In the years we have been serving the homeless in south Tel Aviv, we see firsthand how a crisis that hits society at large can be disastrous for the most vulnerable. During the covid-19 pandemic, for instance, when Israel went into multiple stay-at-home quarantines, almost all the soup kitchens and halfway houses shut down, and we immediately began seeing the devastating effects among the homeless on the streets of south Tel Aviv.
With Israel’s protracted war with Hamas since October 7th, we are seeing the same dynamic. Since the beginning of the war, the cost of living and taxes in Israel have been steadily rising. We did not see the effects immediately, but recently we noticed that the amount of food we normally prepare would be gone in half the time than what it would usually last. In order to meet the demand of all the people coming to us for food, we have had to increase the amount we prepare by over 30%.
Moti and his team of volunteers serving an increasing number of people at Feed Tel Aviv outreach
Ivan – Paying bills or buying food
Ivan is an older gentleman who started coming to our outreach the past several months. Recently, I was able to spend some time talking with him, and he shared his story with me. Ivan is a Jewish immigrant from the former Soviet Union who speaks Russian, Hebrew and Yiddish fluently. “It was the language we Jews used in the diaspora in Europe,” he told me.
With the sharp inflation due to the war, Ivan reached a point that the government assistance he gets is not enough to cover the cost of his apartment, food and all the special medications he needs for serious health issues. According to Ivan, the food we provide at our Feed Tel Aviv outreach twice a week is saving him. Ivan knows our hours and makes sure to show up as soon as we start serving. After he has eaten, we send him home with more food in a container which he says keeps him for the next two days.
Even though he is not a religious person, Ivan always tells us, “You are God’s ambassadors. I thank God for you!” The name of Feed Tel Aviv in Hebrew is “Achalta v’Savata” (Eat and Be Satisfied) and comes from Deuteronomy 8:10:
“When you eat and are satisfied, you are to bless the LORD your God for the good land that He has given you.”
In Matthew 5:16, Yeshua told his disciples to do good works in the context of their faith (shining their light) so that others “may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” This is exactly what is happening with Ivan.
Our hope and prayer is that all we do in this ministry will cause people not to give us praise but rather to give honor and thanks to God. Ivan is asking lots of questions about what we believe and why we do what we do. Please pray that God would touch his heart with the revelation of His love.
Our volunteers praying for a woman who is high on drugs at the outreach center
Lidia – A Life Transformed
Lidia, an elderly lady from a Russian background, has been coming to our outreach for quite some time. In addition to coming to the outreach for food, Lidia likes to talk, and she shared her story with us. She told us that she is all alone in the world: her only son is estranged from her and lives abroad with his wife and children, a fact which is very painful for her. If I had to describe Lidia two years ago, I would have said she was a depressed, bitter woman who always complains about the unfairness of life and all the hard knocks it had given her.
We had the opportunity to share the gospel with her and asked if she would be willing to pray with us: she gladly accepted and ended up inviting the Lord into her heart. Afterwards, we connected her to a Russian-speaking congregation not far from the homeless shelter where she lives. Every week she came to the outreach, we would encourage and disciple her in her new faith. People will often pray with us, but one can never really know if someone is sincere in their intentions. One way to tell if someone has truly given their heart to the Lords is what Yeshua taught us, by the fruit in their lives (Matt. 7:17).
With Lidia, we started seeing a transformation which was nothing short of miraculous. Instead of the sad, bitter woman we had come to know, Lidia would show up at the outreach with a smile on her face. She genuinely seemed happy and was pleasant to those around her. Lidia attends her congregation every weekend and goes to a bible study during the week as well. Routinely she witnesses to people at the homeless shelter where she lives and invites them to come to our outreach with her so we can pray for them.
Lidia has almost nothing in the world and is in need of the hot meals we provide at the outreach every week. Despite that, whenever she comes to the outreach now, she always brings a little something special she can share with others. Lidia is truly a living testimony of how Yeshua transforms lives!
Being there for the weakest and most vulnerable in our society is one of our most basic callings. It is also an honor for me personally to serve people in need with the love of God and to witness the amazing ways God touches and transforms the lives of these precious people. We could not do it without your support and help! Thanks to support like yours, we are able to increase the work we are doing to meet the increasing needs of the homeless and marginalized on the streets of Tel Aviv.
Since October 7th, Hezbollah has attacked Israel’s north with thousands of rockets and armed drones where over 100,000 residents have been evacuated. In surrounding areas which do not have evacuation orders, dozens have been killed in the attacks, but the worst came on July 27th: a massive rocket hit a soccer field in Majdal Shams, a Druze village in the Golan Heights, killing twelve children and injuring many others.
The entire nation was gripped with grief over the massacre, and, in the week after the tragedy, thousands of Israelis made the trip to Majdal Shams to stand in solidarity and express condolences to the bereaved families and the Druze community.
The twelve Druze children murdered by Hezbollah
Shosh Navon, Tiferet Yeshua’s official savta (grandmother) at 92-years-old, suggested that we do the same: organize a group from the congregation to make the 4-hour trip to the Golan Heights to share our condolences in person. We tried organizing a visit during the public morning period in the week after the attack, but it did not work out. On August 19th, six of us set out to Majdal Shams. Our visit was three weeks after the attack, but we would soon find out that God’s timing was perfect.
