Ministry Report August 2020 – Love in Deed
My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. (1 John 3:18)
Dear Friends of Zion,
When I met and later fell in love with my wife, Marianna as a young miss… serving in Moscow in 1990, it was clear from the beginning that we would have many social and cross-cultural differences that would need extra attention in our relationship; I, being the So. Cal. free spirited American guy who could easily express myself at will, and she being the conservative Russian Jewish Princess who lived all of her life in intimidation behind the Iron Curtain of the Soviet Union, especially being a Jew.
One of the first challenges “I” faced was when expressing my love for her in the words, “I love you!”, and then that awkward silence of waiting for some response other than a smile. This bothered me because I was waiting for the typical response… “I love you too, honey!”, but she didn’t say it! I finally confronted her and asked why?
She then looked and me with her dark brown eyes and said, “You know, I would rather show you my love than just tell you”… Man, that hit me like a ton of bricks! I knew that she loved me, in fact I had never met a deeper, more truthful soul in my life and when she answered me with those words, I knew she was right and I then realized I was so shallow looking only for “the words”.
I mention this story to highlight a very special couple who are loving caretakers for a physically challenged young teenage girl we have been praying for over the last several years named Miss Anna… This IS love in action!
Update from Miss Anna and little Itamar
Miss Anna (R) with her loving caretakers Joy and Roger
Miss Anna turned 14 on June 26th. She spends a lot of time straightening her beautiful curly hair with an iron and had her mother dye it (the attempt was blonde, but it’s actually more orange than anything else). It seems part of becoming a teenager means trying things on your hair! She loves bracelets and remains our little sunshine. She struggles to read simple words and cannot do math in any form—even simple 2 + 2 eludes her. She looks about 16 and has cognitive abilities in the area of 6 or 7 years old. She is very wise and appears much older than her cognitive abilities. She attends women’s Bible study with her mother and completes the work and participates with her mother. She has a very close knit family, but no friends other than her socialization at church.
Miss Anna growing up!
She is wheelchair bound and likely to stay that way. The titanium implant in her leg was a success but her ankle and foot contracted which prevents her from walking. Because her surgical wounds took two years to heal, the surgeon is unwilling to do the needed surgery to release the contracture of her foot. She may eventually need to have the surgery as the contractures sometimes break bones. Another possibility would be the amputation that was avoided initially.
Rog and I are both well. Our lives are crazy as the whole country seems to be evenly divided between people who are terrified of Covid and people, like us, who are unconcerned. We are not enjoying watching our country implode from within—but have our eyes on Jesus. We know that everything that is happening is part of His plan. We pray for him to return soon and get us out of this crazy world!
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Itamar is doing much better and has now had his initial bandages removed after surgery. It is still too early to tell if the grafting was successful but the signs of healing are now looking favorable, PTL!
Would you please continue to pray for these dear children – Anna and Itamar?
A lot is happening at our FZS warehouse!
New Container of Clothing Arrives at FZS
Another 40 ft. shipping container of aid arrives at FZS from Holland
This week we received another 40ft. container of humanitarian aid from Nachamu Ami (Comfort my people) Ministry in Holland! We are so thankful that even during these difficult times for everyone dealing with Corona lockdown, the Lord continues to fill our shelves with good quality clothing and other items for the needy Olim… Praise The Lord!
As you can see from the photos below, the unloading, stacking, unpacking, sorting and distributing such a shipment requires a lot of work. We are also so thankful for all of the volunteers who come to help us with all of the warehouse logistics, often on a moment’s notice because the release of the containers from the port after final inspection is usually quite unpredictable.
Thank you to all those who help unload tons of clothing!
And these are the ladies that unpack, sort and help distribute the clothing…
THANK YOU to everyone who makes these Aid Containers possible!
We are also continuing our Adidas shoe distribution and what a blessing it is to see how happy the new immigrants are when receiving them! It is not often that we have brand new items to give and with such good quality, so we are thankful to have this shipment from Adidas, as what we give is a reflection of our desire to bring honor to Yeshua!
“Upper Room” Guest House Update
We are pleased to announce that the FZS remodeling project that began way back in January 2020 is over 90% finished. Under normal circumstances, the project would have been completed long ago, however, because of the Corona quarantine and lockdown, the working schedule and supplies that were needed to finish the project were greatly delayed. We still need to finish the kitchen and a few odds and ends, however we hope to be completed by next month or so…
Wheat Seed Storage Update
Wheat seed ready for packing and storage
The Lord has graciously provided both a good vacuum packing machine and a large donation of Israeli wheat seed for times of crisis and emergency. We are now in the process of packing and storing correctly so that bugs and rodents will be kept far away!
Thank you once again for standing with us in prayer and support during these very difficult and trying times for all of us. May the Lord be your comfort and strength you now and in all of the battles that lie ahead in Yeshua’s name!
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.
Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday…” (Psalm 91)
Shalom in Yeshua,
Bradley Antolovich, International Director
יברכך יהוה וישמרך
