2023 Gratitude Report

Gratitude Report

THE FRIENDS OF ISRAEL GOSPEL MINISTRY

Who We Are

We were established in 1938 to help Jewish people escape the atrocities of genocide during World War II. Today, our mission remains the same: building bridges and bringing hope in more than 18 countries around the world.

Our MISSION

We are a worldwide evangelical ministry proclaiming biblical truth about Israel and the Messiah, while bringing physical and spiritual comfort to the Jewish people.

Our VISION

Our vision is to see everyone believe in God’s Son and understand God’s plan for the ages.

“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.”

ROMANS 1:8

Dear Friends,

The apostle Paul opened his letter to the Romans with a verse that reflects how I feel about you.

“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world” (Romans 1:8).

As I travel throughout the world, and especially in Israel, I meet people you have helped through God’s work at The Friends of Israel (FOI). I meet people who have been fed, clothed, and sheltered only because of your faith and generosity. I meet people who have come to know the Lord because of you and your faithfulness. Their outpouring of appreciation is heartwarming and encouraging to all of us.

Every Wednesday morning, all of the FOI staff around the world gather online and pray for you. We do not cease to give thanks for you and all that you do (Ephesians 1:15).

Today, I want to share with you what God is accomplishing through your support for this ministry. Your gifts really do help the love of the Lord reach those near and far. Your faith is inspiring and a beacon to all.

This Gratitude Report is filled with stories and photographs of lives you have touched through your prayers, time, and investment in The Friends of Israel. I hope you will come to sense my thankfulness to God for you and all that you are accomplishing for Him.

Giving Thanks for You,

Jim Showers, DMin Executive Director/President

International Ministries

You are making it possible for folks in Buenos Aires, Argentina to have free blood pressure screenings, basic medical care, meals, children’s activities, and medical transportation at the FOI Medical Clinic between three Jewish neighborhoods. Your support brings physical comfort and spiritual hope in the only One who saves. Thank you.

“Eugenio, 62, looking at the gauge where the needle was crudely telling how his blood pressure soared, told us: ‘How I wish I had an instrument like this to measure evil around us,’ he said as he stared at the crowd of passersby. Understanding his wish, we told him that the Bible has an answer to his request in Romans 3:23: ‘For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.’

+4,400

“Very often, patients that come to us in search of help for their sufferings in the flesh also express their lack of spiritual health. Eugenio, affected by persistent headaches and nightmares, told us about his meandering style of life, where his days swung from one state of mind to another. A few days after our conversation, he returned to us for spiritual help. Despite his attempts to find an answer to his spiritual quest, he still couldn’t find the answer he sought. His Jewish upbringing taught him how to pave the way to salvation through mitzvot, performing good deeds. He was pleased to know that it was not through muscle work that he would be granted eternal life (Ephesians 2:8–9). Eugenio, like many others we meet at the FOI Medical Clinic in Buenos Aires, finds the exam room as the right environment to expose the intimate, hidden side of their lives. We are grateful for believers’ prayers that reach heaven, returning in blessed opportunities to reach desperate people in our midst.”

—FOI Field Worker, Physician, Argentina

Ambulance runs from FOI ambulance in Buenos Aires

Thank you for your willingness to give financial help for the FOI Ministry in Poland and Ukraine, through which so many Jewish people, among them war refugees in distress, can be so greatly blessed. They are comforted by discovering they have sincere Christian friends on their side. Your support of our international ministry continues to bring hope and comfort to our Jewish friends in more than 18 countries. Thank you.

“I think my trip to Moldova best captures the essence of the FOI ministry in Poland after the Russian ground invasion on Ukraine. Suddenly we were told that there was an urgent need to go to Moldova to help a Jewish family fleeing from Odessa (the bombed Ukrainian town located just across the Moldovan border). I immediately agreed to drive the bus and supervise the trip.

“The post-Soviet republic of Moldova, the poorest European country, 930 miles away from Poland, had become a very important southern corridor for the refugee masses. Our non-stop journey took 30 hours to get there and another 30 hours to come back. We had to travel through Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania—-all the way around the Ukrainian war zone. The camp facility for Jewish refugees was located in a closed area of a former resort center on the outskirts of the city of Kishinev. It could house 300 people at a time. Each day 100 people come and another 100 set out for further destinations. I saw people for whom the world has ended. They walked the streets, crying and trying

to understand something, anything, from this chaos.

