Caption transcript for Rebuilding the Ruined Cities: “The Bridge” (7/12)

• 00:13 ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪
• 00:17 Caleb Colson: This week we're headed to Jerusalem to meet with
• 00:20 Bridges for Peace, a longtime partner of Zola
• 00:22 Levitt Ministries.
• 00:24 This nonprofit organization has worked in Israel for decades to
• 00:28 build a bridge of love between Christians and Jews by offering
• 00:31 support for impoverished Israelis and communities most
• 00:34 affected by the war with Hamas.
• 00:39 Caleb: Peter, there's a lot of food here.
• 00:40 Some would call this a food bank.
• 00:42 What are we doing?
• 00:43 Rev. Peter Fast: We are packing food for displaced people,
• 00:46 vulnerable people, in the state of Israel since October
• 00:49 7th attack.
• 00:50 Our volunteers come from all over the world.
• 00:52 We're a Christian organization, so we have volunteers here from
• 00:55 South Africa, the United States, Japan, Canada, all over, the UK,
• 01:00 and they have come here to bless the people of Israel and to do
• 01:05 exactly what you see they're doing: pack food.
• 01:07 We've got pineapples, to tomatoes, to vegetables,
• 01:10 mushrooms, tuna, rice.
• 01:13 It's quick food that can be cooked up, even halva.
• 01:18 But I mean, when you think about it, yeah, I know, halva's
• 01:21 great, right?
• 01:23 When you think about it, so many people lost everything.
• 01:24 They're displaced and they're staying in hotels.
• 01:26 They might be staying in caravans or with friends, so
• 01:28 food is a necessity.
• 01:30 The human body cannot last long without food, and this has just
• 01:33 been an act of love that we've done over decades.
• 01:36 Prior to October 7th, we were feeding about 24,000 people each
• 01:40 month, 60 tons of food, give and take, and, but this in the wake
• 01:45 of October 7th, this is, like, a necessity.
• 01:48 So we've got emergency bags, pallets.
• 01:52 Unique deliveries to people all over the country, but
• 01:55 particularly in the South.
• 01:57 Lots of the people that we built relationships with, they're
• 02:00 sending us, like, grocery lists of needs.
• 02:02 Like, we need this, we need that.
• 02:04 Food is a staple, clothing is a staple, all of that happens in
• 02:08 our food bank, and then we have a delivery bay right next door
• 02:12 so we can load up trucks and ship it all over the place.
• 02:15 I mean, I'm reminded by a delivery that I personally did
• 02:19 on October 9th.
• 02:20 I went down to Sderot.
• 02:22 This team, among other volunteers, packed about 500
• 02:25 bags of food.
• 02:27 We had clothing.
• 02:28 We loaded them up in two vans, myself and another driver, drove
• 02:31 straight down to Sderot.
• 02:33 When you really think about it, on that day, there were still
• 02:35 bodies out--.
• 02:37 Caleb: There were still terrorists out there.
• 02:38 Peter: There were still terrorists out.
• 02:39 Actually, there were terrorists for almost 3 weeks.
• 02:41 The last terrorist was caught 3 weeks after the 7th, hiding in,
• 02:43 like, a barn for cattle, and so on October 9th there were--I
• 02:49 passed burned cars.
• 02:50 I could see rocket damage.
• 02:52 There were still bodies out.
• 02:53 A lot of the city of Sderot had been emptied, so there were--it
• 02:55 was a collecting point for the army.
• 02:58 And we drove in there, through contacts.
• 03:00 We drove in there, opened up the doors and, shoulder to shoulder
• 03:05 with these soldiers, we just unloaded these vans, and they--
• 03:10 the neat thing is they know exactly where it's coming from.
• 03:13 It says on every bag--.
• 03:14 Caleb: Bridges for Peace.
• 03:16 Christians are here to help.
• 03:17 Peter: Christians from around the world who are coming to
• 03:19 bless them, which is extraordinary for the people of
• 03:23 Israel, especially in these dark times where they feel alone and
• 03:26 they feel hated, many of them.
• 03:27 Joshua Colson: Now I ask you a question because you said you
• 03:29 were there with the group?
• 03:31 Peter: Yeah.
• 03:32 Joshua: You're the--. Peter: CEO.
