MARCH 2025
YOU ARE STANDING WITH ISRAEL AND BLESSING HER PEOPLE IN NEED ISRAEL
VICTIMS OF TERRORISM | ALEXEI & VALERIA’S STORY
It was a harrowing time for Ukrainians
Alexei and Valeria when they escaped their country’s war in 2023. Leaving all their possessions behind, they took refuge in Israel. Yet, moving into an unfurnished apartment, these new immigrants lacked the basic necessities and needed help.
A friend told them about CBN Israel, and you provided them with a brand-new refrigerator, along with a sofa that they had wanted but couldn’t afford.
Then, they were soon caught in another war. When Hezbollah escalated its attacks from
Lebanon, a rocket exploded 50 yards from their apartment building. The family ran to the safe room, where they saw that Alexei was cut and his father was bleeding.
Valeria shared, “They were small wounds, but it was scary. All the windows were blown out. The furniture we bought was damaged. I was crying because I was very scared.”
Although they were thankful to be alive, the explosion had demolished their apartment, destroying what little they had.
Once again, you came to their aid. While the government repaired the apartment, you replaced the furniture and provided groceries, cooking utensils, and a vacuum cleaner.
Valeria exclaimed, “This rocket could have ended our lives, but CBN Israel gave us a new chance to get ahead!”
Your gifts to CBN Israel are also giving many others a chance to get ahead. You are there with meals, housing, finances, and more.
And your continued support is vital as we reach out to refugees, terror victims, Holocaust survivors, single mothers, and others in crisis situations.
Thank you for your compassion!
THANK YOU FOR MAKING THE DIFFERENCE!
ISRAEL RELIEF
Your support provides food, clothing, housing, education, and hope to Israel’s most vulnerable people. You are blessing victims of war and terror, Holocaust survivors, widows, orphans, single moms, refugees, and others who desperately need our help.
ISRAEL NEWS
Your gifts make it possible 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.
ISRAEL FILMS
Your funding helps produce groundbreaking films that tell the true story of Israel, its right to exist in the face of growing antisemitism, its extensive biblical history, its innovative and entrepreneurial culture, and its commitment to helping others—even its enemies.
ISRAEL INSTITUTE
Your partnership enables us to shape the future of Israel advocacy by training, educating, and equipping the next generation of Christian leaders to stand with the Jewish nation and counter anti-Israel propaganda, disinformation, and antisemitism.
CBN ISRAEL’S RESILIENCE CENTER HELPS TRAUMA VICTIMS
Just as Israelis were finally emerging from the trauma of COVID-19, they were suddenly thrust into the horrors of the October 7 terrorist attacks and the ensuing war with Hamas and Hezbollah. Since then, the nation has been running on adrenaline, with families still in shock and survival mode.
Now, with the war winding down, many Israelis will face complex emotional, psychological, and financial challenges in adjusting to a “new normal.”
those directly victimized by war or terror, their family members are often outside the loop—such as families of hostages. The Resilience Center can fill that gap by reaching people who are not eligible for government therapy programs.
Thanks to your prayers and gifts, CBN Israel is addressing the Jewish nation’s need for healing by opening a new “resilience center.” Manager Yonathan Almeida, who is also a clinical psychologist and pastor, explained, “Many resilience centers exist around the country. But we understood that after the war, the need for these was going to skyrocket.”
The CBN Israel Resilience Center will serve as a hub that matches the needs of individuals to a pool of counseling professionals—including psychologists for adults and children, psychiatrists, psychotherapists, social workers, and financial and parenting coaches.
While the government provides therapy for
Since the war began, you have already created trauma recovery groups through CBN Israel, offering courses and private counseling. The Resilience Center will do that same work but on a much larger scale, as well as provide support for the therapists themselves.
In addition, Almeida plans to assist the faith community. He said the war brought up spiritual questions for everyone about why this happened—even some believers, whose faith has been shaken.
He sums up the center’s mission, saying, “People can begin to think coherently again. … We are here to help them find an explanation that will give them peace … and give them new tools.”
Your gifts to CBN Israel also offer compassionate relief to hurting Israelis in other ways, providing them with hot meals, shelter, and other essentials. Thank you for all you do!
THE PROPHETIC SIGNIFICANCE OF RED HEIFERS
By Chris Mitchell
In September 2022, the arrival of five red heifers in Israel attracted global attention. The reason for this is that some Jews and Gentiles believe red heifers are a key element leading to the building of the Third Jewish Temple.
Now, over two years later, those cows are in Shiloh. CBN News went there to obtain an update about why the world is so eager to know more about these cows.
Moriah Shapira, the manager of the site at ancient Shiloh, explained why their presence is historic. “Here in Shiloh,” she said, “for the first time after 2,000 years, we have real kosher heifers, which is really exciting.”
Shapira went on to explain why red heifers are so important.
“The Bible says when a person wants to enter the Temple, which is called the house of life, he has to go through a process using ashes of the red heifer, meaning that the red heifers are actually the key to the Temple.”
She said that process is for purification, to
cleanse someone from death and its stain. She told CBN News, “So a person who came in contact with death—either at a funeral or in a hospital—and wants to enter the Temple has to go through this process. And the process is, the priest used to take the ashes of the red heifer and mix it with water that comes from a spring of life. He’s actually taking the source of death and mixing it with the source of life. And these together become the purifying water.”
Hamas reportedly blamed the October 7 invasion in part on the red heifers because the Al-Aqsa Mosque would be in danger if the Third Temple were to be built.
The animals are mentioned in Numbers 19:1-3 (nkjv): Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord has commanded, saying: ‘Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without blemish, in which there is no defect and on which a yoke has never come. You shall
One of the five red heifers at Shiloh.
give it to Eleazar the priest, that he may take it outside the camp, and it shall be slaughtered before him.’”
To be selected, these qualifications must be met:
• An adult cow with reddish-brown hair
• No hairs of a different color
• No blemishes
• Never used for any other purpose
Two of the five red heifers have been disqualified, but only one is needed to qualify for the purification for the Temple.
Larry Barnschager, a farmer from northern Indiana, takes care of them. He told us, “It’s just a lot of fun to be involved in something that I see God is doing behind the scenes.”
He said that what he has experienced is remarkable. “While I’ve been staying here at
Shiloh, every continent—countries I’ve never heard of before—were here to see the red heifers. There’s something happening in Shiloh.”
Shiloh has great significance, as it was the spiritual capital of Israel for nearly 400 years. This is where Joshua divided the land between the twelve tribes, Hannah prayed for a son, and then Samuel served the Lord.
Todd Fink, a Bible teacher from HolyLandSite.com, came to visit Shiloh with his tour group. “According to prophecy, these red heifers are significant from the time of Israel’s history,” he told CBN News. “And so, for these heifers to be here in Shiloh, and for that to fit in with what appears to be prophecy on the horizon, we’re living in monumental days and unbelievable times.”
Top (left to right): Second Temple model at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Israel. Red heifers eating together. Caretaker of the red heifers. Bottom (left to right): Entrance to the ancient Shiloh archaeological site. Ancient ruins at biblical Shiloh. Aerial view of ancient Shiloh, the first historical capital of Israel.
HIDING FROM GOD
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and they hid themselves from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
– Genesis 3:8 HCSB
After Adam and Eve disobeyed God, He came to walk with them in the garden—yet they responded by hiding themselves. Children who disobey a parent often respond in the same manner. But God did not leave Adam and Eve in hiding; He searched and called for them. You could say that, from the time of the Garden of Eden, the story of the Bible is God in search of mankind. Jesus declared in Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
King David realized how intimately God knew him, and he recognized that even if he wanted to hide from God, he could not. He wrote in Psalm 139:7-12:
Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take up the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be
night,’’ even darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day.
Even in those moments when our disobedience and shame drive us to hide from our Father in heaven, He searches us out. He lovingly pursues us and doesn’t allow us to remain in hiding. If we want to wrap ourselves in darkness to hide from Him, He dispels the darkness. What an incredible reality!
When Adam and Eve came out of hiding, God provided clothing to cover their nakedness. He also continued to care for them.
David’s realization that God knew him intimately, that God pursued him to the ends of the earth, elicited in him the response of obedient surrender: Search me, God, and know my heart; put me to the test and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there is any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way (Psalm 139:23-24).
While our disobedience may tempt us to hide from God, His love for us should cause us to respond with a yearning to walk obediently in His ways. Scripture is quoted from the NASB except as noted.
PRAYER
Father, even in those times when I want to hide from You, You are there. You search me out and pursue me. Lead me in Your paths. Amen.
