DECEMBER 2024
YOU ARE STANDING WITH ISRAEL AND BLESSING HER PEOPLE IN NEED ISRAEL
NEW
IMMIGRANT | LUBAʼS STORY
Escaping the violence of the war in Ukraine, Luba and her husband immigrated to Israel in December 2022. Before their move, this elderly couple had been battling serious health issues. Luba suffered from a brain tumor and needed major surgery. Her husband was ill with stomach cancer and required immediate medical care. They finally received treatment when they made Aliyah and settled in northern Israel.
But many of their medical costs were not covered by their insurance, and they were living in a new country on a fixed income. Plus, when the attacks from Hezbollah became more intense, it triggered the war trauma they had just fled. Where could this frightened couple turn for help?
Through CBN Israel, you provided them with desperately needed financial relief to help pay their out-of-pocket medical expenses. You also delivered groceries and other essential household supplies.
And during the current war with Hezbollah, you offered them trauma therapy—while making regular home visits to let them know they aren’t alone. Luba exclaimed, “Thank you so much for your generous support! It is important to help each
other in these difficult times.”
Your gifts to CBN Israel are reaching so many who are facing major hardships. You are there with food, housing, relief aid—and compassion. And your kindhearted support can continue to extend help and hope to those in need—including refugees, immigrant families, single mothers, Holocaust survivors, and war victims. Thank you for caring!
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.
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.
DELIVERING HOT MEALS TO THOSE IN NEED
Most people take for granted being able to grocery shop and cook their own meals at home. But some people in Israel must rely on others for a prepared meal due to their circumstances.
They may be elderly or disabled, living in shelters or institutions, or displaced by the war. Many are impoverished and barely able to provide for themselves. And the nonprofit organizations that care for them often have their resources stretched thin by the escalating needs.
At the same time, 35 percent of all food produced in Israel ends up in landfills and not consumed. That amounts to 2.2 billion pounds of nutritious food wasted each year and adds to environmental waste disposal issues. So, is there a good way to solve both problems at once?
Thankfully, you have been part of a smart, sustainable solution. Through CBN Israel’s partnership with the country’s largest food banks, you are rescuing surplus prepared food from
hotels, corporate cafeterias, and IDF bases—and redistributing it to vulnerable groups served by soup kitchens, senior centers, women’s shelters, and schools for at-risk youth.
All meals are collected using refrigerated vans on 17 routes throughout Israel. The meals are either delivered directly to a nonprofit partner—or cold-stored overnight at a distribution hub and delivered to the partner agency for immediate consumption the next day.
With regular communication between suppliers and nonprofit partners, food safety is maintained from the time of collection until delivery. And thanks to you, recipients who are at-risk or displaced are on track to receive 2.4 million healthy meals throughout the year.
This is just one example of how your gifts to CBN Israel are extending a lifeline to so many in crisis. You also offer groceries, safe housing, and essentials to aging Holocaust survivors, terror victims, and many others. Thank you for being a blessing to those in need!
HOSPITALS IN ISRAEL GO UNDERGROUND TO SAVE LIVES
By Julie Stahl
For decades, Israel has been living under the threat of rockets and missiles from its neighbors and beyond. And now, with Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in the north, hospitals are more critical than ever—and could become targets. But Israel has come up with a unique solution that can keep them safe and operational.
Located in central Israel, the internationally recognized Sheba Medical Center has been a key part of the war effort since the Hamas invasion of October 7, 2023, steadfastly treating the wounded. And six floors underground, another complete hospital exists, fully equipped and ready to be put to use in case there’s a massive missile attack.
“This was an area that was originally built and created during the coronavirus era, because we really didn’t know how many sick patients we would get,” said Steve Walz, Sheba Medical Center’s global media director. “But we kept it because we know that we live in an area where missiles are falling all the time. So, we knew that one day this
would come into use.”
CBN News was given an exclusive tour of this underground facility that’s especially important given threats from multiple fronts, including Iran, against heavily populated places such as Tel Aviv.
“Each area here is designated for a different section of the hospital, and we would be able to move them down here quickly, and they can stay down here for as long as needed. And the doctors would be here to tend to patients,” Walz explained. “The electricity is such that we can hook up dialysis patients. And we have hundreds of beds ready and capable of being used for patients if in an emergency.”
Above ground, the 2,000-bed medical complex covers 200 acres. Various underground sections can house potentially hundreds of patients.
“God forbid we have something catastrophic, this hospital has two alternatives. It can move more people under the maternity hospital, and in an extreme emergency … we can actually build a field hospital outside,” Walz told CBN News.
And if that’s still not enough? “We actually have
Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel.
the capability of building a field hospital in one of the major parking lots and operate that,” he said.