• 03:34 Joshua: How many CEOs do you know, brother, that's--that
• 03:37 show up when there are terrorists out, when there are
• 03:40 fires burning.
• 03:41 We're talking in the middle of the attack.
• 03:43 I know because I've been sent all over the world when the CEOs
• 03:44 didn't want to go, to do this kind of stuff.
• 03:47 I haven't met any CEOs that volunteered in the frontline to
• 03:49 lead the pack.
• 03:50 Peter: Well, you know what, I didn't do it to get a trophy or
• 03:52 a medal, you know?
• 03:54 I think the heart of Bridges for Peace is in the good times and
• 03:56 the bad times we stand with Israel and we reflect and
• 03:59 actually demonstrate that love in action and even going into
• 04:04 places like that and I, by the way, I didn't do it
• 04:06 without prayer.
• 04:07 But, like, we're a praying ministry, we bathe it in prayer
• 04:10 and we do what we must do.
• 04:12 We're not tourists. We live here.
• 04:14 Our volunteers, they come from short-term, long-term.
• 04:17 I moved my family here, just over a year ago, three kids, my
• 04:21 wife and my dog.
• 04:22 Like, we have--.
• 04:24 Joshua: Even your dog's a part.
• 04:25 Peter: Even my dog Frankie made Aliyah, so.
• 04:27 Joshua: Well, let's go talk over here.
• 04:28 Let's let them keep working.
• 04:30 Caleb: This is a very effective assembly line, as I can see.
• 04:33 Peter: Yes.
• 04:34 Joshua: They can make it through filming television, they
• 04:35 can--they can work through anything, right?
• 04:37 Caleb: Look at--they already have a pallet going, right here.
• 04:39 These are all the goods.
• 04:40 Everybody gets something, and then, from here you deliver
• 04:44 straight to the people in need.
• 04:46 Now I see around me, you have names on these different
• 04:50 scaffolds here.
• 04:52 I see Yad Vashem, I see Ethiopian Community Center.
• 04:55 I saw a Holocaust Survivor Center.
• 04:58 These are all foods for people that have needs, and you deliver
• 05:02 it directly to them.
• 05:04 Peter: Yes, we have 23 towns and cities in this country that we
• 05:06 sponsor, and then we have about 56 organizations, so that's
• 05:09 gonna be like Yad Vashem and the others that you see, that all
• 05:12 rely on us.
• 05:13 Holocaust survivors, many of them, have very little to--for
• 05:18 eating, for money, that some of them have very little in
• 05:21 surviving family members or support.
• 05:23 They do get support from the government of Israel, but
• 05:25 it's little.
• 05:27 Israel is very stretched when you can think of it, and a lot
• 05:29 of people make that mistake.
• 05:30 They think Israel is this innovative, robust first world
• 05:34 country, but Israel accepts people that my own country of
• 05:37 Canada wouldn't accept, right?
• 05:39 Like if you want to move to Canada, you have to show, like,
• 05:42 your education, how much money you got, these things.
• 05:45 Israel has brought 150,000 Ethiopians over the years to
• 05:49 here, people who came from, like, mud huts with grass
• 05:53 thatched roofs, and they bring them to this incredible nation
• 05:56 and then they help them integrate and that's not
• 05:59 always easy.
• 06:00 But we are here to--we can't find people jobs.
• 06:03 We are here to take those practical worries off
• 06:07 people's minds.
• 06:08 Joshua: Isn't it amazing how the action of love speaks so loudly
• 06:11 that sometimes you don't even have to say it?
• 06:13 It's as simple as showing the action that you're standing for.
• 06:15 And the part I love the most because I get this question
• 06:17 often, who can we trust if we want to give our money or be
• 06:22 a volunteer?
• 06:23 Who can we trust is doing this?
• 06:24 And generally longevity is a sign of that.
• 06:26 You haven't been doing this just since October 7th, right?
• 06:28 How long has Bridges for Peace been around?
• 06:29 Peter: Bridges for Peace formally started in 1976, but
• 06:32 our founder, who is a Christian academic, he was actually one of
• 06:36 the leading scholars of ancient Semitic languages, Dr. G.
• 06:40 Douglas Young.
• 06:41 Joshua: Smart and a giver.
• 06:42 Peter: Yeah, well, he moved here in '63, and this is kind of
• 06:45 our DNA.
