I’m able to connect with the most, seeing that a lot of these people were relatively near my age.”
Danny Danon advised the students not to fear. “I know it’s intimidating that you go on campus and people are shouting and yelling, and sometimes we saw physical attacks. They should stand up and fight back. They should not hide their Jewishness. They should not hide their love for the State of Israel. That is my message to all the supporters of Israel.”
Top left: Danny Danon, Israeli Knesset member and ambassador to the United Nations. Top right: The Knesset, where Israel’s parliament passes all laws, elects the president and prime minister, approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government. Middle: Jewish and Christian university students visiting the Knesset. Bottom left: Nova Music Festival site, where hundreds of Israelis were either killed or kidnapped. Bottom right: Danny Danon engages with students on how to advocate for Israel at their universities.
WHO IS YOUR GOD?
And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”
–exodus 34:6-7
This statement is made about God more than any other in the Old Testament. If you want to know God’s character, memorize this. Internalize it. It represents the varied nature of His character and personality: merciful and gracious, forgiving, yet holy. Our world, even within Christian circles, often wants to make God in its image. We tend to prefer a loving and forgiving God, so that’s what we typically focus on the most. The God we imagine would never judge anyone harshly. On the other hand, there are some who want God to bring judgment quickly. However, we don’t get to make God what we want Him to be.
This passage describes who He is. He is merciful and compassionate. He forgives our sins, yet He also holds us accountable, especially if we do not repent. He doesn’t deal with us as we deserve, but that in no way lessens His holy and righteous demands. We tend to gravitate to either extreme—a loving God who tolerates everything or a harsh God who forgives little. Yet the Bible makes clear who God is.
It never loses the balance of His mercy and His justice. In fact, it makes clear that you cannot have genuine mercy without justice, just as you cannot have justice without mercy.
Unfortunately, we find ourselves swayed by our own personal preferences or what our world tells us God should be like. We look to our society to define biblical ideas like justice, mercy, righteousness, and holiness; yet these characteristics find definition in God within the Bible—how He acts and how He expects us to act.
He is compassionate and gracious, forgiving of sins. If we want our world to see Him, then we must behave the same way. He is just; we must demonstrate His justice too. That’s hard for us; we tend to go one way over the other. But God is not like that; He keeps His mercy and justice in perfect balance.
When God passed before Moses and proclaimed this, Moses bowed down and worshiped God. Take a moment today to let the words of this confession penetrate your heart and soul. This is who our God is.
Scripture is quoted from the New King James Version.
PRAYER
Father, we stand in awe of You. You are merciful and compassionate. You are just. How mighty and awesome are You. Amen.
PRAYER POINTS
Pray for God’s protection over the people of Israel as they face hostile attacks from all sides.
Pray for guidance and wisdom for Israel’s leadership as they make critical decisions in defense of the nation.
Pray for Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon as he advocates for Israel in what he calls the “lion’s den” of the United Nations.
Pray for the physical, emotional, and spiritual protection of Jewish students as they return to their campuses, where they may face hostility and anti-Semitism.
Pray that God would give both Jewish and Christian students strength and courage so that they can stand firm in their convictions and advocacy for Israel.
Pray that students will be able to effectively communicate the truth and foster understanding among their peers.
Pray for CBN Israel in its efforts to bring comfort and hope to the people of Israel.
Pray for CBN News as it strives to report the truth about Israel and the Jewish people.
DO YOU HAVE A PRAYER NEED?
Call CBN’s Prayer Center at 800-700-7000 or go to CBN.com/Prayer.
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