Winter Welfare / Witness To Jews, February 2008
The Carelinks Winter welfare support continues, with major gratitude from many brothers and sisters, especially the elderly who have no families to support them in their old age. The weak family system in Eastern Europe is the harvest of three generations of atheistic Communism, although the breakdown of the family in the West is going to produce the same tragedies and social and economic isolation if the Lord doesn't return soon.
A kind brother and sister in Detroit kindly gave a large number of hot water bottles, and it has been a joy to distribute these all over the region.
Photos: Here are a few photos of recent recipients- this act of kindness serves as an abiding reminder to the recipients of God's gracious care, as manifested through His people.
We've also received a 33 kg. of clothes from Canada, and these are in process of distribution. Your amazing generosity is making an impact in many lives. We made a trip out to visit sister Austra recently and to provide some assistance to her this lonely Winter. She keeps talking about dying, but like Jacob, who thought he was going 17 years before he did, she may well live still to see the Lord's return. She is quite well really for 85, just sight and hearing pretty well gone. Also in the patriarchal spirit , she asked us to out her hand on her chest [where she thinks her heart is! We didn't correct her] and promise to bury her in hope of the resurrection and the Kingdom. This we did.
She knows every centimetre of her humble home and to move her elsewhere likely isn't a good idea, but then to see her walking over the ice is really quite scary; she really needs a caregiver, and she has nobody to give this now her son is dead. She surrounds her sofa where she sleeps with her Bibles and Bible books even though she can't read them. There is a small school opposite her, and they've agreed that she can go over there and have meals, or one of the children will bring food to her. Thanks to generous donors we've fixed this up financially, so she at least gets meals. She still gets water from her well and keeps herself quite clean, doing it on autopilot as it were after all these years. Likewise she still has her bees, who are now in hibernation, and she proudly gave us a jar of honey she scraped from their hives in the Summer.
She is worried she took too much honey from them [remember she is well nigh blimd] and they may have died from the cold this Winter, she says she is ready to die if come April she finds them dead. We encouraged her to think positively and gave her various things she can pray about within the brotherhood in Eastern Europe as well as in distant lands.
She is quite mentally "with it". We've also got her a mobile phone and she seems to have grasped how to answer it, if not how to call from it. We have given her clothes, and also hotwater bottles and firewood, the sawdust-roll type that she can easily break apart and put on the burner. We urged her to use the electric heaters but she will have none of that... so it's by grace she doesn't burn the place down. So do spare a prayer for her out there all on her own. She surely has the hope of the Kingdom and was asking how many came to the recent Bible School, and how various ones are going. Despite the sadness of her old age and isolation we can quietly rejoice that the hope of Israel has found such a lodgment in her. Her loneliness is pathetic, and she was very clinging to us, not wanting us to leave her, and yet also not wanting to be moved to any new place to live.
Witness To Jews
Carelinks have always made witnessing to Jewish people a priority, and we regularly mail literature to Jewish folk in Israel and world-wide. We're absolutely delighted to announce the baptism of LENA, a Jewess who is the wife of our brother Misha. They live in Liepaja, Latvia, and their apartment has souvenirs and presents from her relatives in Israel. Lena had a strong objection to the trinity, but through years of discussion with Misha [whom we baptized some years ago] and study of our literature she came to accept the real Bible teaching about the Lord Jesus as Israel's Messiah and our Saviour.
Photo: Bro Misha and his wife Lena discussing Scripture together 
Every baptism is joyous but Lena's was somehow especially so, after she recounted for a whole evening her struggle through the ideas of Judaism and apostate Christendom in order to come to the Truth.
Photo: Lena right after baptism 
The port city of Liepaja [German Libau] was a thriving Jewish community before the holocaust. Most of the 7000 Jews living there were slain in the sand dunes over just a few days in 1941. This was one of the few operations of the holocaust where the actual murders were captured on cine film, and parts of it can be viewed online at http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/media_fi.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005130&MediaId=183
The material is naturally disturbing. But if you take time to read the text at that link, you will see that only 50 of the 7000 Jews living in Liepaja survived- the rest were dragged from their homes and executed within a few days, their bodies left in the sand dunes. Our point of marvel is that from that slim remnant, God had His eye upon one family whom He would later lead to His Son in Truth. A significant number of Jews have now returned to Liepaja to reclaim their ancestors' property, and the community is now growing. Misha and Lena are planning to start a house group in their apartment, and our prayers will be with them that they may be able to establish a Jewish ecclesia in Liepaja. Misha and Lena are already breaking bread together, and even have unleavened bread sent over from Israel so they can do this. Misha is of course delighted and visibly overjoyed that Lena has finally taken this decision for Christ, and we share his joy!
On another note, we're pleased to welcome Brother Tim Dickinson from the Chesterfield UK ecclesia, who is kindly working on the home refurbishment for 2 weeks. We really have to appeal again for any others willing to come and do something on this great project.
With love from your brothers and sisters of Carelinks