• 06:46 He moved here to establish a college, a seminary,
• 06:50 essentially, because he saw a disconnect and you guys will be
• 06:52 all over this.
• 06:54 He saw a disconnect with Christians with Israel,
• 06:57 prophecy, the Hebraic roots of our faith, the language of
• 07:01 Hebrew, you know, Jesus wasn't a Swedish person.
• 07:04 He wasn't Canadian.
• 07:05 Caleb: Blond hair, blue eyes.
• 07:06 Peter: Right, right, right?
• 07:08 Caleb: Speaking in British accent, you know, it's not true.
• 07:09 Peter: So, our founder, Dr. G. Douglas Young, wanted to bring
• 07:12 Christians back to the foundation.
• 07:14 Let's explore God's Word through that.
• 07:16 And then it didn't take long till he realized, well, not
• 07:19 every Christian is going to be a PhD or a doctoral
• 07:21 seminary student.
• 07:22 So he wanted a practical expression and he had been
• 07:25 making inroads.
• 07:26 He was one of the early pioneers in Jewish Christian relations
• 07:29 and a lot--not a lot of people were doing that in the 1960s,
• 07:33 when you think about it.
• 07:34 And this--so this was very new both to the Jewish world and to
• 07:37 the Christian world, but he was a bridge builder and that's
• 07:40 really where we got our name, Bridges for Peace.
• 07:42 And so through that, came this practical arm of expression.
• 07:46 We never abandoned our--the desires and the importance of
• 07:50 teaching and education, and those will be close to all of
• 07:53 our hearts, but like, you hit the nail on the head, that
• 07:56 practical arm of expression of love.
• 07:58 And they see it.
• 08:00 So when our volunteers come here and wear their shirts or they,
• 08:04 you know, they don't live in some dormitory, they live among
• 08:07 the people of Israel, so they shop with them, they wait at bus
• 08:10 stops with them, they stand in the queue.
• 08:12 We're, like, at grocery stores and have--.
• 08:16 Caleb: But that's clearly what God called us to do is to go out
• 08:19 into all the world, preach the gospel, but you're doing it with
• 08:22 acts of love.
• 08:23 They're gonna know who you are by your fruits and you're
• 08:26 showing your fruits and you're showing your love, and I think
• 08:29 that's what--is what's gonna bring them in.
• 08:31 Peter: Grass roots.
• 08:32 Joshua: Well, and the best part is too because I've heard
• 08:34 there's different ministries for different things, right?
• 08:35 And they say, well, we're there to plant the seed and we're over
• 08:38 here to, you know, if you plant the seed because you just showed
• 08:41 love and they want to know more about Jesus, you've got a
• 08:43 master's in it.
• 08:45 Like, you know the gospel. That's the beauty.
• 08:46 This is a ministry that started in the gospel, so you can then
• 08:49 disciple those people if it's necessary.
• 08:50 Peter: We're just gonna walk that out and that's what we're
• 08:52 all about, you know?
• 08:54 It's not railing against them.
• 08:56 It's drawing them in and it's supporting them.
• 08:59 It's standing with them in these times.
• 09:00 Caleb: Can you show us the rest of this facility here?
• 09:05 Peter: Yeah, so it's pretty large.
• 09:06 It's in an industrial area of Jerusalem and this is a loading
• 09:10 bay, so pallets of food and goods will just go straight out
• 09:14 here and be loaded onto trucks and then it just goes out to our
• 09:17 communities, to our organizations that we sponsor,
• 09:21 and yeah.
• 09:23 Caleb: What I find interesting, you told us earlier that after
• 09:26 October 7th, the need enhanced.
• 09:29 It was bigger.
• 09:30 It was larger and it hasn't lessened since.
• 09:33 So you have a few staples here, but you're constantly bringing
• 09:36 them in, packaging up and sending them out.
• 09:39 You don't keep them here.
• 09:40 It's--this is just a thoroughfare to get the food to
• 09:43 where it needs to be.
• 09:44 Peter: Absolutely, we buy things in bulk, so it's almost like we
• 09:47 bless Israel twice.
• 09:49 We bless Israel by buying it in bulk, which helps the
• 09:51 industries, and then we give it away for free, which helps the
• 09:54 whole social welfare system.
• 09:56 Caleb: And this is what I think the church was called to do.
