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ICEJ Reports / Israel in Crisis

ICEJ Helping Rebuild Destroyed Communities in Southern Israel

By: David R. Parsons, ICEJ Senior Vice President & Spokesman

A special delegation of over 50 global Christian leaders with the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) recently toured the Gaza border communities and held a groundbreaking ceremony with representatives from Kibbutz Be’eri to completely rebuild their youth activity center destroyed during the October 7 massacre. 

Helping Rebuild Southern Israel 

The attack on Kibbutz Be’eri left 132 residents killed or kidnapped, including 51 elderly; over 120 homes and key community facilities were destroyed. The original youth center was used by terrorists as a command post and had to be leveled. 

In response, ICEJ has committed to rebuilding the center from the ground up. Once completed, it will serve local children with meals, homework support, enrichment programs, and holiday camps—offering much-needed care and stability as families return and rebuild their lives. 

Several other projects in addition to this one at Kibbutz Be’eri will help these communities recover and draw back evacuated families to their homes.

The list of current ICEJ projects includes:  

  • Remaking a retirement home into an elderly care and activity center in Kibbutz Be’eri 
  • Renovating a damaged kindergarten to serve as a children’s trauma center in Kfar Aza 
  • Turning an abandoned building into an innovative music therapy center in Kfar Aza 
  • Restoring and expanding an animal therapy petting zoo in Kibbutz Urim 
  • Building a new greenhouse classroom at an agricultural tech school in Sde Nitzan 
  • Building three large bomb shelters for a new trauma center on Sapir College campus 

The total costs of these building projects will come to well over $5 million USD. These funds are being collected from Christians worldwide who want to help these farming villages reclaim their homes and lives. 

Many evacuated families experienced traumatic events in their own homes, and those chilling memories will not be easy to overcome. One key to the rebuilding process will be to offer a wide range of community activities and services that will make living back in their villages more attractive. The Israeli government has established a special fund to help rebuild the homes of those affected, but each community must now find the resources needed to help restore their public community buildings. 

rebuild southern israel

Building Trust with Israeli Communities 

Over the past 15 years, the Christian Embassy already assisted many of these villages in the Western Negev with more than 160 mobile bomb shelters, dozens of fire-fighting vehicles, and other emergency aid. This has built up a relationship of trust between these Israeli communities and the ICEJ. 

“This is the most ambitious series of building projects the Christian Embassy has ever undertaken at any one time, and it presents a truly unique opportunity for our Christian supporters around the globe to have a timely, tangible impact here,” said ICEJ President Dr. Juergen Buehler. 

“We have already invested much in these border communities over recent decades, in terms of portable bomb shelters and fire-fighting equipment. But now they need us more than ever, and we are determined to stand with them in rebuilding their communal life together. We especially are seeking to provide trauma care facilities and to meet the special needs of the most vulnerable—the children and elderly,” he added. 

Be part of this incredible effort. Donate today to the Kibbutz Be’eri project at: www.icejusa.org/israel-in-crisis/

ICEJ Helping to Rebuild Southern Israel Communities 
ICEJ Helps Expand Therapy Ranch for Traumatized Israeli Children 
 

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