2009-04-19 : “Israel Diary-In the Presence of Someone Special-UPDATE”

Apr 19, 2009

Israel Diary-In the Presence of Someone Special-UPDATE


On February 18, we wrote about a special visit we had with Yohannes Bayu, founder of the African Refugee Development Center. Yohannes is a Christian Ethiopian who sought political refugee status in Israel after fleeing his native country when he was in danger for his life. After waiting five years, refugee status was finally granted by the Israeli Supreme Court.

Over the past few years Israel has become a refuge for thousands of Africans fleeing certain death and involuntary army service in countries like Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Congo. Today, more than 17,000 of them live in Israel, creating an acute humanitarian crisis. It was this crisis that Yohannes responded to in establishing the African Refugee Development Center, ARDC.

We received an email from Yohannes this evening which shared two pieces of information which we wanted to pass along. The first was a set of pictures of all of the refugee kids who took part in the kibbutz retreat which we helped underwrite last month. From the looks of the picture above, it seems as if the kids had a great time enjoying the beauty of the rural kibbutz and the new friends they made while there.

Yohannes' email also shared a link to an Israel news piece which described "Giving Back With Love", the ARDC program which encourages the refugees to volunteer with various segments of Israeli society. This clip was a moving account of some of the refugees who help elderly Shoah survivors (who cannot afford to hire help to) prepare for Pesach by cleaning their homes.

We can only imagine the poignancy of one refugee lending a hand to another from an earlier time.