• 09:58 I know in our modern society people have gotten used to
• 10:01 relying on the government to provide for you.
• 10:04 But like you said, the Israeli government is stretched thin,
• 10:07 and we're now stepping into that role of being the providers that
• 10:10 God wanted us to be originally.
• 10:13 Man was meant to rely on other believers and rely on God to be
• 10:17 provision, not a system of government.
• 10:19 Peter: Yes, that's what we're doing here and our light
• 10:22 is shining.
• 10:24 The support that we give opens up to be able to comfort and
• 10:29 come alongside them, but it just reverberates because so many
• 10:33 Christians, we don't know the difficult history, often.
• 10:36 I mean, I went--I did 6 years in Christian academia.
• 10:39 Most of the students and even the professors I went to school
• 10:41 with, people in--had their PhDs in church history, had no idea
• 10:46 about the history between Jews and Christians, the really rocky
• 10:50 history, the weaponizing of Christian terms from Jesus to
• 10:54 the cross to whatever, to punish and kill and plunder or exile
• 11:01 Jewish people from the communities.
• 11:02 So it's just unknown, but the Jewish people as, right, we go
• 11:05 back to the Torah, right, you teach your children and your
• 11:08 children and your children, so they're a people of history and
• 11:12 memory, and they pass that down, the good and the bad, which the
• 11:15 Bible and its unvarnished truth shows the good and the bad, and
• 11:20 so there are people who preserve that and so it means something
• 11:24 when a Christian comes to a Jewish person.
• 11:25 It can be--it can be intimidating, it can be scary,
• 11:29 because of history and what does this mean.
• 11:31 But I think it speaks volumes with just this grass roots
• 11:36 approach of love and giving and support.
• 11:40 That's, you know, that's what I'm committed to.
• 11:42 That's what we're committed to, and yeah.
• 11:49 Caleb: I'm here with Daniel Kirchhevel.
• 11:50 You are the director of the Israeli Operations unit in
• 11:54 Bridges for Peace, and it's such a pleasure to meet you and we
• 11:57 wanna learn everything that you're doing to help those
• 11:59 in need.
• 12:01 Daniel Kirchhevel: Well, thank you, guys, for being here.
• 12:03 But I'll tell you, I wasn't always the Israel
• 12:05 Operations director.
• 12:08 2003 I walked through these doors just to check out Bridges
• 12:11 for Peace, and I talked to a volunteer.
• 12:13 I said, "Guys, what are you doing?"
• 12:15 And as they were explaining, you know, "We're feeding the hungry
• 12:18 people in this country, we're helping new immigrants," that
• 12:21 really resonated with me.
• 12:23 And I said, "Sign me up. I'll come for 3 months."
• 12:26 And that was in 2003 and I started right here at this
• 12:30 table, packing the food that you see, and it's been a real
• 12:34 amazing time here.
• 12:36 Caleb: What is your job?
• 12:37 What is your duty in helping this well-oiled machine
• 12:40 continue on?
• 12:41 Daniel: As director, I oversee our manager team, so we have a
• 12:45 home repair department, and if I can, I'll just show you around
• 12:47 the place and tell you a few stories.
• 12:51 So over here is our home repair workshop.
• 13:00 Caleb: This looks like a handyman's dream here.
• 13:02 Daniel: Yes, sir.
• 13:04 So as you can see, it's very well supplied with the tools,
• 13:07 but tools are nothing without the guys with the skills.
• 13:09 So we have volunteers come here from all over the world.
• 13:12 We're a volunteer organization and this volunteer team, called
• 13:16 the home repair team, they fix our staff housing, but they also
• 13:20 get calls from social workers to go out.
• 13:23 We've installed literally miles of handrails around the city
• 13:27 because when this country was built, nobody thought, "Oh, I'll
• 13:31 grow old in this building and I will need a handrail."
• 13:35 And so, social workers would call us and say, "Hey, can you
• 13:38 install a grab rail in somebody's bathroom?"
• 13:40 or "Can you install a handrail up a flight of stairs to
• 13:44 their apartment?"
• 13:45 And our team would go and we would install these hand rails
• 13:48 and literally around Jerusalem miles of it.
• 13:50 I could show you this building, this building, this building,
• 13:53 and you know just one particular story I'll tell you is that
• 13:58 there was a social worker and this couple, elderly couple, and
• 14:04 the wife couldn't convince the husband to let the team go in.
