As today is “Giving Tuesday,” I thought I’d post an article from The Joshua Fund’s website describing the heart of what we do and why. If you’d like to give a secure, tax deductible donation to this work today, please click here. Thanks and God bless you!
THE HEART OF THE JOSHUA FUND
The Joshua Fund was founded by Joel and Lynn Rosenberg in the summer of 2006. The desire of their heart was to mobilize Christians to “bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus, according to Genesis 12:1-3.
In this famous passage from the book of Genesis, the Lord promised to bless those who bless the children of Abraham and curse those who curse them. In Matthew 19:19, Jesus instructed His followers to “love your neighbor as yourself.” In Matthew 5:44, Jesus told His disciples to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus exhorted His followers to feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, care for strangers, clothe the naked, care for those who are sick, and visit those in prison.
Seeking to obey these biblical commands, the Rosenbergs established a non-profit educational and charitable organization that works closely with Jewish and Christian allies in Israel and the Middle East, as well as Christian allies around the world.
As an educational organization, The Joshua Fund has sought to engage Christians globally about God’s love and plan for Israel and her neighbors.
The Joshua Fund has:
- Led multiple prayer and vision trips to Israel.
- Organized conferences, retreats, and seminars about the epicenter for Christians in
North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. - Addressed millions of people globally through TV, radio, video, print, and the web.
- Built relationships with government, business, and religious leaders.
As a charitable organization, The Joshua Fund has worked in Israel to:
- Provide food to individuals and families in severe need.
- Stockpile food and relief supplies ahead of coming wars.
- Provide clothing for those in need.
- House the homeless.
- Provide care for Holocaust survivors.
- Provide care for the elderly.
- Help protect and care for unwed mothers and their unborn children.
- Provide medical help for children needing open heart surgery.
- Purchase medical equipment for hospitals.
- Distribute school backpacks and school supplies to needy children.
- Purchase vehicles to transport relief supplies and people.
The Joshua Fund has also worked in the West Bank and Gaza—as well as in Israel’s neighboring countries to:
- Establish the first-ever legally-sanctioned Christian radio station in northern Iraq,
owned and operated by Iraqi Christians. - Help build a ministry training center in Iraq, run by Iraqi Christians.
- Print and distribute hundreds of thousands of copies the Damascus film—a film made by Arab Christians in Syria about the life of the Apostle Paul—in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza.
- Organize Bible retreats for Palestinian Christian leaders in Jerusalem,
and Iraqi Christians in northern Iraq. - Provide food and relief supplies to Muslims and persecuted Christians.
- Distribute school backpacks to needy Muslim and nominal Christian children.
- Distribute New Testaments and the Jesus film in Arabic and other languages to Muslims.
These are critical times. Approximately one-in-four Israelis live under the poverty level, including about one-third of Israeli children. Palestinians are even more impoverished, and the global economic crisis has not helped matters. Moreover, the geopolitical situation remains extremely volatile. In its first three years of operation, The Joshua Fund team responded to two wars against Israel—one provoked by Hezbollah in Lebanon in the summer of 2006, the other provoked by Hamas in Gaza in December 2008 and January 2009. Violence inside Iraq has created significant humanitarian relief needs there, too. Meanwhile, new threats against the Jewish state by Iran, Syria, and others continue to mount.
As a result of such troubling trends, the leaders of The Joshua Fund are committed to “praying for peace, while preparing for war.” That is, we are praying that the Lord blesses and protects Israel and her neighbors and gives them true, just, and lasting geopolitical peace and economic prosperity. At the same time, The Joshua Fund is doing what we can to prepare for the possibility that another war, or series of wars, is coming.
- Would you like to make a secure, tax deductible investment in The Joshua Fund (www.joshuafund.net)? This is the non-profit organization that my wife, Lynn, and I founded in 2006 to educate and mobilize Christians to bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus, to care for the poor and needy in Israel (both Jews and Arabs) with food and other humanitarian relief, care for Holocaust survivors, care for Syrian and Iraqi refugees, and strengthen the Church in the epicenter. The Joshua Fund is a member in good standing of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. Please click here to learn more. Thanks so much!
- Click here to read the 2016 Joshua Fund Donor Report — and watch the short videos, as well