Tiferet Yeshua delegation from left: Moti, Shosh, Ma’ayan, Tamar, Sima and Meir
NAVIGATING WITHOUT GPS
Ever since the start of Hezbollah’s bombing campaign, Israel has scrambled the GPS signals in the north, making it impossible to use navigation apps. Before we left, I looks at the maps and tried to memorize the way to the village though the Golan. As we left, we all prayed that God would guide us and help us remember the way. Amazingly, Tamar was able to keep a GPS signal on her phone almost the whole way, enabling us to get to the village on the small winding mountain roads in the Golan Heights.
A VIP DRUZE CONNECTION
Savta Shosh has connections with people all over Israel from all walks of life, including in the Druze community. On our way up to Majdal Shams, she called a friend of hers in the Druze community of Isafiya on Mt. Carmel (a Druze Sheikh she’s known for years) and told him, “We are driving right now to Majdal Shams to comfort the mourners. Please get me in touch with someone there who can receive us when we arrive.” Shosh’s friend gave us the number of his personal friend in Majdal Shams and instructed her to call him when we arrive.
GOD’S LOVE TOUCHES THE HEART
After a four-hour drive, we arrived at Majdal Shams and called the man whose number Shosh’s friend had given us. He told us how to get to a certain point and instructed us to wait there for him: he would arrive in ten minutes. I pulled over, put on my hazard lights, and we got out of the car to stretch our legs and wait. A young woman came out of her nearby shop and called to us to come in and have a coffee, she just made a fresh pot. I told her I had to wait with the car because we were awkwardly parked while waiting for someone to meet us, but two of the ladies in our group went over to the woman to talk with her.
They shared with her about who we are and why we had come. At one point, I noticed that Ma’ayan was praying for the woman; as she prayed, the woman started weeping. Ma’ayan tenderly embraced the woman while she wept, and I went over to ask if everything was ok. The woman told us, “I don’t know what’s happening, but I feel something so strong”. The love of God was powerfully present, and the woman was deeply touched.
Ma’ayan and Tamar praying for the young woman
“GOD IS WITH YOU”
The woman from the shop was standing with us when the man we were waiting for arrived, and she said, “Ah, this man is our father, he is our Sheikh!” The man with whom were we put in contact turned out to be one of the main village leaders and a prominent political figure in the Druze community. The woman began telling him in Arabic about what had happened when the ladies prayed for her, and he was visibly touched by what she shared.
I introduced myself to the Sheikh and presented to him, “Dr. Shosh Navon, 92-years old, who was willing to drive over four hours to comfort the mourners in Majdal Shams.” The Sheikh was amazed by this and said, “I don’t know who you are, but God is with you.”
The Sheikh then went on to explain that he had made some calls, thinking that he would be able to arrange for us to meet with one of the mourning families. However, he told us that it turned out that all the families of the 12 children were at that very moment in the community center – they had just finished a workshop the education ministry had hosted for them on grief and mourning. “The families are there waiting to meet you,” he told us.
AN INTIMATE MEETING WITH 12 MOURNING FATHERS
We arrived at the community center where the twelve fathers of the murdered children were there waiting for us. We all went and shook each one of their hands, telling them, “We have come to comfort you in your mourning and to tell you that God loves you.” They invited us to come sit with them – they arranged chairs and a table of refreshments for us. We also brought along food and refreshments that we added to the table. They asked us who we are, and I presented Shosh to them so that she could represent us before the mourning fathers. Shosh began speaking to them in such a loving and eloquent way, it was clear that the Holy Spirit was upon her as she spoke. Shosh explained that we are Jews from a Messianic fellowship in Tel Aviv. “If you are interested in learning more about who we are and what we believe, we have brought some brochures where you will find our website.”
When it was my turn to speak, I also briefly shared about our congregation and that several times in our main services we had prayed for their comfort, healing and protection. After several of us had shared, we asked if we could pray for them now in person, and they agreed. It’s hard to explain, but God was there in a powerful way: we spoke simple words of comfort, but the fathers wept there with us and were visibly touched by what we shared and when we prayed. The Shekh who had brought us to this meeting and stayed there throughout kept saying, “Something special is happening here.”
Savta Shosh addressing the mourning fathers
A COMMUNIUTY THAT INVESTS IN ITS CHILDREN
We stayed with the fathers for nearly an hour, and when it was time to leave, we parted with hugs to all of them. Before we left, one of the mothers who had stayed to listen approached me and began telling me about her 15-year-old daughter who was killed in the attack.
“My daughter was gifted, and she knew four languages.”
I asked her which languages she spoke, and her mother replied, “Arabic, Hebrew, English and German.” “Why German?” I asked her. It turns out that her daughter’s dream was to study at the University of Munich. Two weeks before the attack that killed her daughter, the whole family had been to visit the university of Munich to check out the dorms and meet students.
People in the village we spoke to shared that their community invests in the lives of their children and encourages them to higher education, and many of them go on to work in the medical field.
