This summer I will be living in Jerusalem for four months and working with a Christian organization specific to the city, called Shevet Achim (www.shevet.org).
It brings non-Israeli children from surrounding regions into Israel to receive lifesaving heart surgeries from advanced medical centers in Jerusalem. About 1 in every 200 children worldwide has a congenital heart defect. Although most defects are treatable by modern surgical practices, few children in the Middle East have access to facilities that perform open heart surgeries. Since 1994, Shevet Achim has helped hundreds of children primarily from Gaza and the West Bank, but also from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and increasingly from Iraq.
In addition to meeting the tangible needs of these children and their families, Shevet Achim carries out a ministry of reconciliation through the love of Jesus Christ. The name Shevet Achim is taken from the Hebrew of Psalm133: “How good and how pleasant for brothers to dwell together in unity.” Shevet Achim believes this to be true of the relationships between Jews and Muslims in the Middle East, and as an organization they seek to cross the lines of division to show that an enemy is rather a neighbor loved by God.
My work with Shevet Achim will include a variety of tasks including: conducting cultural research projects, transporting patients across borders, making meals, learning how a non-profit organization is run, assisting with patient care, and helping with whatever else I can! In addition to ministry opportunities, this experience will give me credit toward my minor. I will be leaving around May 11th and returning September 5th.
I truly covet your prayers! God has shown me firsthand the extravagant difference that prayer can make and I would greatly appreciate if you would support me in this way! I am both wary and yet eager to begin this next adventure knowing that it will be a time of growth and stretching for me personally as I depend upon God in a new way. I am excited to see God work in my life and the lives of the people around me as He reveals His love!
I'm hoping that I will be able to keep everyone up-dated through this blog by sharing stories and pictures. I'm excited that you will all be able to share in the adventure in this way! :.)