Providing Comfort to the Brave Defenders of Israel
The Fellowship | May 9, 2019
Dror is truly a hero and one of the brave defenders of Israel.
From a young age, when people would ask Dror what he aspired to be, he would immediately answer “a soldier in the Israeli army that protects God’s Promised Land.”
You see, Dror’s family survived the Holocaust and escaped to the Holy Land. They always viewed the Jewish State of Israel as fulfillment of prophecy, and he never took his homeland for granted.
When Dror was old enough, he trained for nearly a year and was accepted into one of the most elite units in the Israeli army. During Dror’s three years of army service, he conducted secret operations to capture terrorists, monitored the violent border with Gaza, and trained new Israeli soldiers.
“I felt complete in what I accomplished in the army and knew that I served my country well,” Dror says. After graduating from the army, Dror got married, had a baby boy, and began University. “My life was so beautiful and it felt like I was living my dream,” he remembers.
But then the terrorist attack happened that turned his life upside down.
As Dror was sitting in a café with his wife and child, he heard gunshots outside and immediately ran towards where the sound was coming from. He was the first person with a weapon on the scene and instantly shot the terrorist dead, saving countless lives. But he was traumatized and was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). He fell into a deep depression and was unable to function forcing his wife and child to move out of their house.
Just as Dror was beginning to feel hopeless, he heard about The Fellowship and the generous people like you who help fund our programs for Israeli soldiers.
One of those programs is called Etgarim. It is an alternative therapy that has proven to be effective in treating PTSD in soldiers. It teaches them to sail, while dealing with their emotions. “Just as the sailboat is controlled by the wind that is real, yet unable to be seen, so too are my crippling emotions,” Dror reflected. “By learning to work with the wind to control the boat, I learned to work with my emotions to control my life.”
Just a few months after beginning Etgarim, Dror’s life got back on track.
“The Fellowship-sponsored Etgarim program is a place I can go where people understand me and truly help my recovery. I am not judged there, but simply provided with the help that I need. If it weren’t for The Fellowship and Etgarim I would be hopeless, depressed, and would have nowhere to turn. The Fellowship truly gave me my life back – I feel like a hero that deserves a good life. Thank you so much.”
Please help us continue to provide compassionate care for the women and men who serve as the brave defenders of Israel and her people.