The International Ministry of The Friends of Israel

Our mission is focused.

We are a worldwide evangelical ministry proclaiming biblical truth about Israel and the Messiah, while bringing physical and spiritual comfort to the Jewish people.

How We Began…

In 1938, The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry was founded as a compassionate effort to meet the spiritual and physical needs of Jewish people whose lives were displaced and tragically affected by the Holocaust.

Since its inception, we continue to stand against every form of anti-Semitism and support the right of the Jewish people to live in their ancient homeland, Israel.

Additionally, FOI actively invests in the edification of Christians by teaching Scripture that exemplifies why loving the Jewish people and supporting Israel is integral to the Christian faith. Today, FOI’s presence spans the globe with ministry workers serving Jewish people worldwide.

  • It was the 1930s, and the face of Europe was changing. The winds of war were blowing, and caught in the crosshairs were the Jewish people.

    Filled with concern, Pastors and Christian businessmen gathered in Philadelphia. Requests for help were coming in regularly, and these believers knew they had to act. Verbal support was not enough.

    The tipping point came on November 9–10, 1938. Kristallnacht. The night of the broken glass. The Nazi-led pogrom spread throughout Germany and Austria like wildfire as mobs burned down thousands of Jewish synagogues, homes, and businesses and killed hundreds of Jewish people. Adolf Hitler’s intentions became crystal clear.

    These pastors and businessmen decided now was the time to act. They would help Jewish people who were scrambling to escape the surging Nazi threat. Many Jewish people were trying to immigrate, but the United States required they have a sponsor who could guarantee the desperate immigrants would not become financial burdens to the U.S. Government.

    The men meeting in Philadelphia knew their decision would have consequences. Time, money, and resources would be needed in order to make a difference. So they made room in their busy schedules because they knew the need was urgent.

    These men—among them, Lewis Sperry Chafer, the founder of Dallas Theological Seminary; and Harry Ironside, beloved pastor of Moody Church in Chicago—all made a choice to stand with the Jewish people and give them much-needed help and relief as they fled Nazi tyranny.

    The men met on December 1, 1938 to begin the ministry and called themselves The Friends of Israel Refugee Relief Committee.

    They knew the Jewish people occupied a special place in God’s heart as His Chosen People. His Word makes it clear. Their theological conviction resulted in compassionate action when it counted most. They used their pulpits to make the needs known and confirm to their congregations God’s plan for the Jewish people. They called on Christians to give generously so the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would know they had friends they could depend on during troubling times.

    Christians responded. And The Friends of Israel was able to work with like-minded organizations in Great Britain and Europe to supply clothes, food, passports, and passage out of Europe for Jewish people desperate to escape the horrors of the Holocaust.

    Today the same God-given passion that moved our founders to establish The Friends of Israel moves us to compassion for His people, “the apple of His eye” (Zech. 2:8). It was our honor to serve them then, and it is our mission never to stop today. To paraphrase Jesus, “When you help one of the least of My Jewish brothers, you help me.”

2024 GRATITUDE REPORT

Dear Friends,

Nothing moves my heart more than to see Christians blessing Israel and the Jewish people, especially as antisemitism is raging all around the world.

You, however, truly are the friends of Israel and I want to personally thank you for your faithful prayers and financial support. Without you, we could not do what God has called us to do.

Therefore, it is with great pleasure that we present to you our 2024 Gratitude Report. In it, we share stories and photographs of how the God of Israel is blessing the work in Canada and around the world through our workers and faithful partners such as you.

The Apostle Paul’s reminder in the book of Romans emphasizes that we have been grafted into Israel’s spiritual blessings (through the New Covenant, Jer 31:33), fostering deep gratitude toward the Jewish people. This report narrates how your support contributes to this endeavor, highlighting our efforts in sharing the love of Jesus with them. The gospel of Christ remains the heart of everything we do to the Jew first and for the Greek (Rom 1:16).

So once again, thank you, friends, for loving, standing, and supporting Israel and the Jewish people. Together, we are building bridges and bringing hope. To Him be all the glory!

Robert Gottselig

Canadian Director

FLIP THROUGH THE REPORT:

We minister in 18 countries among the more than 15 million Jewish people living in those regions.

