A mutual friend introduced us to Mr. Arthur Schaefer in 2005. Mr. Schaefer is retired, but for many years he owned a car dealership, and he firmly believed in business that his word was as good as a contract. His father and mother immigrated to the United States from Poland, and his father was a cobbler, making shoes for handicapped children with club feet. When we met him, Mr. Schaefer had funds which he wanted to be used for charitable purposes, and when we told him about several of our projects which needed funding, he graciously agreed to help us. He was very interested in our China projects, but he also requested that we try to help children in Israel. Shortly thereafter, we learned of several trusted servants in Israel who are working by faith there to ease the suffering of handicapped children, of mothers who are thinking of aborting their babies because of financial strain, and of hungry children and families who are unemployed or sick and elderly. In May, 2006, John and Sarah Rummage went with our friend Phillip Morrison (who has been to Israel many times) to explore possibilities to help. During our trip, the foundation was able to fund a therapy whirlpool bath for the handicapped children at St. Vincent's Home in Jerusalen, to provide for the first year's needs for five babies through the Efrat agency, and to provide help for the Netivyeh food program. Other projects which touched our hearts, and are still under consideration, are an Ethiopian immigrant resettlement program, and a hospital in the Bethlehem area. We also got to meet David and his daughter, whom we have gotten to know through letters of encouragement (us to him, and him to us!) the last several months. David's wife was severely injured in a bomb attack a few years ago, and he is, for all practical purposes, a single parent. Because he quit his higher paying job to take a lesser paying job to have more time with his daughter, we have sent small checks to him monthly for him to use for extras for his daughter, such as summer camp, and running shoes, a new computer, etc. But the main blessing , we believe, has been our friendships . | |