“I heard terrible stories about what some of them had witnessed. I learned that a tear in my eye speaks better than any words of consolation I could have said. On the way back to Poland I told our anxious passengers: My name is Emanuel which means ‘God with us’ and I am strongly convinced that He is and will guard us and bring us safely home. And yes, He did—-through a fierce night snowstorm as the car wound through the serpentine of Carpathian Mountains in Romania; through hours of forced stay at the border controls—we had to cross eight state borders! I asked 82-year old granny Nina, what is the secret of her inner strength and calmness: ‘The family. Now it is everything I live for—to keep us together,’ was her answer. Natalia, the young mother (21 years old) onboard cared for her 2-year-old son Roman so tenderly, that only once I heard him cry. Their husbands and brothers had to stay in Ukraine, forced to

+1,200 Refugees housed at FOI facilities in Poland

conscript. At 3 a.m., we arrived at the FOI farm near Warsaw. A warm welcome at the open doors of the house with bright light coming from inside was calling us like a safe haven after the storm. I am grateful to the Almighty for the opportunity to serve our Jewish friends and increase the good despite the pervasive escalation of evil.”

—FOI Field Worker, Poland

North American Ministries

Your support helps communicate biblical truth about Israel in churches, the truth about the Messiah on college campuses, serving Jewish communities, and everywhere the Lord leads us. We are committed to building bridges and bringing hope to people in more than 18 countries worldwide, including North America. Thank you.

“I met Cathy through a class at the local Jewish Community Center (JCC), where I volunteer. She told me she was a docent at a Judaica museum nearby. She had offered to give me a tour, so I went. Cathy kindly showed me around the museum and explained how the articles came from all over the world. It was a short but fascinating time to expand my knowledge of Jewish culture and customs.

“At the end, we sat down and talked about how she came to the city, her late husband, and her time as a college student. She expressed her dissatisfaction over how they pushed Christianity on her at college but boasted that she remained unshakingly Jewish. She asked about what I did, and I explained about FOI and what I do to support the Jewish community through volunteering and learning at the JCC. I saw her face cloud with distrust as she learned

I was a believer. I was a bit of a puzzle to her because I am a Christian who supports Israel and has actually done something about it.

In that gesture, I saw the walls of distrust crumble, and the worry started to melt away.

“In December, I called to see if I could stop by with a Hanukkah basket for her and her husband. She was happy to see me, and they appreciated the Hanukkah gift. We talked for a bit and had a good time. At the end, Cathy hugged me. In that gesture, I saw the walls of distrust crumble, and the worry started to melt away. I believe she is realizing I am an actual friend. I pray God calls out to her and her husband and, if He chooses, that I could be of service. Their appreciation for the gifts made me see how God can use simple steps to build bridges. Praise the Lord!”

–FOI Field Worker, United States

+1,200 Volunteer hours serving Jewish communities in North America

“He who loves God must love his brother also.”

1 JOHN 4:21

Israel

All this proves how God is raising a new generation of believers through this ministry in Israel. Your support makes it happen, and we are so thankful for each one of you. There is such a great need, and thanks to you, we are able to do so much for this young generation. Todah rabah!

“There were so many coronavirus cases in Israel that the government set social and health restrictions in mid-March 2020. In this time there was a young guy in my neighborhood that started to hang around with my son of the same age. This young fellow even joined our weekly youth meetings and began hearing about God’s love for him. This unique situation of pandemic restrictions opened a door to the life of a young Israeli teenager. As time passed by, this young Israeli was asking my son more and more questions about our faith. The youth group exposed him to other young believers and more information from God’s word. Before the pandemic came to an end, the teenager came to believe in Yeshua.

Young Christians from 3 congregations provided with faith-building opportunities

This grace was such an encouragement to all of us; to my son, to the youth group and all the congregation.

“It was the voice of the Lord that led me to start kids’ club ministry in our kehilla (congregation) in June 2021. There were only few kids between grades 3–6 at that time. About three months later, four new families moved to our congregation. Each family came with many children of different ages. Very quickly, the number of kids tripled and had a place to come and grow spiritually.

God prepared the ground as He saw the future, the future that was hidden from my limited eyes!”

–FOI Representative, Israel

Media

Your support makes it possible to research, produce, and broadcast The Friends of Israel Today radio program, Israel My Glory magazine, and video series like our Bible conferences, podcasts, and FOI Equip studies online. Thank you.

