JOSHUA FUND: FIRST YEAR UPDATE

* BLESSING ISRAEL: In our first year (August 2006 to August 2007), The Joshua Fund helped ship more than $1.5 million worth of humanitarian relief to Israel in the name of Jesus. We worked through such strategic allies as The Joseph Project, Bridges For Peace, the Jerusalem Institute for Justice, and many others. This aid included food, clothing, pots and pans, furniture, medical supplies, construction supplies, wheelchairs, toys for children, and more. During one project in Kiryat Shmona, a town of some 25,000 along the northern border with Lebanon that was hit with 1,000 missiles during last summer's war, we were able to bless about 3,500 needy Israelis -- including 700 elderly Jews. We were also able to help finance the distribution of more than 5,000 new school bags filled with study supplies to underprivileged elementary school students in Jerusalem, and a Passover 2007 project which distributed 620 food packages to needy families in the holy city.

* BLESSING ISRAEL'S NEIGHBORS: This past year, The Joshua Fund also sent nearly $200,000 worth of humanitarian aid to poor and needy Palestinian and Lebanese families. In Lebanon, for example, TJF partnered with established evangelical Christian ministries to provide relief packages for some 6,000 Arab families devastated by the war. The packages included non-perishable food items such as beans, rice, pasta, canned meat, processed cheese, oil, and powdered milk. In addition, each package contains basic supplies such as soap, candles, matches, and aspirin, and a JESUS film DVD in Arabic. TJF provided funds to the Palestinian Bible Society to feed needy children in Gaza after the Society's Bible bookstore was bombed by local radicals. TJF recently did a food distribution project with 110 needy families from the South Lebanon Army who have asked for political asylum in Israel. We helped a Palestinian radio station broadcasting Christian Bible teaching triple its range, enabling its broadcasts to be heard in English and Arabic all of the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem. We have also provided funds to care for the families of three Turkish Christian workers murdered by jihadists earlier this year.

* "EXPANDING THE PIPELINE" TO GET MORE AID INTO THE EPICENTER: Currently, we are working to help them relief organizations in Israel expand their warehouse capacity, use their current facilities more efficiently, acquire trucks and forklifts and expand their capacity to pre-position more relief supplies ahead of the next war, as well as continue distributing humanitarian relief supplies to the poor and needy throughout the holy land. Nearly one-in-four Israelis currently live below the poverty level (only $800 a month or less for a family of four). A new report just released found that some 35% of all Israeli children live in poverty.

* WILL YOU JOIN US? In light of the latest troubling developments in the region, we would be deeply grateful for your prayers and financial help. To learn more about how to contribute -- or to donate on-line, please click here. The Joshua Fund is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization under IRS regulations. All donations are tax-deductible. We are currently applying for membership in the ECFA.

Thanks so much for partnering with us. May the Lord richly bless you as you bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus.