Simchat torah
Celebrating Simchat Torah - The Joy of God's Word
A Year in Review

As we begin the New Year here in Israel, we would like to give you a brief report on our activities this past year. We hope that you will be encouraged by all that we have accomplished  with the prayers and support of faithful friends like yourself. For this we thank God.

Children in the Community
 

Every Friday evening we meet together to light the traditional Shabbat candles and pray the blessings over wine and the bread. This is our way of reminding ourselves after a busy week that all that we have comes from our heavenly father and that we are thankful for all that he has given us.

 

We always invite all children to come and receive a special Shabbat

Family Shabbat

 blessing. Children are a very important part of our community and we want them to know that and we want them to see that all of us in the congregation are praying for them.

This year we will have 5 different classes for children of all ages. Each class has 2 teachers. This year we concentrated on teaching the children the importance of developing a personal faith in God. We train them to look to God for help, to pray for their own needs and to spend time reading God's word on their own. It is surprising just how many times children are mentioned in the Bible!

 

We also focused on the importance of the family and have regular special parent - child activities to contribute to building closer relationships within the family. Our teachers also teach the children through plays, quizzes and songs. They bless us from time to time by sharing these with the whole congregation, especially on the holidays. Children celebrating

 

Our children's teachers meet once every six weeks for prayer and guidance. We train them how to prepare Bible teachings for children, how to communicate on a level that children can understand and how to teach in a language and manner that is meaningful and relevant to children at their particular age level of development.

 

During the holidays we take the children on trips and activities to build connection between the children, teachers and parents. Living right here in the Land of the Bible allows us the opportunity to visit the places and helps strength the faith of our children.

 

This year we will be continuing with music and singing lessons for the children.

 

Youth

Our Youth Group meets every two weeks in a home group and on

Camping out
Trekking over the land

alternative weeks together with youth from other congregations in the area. We encourage our young people to participate in the life of the congregation as well as in local and nationwide Messianic events. In the congregation our youth take an active part in helping teach the children, leading in worship, helping arrange the equipment, preparing food and more.

 

We also encourage them to be active part in society and not just in the congregation. For example, this year our youth visited Holocaust survivors to bring comfort and practical helps. They also traveled to Sderot to help Holocaust survivors with home repair. 

 

It was joyful to see that a number of our young people committed their lives to God this year in the waters of baptism. 

 Our pastoral team taught them a preparation course on baptism. We also had a special meeting for all the parents to bless and pray for their sons and daughters who gave their lives to the Lord.

 

As in every year, also this year we walk together with a number of our youth through the life cycle of maturity that culminates in a Bar/Bat Mitzvah celebration. These are especially important  events that assist the youngster in taking on the role of being a young man or woman. It is also an important reminder to the family and community that here is now a young adult and no longer a child. On most occasions these are great opportunities for our young people to make a public dedication of their lives to the Messiah Yeshua.

 

Holidays

Holidays are a very important time for people. Here in Israel before the holidays one of the most common questions is: "Where are you on the holidays?" Being alone is not pleasant. Family Picni In our community we devote special efforts to care for our people during the holidays. We share food together, invite one another into our homes and try to make sure that no one is left alone during these special days.

 

Single-Parent Families

 

Exodus 22:22-23

"Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry."

 

Our community has a number of single-parent families with the mother carrying full responsibility for the family. We see great importance in supporting these families. Due to low income many of these mothers are forced to rent apartments incheaper neighborhoods with poor social services and under par schools for their children. After a long day and many hours working away from home, they have little time or energy to be with the children. Our congregation tries to help with subsidies for camps, food stamps, apartment repairs, school books, clothing etc.

We also provide support groups, lead by Annu Santos, a trained counselor, for the mothers and their children with special teachings and prayer sessions geared specifically for their needs.

 

Men's Meetings

The modern world has changed many things including

men praying

traditional roles for men. We have a bi-monthly meeting for men to discuss the biblical role of the man in the family and how to care and provide for the family. We discuss and study to learn what it takes to be a good father and husband for our families. Men meet for prayer in our community regularly to share they hearts and bring our needs before the Lord. 

 

Assisting Families

Many families and individuals face financial challenges. Living in the Land of Israel, even if you have a vision and strong faith, is not a simple task. For many it means learning a new language or changing a profession. A lot of people in our community gave up their professions from their home country in order to find employment in the Israeli labor market.

 

In our community we encourage people to gain higher education. We also try to support them financially for these studies, assisting them through graduation and finding  a good job.

 

Often, as a result of the daily pressures,

Prayer Counseling

families go through crises in the marriage relationship. Our community accompanies the couple and family through the process of prayer, counseling and

rehabilitation of the relationships. We have a team that includes mature believers professionally trained in the skills needed to provide sound biblical counseling.

Beyond Bars and  Borders

Pastor Aleksey lead a team to Odessa to give support and help for Needy children in Odessa orphans and children at risk. Our people also raised a good sum of money to provide food and clothing and other needs for these poor children. We hope to be able to continue assisting them in the coming year.

 

Our youth leader Dima lead yet another Yad b'Yad youth group to Germany and Poland this summer.  German and Jew Hand in Hand

 

A young believer joined a team to India to share the Good News with the many Israel's backpacking over the summer.

 

Some of the men in our congregation continue to visit with prisoners. Many of 

Man in Prison

them are truly sorry for what they have done and respond to the hope in our Messiah for the forgiveness of sins and a new life. We have even been able to broadcast our weekly services to inmates behind the prison walls.

Thankful

This has been a special and blessed year for Beit Immanuel Congregation. We are so thankful to the Lord for all of His blessings and to each one of you who have played a part in this wonderful story of God's Love for Israel. 

If you would like to partner with us to support a ministry or project please write us or go to the site below to make a secure, online donation. Some has asked to make a monthly contribution and so we have created a secure link for this below.