“From day one your radio station sparked an interest in Israel and reason for the feasts and what they mean on every level. It opened my mind to a deeper desire to study all the avenues that FOI opened up about Jesus and the Old Testament. I have listened to your program for many years on the radio and I could not wait for the next program to air. I feel you are truly God-sent so that I may step up into a new level of understanding. Your program sparked a new flame inside my heart that I pray every listener would have this same spark and desire to dig deeper. Thank you for ALL you do!”

Radio stations broadcast

FOI Today Radio

“After many years of Christian ministry in the U.S. and on the mission field, I retired to a Christian retirement center in Florida. At the laundromat in our building, I picked up a copy of Israel My Glory magazine someone left behind. I was astounded to see that I had been taught, very subtly, the “Replacement Theology” theory. That started my 19 years of study of Bible prophecy and what the Bible really teaches about Israel, as well as attending several years of the FOI conferences in Tampa. I am so thankful for that dear lady that placed the magazine for people to read in the laundry! And I praise the Lord for those wonderful FOI conferences in Tampa and the ongoing ministry of Friends of Israel! “

– Dona in Florida

Relief Funds

Thank you for every donation to the Israel Relief Fund. Because it means one more child is fed, one more woman is sheltered from domestic violence, one more bomb shelter is built, one more Israeli disabled veteran is given therapy he needs, and one more baby is saved from abortion—all in the name of our Savior, Yeshua. Every dollar matters. Thank you.

+$1 Million

In aid granted in 2022

“As I stood there holding charred and splintered pieces of the military Jeep, my heart was flooded with grief. It was on this blackened piece of asphalt just 18 months before where IDF soldier, Omer Tabib, lost his life to a precision-guided anti-tank missile fired by terrorists

in Gaza. And here was a piece of his Jeep, also destroyed by the missile, in my hand. Staff Sgt. Tabib, only 21 years old, was the first military casualty of Operation Guardian of the Walls, the 2021 Gaza War between Israel and Hamas. At his funeral, his mother, Tali, said that Omer was just weeks away from his official military discharge.

“Although we couldn’t help Sgt. Tabib that day, we are working hard to install more bomb shelters every day, and now have a few shelters there at Kibbutz Netiv Ha’asara. FOI’s Israel Relief Fund has installed 61 bomb shelters throughout Israel. Every time the sirens sound, FOI bomb shelters protect as many as 1,200 Israeli civilians at schools, bus stops, playgrounds, sports fields, farms, and city streets.

“But bomb shelters are just one of many ways FOI is working to save physical and spiritual lives in Israel.

The Israel Relief Fund’s sole purpose is to help with Israeli humanitarian needs. Jesus once said that when we help to feed, clothe, shelter, protect or heal a Jewish person in need, we have done it to Him (Matthew 25:45–46). And so we do what the Lord has tasked us with: We feed, clothe, protect, provide medical equipment, and save lives through relief and humanitarian aid in Israel.”

–Amy Hansen, Director of Ministry Support

Aliyah Return Fund

In 2022, the Aliyah Return Fund and the Eastern European Relief Fund have helped more than 500 Jewish people make aliyah, immigrate, to Israel and make it their home. Your gifts help Ukrainian Jews, and so many more, regather in Israel. Thank you.

“There is a war going on in my country. And now I’m talking to every Jew about the possibility of returning to Israel. One Jewish woman relayed to me her story. Her family miraculously survived the Holocaust. All her life she has lived in Kyiv, Ukraine.

KGB did not allow me to attend the university. Today, I am an old woman without family and children. I have no one to convince to return to Israel. But I ask you, Tanya, tell everyone you can, and let people fulfill their dream and the dream of their parents.’

“When I discussed with her the possibility of moving to Israel, she told me, ‘Tanya, when I was 17 my family decided to move to Israel. Our dream was our wings. We submitted documents to Moscow. While waiting for a decision, I decided to gather my friends, also Jews, at my home and talk to them every Friday about moving to Israel. A year later, we received a refusal without the right to re-submit documents. And one of my “friends” turned me in to the KGB. As a result, I did not receive a red diploma of graduation from school (that was the name of the diploma with honors in the Soviet Union) and the

“The words of this dear Holocaust survivor echo in my head. Together with the words of the Lord in Jeremiah in chapter 31, “They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them… I am a father to Israel…. He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him as a shepherd does his flock.”

