Passages, which sponsors trips to Israel for Christian students, has donated $500,000 to two communities in southern Israel that were damaged in the October 7 attack by Hamas. The group presented the funds and plaques to Netiv HaAsara and Kfar Aza
The funds will be used to provide immediate psychological counseling for some of the younger members of the communities to help them deal with the horrors of that day. In addition, some of the funds will be earmarked for future memorial projects.
“These are two places where we have taken over 11,000 college students on Passages trips in the last eight years,” CEO Scott Phillips told “The Jerusalem Post.” “In these communities live our friends, people we know, people we work with, people our students and alumni have interacted with.”
When Passages embarked on the campaign to help the communities, it committed that not a single dollar would stay with the organization but be funneled directly to the Israelis in need.
“Many of us understand that the roots of who we are as Christians exist within Judaism, within the Jewish people and the Jewish story,” Phillips said. “I think that there’s a natural connection between Christians and Jews. God commanded us to stand with Israel, so I think it is an intrinsic motivation to come here, even if there is a war.”
In Netiv HaAsara, the Passages delegation visited the cemetery, where they were briefed by Raz Shmilovich, who is not only a resident of the destroyed community but served as a Passages tour guide before the attack. He told the visitors stories of all those who were murdered that day and then took them into the moshav, where they were shown how Hamas terrorists infiltrated and attacked.
The group also went to Kfar Aza and saw some of the areas that were hardest hit, as well as to the memorial for the victims of the Nova Festival.
“After October 7, the Jewish community looked around for friends and allies,” said Rivka Kidron, Passages cofounder and board member. “The Christian community showed up, and they keep showing up, not just in word, but deed. These are communities which Passages students visit on every trip. They lifted and supported our students; now, we must support them. Our students will continue coming here to bear witness to this tragedy and stand alongside the state of Israel and the Jewish People, especially in the most difficult times.”
–Dwight Widaman | Metro Voice