• 14:08 But he finally agreed, reluctantly, and so we and our
• 14:13 team were all in there covering the place with plastic, you
• 14:16 know, our American standard paint job.
• 14:19 They were worried that we would just come and throw in a coat of
• 14:21 paint, leave paint splattered everywhere, and leave.
• 14:25 And the husband still wasn't sure about us, so he's hiding in
• 14:27 the bedroom, like, kind of peeking, like, through the door
• 14:30 while his wife was in the kitchen, like, making us lunch,
• 14:33 and this is the thing is people are so grateful for what we're
• 14:36 doing, like, they're trying to feed us when they don't even
• 14:39 have much themselves.
• 14:40 So it was really humbling for us as a team to be in their home
• 14:44 and working and doing our best, but they're wanting to show
• 14:46 gratitude and appreciation.
• 14:48 Well, the next day he was out as we were cutting in the edges of
• 14:52 the trim, you know, and he was inspecting our work, and the
• 14:57 third day I heard him and I'm the team's, like, liaison
• 15:00 between the social worker and the team, and I said, "Guys,
• 15:05 listen to Moshe."
• 15:07 He was on the phone to his cousin.
• 15:08 He was inviting him over and saying, "Hey, come over and look
• 15:11 at the work I've done."
• 15:13 So his attitude totally, like, switched from, like, "Yeah, I
• 15:16 don't want them coming," and the other thing is they don't
• 15:19 believe we'll do it for free.
• 15:20 Like, they kept asking us, like, how much is it gonna cost and
• 15:23 worried, like, that we'll hit them with a bill.
• 15:25 And like, no, it's really for free.
• 15:27 And this is our heart.
• 15:29 This is what we want to do when we're here, is to bless people,
• 15:32 no strings attached.
• 15:33 We want to show them, like, God loves you guys.
• 15:35 He has a plan for you.
• 15:36 He has a plan for this nation and we believe as Christians, we
• 15:39 believe the Bible that we are supposed to be a part of that.
• 15:42 And so this is just like one example of the things that we do
• 15:46 to be a part of restoring the ruined places, restoring the
• 15:50 broken down homes and giving them their dignity back because
• 15:52 before they wouldn't invite people over, right, because
• 15:54 they're embarrassed of the situation.
• 15:56 And we gave them their home back and their--and their
• 15:59 dignity back.
• 16:00 So that's home repair.
• 16:02 That's one of the things we do.
• 16:03 Caleb: It's such a practical way of sharing God's love.
• 16:06 I mean, these are things that as a homeowner myself, I know how
• 16:09 difficult it is to upkeep and once you get older
• 16:12 and need to--not have the financial means to do so,
• 16:14 who do you call for help?
• 16:16 And to have someone who does care to show up and do all
• 16:18 this stuff.
• 16:20 I can't do any of this stuff.
• 16:21 I'm terrible at home repair stuff.
• 16:22 Daniel: Oh, we won't recruit you then.
• 16:24 Caleb: You don't need me to volunteer here but it's
• 16:28 so moving.
• 16:30 I know y'all work with Holocaust survivors and all that.
• 16:32 Do you do all this kind of practical stuff to help people?
• 16:35 Daniel: It's great that you mentioned that because they do
• 16:37 request this from us as well, you know, there's an elderly
• 16:39 lady and she's got, like, or maybe she wants to hang a
• 16:42 picture on her wall and she can't get it done.
• 16:44 She'll call one of the team or any little thing like that that
• 16:48 we can do to bless them, we'll do.
• 16:49 Joshua: So as small as hanging a picture,
• 16:51 y'all are willing to go out?
• 16:52 Daniel: Yeah, there's nothing small, like no request is small.
• 16:54 Maybe there's a big request and then we have to actually hire
• 16:57 outside help to, like, do things that we can't do.
• 16:59 If we don't have an electrician, we'll get an electrician to come
• 17:02 work with us, just to get the job done, yes.
• 17:06 Joshua: Was there anything else that you wanted to show us?
• 17:08 Daniel: Our adoption program?
• 17:09 Joshua: Yeah, I would love to hear about that.
• 17:11 ♪♪♪
• 17:19 Daniel: I'll turn the light on.