–Tetiana Kritenko, FOI Field Worker, Ukraine

+500

Jewish people rescued and relocated to Israel, their new home

Together we are changing lives .

931 Hours ministering on college campuses

+56,000

Meals served to hungry children, Holocaust survivors, drug addicts, and Lone Soldiers

+1,200

Families sheltered in 61 FOI bomb shelters

85.3

Tons of food and humanitarian aid delivered into Ukraine

1,200 Refugees saved from Ukraine, +6,500 refugees in Ukraine served with aid

6,500

FOI Equip participants and +21,000 FOI Equip classes viewed online

+570 Hanukkah baskets delivered

+90,000 People attended FOI in-person events

+10,000 Patients provided with free medical care

+2 million

FOI Today Radio listeners

+400,000 Podcast downloads

77 Countries receiving Israel My Glory magazine

It is our practice at The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry to use gifts as designated for the support of specific workers and projects. However, to ensure gifts are tax-deductible, federal law requires us to maintain complete discretion and control over the use of all donated funds.

The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, Inc. is an exempt organization as described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code; EIN 23-1365331

We are firmly committed to good stewardship of funds entrusted to us by you, our donor. To ensure our financial accountability, we are a long-time member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. We display its seal proudly to reflect our compliance with the ECFA membership standards. Visit

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

BOARD OFFICERS

David Benner

Chairman

Retired Engineer

Urban Engineers

Dr. Jim Vogel

Vice Chair

Network Executive Director

Northeast Fellowship

Dr. James Showers President

The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry

William King Secretary President

The Nova Group

BOARD MEMBERS

Dr. Daniel L. Anderson President

Appalachian Bible College

Jonathan W. Glock

Trust Officer

Believers Stewardship Services

Dean E. Good

Pastor

Grace Church of North Olmsted

Dr. J. Randall Price

Founder & President

World of the Bible Ministries

Research Professor

Liberty University

Robert C. Sullivan

President & CEO

Believers Stewardship Services

William E. Sutter

Former Executive Director

The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry

JT Beckman

Retired, Audiologist

Mark Jenkins

U.S. Representative of Christian Friends of Yad Vashem

EMERITUS TRUSTEES

Dr. W. Sherrill Babb

President Emeritus Cairn University

Philip G. Brodsky Partner

Scripture Truth Book Co.

Elwood McQuaid

Former Executive Director

The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry

Dr. Charles F. Scheide Sr

Retired Pastor & Dean

Word of Life Bible Institute

Kenneth W. Murray

Retired Vice President

The Quaker Oats Company

Laurence H. Murray

Retired President

Heick Die Casting

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

Jim Showers, DMin

Executive Director

Steve H. Conover

Executive Vice President

Director of Media Ministries

John Wilcox, CPA

Vice President of Finance

Chief Financial Officer

Tom Geoghan

Vice President for Ministry

Advancement

Steve Herzig

Vice President of North American Ministries

Mike Stallard

Vice President of International Ministries

“As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”

1 PETER 4:10

THANK YOU!

Get Involved

PRAY

Your prayers are critical to accomplishing His work through more than 120 field workers around the world.

GIVE

Your gifts make God’s love known! You make ministry possible. Please give today. foi.org/givenow

SHARE

Your stories inspire and encourage us! If the Lord has reached you through our ministry, we would love to hear from you! Submit your story at foi.org/yourstory

ATTEND

Refresh your walk with the Lord—online or in person—and bring a friend! To find or request an event at your church, visit foi.org/events . To join our free studies online, visit foi.org/foi-equip

VOLUNTEER

You make a difference when you give of your time. Explore many volunteer opportunities at home and abroad; visit foi.org/outreach

SERVE

Are you called to minister biblical truth?

Come build bridges and bring physical and spiritual hope alongside us. Please contact us! Visit foi.org/serve

Make a Gift Today

BY PHONE: Call Ministry Services at 800-345-8461

ONLINE: Scan the code or visit us at foi.org/givenow

YOU mean so much to us here at The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry.

Since 1938, you have made it possible to shine the light of the gospel and share God’s unchanging truths to an uncertain world. Thank you for being our friend and a friend to Israel.

REVELATION 7:12

VISIT US AT FOI.ORG

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“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”