Sudanese Refugees find hope in Israel
 As we sat and smiled at the beautiful young Sudanese woman, our limited Arabic language skills kept us in silence most of the afternoon. An infant and a toddler, in bright colored jumpers, slept next to their mother on a simple but well made bed. Seeing this woman and her children at peace in the safety of an old hotel room that was now their home, it was difficult to imagine stories that we had heard about her and some of the other Sudanese refugees, stories of their difficult journey from Cairo, Egypt to Israel.
Our minds wondered as to how many of these refugees have died or have been permanently maimed from not being able to afford to get proper medial treatment; how many could we effect for the Kingdom's sake by extending the very hand of help they need? HE commissioned us to reach out and help out of the blessing HE has poured out upon us.
This fragile young mother and her husband, like many others, weighed out the risks before leaving Cairo, but they knew the consequences for their children and themselves if they stayed. Having previously fled the Darfur region of Sudan after their village was attacked by the Sudanese government-back militants, these refugees will always have the memories of their friends and loved ones being gunned down in cold blood.
This courageous family made their way to Egypt in hopes of finding refuge and work. However, while in Egypt, they  encountered a new form of prejudice and abuse as their new employers treated them as if they were slave labor. The young women suffered years of abuse and rape in Sudan, now they found themselves in the same situation in their host country.
Determined to risk everything in exchange for a chance for their two children to grow up in a different environment, this couple and thousands of others saved every Egyptian pound they could and finally had the funds (equal to about $300 each) to bribe the local Bedouins to smuggle them through the Sinai Desert and then as close to the Israeli border as possible. Their hope was to avoid being spotted by Egyptian soldiers that are known to shoot warning shots directly at the fleeing refugees as they race to the border fence.
Once over the fence, the refugees awaited Israeli soldiers, who would pick them up and deliver them into one of the Israeli desert cities such as Eilat, where they were guided by other refugees to a ministry center ran by local Jewish Believers. Their immediate needs were taken care of and the husband was assisted in finding work at a hotel. They are attending a local congregation and learning about the great love of Y'shua. For this family, their future is still unknown, but after years of sorrow and tragedy, they now sojourn in peace in the Land of Israel.
 Without the funds to meet the needs of these and other tragic situations, there would be stories not of hope and then victory, but of hopelessness and defeat.
James 1:27: Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
Thank you for stepping forward.
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