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Little Bundles of Joy
Israel -- The oxygen mask had become a part of the small girl's face. When asked how long this cancer patient had been in the hospital, the child lifted up two fingers. Two weeks? "No," she corrected. "Two years." With tears in his eyes, the Joseph Project representative filled her hands with one of the over 34,000 soft new friends Operation Blessing had shipped from the United States.
It has held the world's eye since 1948. Interest increased in 1967 and for the last two years this generation has watched its every move. However, the continual fighting between the Israeli and Palestinian people has not deterred hundreds of thousands of Jewish immigrants from packing as many earthly possessions as possible into two suitcases and moving to Israel. Slightly smaller than New Jersey, this country has experienced hardship in absorbing the new arrivals. In the most recent conflicts, the children are its most innocent of victims.
Recently, Operation Blessing was able to ship two containers filled with more than 34,000 donated stuffed animals to disadvantaged and hurting children living in Israel. Messianic Jewish Alliance of America's Joseph Project was on the other end to distribute them. Half went to child suicide bomb victims recovering in government hospitals; children living in bomb shelters in Haifa, the Gaza Coastal area as well as in towns along the Green Line of the West Bank; the disabled, autistic, mentally handicapped; kids in homes for battered women; orphans and the deaf. The other half went to humanitarian outlets throughout Israel.
"I am sure these particular toys were appointed for such a time as this," conveyed Jo Kaplan, Assistant Director of the Joseph Project. "I cannot express to you the joy in delivering these toys to the kids. These toys were worth their weight in gold to each child."
In one of the autistic schools, a boy's tears of having to wait his turn changed into joy as the small gray cat he had chosen was placed into his arms. Many of the mentally and physically challenged children do not normally receive anything from the Welfare Department because they have been deemed too disabled. Never in this school's history had anyone ever gifted toys to these children! The staff could hardly believe the generosity of OBI and the Joseph Project.
In the midst of war and uncertainty, Operation Blessing seeks to continue to bring a glimpse of peace to the youngest of these victims.
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