Song For Israel - 2020 in Review
Song For Israel had a strong beginning in 2020 with high hopes for such an amazing year. God had other plans and worked in different ways. In 2020, Song For Israel was still able to boldly help stand in the gap for Israel and the Jewish people. We are so grateful for the opportunity to continue to pursue our goal of proclaiming God's eternal plan through Israel. We could not do that without your prayer and financial support.
Celebrating God’s Provision For Israel
In January, Song For Israel received a donation of $50,000 to pay for two bomb shelters in Israel. The donation was given to the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ). Those shelters were delivered in July to two elementary schools near the Gaza border. The shelters were placed at Beit HaGadi School and Ma'agalim School by Operation Lifeshield. The donor, Brant Peto, passed away the week that the shelters were installed but his gift will continue to save lives in Israel. Song For Israel participants wanted to honor Brant, so they provided Brant’s mother with a beautiful memorial garden in Brant’s honor. ICEJ will be featuring an article about these donations in their January 2021 issue of WORD From Jerusalem.
COVID-19 Restrictions Prevented Us from Events and Tours
Song For Israel’s annual Israel tour was scheduled for April 2020 and just ten days before our intended departure, all international tours were cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions on travel. We rescheduled that tour for November 2020 and because restrictions were still in place, our tour was again rescheduled, this time for 2021.
Not only was our Israel tour taken off the calendar but our normal events for the year were also cancelled. Those included our Passover Seder, Walk for Israel, Summer fundraiser, Feast of Tabernacles Celebration Dinner, and our Chanukah party. We were able to put together a lengthy YouTube video for the Feast of Tabernacles featuring Thomas Winder, Executive Director of Holy Land Research Institute and Shmuel Bowman, Executive Director of Operation Lifeshield in Israel. If you missed that video, click here. A big thank you to Paul Lentz and Wing Lam for helping with the technical components!
What we were able to continue were our prayer meetings and Bible Studies on Zoom. Our Co-ed Wednesday evening Bible Study and our Thursday morning Women’s Bible Study met from January through November (with a summer break in the middle). We studied the Book of Genesis at a slow and in-depth pace. Although our first choice, obviously, would have been to meet in person, the Zoom opportunity gave us a chance to continue our studies, lectures, and prayers for one another while staying in touch.
We expanded our YouTube reach by recording some of our Bible Study teaching. In addition, we added Rumble to our list of Social media venues.
As We Look Toward a Hopeful 2021
The Board of Song For Israel has made plans for 2021 in hopes that COVID-19 restrictions will be removed and we can move forward with these plans. Here’s a look at what we pray God will allow for us next year.
Our regularly-scheduled annual tour to Israel is scheduled for April 6-19. This tour will also include a trip to Petra, Jordan. We will need to know soon if we can move forward with these plans. Israel is now on a three-week lockdown with residents allowed to move only within a half mile of their homes. This is in the hope to eradicate the pandemic in Israel as one of Israel’s main sources of revenue is tourism. We are still taking reservations for this tour but if we are not allowed to go, the deposits will be transferred to a later tour. Click here for more information about both of our 2021 tours.
We have a second tour scheduled in 2021 for November 2-16 traveling to Israel with a Greek Island tour. This is the tour in 2020 that was postponed twice. We have high hopes that this tour will be a “go!”
We began our 6th bomb shelter campaign! We have already collected almost $5,000 toward our next shelter which costs approximately $26,000. For more information, click here.
Our two Bible Studies in the Book of Genesis will begin again on Zoom. The Wednesday Co-ed study begins at 7 pm on January 6th and our Women’s Bible Study begins Thursday, January 7th at 9:15 am. For more information, click here.
We plan to move forward with our annual Walk for Israel in the Spring. We will walk in support of Israel’s Independence Day. Even if COVID-19 is still a challenge, we plan to walk with flags in support of Israel as we observe six-feet distancing.
We hope to be able to offer several events featuring Song For Israel’s friends from Israel. Stay tuned by visiting our website or reading our newsletters for more information and dates.
Our largest event of the year is planned for Sunday, September 26th – The Feast of Tabernacles Celebration Dinner at a stunning outdoor location in Yorba Linda. The Hebrew name for this event is Sukkot and Song For Israel has our own sukkah (an outdoor open-air structure that is described in Leviticus 23).
We plan to end 2021 with our annual Chanukah Party on Sunday, December 5th with a special message explaining what this holiday is all about and our famous raffle prizes, games and food! This event always puts a smile on every face!
Song For Israel’s Prayer team will continue to meet once a month to pray for Israel and the needs of Song For Israel. We will meet in person or on Zoom. Email info@songforisrael.org to join our team on Zoom and receive prayer requests.
In addition to all of our events, Song For Israel has remained very active on social media: website, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube, and recently added – Rumble.
As always, Song For Israel counts on your support. The discrimination towards Israel is rising every day! Your gift is extremely important to SFI because it provides resources that make an immediate impact through education, lifesaving bomb shelters, and ministry to the Jewish people. Will you prayerfully consider partnering with us to proclaim God’s eternal plan for Israel? Please consider a monthly partnership, a one-time gift, and/or (as you plan ahead) a year-end tax-deductible donation for Song For Israel. Click here to donate. In addition, you might feel led to consider donating to the following special projects:
1. Bomb Shelter Project
2. Funds to help offset costs for some of our events
3. Song For Israel general budget
Scripture tells us that “Those who bless Israel will be blessed…” (Genesis 12:3) In addition, our prayer team regularly prays that God will bless you, our donors. Once again, thank you for helping Song For Israel impact our world in support of Israel and the Jewish people. May God richly bless you.
Blessings and Shalom,
Deby Brown, Director