JCF Newsletter—June 2021

The inheritance of a good father

In Luke 12:13-34, Jesus is confronted by a man who wants his brother to share their father’s inheritance with him. Jesus warns the brother, “Beware of greed,” and then distills his dispute into a proverb: “Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” A father’s inheritance is intended to bless his children. Possessions and assets passed down to the next generation, if invested wisely, can build a foundation for future financial success. Yet, unlike the brother who is worried about his inheritance, Jesus is concerned about his heart.

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Jcf charity report: March to may 2021

Due to the Covid19 crisis, every person with any sort of job in Israeli tourism woke up last March in 2020 to find no work and no income. To say the least, we were all caught off guard and left in a state of shock. Most of us thought it would be a short span of a few weeks or maybe a couple of months, but it has turned out to be over a year.  Although the doors of tourism are beginning to reopen in Israel, the industry is facing an uphill climb into 2022.

Here in Israel, the unemployment system which is part of the national insurance program is very dependable and stable, but in the Palestinian Authority there is no helping hand from the government. If a person is out of work, they are also out of luck.

At JCF Biblical Study Tours we have friends and working relations with scores of people in the tourism industry across the country. We have several dear friends in the Bethlehem area who have been struggling for over a year now to make ends meet. About a year ago JCF started bringing vouchers and cash to buy food for these longtime friends.   A few are from orthodox Christian backgrounds, while others are Muslims and Evangelical Christians.  Soon after, some of our JCF supporters began contributing as well, and we started helping at least eight Palestinian families with monthly supplies of food. That number has now grown to about 10 families in Bethlehem and will expand with distribution into Jericho as well.

During the last three months, $10,052 has gone towards food vouchers and helping these families with basic expenses.

We may “always have the poor” (Matt. 26:11) in our midst, but we don’t always know who they might be.  Thank you all for your hearts of love, concern and charity for the needy!

Jon “Yoni” Gerrish, JCF Israel Director

 help support JCF’s outreach here

JCF Chairman, Chuck Kopp has Passed away

After a courageous and tenacious 17-year battle with Parkinson’s disease, Charles Martin Kopp took the next step in his journey with the Lord on April 27th.

Chuck was born on the same day and hour when Israel became a nation—May 14, 1948—and his life was marked by service to the peoples of this land—Arabs and Jews, and countless others. Chuck was the 7th generation from his family line to serve as a Christian minister, becoming head of his family’s Cornerstone Ministry. Chuck first visited Israel in 1959 as a child, and then moved here in 1966, making Jerusalem his home when he was just 18 years old. In those early years, he ran the Zion Book Shop on Prophets’ Street.

Later, he served as pastor of the Narkis St. Congregation in Jerusalem for 24 years until his retirement in 2016. Chuck was a longtime member of the United Christian Council in Israel (now called the Evangelical Alliance Israel), where he served multiple times as Secretary and Chairman. 

At the same time, in the last 30 years of his life, Chuck’s Cornerstone Ministry began applying to the Israeli government for clergy visas for a vast array of evangelical workers desiring to serve in Israel.  This has been one of the greatest legacies of his service in the Land—advocating for the work of the Gospel and for its future leaders. 

Chuck’s lifelong passion was finding common ground among the disparate followers of Jesus in this often complicated and divided land. Chuck was a friend of God, and he demonstrated that friendship by the way he treated and respected everyone regardless of their status.

Chuck is survived by his wife, Liz Kopp, their seven children—Dalia, Sharona, Danny, Julie, David, Jesse, Annika, and their 16 grandchildren. He was buried in Jerusalem on May 4th at the Alliance Church International Cemetery.

• Chuck’s funeral on May 4th was broadcasted live by Chris Mitchell of CBN’s Jerusalem Dateline. You can watch it, here.

• “Beloved and Long-Serving Jerusalem Minister Passes Away”, CBN News. Watch here.

• “Remembering Chuck Kopp – A pioneer and a pillar in the Messianic community in Israel has gone to be with the Lord”, Kehila News. Here.