“I FEEL SOMETHING FROM GOD”
The ladies who were with us embraced this mother and asked if they could pray for her. She agreed, and when they did, she said, “I feel something, something from God!”
Often we heard from the people we met and prayed for at Majdal Shams, “You are bringing us the love of God!” In their brokenness and morning, the precious members of the mourning families and the community at large opened their hearts to us, and God graciously touched them with His love.
Moti at the memorial in the soccer field where the children were murdered
THE SHEIKH’S PERSONAL INVITATION
After visiting with the families for nearly five hours (they brought us to the soccer field to see where their children were murdered), I was amazed and blessed but starting to feel tired and thought we should probably get on our way. At the moment, the Sheikh said, “I want to host you at my home; it is important to me to introduce you to my family. I’ve already called, and my daughters are coming with the grandchildren.”
At the Sheikh’s home, a table was set before us with coffee and all kinds of sweets, including fresh cherries and apples from their orchards. The Sheikh introduced his wife and each of his daughters with their children. The Sheikh explained to us that he works as an interfaith and cultural advocate and has had many meetings with different religious groups in Israel. “But you,” he said, “have something different.”
I have to add that I was surprised to discover that three in our group knew Arabic, including Savta Shosh, and they were able to connect in a special way with the family members who did not speak Hebrew. At the Sheikh’s house, God continued to move, providing opportunities through the open and personal conversations we were having with the family and to pray for them. Before we left, I asked the Sheikh if it would be alright with him if I prayed for and blessed his family in the name of Yeshua’s. “Of course,” he said.
PARTING WITH TEARS
When it was time to leave, the Sheikh himself guided us out of the village and explained to us how to get to the Sea of Galilee where our GPS would start working. When he was saying goodbye to us, suddenly he broke into tears. “You are such special people!” he said. “In just these few hours you were with us today I feel a special connection with you.” On our way home, every 45 minutes or so he would call to make sure we were on our way safely. His last call to check on us was at midnight when we were close to Tel Aviv.
THE SHEIKH’S PERSONAL MESSAGE
Late at night, after I arrived home, I saw that the Sheikh had sent me a personal message right after we left. This is what it said:
“We were privileged to receive the visit from amazing people who came to comfort us in the loss of our precious children who were murdered in a painful terror attack, our twelve shining stars whom we will never forget. Despite the pain, you all were ambassadors of peace. You brought something precious, and we were privileged to meet people who are clean and pure. Your visit was a very emotional and special time for us with tears, sympathy and mutual affection. This disaster unified us and transcends all boundaries of religion, politics or language. You are an example of humanity, and you left a precious seal on our hearts. For me and my dear family, your visit has become a treasure. I want to thank you for your initiative and the effort you made to come from so far.”
Please pray for all the precious people we had the incredible privilege to spend time with in Majdal Shams, that God would continue touching their hearts with His love, that He would comfort them and reveal Himself to them as the one who seals ours hearts with His perfect love!
**The Druze are a religious sect which split from Islam in the 10th century. The Druze are highly integrated in Israeli society, serve with distinction in the IDF, in the highest halls of government and military leadership.**
People wonder why is it that so few drug-addicted homeless people get off the streets and into drug rehabilitation programs? When serving homeless addicts, after first and foremost caring for their immediate physical, emotional and spiritual needs, we always encourage and offer help to get into a drug rehabilitation program to those who express a desire to get clean and get off the street. For many reasons, however, it is incredibly difficult to get off the streets, to make into AND to stick with a drug-rehabilitation program.
That’s why we were happy when four months ago a man named Andrey, someone we have known for a long time from the streets, told our volunteer team that he needed help getting into a drug rehab program. However, the kind of help he was asking for we could not give him – he needed money, 350 shekels in cash, to be exact. Drug addicts often ask us for cash, but, as a rule, we never go into the streets with money on us because it invariably goes to buy drugs or alcohol. But Andrey was insistent and sincere.
We know Andrey well: he gladly takes food from us whenever we are out on the streets, and he always is grateful and politely thanks us “for the delicious food”. I know that he has had a really difficult life and that he is completely alone in the world. Despite the fact that he is seriously addicted, he always expressed a certain optimism that one day he will escape life on the streets.
We knew that Andrey had been through multiple rehab programs before, but he said that this time is different, that this time he has the motivation and determination to overcome his addiction, something he didn’t have before. As much as we wanted to believe him, we were skeptical. I explained to him that we intentionally do not go out on the streets with cash on us and that we would never give cash to an addict. I suggested that he come back to the soup kitchen facility with us where we could arrange a place in rehab for him.
Moti and Shulamit speaking with Andrey
Andrey, however, insisted that he wanted to go to this specific program where they need 350 shekels cash for admission. This, of course, made us all the more skeptical. “It is excellent that you are giving out food and drink on the streets,” he said, “But what I need right now is cash to get into this specific program.” I explained to him that many addicts ask us for cash for all kinds of reasons: it’s never for drugs, of course, but we know that is where the money would most likely go.