United States 🇺🇸

Canada 🇨🇦

Argentina 🇦🇷

Australia 🇦🇺

New Zealand 🇳🇿

Israel 🇮🇱

United Kingdom 🇬🇧

Ireland 🇮🇪

France 🇫🇷

Germany 🇩🇪

Poland 🇵🇱

Ukraine 🇺🇦

Belarus 🇧🇾

Lithuania 🇱🇹

Russia 🇷🇺

Austria 🇦🇹

Belgium 🇧🇪

Switzerland 🇨🇭

United States 🇺🇸 Canada 🇨🇦 Argentina 🇦🇷 Australia 🇦🇺 New Zealand 🇳🇿 Israel 🇮🇱 United Kingdom 🇬🇧 Ireland 🇮🇪 France 🇫🇷 Germany 🇩🇪 Poland 🇵🇱 Ukraine 🇺🇦 Belarus 🇧🇾 Lithuania 🇱🇹 Russia 🇷🇺 Austria 🇦🇹 Belgium 🇧🇪 Switzerland 🇨🇭

What We Believe About…

  • We believe that the Bible, consisting of sixty-six books, is the inspired Word of God; that every part is fully and equally inspired; and that every single word of Scripture was produced under the control of the Holy Spirit (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21).

    We also accept the Scriptures in their entirety as being inerrant (in the original writings) and infallible. For this reason we are committed to the Bible as our final authority in all matters of doctrine, faith, and practice (Mt. 5:17; Jn. 17:17).

  • We believe that there is only one true, eternal, living God, who is sovereign over all things. God can be known through the many absolute and relative attributes revealed in the Scriptures (Ex. 3:14; Dt. 6:4; Col. 1:15–17).

    God is the source and sustainer of life. He, according to the counsel of His own will, decreed whatsoever comes to pass, including both His permissive will and His causal will (Isa. 14:24, 26–27; Eph. 1)

  • We believe, although there is only one true God, that God consists of three distinct persons, each of whom is coeternal and coequal.

    We believe that the Father is God, that the Son (Jesus, the Christ-Messiah) is God, and that the Holy Spirit is God (Dt. 6:4; Jn. 1:1; 14; 6:27; Acts 5:3–4).

  • We believe the Lord Jesus Christ to be absolute Deity, the eternal Son of God, who became man without ceasing to be God. In the incarnation, He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary (Isa. 9:6–7; Mt. 1:18–25; Jn. 3:16; Heb. 1:8).

    We believe that Jesus Christ was both fully God and fully man at the same time (Phil. 2:5–8).

    We believe that He was totally holy by virtue of His miraculous birth and sinless life (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15)

    We believe that Jesus Christ voluntarily laid down His life, the just dying for the unjust, making it possible for man to be saved (Jn. 10:17; Heb. 9:14, 28; 1 Pet. 3:18).

    We believe that He rose bodily from the dead on the third day after death, and that He ascended into heaven to the right hand of the Father (Jn. 2:19–22; Acts 1:9–11; Heb. 1:3).

    We believe that, presently, He is our Intercessor and Advocate, the only true Mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 4:14; 7:25; 1 Jn. 2:1)

  • We believe that the Holy Spirit is Deity, a divine person of the Godhead. He is not a force, but is truly a person and is equal with the Father and the Son (Acts 5:3–4).

    We believe that the Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to all believers at the moment they are regenerated, and that these gifts are to be used for the edification and perfecting of the believers in the Church. We believe that the miraculous and sign gifts were given for a unique purpose to the first-century Church, but that they ceased at the end of that century (Rom. 12:3–8; 1 Cor. 12—14; Eph. 4:7–16; Heb. 2:3-4).

  • We believe that God created man directly and instantaneously from the dust of the ground. Man was created in the image of God and was able to have intimate fellowship with God (Gen. 1:26–27; 2:7).

    We believe that marriage is a gift and act of God, joining two people together to make one flesh. God designed marriage to be an exclusive covenant between one biologically-born man and one biologically-born woman for life and that sexual relations are permissible only within the bonds of marriage (Gen. 2:24; Matt. 19:4-6; Heb. 13:4).

    We believe that all of humanity fell away from God when Adam first sinned, and that the fall resulted in both physical and spiritual death for man. In this fallen condition, man was left totally depraved and unable to remedy his own situation (Gen. 3:6–13; Rom. 5:12–21; 1 Cor. 15:21–22; Eph. 2).

  • We believe that sin is anything that does not conform to the character and nature of God (1 Jn. 3:4).

    We believe that all mankind sinned in Adam, the head of the human race, and that each human being has a sin nature, and also has committed personal sin (Rom. 1:18; 3:23; 5:12; 1 Jn. 1:8–10).

