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PAST FISHING TRIPS

Ellen Divan, Kingston, Rhode Island: The highlight for me was visiting the Jewish families in their government-owned apartments:  tiny, sparsely furnished, and in terrible disrepair. The first family with two young girls was still very hesitant to go to Israel, so those who had been to the land shared how wonderful Israel is and what benefits and opportunities there are. The visit was short and I wondered how we could make an impact on this family. But our God only needs our presence while He works in the hearts of His people. Two days later, the local Ezra representative received a call that the family definitely wanted to go and to proceed with the necessary paperwork.  Each family we visited had heartbreaking stories of daily struggles living under a government where anti-Semitism is still prevalent. While the material and monetary gifts were so desperately needed by the families we visited, our presence as Christians physically being there with them is the most precious gift, showing them that they are not alone nor forgotten.  Whether or not you have ever been on such a trip or not I encourage you to join Ezra International’s next “Fishing Trip” to Ukraine. It will be life changing as you meet the Ezra staff and these precious Jewish families who are still the apple of God’s eye.

Rev. Roy Trepanier, Ontario, Canada: This is my second trip with Ezra International to the former USSR country of Ukraine. The first trip was to "check out" their operation with the Jewish people of that country and secondly to possibly confirm what I felt was a calling on my life to help the Jewish people.  Meeting with and getting to know the staff in Ezra’s Kiev and Odessa offices convinced me that I could do no better in my retirement years than to help them help God's people by raising the funds that are so necessary to fuel this amazing organization.

This second trip as the Ontario representative for Ezra International was even more rewarding than the first. As I sit comfortably in my home in Ontario, I think back to the olim, the Jewish people that are in one stage or another of returning to their God-given land of Israel. I think about the poverty and persecution and the hopelessness of their current living conditions, most with no family, friends or organizational support system, and the wonderful change that awaits them upon their arrival in the Holy Land. I marvel at how, because of the faithfulness of a few, literally thousands of them have moved to the land God promised to their forefathers.