Shulamit, one of our most faithful volunteers, gave him her phone number, and Andrey agreed that I would pray for him. Afterwards I told him, “You have Shulamit’s number. If the rehab facility will contact her, we will be happy to wire them the money directly for your admission into the program.” A few days later, Shulamit had a big surprise. A counselor from a drug rehabilitation program called her with Andrey on the line: he was there at their facility and all he needed was the admission fee.
Overcoming a Broken and Painful Past
Behind every person we serve and minister to there is a painful story of either loss, trauma or abuse, and often all of the above. To manage or flee their emotional and physical pain, they start using powerful dugs as an escape which very quickly end up destroying their lives.
Andrey, of course, is no exception. He was married at a young age, and his wife became pregnant with twins. They were both overwhelmed but excited. However, not long before she was supposed to give birth, Andrey’s wife and the twins she was carrying were killed in a car accident. In the confusion after their tragic accident, Andrey returned to their apartment which was locked and realized that he didn’t have a key. He tried climbing in through a window but ended up falling several floors to the ground and was seriously injured.
Andrey went through multiple surgeries and came out with titanium plates in his body and lots of pain. As a result of all the powerful pain killers he was given, Andrey became addicted and from there he fell into hard-core addictive drugs.
A New Life
Almost all drug addicts who are living on the street, like Andrey, are suffering from malnutrition, acute infections, illnesses and lack of sleep. Someone who may look fifty or sixty years old may be in fact only in their thirties or forties. In this, Andrey was also no exception. The man I knew from the streets was very thin with a drawn and lined face and grey hair. In April, Shulamit shared some pictures she had taken with Andrey at one of her visits with him at his rehab program. Ever since she took the call from the rehab facility, she has faithfully gone to visit him every week. The rehab counselors have also shared with her many wonderful reports about Andrey’s progress.
Andrey with Shulamit and her husband
When I saw the picture of Andrey, I was shocked: if I had passed him in the street, I would not have recognized him. His transformation is simply dramatic: he is like a completely new person. He has truly come back from the brink of death. What an honor and privilidge to be a part of such amazing stories like Andrey’s. Please keep him in your prayers and thank you for supporting this important outreach. We could not do it without your help!
At Feed Tel Aviv weekly outreach to the homeless, we work in two teams: one team stays at the outreach center in south Tel Aviv to serve healthy, home-cooked meals to those who are able to make it to us. The second team of volunteers heads to the streets and back alleys equipped with food, drinks and first aid to distribute to the drug addicts who are too weak or sick to make it to the outreach center (in our next update, we will share the experiences of our street team).
The In-House Dynamic
Every evening at the outreach center, our volunteer team serves over a hundred people. Many of those who come are homeless, but not all. Some come because they are hungry, and they know that they will get a delicious, home-cooked meal. Some come because they just want a hot cup of tea or something cold and refreshing to drink in the summer months. Then there are some who come who aren’t hungry or thirsty; they are lonely and like the friendly company they have with us in a comfortable, clean and welcoming environment.
The Common Denominator
People from all walks of life and backgrounds gather at our outreach center. The common denominator they share: they have either fallen on hard times, are lost, outcast, or are running away from trouble and pain. Sometimes even religious\observant Jews come to eat at the center. They come because they know that the food we prepare is kosher. Whenever someone from a religious background comes, we always end up having interesting conversations about the Bible and the Messiah promised Israel.
One young man who came to our center shared that his father is a rabbi. I ended up sitting with him for a while and even read to him from the New Testament. He was intrigued by what I read and said he wanted to read more on his own.
Loving on whoever comes
A woman named Tami has been coming to eat at our center for several years. She usually has several suitcases with her because she is homeless and carries all her belongings from place to place. Several weeks in a row we did not see Tami, and we started to worry about her. We were relieved when she finally showed up again; she told us that she has been “living” at a construction site in north Tel Aviv where they are building new high-rises. She said she made the effort to come all the way down to south Tel Aviv to our center because she knew that she could get a warm, nourishing meal and then have a couple more boxed up to take with her. She constantly thanks us and blesses us every time she comes.
Moti with Tami at the outreach center
Recently a man named Andrey started coming to the center who is handicapped and gets around in a wheelchair. He is usually on the streets because he is addicted to drugs, a fact which gets him kicked out of the state-run support centers which he is in and out of. When he first showed up, he took a double portion of food– he said he was starving and that he hadn’t tasted food that delicious in a long time (most outreach centers to the poor serve leftovers which they receive from hotels and restaurants). After Andrey had eaten, I sat with him and we started talking. “Why do you use drugs,” I asked him, “when there are rehabilitation centers that offer you a place to live and support to get clean from drugs?”
Andrey’s answer told me a lot about the many people who end up homeless because of drug addiction: “Drugs are the only thing”, he said, “that offers me the possibility to escape my reality which has been one of suffering since the day I was born. I experienced abuse, sickness, you name it. My memories and subconscious are full of suffering. Only drugs help me to escape to another world where I can be happy.” I shared with him about the suffering Messiah who came to save us from our brokenness and pain and that God’s love can reach even the darkest places in us. It is my prayer that he and the many others who come to us for a little respite from the darkness and difficulties of the streets will take with them the seeds of love we sow in them each time, whether by word or just giving them a warm meal, acceptance, and a place at the table.