• 17:25 So this door that you just walked through and then this
• 17:28 waiting area is part of our adoption program, so our
• 17:31 adoption team sits in here and delivers the food to them when
• 17:34 they come in and these people are new immigrants who they just
• 17:38 finished their one year of government assistance and for a
• 17:42 lot of them it's not enough because they still have to learn
• 17:46 Hebrew, they're still looking for a job, or they're trying to
• 17:49 get recertified in Israel because if you have a degree and
• 17:52 you have certification, it's not always recognized here in
• 17:55 Israel, so they have to be recertified and so they need
• 17:58 more time and so this program allows them a year of support to
• 18:03 help them get through that process and again they're
• 18:06 overwhelmed and just blown away that it's Christians that are
• 18:09 sponsoring them each month.
• 18:11 They can write a thank you letter to their sponsor and the
• 18:14 sponsor can write a letter to them and encourage them, let
• 18:16 them know that they're praying for them, send them a gift on
• 18:18 their birthday.
• 18:19 And we just had one of the recipients receive a guitar.
• 18:25 She didn't have a guitar.
• 18:27 She wasn't able to bring it from South America and our team got
• 18:31 together and blessed her with a guitar, so just again we aren't
• 18:35 just like, "Here, here's your stuff.
• 18:37 You need help," but we actually are intentional about how we do
• 18:42 it and just showing again the love of the Lord to the people
• 18:45 that we're blessing.
• 18:47 Caleb: It's very difficult to integrate into a completely
• 18:50 different society.
• 18:51 They're coming from outside countries.
• 18:52 They don't know the language.
• 18:54 Daniel: Or the culture.
• 18:55 Caleb: Or the culture.
• 18:56 How do you learn a language in one year?
• 18:58 I mean that's tough and then you're supposed to immediately
• 18:59 jump into a job.
• 19:01 Obviously, one year of government assistance isn't
• 19:02 enough, so y'all fill in the gap the way it's needed.
• 19:06 That's amazing.
• 19:08 How do people react afterwards?
• 19:09 Like, do you hear about the success stories once they get on
• 19:12 their feet, once they don't need any assistance?
• 19:15 Daniel: Absolutely.
• 19:16 In fact, sometimes they don't need assistance before the
• 19:18 program is over, and they actually are honest and they
• 19:20 come and tell us, "Hey, we're actually doing really well.
• 19:23 We're gonna get off the program so you can accept somebody,"
• 19:26 because there's a waiting list.
• 19:27 And they know that and they appreciate that we've
• 19:30 helped them.
• 19:31 We get the letters.
• 19:32 We're still in touch with people and they're like, "Hey, we
• 19:35 started a new startup business."
• 19:37 And we still hear from them and, you know, we're such a small
• 19:40 country here that, like, we see them on the street and it's,
• 19:43 "Hey," and give a hug and "How are things going?
• 19:45 How's your family?"
• 19:46 Or we get invited to their weddings so it doesn't just end.
• 19:50 It's a relationship's been built in.
• 19:52 We really appreciate the help.
• 19:54 Caleb: You grow together as a family.
• 19:55 That's amazing.
• 19:56 And you do all this in love without any demand of
• 19:59 anything returned.
• 20:01 You don't have to sit here and listen to a sermon.
• 20:03 You don't have to hear us preach the gospel.
• 20:04 This is preaching the gospel by showing love to them.
• 20:08 Daniel: Yeah, and some people probably expect that, you know,
• 20:10 when they first come because that's just, you know, something
• 20:15 maybe in the back of their minds, but we're here with
• 20:18 unconditional love, truly unconditional love of God.
• 20:21 We don't deny the fact that we are Christians.
• 20:24 Big sign outside when they walk in the door.
• 20:27 We want people to know there's Christians around the world that
• 20:29 are supporting the people here.
• 20:34 Caleb: Jill Celesta, you are a volunteer at Bridges for Peace,
• 20:38 but you're not originally from here.
• 20:39 You're from America, like us.
• 20:41 Jill Celesta: Correct.
• 20:43 Caleb: Why'd you come here? What are you doing here?
• 20:45 Jill: Well, I first came on a Bridges for Peace tour in 1995.
• 20:49 And they brought us here to the warehouse and I stood over in
• 20:53 that corner over there and they said, "This place is all staffed
• 20:56 by volunteers," and I'm like, "I could so do that.