• “What I Learned as a Disciple of Chuck Kopp”, JCF article (June 2016) by Gary Alley. Here.

• “The Greatest of These is Love”, JCF article (Sept 2016) by Danny Kopp. Here.

Betsy Gerrish is with the lord

JCF Israel Director Yoni Gerrish’s mother, Betsy Gerrish, passed away at her home in Colorado Springs, Colorado on April 22nd after recently celebrating her 84th birthday. She was buried on April 30th in Colorado Springs.

My parents, Jim and Betsy Gerrish, met and married in 1956 while at Ouachita Baptist College, Arkadelphia, Arkansas. After their college years, military duty, and seminary, they served together in ministry for over six decades with nearly 20 years here in Israel. While in Jerusalem they volunteered for a few years with Bridges for Peace, a Christian non-profit organization, where they helped to write and edit newsletters, prayer letters, and teaching letters, while also helping create charity programs. Their most significant achievement was “Operation Ezra”, which was established to welcome and feed thousands of Jewish families exiting from the former Soviet Union in the early 1990s. Their efforts were recognized by the State of Israel in 1992.

While in Jerusalem, my parents (and siblings) attended and served at Narkis St. Congregation. They were part of the fellowship prior to the devastating fire in October 1982, and later again with more active roles on the pastoral team during the 1990’s and 2000’s. Along with Pastor Charles and Elizabeth Kopp, they helped perform my own wedding ceremony and marriage to Dalia Kopp in June of 1994.

My mother often played the piano and assisted with the worship team at Narkis. Her singing voice was angelic and always on perfect pitch. She also enjoyed singing with choirs, and she never performed without professional poise and passion. She especially loved hosting events, and her reputation for hospitality was widely renowned, and many still seek out her recipes.

From 1997 until 2002, my parents established and managed a study center and guest house in the village of Migdal near Tiberias. Hosting and teaching became my mother’s full-time occupation, and hundreds of pilgrims were nourished with some of her best recipes and Scriptural treats.

Perhaps one of her most valuable contributions to the greater communities in which she served, was her dedication to education. My mother tutored numerous students of all ages, both formally in the classrooms and privately at her home. She especially enjoyed helping those who were struggling to catch up and would even help them advance beyond their grade levels. There were dozens of testimonies of great successes. She received several awards and special mentions for her teaching abilities, including “teacher of the year” at one elementary school in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

My mother will also be remembered as a “book-aholic”. Hardly a day passed that she did not read for hours, and she always took notes. Many of her observations and collected bibliographies were cited later when my father published his series of books and Bible commentaries (now available at Amazon).

My mother continued reading and teaching until her final days. She wouldn’t have had it any other way. She is survived by my father, Jim Gerrish, three children (myself, my sister, Eliza and my brother, Tim), 12 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Upon hearing the news of my mother’s passing, many of you sent gifts to JCF as a memorial. The amounts were astonishing, and it has led us to establish a book fund in her honor. The books will be educational and designated for needy children. We have decided to call the fund – “Betsy’s Book Club”. Thank you all for making this possible and for blessing my mother’s memory.

With much appreciation,

Jon “Yoni” Gerrish, JCF Israel Director

Yoni Gerrish teaches on"Interpreting the Times" in Luke 12:54-59.
Narkis St. Congregation Bible Study—May 22, 2021

Join a JCF Study Tour in 2021

• Wayne Tour from Dallas (Sept 28-Oct 10, 2021) “Israel: Biblical Landscapes and Memory” 

• Hishmeh Tour from Kansas City (Oct 7-18, 2021) “Israel: Biblical Landscapes and Memory” 

• Allen Family Singers Tour from JFK (Nov 8-20, 2021) “Israel: Biblical Landscapes and Memory” 

• Felty Tour from Minneapolis-St. Paul (Nov 29-Dec 11, 2021) “Israel: Wilderness to Redemption” 

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