Thank you for supporting this important ministry! Without your support we would not be able to be there for these precious people society has given up on.
At our Feed Tel Aviv outreach center in south Tel Aviv, our doors are open to all. We routinely serve people from all walks of life: Arabs, Jews, African migrants. For those who aren’t familiar, observant Jews and Muslims have careful dietary restrictions. Muslim dietary laws restrict pork, alcohol and inhumane slaughter practices. For observant Jews, the requirements are much more strict, and those who keep kosher are very careful about where they eat. The observant Jews and Muslims who come to our outreach center know us well and the fact that we keep a kosher kitchen, for both Jewish and Muslim requirements, even thought we may not have a kosher “certificate” from the rabbinate—they would never give us one anyway because of our faith in Yeshua!
For me, it is beautiful to see Muslims, observant Jews and refugees from the nations sitting together at the same table, receiving food, hospitality and the love of God from us. In the Middle East, hospitality is an essential part of our culture, both for Arabs and Jews, and God has called us to offer His hospitality to the neediest of the needy in our city. Often when I look at the table at the outreach center and see society’s outcasts from all different backgrounds gathered together there, I am reminded how the Messiah shared a table with society’s “undesirables” and was sharply criticized by the religious authorities for it:
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at this glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’
-Matthew 11:18-19
At our Feed Tel Aviv table: observant Jews together with Muslims and secular Israelis
A little love goes a long way
Here are just a couple stories of many people who have shared our table and whose lives have been touched by this outreach:
Haled is an Arab man from a Muslim village in Samaria who ran away from his village years ago and eventually landed on the streets of Tel Aviv. A few years ago, we witnessed to Haled, and he ended up praying with us to receive the Yeshua as Lord. Haled makes his living by collecting glass and plastic bottles for recycling, and, according to him, our outreach saves him from going hungry. Whenever Haled comes to the outreach for a hot meal, he brings a bag with him so we can send a couple more portions with him which help him get through the week. Haled also comes to the outreach center to discuss his faith and to get more discipleship and prayer.
Moti and Shulamit, a faithful volunteer, praying with Haled
Sasha, a man in his thirties, ended up on the streets just recently. He told us, like many others we have met, that with the increase in food prices and a sudden rise in his rent, he was unable to make ends meet and pay his bills. When Sasha first came to us, he was so happy to get food and clothes from us. He told us that we are doing a great “mitzva” (good deed) and said that he prayed “the Holy One blessed be He” would bless us. Because he has so little money and is trying to cut back wherever he can, Sasha said that he has lost more than 10 kilos (22 pounds) since he’s been on the streets.
I shared with Sasha about our outreach and what we believe. He was deeply moved by what I shared with him, and he asked me to pass on his thanks to all who support this ministry. Sasha shared that recently he had been in a dark place and was deeply depressed, but meeting us gave him hope that there is still light in the world.
We want to thank all of you who support this outreach! You are with us out there touching the lives of these precious people with the love of God!
We have a simple motto at congregation Tiferet Yeshua: Love God. Love each other. Love our city (Matt. 22:38-40) When our leadership team was discussing the best way to “love our city”, God reminded me of a powerful and convicting passage in the book of James:
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?
James 2:14-16 ESV
I then felt God tell me: put your cooking skills and pastoral training together and hit the streets. I didn’t need to look very far for a place to start: just a few city blocks away from our congregation is Israel’s skid row, the worst area in all Israel for drugs, homelessness and prostitution. That is how Feed Tel Aviv ministry was born.
Love is an Action…
Each week, we prepare 450 healthy, home-cooked meals, the majority of which we serve out of a soup kitchen facility in the worst area of south Tel Aviv. After we finish serving warm meals at the facility, we bring sandwiches and drinks to the back alleyways where the hard-core drug addicts live who are too weak and sick to make it to our facility.
We are always asked, “Who are you? Why are you here?” That is our cue to share about the love that has brought us to the streets to serve them. We offer prayer and the word of hope to whomever is open. Whoever is willing, we offer to bring directly to a drug rehab center run by believers.
Last Minute Hope – A matter of life and death
Many of the people who volunteer with us for the first time are shocked by the squalor and suffering on the streets. It is a very difficult and dark place to serve, and the lives of the people we minister to are in constant danger from drug overdose, violence, or illness attacking their weakened bodies. Rarely are people able to commit to going to drug rehabilitation we offer them– it is a frightening and challenging step for them, if they are clear-headed enough to make that decision, and those who do usually have a spouse or a child for whom they want to turn their lives around.
I can’t tell you how many people we have prayed with and shared the gospel with. When we do, I know that it might be their last opportunity to hear life-saving truth. Several years ago, we were praying with a woman who was horribly addicted to street drugs: she broke down weeping when we prayed for her, and I will never forget her prayer asking the Lord to save her and inviting Him into her life. The next day, someone informed me that she was found on a park bench the following morning: she had died during the night. Our hearts were broken, but we also knew that that precious woman had cried out to God the night before and invited the Him into her life.
