After fifty-one days of this war, it was a joy to be able to take my dog out for a walk without the thought of an imminent Kassam attack going through my mind. Today it was just the “normal”, if I can call it that, apprehension of being outside. The only time my heart skipped a beat was when the black motorcycle with two people on it drove by and I looked to see if they had weapons with them. Other than that, it was a lovely walk.

It is nice to be able to open the steel door over the bomb shelter window and let some sunlight and fresh air in without the fear of having to run to it in time to get it closed within fifteen seconds. 

For the next few days, we will experience a temporary cease fire while some of our hostages are brought home. I am elated for the familyies that are being reunited and hope and pray all of the affected families are all filled with the same joy.

The cease fire is bringing mixed emotions. After five previous wars and countless skirmishes, all ending in a “cease fire”, you come to believe and realize “here we go again”.

Where do we go from here?

The word Hamas uses for “cease fire” is “hudna” and in NO way does it imply or mean to lay down one’s arms and reach a peaceful and lasting resolution to the fighting. In these next days, as hostages are being brought home, don’t think for a second that Hamas has taken up needlepoint or crocheting. They are re-stocking, re-supplying, and moving terrorists around in their underground tunnels.  And when they are ready to resume their fight, the cease fire will be over.

Hudna is a partial solution and a temporary agreement. It is not a final peace agreement. The hudna is a means to a goal, rather than a goal in itself. Short of  unconditionally accepting the demands of Hamas, there can be no peace. In their terms, they do not include the recognition of the Jewish state. The original Charter identified Hamas as the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine and declares its members to be Muslims who “fear God and raise the banner of Jihad in the face of the oppressors”. The charter states that “our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious” and calls for the eventual creation of an Islamic state in Palestine, in place of Israel and the Palestinian Territories, and the obliteration or dissolution of Israel.

How can there ever be lasting peace?

The ONLY solution for this conflict will not be found in an army or a government, but ONLY at the hands of the GOD of Israel. Without divine intervention this fighting will never stop. Oh, there might be periods of calm from time to time but that is only because Hamas needs the time to rebuild, restock and retrain to be able to come back stronger on a different day.

 

Last week we found ourselves making repairs for three different families. Fixing broken chairs, re-hanging broken closet doors, repairing a plumbing leak and installing a dead bolt on a bomb shelter door. The only issue we have with that is, all the hardware stores in Sderot are closed, so we need to drive to the next town over to get what we need and then hope you get all that you need or might need so we don’t have to make another trip. All the repairs are done for free, both material and labor.

On Wednesday we loaded up the car with new shoes, socks, underwear, long sleeved t-shirts, sweat shirts and baby formula. We visited the hotels where the residents of Sderot are staying. We  also made a stop to drop off back packs with new socks and underwear to our soldiers.

Today, we picked up partial shipments from two of nine different containers that are on their way to Israel; more new shoes, blankets, new clothing, tooth brushes, socks, towels and more. We thank all those from all around the world, not only for their support for Hope For Sderot but for all the other non-prophet organizations that will be getting their portion of these containers. The items that are given to us help us in two different ways; First it helps supply those in need at no direct cost to us and second, it allows us the ability to purchase items still needed that are not included in those containers.

 

I don’t know how many of you have ever served in the military or have been involved in a war. For those of you who have been in the field day after day without a hot meal, in the rain and mud without clean and dry socks, you will know what I am talking about.

In every war I have ever read about, there were always “care packages” sent to someone’s son or father or husband. In those packages besides some home baked goodies from mom or your wife, you always found clean socks and a change of underwear.

When I was in the Army, “C” rations (I guess I am dating myself!) got old after a while, especially the ham and eggs. LOL!!!

Just about everyone who has been born in Israel has served in the IDF, so there is a common bond between everyone. They all know what it is like to be hungry, cold and wet. They also all know the blessing of someone’s mom bringing food to their platoon or a local pizza shop sending 25 -50 pizzas at no cost to anyone, because they remember what it was like to walk a mile in their wet shoes.

All the front-line soldiers have the best of the supplies, however most of the 300,000 reservists do not have everything they need.  So, when you read that we have brought food or goodies, socks or t-shirts to our soldiers, I hope you are not offended, because they have become our human shield between us and the terrorists of Gaza and this is the least we can do to say thank you to them. These reservists are someone’s, father, son, husband, or daughters and even just as important, some of them are residents of Sderot. So whether you are still in Sderot, have evacuated to a hotel somewhere or you have put on your army uniform, they are all the same to us.  Still the lion’s share of all our donations go to the residents of Sderot, whether they are still in town of holed up in a hotel somewhere outside.

After fifty-one days, Hope For Sderot is still standing strong as YOU bring hope daily to those families YOU have touched with your love, prayers and support. YOU make it all possible, we are just your delivery people. When you gave the hoodies to Doriet’s two sons, you did not get to hear her say “I didn’t know how I was going to get them, thank you, thank you, thank you. ” You didn’t get to hear “thank you for fixing my bomb shelter door, now my wife will come back home”; nor did you hear “thank you for taking such good care of my family during these hard times”. You didn’t see the smile on the soldiers faces when we gave them new clean and dry socks. I got to see and hear it all. In one respect it isn’t fair; YOU made it all possible, not Hope For Sderot. All the smiles, all the thank yous are yours. Thank you for allowing us to be part of your love and support for the people of Sderot.

For those of you who get our newsletter and have not taken a stand with us yet, we pray you would consider helping us provide whatever help we can give to the residents of Sderot. If you would like to help, all you have to do is click here!