You Make a Difference for Emma
The Fellowship | November 20, 2023
Emma lives in Ashdod, in one of the heavily bombarded areas of southern Israel. She’s lived there for 23 years since her family made aliyah (immigrated to Israel) from Siberia.
In fact, when The Fellowship was on the way to meet Emma during the current war in Israel, the staff had to take shelter in a building near her apartment as a code red siren wailed for 10 minutes.
It’s no wonder the first words Emma speaks to us are filled with fear. “Since the war has broken out, I’m feeling very alone and very afraid,” she says.
This isn’t the first time that war has terrified Emma. When World War II broke out, her family didn’t have to evacuate her town of Irkutsk. But they did have to turn the children’s schools—including Emma’s school—into hospitals for injured soldiers. “You could feel the war everywhere. As children, it was very scary … there were now soldiers who were suffering and screaming.”
Today, war has come again, and she says all she can do is pray for Israel. “I can’t imagine how terrified the Israeli mothers whose children are fighting on the frontline are, or what a nightmare the life is for the families whose loved ones have been kidnapped.”
As the cost of living rises, and now that her husband has passed, Emma finds it even more challenging to buy basic necessities, especially during the war. Thankfully, she has The Fellowship to rely on during wartime to make it through.
Food deliveries from The Fellowship help her survive, and most importantly, they remind her she isn’t alone. “I have the feeling that there is somebody who is really thinking about me—and it means a lot!” she says.