A young woman caught in drug addiction and prostitution…
Nicole showed up at our outreach every week. She would have a warm meal and the ladies who volunteer with us would always talk to her and prayed with her often. Nicole was very young and found herself caught in a vicious prostitution ring run by a powerful criminal gang that kept her enslaved through her relentless drug addiction. We shared the gospel with Nicole, and she prayed with us, but she always ended up going back out onto the street. Two weeks ago, someone who comes to our outreach center shared the sad news with us: Nicole had died of a drug overdose. Her death was reported in a small local paper.
As much as this ministry is an outreach to the neediest of the needy, the people on whom our society has given up, it is also an essential learning experience for us.
When we minister to these precious people, we touch the essence of what it means to follow Yeshua: humbling ourselves to be open to and to serve those who are in the most desperate need of His love. That is indeed what He did for us.
I think that these dark, trashy, rat-infested streets where the homeless live is not very different from how the world felt to Yeshua when emptied Himself of His glory to come down to earth to serve and save us.
Thank you for supporting this important outreach! When you do, you are with us serving food and sharing the words of life to the neediest of the needy here in Israel.
The area of Tel Aviv’s central bus station where we do our food outreach to the homeless is a very tough neighborhood—it may even be the worst in all Israel. The streets where we serve –where the hard-core drug addicts hang out and there is much prostitution— are controlled by Arab crime families from the cities Lod and Ramle in central Israel and from Rahat, a troubled Bedouin city in the Negev where crime is out of control.
At the mercy of criminal gangs
So how do the criminal gangs that control the area view our presence there? To say that they don’t like us is putting it mildly. Criminal gangs make their money by selling drugs and running brothels, so when we help drug addicts and prostitutes get off the street, we are hurting their ability to make money. Every drug addict is like a walking ATM for the dealers because each day he goes to great lengths to get money for drugs. The same goes for the girls who are working in prostitution, many of whom have been coerced or forced into it: each girl turns a profit for her pimp. Most of the women in prostitution are also drug addicts, and they pay for their drugs through prostitution: when these women succeed in getting off the street, it is a double loss for the drug and prostitution rings.
Moti offering food and drink to one of the women working on the streets
“Why are you here?”
To be able to do the work that God has called us to do in this area, we have to be diplomatic and smart. Honor and respect are inherent currency in the Middle Eastern culture, especially in Arab communities, and we always make sure to be very respectful to criminals running things in our area. Very often, they will ask us why we are doing this, who is supporting us, and what our motivation is. That is when we have the opportunity to share the gospel with them.
Sharing the gospel with Arab-speakers
Whenever there is opportunity, we share the gospel with anyone who crosses our paths, and many who do are Muslim-background Arabs. In addition to the Arab criminal groups who control the area where we serve, many young Arab Muslim men come to this area because of the prostitution. There are also Palestinian construction workers from Judea and Samaria (called the West Bank in the media), in Israel legally and some illegally, who end up sleeping on the streets here because they do not want to risk not being able to get back to their jobs if they go home for the night.
In addition to Hebrew and Russian, we keep Arabic bibles and outreach material at our center which we hand out on a regular basis. In order to be able to discuss the gospel with Muslims, we need to have a basic knowledge of how the Koran speaks about Jesus. When we talk about Ee’sua ibn Miriyam (Jesus the son of Mary), using His proper Arabic name from the Koran, it somehow opens their hearts and we are able to share about His work of redemption and the forgiveness of sins.
A surprising outreach tool
There is one book that we always make sure to have on hand in Arabic: Run Baby Run by Nicky Cruz. In the 1950’s, Cruz led a notoriously violent street gang in New York City and was saved by the gospel of love that he heard from preacher David Wilkerson. Because many of the Arab men in our area are either directly involved in criminal gangs or influenced by them, this book has a powerful impact on them.
An Arab man gets a copy of “Run Baby Run” from a volunteer at our outreach
When the crime gangs loose profit
Just recently we dealt a blow to the bottom line of the drug dealers’ bottom line when I had the honor of driving a man to a rehab center run by believers. This man who suffers from a serious drug addiction has been coming to our center for meals for several years. This man knows us well and over time has learned to trust us. At one point when he was badly wounded in a street fight, he came to us for first aid.
Recently he shared with us that he has a little son whom he is not allowed to see because of his drug addiction. During the day he keeps himself busy at a construction job, but in the evening, when he is alone and has nothing to do, he ends succumbing to his addiction. Each day he tells himself that he will break the cycle of addiction so that he can make a new start and have a relationship with his son, but each evening after work, he falls back into his addiction. That evening when he was sharing with us his sadness and frustration, he let us pray for him. As we prayed for him, he asked the Lord into his life, and, immediately afterwards, he threw away all the drugs that he had on him. Right then I asked him if he wanted me to drive him to a drug rehabilitation center run by believers, and he said “Yes!”
That evening when I drove him to the rehab center, I felt such joy! Serving on the streets, we see so much pain and sadness in the lives of many who are unwilling to make the serious commitment to go to a rehab program. Not only did this young man open his heart to the Lord, but then he agreed to being taken physically out of the cycle of crime and enslavement to addiction and brought to an amazing rehabilitation center run by believers where he will have every chance and support to become free through God’s grace. It is truly a lifesaving step!