• 21:01 It would be amazing."
• 21:02 So fast forward to 2015, and some things happened in my life
• 21:07 that, you know, were not good, but God said, "You know what, I
• 21:11 still have a purpose and a plan for your life, and it's to go
• 21:13 to Israel."
• 21:14 So I volunteered for one month in 2016, which I thought was all
• 21:19 that I was going to do because I'm a school teacher, so I could
• 21:22 teach and come here in the summer and I fell in love with
• 21:26 being here so I reapplied in 2017 and 2018 and 2019.
• 21:32 And then COVID hit.
• 21:34 So those four summers, well then, I organized a tour.
• 21:38 I brought 12 people here.
• 21:40 And then stayed the rest of the summer, so I also volunteered in
• 21:43 '22 and my tour was in '23.
• 21:46 And then the position of full-time floor supervisor
• 21:51 came open.
• 21:53 And I'm like, "That's my job. That's my job."
• 21:55 Caleb: You're, like, you're already here so often, why not
• 21:56 just live here?
• 21:57 Joshua: I was about to say you're a ministry's dream.
• 21:59 You didn't just volunteer, you started bringing tours to
• 22:01 people to see the ministry that you're volunteering for.
• 22:03 Jill: Absolutely.
• 22:05 Well, that's the Bridges for Peace kind of motto is building
• 22:08 those bridges, and how best to build those bridges than to
• 22:11 bring people to Israel.
• 22:13 So I brought and I'm gonna say in faith, my first group,
• 22:17 because I'd love to organize more tours and get more people
• 22:20 here because they're always amazed and it--what it--you
• 22:24 can't read the Bible the same because once you've walked the
• 22:27 land, once you've stood on the shores of Galilee and read about
• 22:31 what Jesus did in that area, you have visual and it just ups
• 22:38 your faith.
• 22:40 There's no question about it.
• 22:41 We also have the Zealous project, which is something that
• 22:43 you guys can promote for us.
• 22:44 It's every year they choose 10 young people, 5 guys, 5 girls,
• 22:52 and it's an 11-month mentoring program and it is fantastic
• 22:56 because they work in jobs here, but then they go to, you know,
• 23:00 Bible studies and they go on these amazing adventures which I
• 23:03 get jealous that I'm too old to go but they do all these--it's
• 23:08 an amazing program and to--I've always had, because I've come in
• 23:11 the summers, I've come early enough to see them leave and
• 23:16 when they came and that year of development and to see the
• 23:21 change in the lives of these young people is amazing and then
• 23:25 so many of them, half the crew that you saw today, were Zealous
• 23:29 team members, you know, 2, 3, 4 years ago and they're staying
• 23:33 full time now.
• 23:34 And, so, it's an amazing program and they can go online to the
• 23:40 bridgesforpeace.com website and it's under "Get Involved" and
• 23:45 those are all the--list all the things there.
• 23:47 So if you're a young person between I think it's been 18 and
• 23:50 30 they consider them young, so I don't qualify.
• 23:53 Joshua: I don't qualify either, unfortunately, in that category,
• 23:56 but those two words say everything, "Get involved."
• 23:58 That's what's most important and, again, I just want to
• 24:01 reiterate, you're not alone when you do what God's asked you to
• 24:03 do because he's calling you to a family.
• 24:05 He will support you.
• 24:07 This is a side note, not about Bridges of Peace, but we have
• 24:10 been walking around as these tall hairy guys in a country
• 24:12 where people are looking up at us going, "What are they and why
• 24:14 are they here?"
• 24:16 And you recognized us.
• 24:17 Jill: They are very tall. They are very tall.
• 24:19 Joshua: So even we have family because you recognized us,
• 24:20 you've seen the show before, yes?
• 24:22 Jill: Yes, yes, yes.
• 24:23 Joshua: So that's super cool that we--.
• 24:25 Jill: I love your sense of humor.
• 24:26 Joshua: Yes, everybody keeps telling me, "Don't be funny,"
• 24:28 and she says, "Be funny looking, it's okay."
• 24:30 Jill: Not funny looking.
• 24:32 Caleb: Well, Jill, this is amazing.
• 24:34 This is the mission field and the fields are ripe for the
• 24:36 harvest and you are harvesting not in a way that people would
• 24:40 normally think, "Oh, you go this lost driving."