  • We believe that salvation is the act of God whereby man is brought into a proper relationship with God. It is that act where spiritually dead man is made spiritually alive (Ps. 3:8; Jon. 2:9; Eph. 2:1–2).

    We believe that this is accomplished by the grace of God through man’s faith in the death (shed blood), burial, and bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:1–4; Eph. 2:8–10).

    We believe that salvation involves three things for the believer: deliverance from the penalty of sin at the moment of regeneration; victory over the power of sin during the Christian life; and deliverance from the presence of sin at glorification.

    We believe that salvation positionally sanctifies the believer, but that the believer needs to experience, in his daily life, progressive sanctification (Rom. 6:14; 2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 3:20–21).

  • We believe in the existence of the person of Satan. He was created by God as the greatest of angels, but later rebelled against God. After he fell, he organized his own kingdom, which consists of both evil angels and unregenerate man. He is currently the ruler-god of this age. Satan’s ultimate goal is to overthrow God. He seeks to keep the unsaved from becoming saved. He seeks to hinder and destroy the Christian’s testimony and ministry for God.

    We believe that both Satan and his evil angels will be consigned to the eternal Lake of Fire after the Millennium (Isa. 14:12–17; Ezek. 28:11–19; Mt. 25:41; Jn. 8:44; Rev. 20:7–10).

    We believe that there is an innumerable host of angels who remained faithful and true to God. They are servants to the Most High God and are ministering spirits to those who are heirs of salvation (Ps. 91:11–12; Mt. 4:6; Acts 12:7–10; Rev. 7:11).

  • We believe that the true Church is a universal, invisible, living organism and that it is the “body of Christ” who is Himself the head of this body. The universal Church is made up of regenerate, redeemed believers only (1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 1:22–23; 5:23; Col. 1:18).

    We believe that the Church began on the day of Pentecost; that every believer was indwelt/baptized by the Holy Spirit into the one body of Christ, which is the Universal Church (Jn. 14:16–17; Acts 1:4–5; 2:1–4; 1 Cor. 12:13).

    We believe that the Scriptures teach that there are to be local churches. These churches are to be the visible representation of the body of Christ in the local community. Local churches are to observe the ordinances of Christ and seek to do the will of God (Mt. 28:19–20; Acts 20:28; 1 Cor. 1:2; 11:23–28).

    We believe that the local church should be totally committed to the edifying (developing to maturity) of the believers and also should have an active outreach in evangelism (1 Cor. 14; Eph. 4:11–16).

  • We believe that Israel is God’s chosen national people (Gen. 28:13). In God’s sovereign will, Israel serves as a channel of His blessing to the entire world (Gen. 12:3) for His glory (Isa. 43:7), and His witness to the nations (Isa. 43:10). God’s election of Israel for this unique relationship is irrevocable (Ro. 11:28-29).

    We believe Israel is distinct from the church and central to God’s plan, past, present, and future. The unfulfilled prophecies given to Israel in the Old Testament will find their literal fulfillment in Israel at a future time (Ps. 105:6-10).

  • We believe in the premillennial and pretribulational return of Jesus Christ. This means that Christ’s return for His Bride (the Church) is imminent and therefore can happen at any moment (1 Th. 4:13–17; 5:6).

    We believe that, following the Rapture of the Church; the seven-year Tribulation Period (Daniel’s 70th week, or the Time of Jacob’s Trouble) will take place (Dan. 9:24–27; 2 Th. 2:3–4).

    We believe that following the Tribulation, the Millennium will begin. It will be brought about by the literal, physical, visible, bodily return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth to rule and to reign for one thousand years (Zech. 14:1–4; Rev. 19:20).

  • We believe in the eternal punishment of the lost and the eternal bliss of the redeemed (Jn. 3:16; Rev. 20:11–15).

Get To Know Us

The 1930’s were a fragile time. Propaganda throughout Europe was already paving the way in dehumanizing the Jewish people and in November 1938, Kristallnacht, Night of the Broken Glass, happened in Germany. Synagogues, homes, schools, and businesses of Jewish people were destroyed and it was at this point that things went from bad to worse…

(Learn more by viewing our FOI Ministry Highlight video below)

The sun never sets on The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry. We operate regularly in 18 countries, and minister among the more than 15 million Jewish people living in these regions. Our headquarters is located just outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in Westville, New Jersey.

Visit our main site at www.foi.org

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