I want to thank you so much for your faithful support of this ministry! Without your help we could not be out there providing food, love and hope to so many.
For a long time it has been on my heart that Tiferet Yeshua could find a way to bless and serve holocaust survivors. In December, Gideon, a friend from another congregation who has a calling to serve holocaust survivors, approached me about doing something special for a group of Russian background holocaust survivors for the Russian New Year holiday celebration “Novy God”. Through a generous donation from the Joseph Project to Tiferet Yeshua’s Feed Tel Aviv ministry, we were able to plan a special New Year’s banquet for over forty holocaust survivors.
For nearly two years of corona many of these holocaust survivors were isolated in their homes and unable to gather with friends and family. The opportunity to celebrate together one of the most nostalgic and meaningful holidays for Jews from Russian backgrounds was a great blessing for them. All of those invited knew they were coming to a holiday celebration hosted by Messianic Jews, and they all came to Tiferet Yeshua on their own, taking busses or taxis and then hiking up a flight of stairs—people in their eighties and nineties!
A Sephardic Jew Masters Russian Delicacies
Our goal was to bless and serve our special guests. When they arrived, we escorted them to decorated holiday tables and treated them to a traditional holiday sing-along in Russian. Afterward, we began serving them their holiday meal. One of my gifts that God has graciously allowed me to use for serving others in His name is cooking: each week I prepare home-cooked, wholesome meals for our street outreach to the homeless. This time, I used my cooking skills to dive into a culinary tradition that is completely new for me: the traditional Russian kitchen! With help from my wife who speaks Russian, I watched YouTube videos of Russian “babushkas” cooking traditional dishes, consulted with some Russian mothers and grandmothers here in Israel, and followed their directions exactly.
When I introduced myself to the group with the help of translators, I told them that their holiday meal was prepared by a Moroccan\Persian Jew who has never tasted any of these dishes before: that fact delighted and touched them. At the end of the meal, a very old man came up to me and emotionally shared that one dish in particular that I made brought him back to his childhood in Moscow. For me it was a great honor to be able to serve these special people who survived the greatest human atrocity in living memory and chose to immigrate to Israel. And it was an honor to share with them the love and hope we have God: He truly blessed the time we had together with a spirit of openness, and Kosta and Victoria, who are both of Russian backgrounds, followed the gentle leading of the Holy Spirit to share encouraging words of hope from the Bible and New Testament.
Victoria:
For me this event was very special because my grandmother is a holocaust survivor from Latvia. At the beginning of WWII when the Nazis invaded Latvia, my grandmother fled to Russia with her mother and siblings. After the war, they returned to Latvia: that area of Latvia boasted a Jewish population of a several hundred thousand before the war. After the war, there were only three hundred Jews left.
When I was serving the holocaust survivors, I felt like I was serving my grandmother, and it was a great honor for me. Holocaust survivors deal with very complicated psychological and spiritual struggles. In addition to trauma and survivor’s guilt, many of them see the holocaust as proof that God doesn’t exist. I shared with them from my heart that their survival, just like my grandmother’s, is a miracle, and that the reason we are here today is because God has a perfect plan for His people Israel and for each one of them.
I felt it was important to emphasize that the miracle of the survival of the Jewish people and the establishment of the Jewish state are proof that God exists and has a plan for us. His plan for us, I told them, is that we would get to know Him. Afterward, many of them came up to me to express their thanks and tell me how touched they were by what I shared. Praise God for His love for these precious holocaust survivors and their open hearts!
Kosta:
“Novy God”, the Russian New Year celebration, is the most important and sentimental holiday for Russian Jews. Since all religious holidays were banned during soviet times, this holiday became our sole and central holiday. I shared with the holocaust survivors that I immigrated to Israel from Russia when I was a teenager, and that for all of us this holiday reminds us of warm, joyful times with our families.
While they may feel alone in their day to day lives, especially during covid, I wanted them know that no matter where they are, God is very near to them, as the Word says, and that He has special compassion for the lonely and broken-hearted. God then led me to read John 3:16 to them in Russian: a simple, powerful declaration of the gospel from the Word. All of us on the team felt that there was a special openness with these dear people and that God touched many of their hearts. Please pray that the Holy Spirit would water the seeds of hope from God’s Word that were sewn in their hearts, that He would speak to them in their times of loneliness and isolation and bring them comfort and peace in Messiah Yeshua.
This last week, Tiferet Yeshua hosted a first aid certification course, organized by Tiferet Yeshua youth leader, Halel, for the volunteers who work on the streets of south Tel Aviv. Most of the volunteers who work with Feed Tel Aviv are first aid certified, but this course offered newer volunteers a chance to become certified and was a great refresher for those who are already.
You may be asking, “Why would volunteers in a food outreach program need to be first aid certified?” It is a great question. The answer is with the homeless we serve in south Tel Aviv: people living on the streets are more than hungry: they are extremely vulnerable to violence, sickness and disease. Because the need for first aid is so great among the homeless, one of our volunteers always focuses solely on first aid each time we go out to serve food.