• 24:42 You carry your Bible with access service with the love of Yeshua.
• 24:46 You are changing lives.
• 24:47 Jill: We are his hands and feet and then on our off hours, you
• 24:51 know, I go down to the kotel and I look for people taking
• 24:55 selfies and I'll go up and say, "Oh, I hate selfies.
• 24:57 I'll take your picture," and then I get in a conversation
• 25:00 with them.
• 25:02 I find out whether they're Christians or Jews and if
• 25:04 they're Jews, I do the Bridges for Peace spiel, you know, we're
• 25:07 Christians that love and support Israel.
• 25:09 We know this is your land and you're not alone, and the
• 25:13 response you always get is amazing.
• 25:15 "I've never heard that before.
• 25:16 There are Christians out there that support us, that--."
• 25:19 Caleb: That really exist?
• 25:20 Jill: Yeah, so it's an important message to get out
• 25:23 there and that's what Bridges does,
• 25:25 but we don't just talk it, we walk it.
• 25:29 Joshua: Perfect, well, thank you so much again, Jill, for taking
• 25:31 the time to talk with us.
• 25:32 Jill: Thank you.
• 25:37 Joshua: Bridges for Peace is an incredible ministry.
• 25:40 Over 50 years of reaching out to Israel on behalf of Yeshua.
• 25:45 They do so many practical amazing things, I was
• 25:47 blown away.
• 25:48 Caleb: Yes, and they're also, most importantly, helping in the
• 25:51 rebuilding process from Israel's destruction that was wrought by
• 25:55 October 7th, and they're making great inroads in bringing back
• 26:00 this relationship that God intended for Jews and Gentiles
• 26:04 to be one together.
• 26:05 Christians have persecuted the Jewish people over centuries of
• 26:10 terrible acts in the name of Yeshua, and they are now making
• 26:13 great inroads in re-establishing relationships that needed to
• 26:17 be there.
• 26:18 Joshua: You know, in Matthew 25:34 through 36, it says: "Then
• 26:21 the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are
• 26:24 blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom
• 26:27 prepared for you since the creation of the world.
• 26:30 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty
• 26:32 and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you
• 26:35 invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick
• 26:38 and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to
• 26:41 visit me.'"
• 26:42 Caleb: That's Yeshua explaining how important it is to meet the
• 26:45 practical needs of the day and how it matters to him, even in
• 26:49 terms of judgment, how we treat others in his name, especially
• 26:53 his chosen people, Israel.
• 26:55 Joshua: So right now, there's a QR code on your screen.
• 26:57 There's a link below that you can access.
• 26:59 Click on this link.
• 27:00 Follow this QR code.
• 27:02 It's going to show you a list of the ministries that we have
• 27:04 highlighted in this series, "Rebuilding the Ruined Cities."
• 27:07 It's gonna enable you to go to these places, see the great
• 27:10 things that they're doing for Israel and for the body of Jesus
• 27:13 Christ in general.
• 27:15 Be a part.
• 27:16 Ask the Holy Spirit what you were to do today to make a
• 27:18 difference in the life of someone else.
• 27:20 Caleb: And as you go, don't forget to Sha'alu
• 27:22 shalom Yerushalayim.
• 27:24 Joshua: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
• 27:28 male announcer: Our offer on this program,
• 27:29 "Jerusalem Forever."
• 27:31 No other city in the world can claim God's personal favor
• 27:35 like Jerusalem.
• 27:36 Over 3000 years old, Jerusalem is more than the capital of the
• 27:40 chosen people.
• 27:41 It is literally the eternal city, and many believers will
• 27:45 eventually make Jerusalem their home.
• 27:48 Written by Zola Levitt, this book will inspire you to praise
• 27:51 God's faithfulness and motivate you to pray for the peace of
• 27:55 Jerusalem like never before.
• 27:57 Ask for "Jerusalem Forever."
• 28:00 Joshua: Life has been lost, history has been made.
• 28:04 Today we're blessed to be able to visit and tell these stories
• 28:07 in how antisemitism boils down to the hate of Satan himself
• 28:13 against God the creator of the universe because God chose
• 28:17 Israel to be his people.
• 28:19 And this angry, bitter creature Satan is, has spent his life
• 28:28 trying to harm God's kids.