JCF Newsletter—December 2022

Good news is a verb

One of the most well-known parts of Luke’s description of Jesus’ birth occurs when an angel appears to shepherds who are guarding their flocks at night. And the angel says to the shepherds,

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news
that will cause great joy for all the people.
Today in the town of David,
a Savior has been born to you;
he is the Messiah, the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11

Here in the Greek of Luke 2:10, it literally says, “I evangelize to you great joy for all the people.” In fact, our word for “evangelical” Christian comes straight from this Greek verb which means to “share good news.”

Jcf charity report: 2022 Year in Review

Jerusalem Cornerstone is not a large organization. We are a handful of people that love God, His people, and His land. While there are many other non-profit groups working in Israel and the Palestinian Territories with a greater financial support and human resource base, at JCF we believe that God has given us a special calling despite our limited assets.

We are here to help those who are struggling, those who have fallen through the cracks. Often in this complicated land, we come across people that have been rejected by the world, those forgotten by their families, friends, neighbors, and governments.

JCF does not have a brick and mortar building. We have a simple staff in Israel that receives modest stipends. Our workers embody your prayers and gifts. Thank you for your faithfulness towards the Lord’s work and His Word.

During 2021 and 2022, JCF contributed towards school tuition fees of children and young people living in Nazareth, Jericho, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and Haifa. JCF also gave towards dental work, medical and car bills, housing, and utility costs of struggling families.

Below are some of the ministries that JCF partnered with in 2021 and 2022.

Ukrainian Refugees. With Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine at the beginning of 2022, thousands of Ukrainian refugees and Russian immigrants have swamped Israel. In fact, during 2022, 37,364 immigrants arrived in Israel from Russia and 14,680 from Ukraine. JCF has provided nearly $35,000 for these refugees and new immigrants in partnership with the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem. JCF’s funds went toward housing, dental treatment, clothes, bedding, towels, toiletries, and Hebrew classes for many new immigrants.

COVID19 Stipends to Bethlehem Families. With Israel’s closed borders during the COVID19 crisis, JCF began giving a monthly stipend to Bethlehem families who were dependent on tourism for their income. JCF continued to help these families into 2022 as tourism has only now begun to return to its previous level.

Beit El is a Messianic Jewish Ethiopian Congregation in Jerusalem with more than 100 members. They struggle to make ends meet, while standing as faithful witnesses for the Gospel within Israeli society. In 2022, JCF contributed $2,439 for their kids summer camp and backpacks for the new school year.

Betsy’s Book Club. With the passing of Betsy Gerrish on Apr 22, 2021, JCF set up a new fund to provide books for underprivileged children and youth in this Land. At the end of 2021, $1890 was used to purchase books for the Bethlehem Evangelical Academy (BEA)’s library. BEA opened its doors in 2013 to provide Palestinian students an English track, American curriculum which encourages critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Little Hearts Preschool is a unique preschool where Jews, Arabs, and the nations come together to form a unified community in Messiah. It strives to provide a quality trilingual (English, Hebrew, Arabic), faith-based education at an affordable cost for locals. In 2021, JCF gave $1000 towards emergency plumbing needs. JCF also gave $3,300 for kitchen appliances, like microwaves and refrigerators, as well as an office AC/Heater unit and storage shed.

House of Light (HOL) is an Israeli Arab Christian ministry led by Anis and Nawal Barhoum that provides spiritual and social aid to both Jews and Arabs. JCF specifically aids House of Light’s prison work, which visits and disciples current and former prisoners. For 2021 and 2022, JCF gave $5,502 towards HOL’s Christmas prison visits which included gifts for the hundreds of prisoners.

Lifegate Development School is a special needs educational institute for Christian and Muslim Arabs in the Bethlehem area. It provides education, medical care, therapy, and home care programs for 350 to 400 children and adults. In 2021, JCF gave $2,000 for iPads to help Lifegate’s autistic students communicate with their teachers.

Holocaust survivors. At the beginning of 2022, 165,800 Holocaust survivors were living in Israel. JCF gave $4,456 towards Holocaust survivors in cooperation with the International Christian Embassy. These elderly survivors received walking aids, special shower chairs, and furniture.

Svetlana’s Story

The Holocaust Survivors’ Haifa Home has taken in 17 new residents this year who are mainly refugees from the Russian invasion of the Ukraine. These elderly Holocaust Survivors have now been forced to leave their homes for a second time in their lives due to war.

One of these recent arrivals to Haifa is Svetlana who is 89 now, but was 8 years old when the Holocaust started in the Ukraine. Svetlana has vivid memories of that time and shared how she remembers when the Nazis came and began massive shootings. They gathered a big group of Jews from her town and made them enter the water tower. The place was absolutely packed with people. A soldier threw a bomb into the tower to kill all the people inside, but because the place was so full of people, those who entered the water tower first, survived. Svetlana and her family were among the fortunate ones who were able to climb out of the tower after the soldiers had left. She remembers climbing through heaps of dead bodies.

Svetlana, now a widow at the age of 89, left her house in Kramatorsk in March. She travelled in the Ukraine for six months before arriving in Hungary and then Israel.

She said: “I can’t understand what is going on in this world nowadays. It looks like everything is turned upside down. When I was a child my father and my uncle fought together with the Russians against Hitler’s Germany and, today, Russian aircraft bomb my hometown, but people from Germany serve and help me.”

help support JCF’s outreach here

JCF NEWS: Gary Alley is new chairman

With the passing of our founding chairman, Pastor Charles Kopp on April 27, 2021, JCF unanimously elected Gary Alley as our next chairman on Sept 28, 2022.

Gary is pastor and teacher at the Narkis Street Congregation in Jerusalem and was a founding board member of JCF in 2002. Besides board member, Gary has served JCF as creator, writer, and editor of our website, newsletter, and publications, as well as advisor for day-to-day operations.

Meet JCF's New Study Tour Guides!

Learn More about them…here.

Gary Alley teaches on “A Comparison of Jesus' Two Birth Stories”
in Matthew and Luke
Narkis St. Congregation Bible Study—Dec 15, 2022

Join a JCF Study Tour in 2023

Allen Family Singers Group (Jan 24-Feb 5,2023) “Wilderness Experience: The Exodus and the Gospels”
Pickett Group (Mar 19-Apr 1, 2023) “Wilderness Experience: The Exodus and the Gospels”
Spark Church (June 19-July 3, 2023) “Come and Learn to Walk”
Cogndon Group (July 7-22, 2023) “Central Texas Israel Study Tour (includes Petra)”
Pinion Group (Nov 25-Dec 14, 2023) “Wilderness Experience: The Exodus and the Gospels (Israel, Jordan and Egypt)”

For more information on how you can join one of these tours, here.