June 2004

Restoration Trip Number Three - Stand and See What G-d Will Do

This trip took us to a new level of seeing the hand of G-d move in the lives of hurting, struggling people. We worked in the homes of four families who either lost a family member to terrorism or had been injured in a terrorist attack. All four families were dealing with their own grief and struggling to clothe and feed their children each day.

Doing a New Thing

This was our first trip to work in the homes of terrorist victims. We were a little nervous about what to expect. We had been given a brief description of each family and the trauma they had experienced. We did not know how we would be accepted, going in to their private homes, taking things apart and making changes. Each morning we prayed together that G-d would use our presence to bring healing in each family.

Monday, our first day , we began in the home of a widow who's husband had been murdered by a terrorist as he guarded a small grocery store. He not only had been the bread winner of the family, but was also the one to take care of all business details, home repairs and most of the other needs of the family. His wife, S. was left with a 15 year old son and two older deaf children and no idea how to continue on without her husband.

As we arrived she was nervously chain smoking and telling us what repairs she needed. As she continued talking she explained how her one son that lived at home was angry that we were there. His father had been the last person to paint their home and he didn't want anything changed- especially in his room. To respect his feelings we were careful not to make any changes in his room but worked to give the rest of the apartment a beautiful coat of new paint. He left school early to be there to watch our every move.

We were thrilled to see how his attitude began to change as the day progressed. By the time we finished our work he had softened to the point of asking us to come back another day and paint his room and spend some time looking at a scrapbook he had created detailing his father's life and his heroic death.

This young teenager is very proud of his father and the sacrifice he made to save the lives of others. He will be going into the army next year and wants to serve in a combat unit - he knows his father would be proud of him.

Tuesday morning we went to E.'s home. She has two children, a girl 11 and boy 18 and cares for her elderly mother. E., her father, mother, sister and children immigrated from Russia three years ago. Her parents held high positions in Russia but could not find work in Israel . Her father died last February of a broken heart and two months later her sister, an international pianist working in the kitchen of a Jerusalem hospital to support her family, died in a bus bombing. E. followed us, crying and thanking us for coming as we painted and cleaned her apartment. Her mother has become a recluse and spends the day in the kitchen behind a closed door.

At the end of a long day of painting and repair, the apartment was beautiful and the mood of the family seemed to be lifting. We moved the furniture back into place and E. brought out refreshments. We sat together and listened as she poured out her heart. She said she had university degrees and taught science in a university in Russia for years. She had always been able to find logic in everything in her life but she could not make sense of what had happened to her family - to her father and sister. She never thought they'd ever get to the place of struggling to just buy food. Without her sister for support she felt very alone and had lost all hope. In her tears she said, “You don't know what it feels like to lose all hope. What you have done today has given me hope to begin again. To know that someone cares about me and my family gives me strength.” She also questioned what kind of love causes people to come all the way to Israel to do such hard work for strangers.

The third family we met was a religious family with 10 children. Their oldest son was injured in a bombing in Jerusalem two years ago. Because of brain damage he lies on his bed all day - not speaking. Before the bombing his dream had been to study theatre. The children slept on mats on the floor. When it rained the roof leaked letting water run down the walls soaking the mattresses on the floor. After searching from store to store for materials needed to fix the problem the job was accomplished with a few hours of labor.

The last family consisted of a mother, father and four children ages 9-17. The father, D., had been attacked by 4 Arab teens seven months ago. They had stabbed him repeatedly and left him for dead. Like the other families they were poor and their apartment had not been painted in years. It was a joy to begin covering the dirty walls with the bright paint the family had requested. As we worked, he continuously followed members of the group around offering coffee and cokes. He talked to our David constantly asking many questions about why we were there and why we cared about him and his family. We did not know until the social worker arrived, that from the day of the stabbing until the day we arrived he had hardly uttered a word!

In years past he had trained as a chef and used his talents to prepare a banquet for us and gave each of us a gift as we left. We were humbled, seeing how little they had and yet how much they wanted to give.

Each day we felt like observers - watching G-d touch lives and bring emotional healing as we worked. There are no words to describe the power of love and a listening ear.

Friday night we ended our week of work by visiting a Jewish home and enjoying a delicious Sabbath meal. It was a beautiful picture of the rest G-d extends to His people. We are deeply grateful G-d has given us the opportunity to meet these heroic families and hopefully give them a glimpse of how much He loves them.

We plan to return to Israel in October, 2004 and May 2005 to work in the homes of other victims of terror. If you would like to go with us or contribute toward a scholarship for someone else to go please contact us. You will be blessed beyond anything you can imagine!

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