Rambam Medical Center in Haifa and others in Israel also have underground facilities. The idea is so groundbreaking that other countries have come to Israel for help.
“Israel is unique because we get missiles all the time,” Walz pointed out. “Actually, Sheba Medical Center has been asked by other hospitals around the world—especially those that are, let’s say in Germany, that are unfortunately close to the area where the Ukraine war is going on with Russia.”
Walz says those places are not prepared for such an emergency—not knowing the logistics of how to move patients quickly to a protected area and how to build areas that are more secure.
“So, they’ve come here, and we’ve gone to them to offer advice as to how to quickly prepare in the case of an emergency if missiles start falling on them,” he said.
The United States is also well aware of Sheba’s unique approach.
“The U.S. military has come here and visited this exact location to see how we would handle this, because ... Israel has a special relationship with CENTCOM and the Fifth Fleet,” Walz said, referring to American military resources in the Middle East and beyond.
He told CBN News that Jews and Arabs work together at Sheba around the clock for the common cause of saving lives. He sees their resilience as a great example of Israel’s ability to keep going in the face of all its threats. And Sheba’s message to the world?
“The slogan is that we offer ‘hope without boundaries.’ And that is what we live on here. That is the DNA of our hospital, and we do that 365 days a year.”
Top: Medical staff prepare the Sammy Ofer Fortified Underground Emergency Hospital at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa following the outbreak of war, October 11, 2023. Second: Israel’s largest trauma hospital, in the northwestern city of Haifa, converted a three-floor underground parking garage into a hospital. Third: Sheba Medical Center’s underground sections can house hundreds of patients. Fourth: The NICU at Galilee Medical Center was the first part of the hospital to move underground. Fifth: The underground emergency department at Galilee Medical Center, a community hospital in Nahariya, in northern Israel.
DECEMBER
YEARNING FOR REDEMPTION
There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
– LUKE
2:36-38 niv
Anna yearned for redemption. Her life centered on her desire for the redemption of Jerusalem. She fasted and prayed daily in the Temple—hoping and longing for God’s redemption. And when she met the baby Jesus and His parents, she spoke to all who likewise yearned for God’s redemption.
Jesus entered a world where the people of God hungered for His redemption. Some fasted and prayed for it to arrive. Perhaps the focused yearning of the people had some impact on God’s sending Jesus at that moment.
The Apostle Paul wrote, But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons (Galatians 4:4-5 nkjv).
What is your focus this holiday season? Often
our focus can be taken up with the “busyness” of our lives, families, jobs, and the daily grind. There is nothing wrong with that, but sometimes we can forget to draw near to God and allow Him to give us His heart for the world around us.
Anna’s hope for the redemption of Jerusalem shaped how she lived her daily life, in the Temple courts, fasting and praying.
Luke indicates that there were others like her—including Simeon—who yearned for Israel’s redemption. This desire wasn’t just about them and their personal piety; rather, they sought God’s redemption for His people, the nation of Israel. And, just perhaps, their yearning made the time right for God to send forth His Son.
Do we long for God’s redemption in our lives, in our families, in our communities, in our society, in our nation, and all throughout our world?
This Christmas season, as we celebrate the birth of Jesus the Messiah, may we spend time in the presence of God and renew our pledge to seek His redemption in our lives and in our world.
PRAYER
Father, may our lives bear the fruit of our desire for You and Your redemption in our world. God, we need You; help our actions demonstrate our dedication and yearning for You in our lives and in our world. Amen.
PRAYER POINTS
Pray for Israel’s protection and the protection of her soldiers in battle.
Pray for God to give His angels charge over Israel and that her borders will be secure.
Pray for Israeli authorities to have the necessary wisdom and intelligence to thwart planned terror attacks against the Jewish nation.
Pray for the fear of the Lord and a spiritual awakening in the Middle East, as well as a revelation that the God of Israel and the Bible is the one true God.
Pray for God to give Lebanese Christians strength, courage, and hope—especially during this Advent and Christmas season.
Pray that the people of Lebanon will be able to regain control of their country from the oppressive grip of Hezbollah and Iran.
Pray that the Iranian proxy, the Houthis, will not be able to overthrow the King of Jordan and gain a huge open front to attack Israel.
Pray that the Arab-Muslim countries would be able to see what a blessing Israel is.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem and the entire region.
DO YOU HAVE A PRAYER NEED?
ISRAEL
Based on the New York Times bestseller by Dan Senor and Saul Singer, The Genius of Israel reveals why the Jewish state is largely immune to the social problems that plague many Western societies.
Filmed on location in Israel and hosted by Gordon Robertson, this new CBN Films documentary explores the unique religious and cultural traditions that make Israel one of the most innovative and resilient democracies on earth.