It Begins and Ends with Drugs:
The common denominator for everyone on the streets is drugs. Because of the proliferation of cheap, highly addictive synthetic drugs, many vulnerable people become hopelessly addicted after one hit. Addiction takes over their lives, they lose everything and end up on the streets, and many fall into crime and prostitution to support their habit. These drugs are a powerful tool of the enemy to quickly destroy people. We have witnessed it time and again how, in a matter of weeks and months, people who look healthy become weak and frail, their teeth fall out, they look years beyond their actual age, and all the life goes out of their eyes.
Afraid to seek professional medical care:
In serious cases where we see that people need professional medical care, we always try to get them to a hospital, and sometimes we succeed. However, because the people we are trying to help often have been involved in crime and prostitution to fund their addiction, they are afraid of going to the hospital for fear that the police will be called to deal with them, and they are usually unwilling to let us call an ambulance or bring them to the ER. This means that, very often, the help we offer is the only help they are willing to accept.
(Feed Tel Aviv volunteers caring for the homless with food and first aid)
Violence at the hands of powerful drug dealers:
Since drugs is the powerful force dominating what happens in south Tel Aviv, it is not surprising that the ones controlling this area are the drug dealers. The worst wounds we see in the homeless are from violence at the hands of drug dealers. Many of the homeless drug addicts become “cups”, or middlemen, for the drug dealers to collect money owed them. If the “cups” don’t come up with the money, for whatever reason, the drug dealers will make a point to leave people with horrific facial scars in order to send a message to the others on the street.
Bodies weakened by drug use and attack:
The most common first aid that we give is disinfecting wounds— in the hands, arms, legs and feet. Because people’s systems are so weakened by the drug use and they are living in unsanitary conditions, festering wounds become a persistent problem. The homeless often have wounds from being attacked by animals, be it rats, dogs or cats. Whenever someone it bitten by an animal, we try to get them to the hospital for shots against animal-born illnesses. However, usually the only help they are willing to accept is that which we are giving them.
Building trust takes time but opens doors to the heart:
Our motto at Feed Tel Aviv is: share the love of God, hope, and the gospel of salvation with the homeless in our city. Firstly, meeting people’s immediate physical needs in a caring and compassionate way—this is bringing them the love of God. We tell them about drug rehabilitation centers run by believers and actively connect any who are interested—bringing them hope. When we are meeting their physical needs, we ask if they would like prayer, opening the door to share who we are and in in whose name we pray—to share the gospel of salvation. Some do and some don’t.
But I don’t lose hope for those who refuse prayer at first: over time, seeing us there month after month, year after year, many begin to open up to us. And they often point out that they received the food and first aid from us for a long time before they felt comfortable sharing their stories with us and being willing to hear about what brings us to the streets to serve them—the love of God and the message of salvation!
We can continue this very important outreach to the homeless in Tel Aviv thanks to the generous support of our friends in the nations. Thank you!
Feed Tel Aviv was born as a response to the dire need caused by homelessness in one of Israel’s worst areas not far from congregation Tiferet Yeshua. Our desire was to meet the immediate needs of those living on the streets in this area. As we began, the Lord gave me these verses from James 2 to be our guide:
“Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?’”
As an outreach, we want to provide for the physical needs of the people living on the street which are, first and foremost, food and warm clothing. In addition to food, warm clothing, and unconditional love (of course!), we also need to have a first aid kit with us at all times.
It is hard to imagine what it’s really like living on the streets—the hunger, the extreme weather, the rats. And you would be surprised how not having the basics of soap and water can put someone’s health at risk. People living on the streets often end up in the hospital because of wounds that have become infected, and some even end up with limbs amputated because the infections are so severe. When our team of volunteers goes out onto the street, we make sure to have basic first aid with us to be able to treat wounds in the people we meet.
Living on the streets also puts people under the constant threat of physical violence. One evening, a young man we know well, came to the soup kitchen facility with his face covered in blood. He was breathing hard because he was in such pain and asked us if we had antiseptic. I saw that his nose had been hit and was badly cut. Our volunteer team immediately took him to the sink and gave him towels to first stop the bleeding.
Like I mentioned, we have known this man for a long time, and he is one of the toughest guys on the street. His Russian accent might fool you, but he also speaks fluent Arabic. In the IDF, he was a commander of an elite unit that would disguise themselves as Arabs, and, from within the Arab community, they would neutralize terrorist activity.
So here is this big, army commando with his nose smashed in, telling us what we need to do to take care of his wound. We could see it was severe and were trying to convince him to let us call an ambulance, but he would not have it. Finally, one of our brave volunteers, Laylah, stepped up and began pouring antiseptic over his open wound. I can’t imagine how much it hurt, but he didn’t make a sound.
Some of the others then came and started praying for him. After that, we were able to convince him to let us call an ambulance for him (because he really needed professional medical care). A week later we saw him again, and this time he had a smile on his face. His wounds were healing, and he thanked us for the help we gave him. We thank God that we were there for this young man that night, to help, support and to pray for Him.
Thanks to your support of us, we can continue being a living witness of God’s love by bringing practical help and first aid to those who desperately need it.
