Behind Every Name

Mijal has now completed her degree and is building her life here, in the Land of her promise. Your hands helped carry her.

As an infant, Aleksandr’s family fled Russia in 1941, narrowly escaping the Holocaust. Decades later, war with Russia tore apart the life he and his wife, Nina, had built in Ukraine. In February 2023, in their eighties, they made aliyah to be near their daughter. Aleksandr arrived sick with cancer and began chemotherapy almost immediately.

Today, their grandson is serving in the IDF and engaged to be married. They are starting over, in the Land of their promise, at eighty years old. We’ve walked alongside them through all of it.

Artemii and Anna arrived a year and a half ago. Their government absorption basket covered rent, but nothing was left for food or transportation. When they joined the program, they were delighted to find they could stretch the monthly food parcel to cover 90% of their basic food needs. This meant they could focus on Hebrew study and finding work rather than survival.

By August 2025, they graduated their final language program. Artemii secured a contract position. Anna became one of the top dental assistants in her department—and they are sending her for further training. She plans to retrain as a nurse. Because there was breathing room, their future is bright.

Mikhail and Ekaterina wrote to us recently with words I want to pass on to you directly: “Thanks to your help, we were able to cover the cost of travel passes and receive fresh groceries, which has been not only an important financial support, but also a real moral encouragement during our adaptation. The staff welcomed us with smiles, attention and genuine kindness. Every word and action gave us a sense of care and support, which has been particularly valuable to our family.”

Travel passes and groceries. Simple things. And yet it meant moral encouragement and a sense of care. These are not afterthoughts; they are the point.

The Real Cost of Coming Home

Making aliyah is an act of faith and obedience. It is also, in very practical terms, a step that can break a person financially before they find their footing. Israel is now the fourth most expensive country in the developed world. An Aaron Institute study found that an average bag of food costs 21% more than in wealthy European nations like Austria and Sweden. New immigrants arrive without savings, without Hebrew, without the network that makes daily life navigable.

Many do not come because the timing is convenient. They come because antisemitism has made Jewish life in France, in the former Soviet states, across much of Europe genuinely dangerous. They are fleeing something. And what they encounter in those first days and weeks shapes what they believe about their new home—and about the people who live in it.

Will You Accept God’s Invitation?

The Adoption Program does something most aid programs cannot: it stays. You don’t adopt someone for a month. You walk with them through the whole of their absorption: the language classes, the job search, the loneliness, the moments when they wonder whether they made the right choice and need someone to remind them that they did.

When our team hands over a food parcel with warmth and genuine care, when we remember a name and make sure someone is not forgotten, we are not merely meeting a practical need. We are saying: “You are seen. You are not alone. Someone on the other side of the world knows your name and is glad you came home.”

God showed Isaiah this day. He announced it through Jeremiah (16:14–15). He declared it through Ezekiel (36:24). We are the generation watching those promises come true. And He is asking us, the nations, to play our part, to lift up His banner, bring them home in our arms and carry them on our shoulders.

Mijal finished her degree. Anna is retraining as a nurse. Aleksandr is recovering. Mikhail and Ekaterina are finding their feet. Behind every name on that list is a life that is finding its way because someone chose to adopt them.

Will you be that someone? Please give generously to our ‘Bless an Immigrant’ fund today, and accept the invitation God placed before the nations.

With shalom and gratitude,

Rev. Peter J. Fast

International President & CEO