Shalom! We are almost halfway through 2010. I cannot believe it. Another year is passing as quickly and surely as the sand in an hourglass slips from top to bottom. The recent news of devastating earthquakes around the world, the explosion of the volcano in Iceland that has stopped air traffic, the vicious attacks of terrorists on trains, airplanes, and in various public places, all point to the one inevitable fact – Messiah’s imminent return is closer now than it has ever been. This fact must then lead us to seriously consider how we live and what we do for Yeshua.

The 27th of Nisan (April 11 this year) was Yom ha-Shoah (Holocaust Memorial Day), a day to remember the horrors of the Holocaust, a day to honor its victims and survivors. In Israel, it is commemorated with various observances such as the closing of banks, schools, most businesses, all theaters, and anything that pertains to amusement. I have been in Israel on Yom ha-Shoah. At a specific time, sirens go off all over Israel. Suddenly and reverently, people stop walking; cars pull over and even stop in the middle of the road. Drivers and passengers come out of their cars, pedestrians pause, and people in their homes stop what they are doing – all standing in silence! It is quite a scene!

Here in the United States, similar commemorations are held. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) stands proudly on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. as a powerful testimony against the atrocities and barbarity of unchecked hatred and anti-Semitism. Congress established the Day of Remembrance in 1982. For the 2010 observance, the Museum has chosen Stories of Freedom: What You Do Matters as the theme.

Here is an excerpt from the USHMM Web site:

The extreme horror of the Holocaust was the impetus for world sorrow that moved the United Nations to vote in favor of the existence of the Jewish State of Israel. With their ancient homeland back in their hands, they would thrive. After thousands of years of being scattered to the four winds and enduring hateful anti-Semitism, they were back in their God-given homeland. When I got up this morning, I felt a ray of sunshine on my face, but I deny that there is such a thing as the sun. When I went to bed last night, I saw a beam of moonlight on my pillow, but I deny that there is such a thing as the moon. Does this sound odd to you? Would you think I am crazy if I persisted in these beliefs? Can we rationally deny that there is a sun or a moon? The same enemy that has twisted logic and perverted the thinking of men and women throughout the ages, Satan, is busily at work again leading a new generation down the diabolical path of disbelief in the Holocaust. As far back as Genesis, this enemy has planted the seed of doubt saying, “...hath God said…” As many times as I have visited foreign countries, or even here in the U.S., I have noticed that when power seeking groups have begun their power grabs, they use young people as their foot soldiers. Today in colleges and universities, young people are being told that the Holocaust did not happen and that it is merely a Jewish propaganda plan to create sympathy for them, thus paving the way for them to make more money and to take over more of the world’s businesses and land. The Internet has provided them a powerful medium.

Despite the fact that there are more than 50 Holocaust museums throughout the world, approximately 20 of those are here in the United States, the deniers insist it never happened and these museums are shams and fakes. With ample evidence on display in the museums, the old barracks of prison camps dotting the landscape, and the education, books and movies about the Holocaust, there is growing ignorance of it as a fact. A recent survey of teenagers by the education advocacy group COMMON CORE found that 25% of those surveyed could not identify Adolf Hitler!

TIME IS RUNNING OUT! Holocaust survivors' advanced ages, physical infirmities, and financial difficulties need DEMAND our loving, compassionate touch as Yeshua’s merciful hands reaching out to needy survivors! They survived Hitler's sadistic iron-fisted tyranny, but now they face economic times of great hardship, lack of food, clothing, medicine, and home care. RESPECT & COMPASSION will restore their DIGNITY! Caring for them is like giving them a family – the family they lost in the Holocaust!

Certain facts cannot be denied. There is a sun and a moon. The Holocaust did happen. We cannot change what has happened but we can provide Holocaust survivors the help and assistance they now need. We could not help them when they were in the bleak barracks of Auschwitz, Treblinka, Sobibor, Belzec, Terezin, Buchenwald, Stutthoff, Bergen-Belsen, or Plaszow, but we can help them now.

Your continued prayers and donations help us feed, clothe, house, and care for survivors who have no one to depend upon. May I count on you to help one, two, or more survivors this month? A generous gift of $220.00 will provide 100 hot meals in a soup kitchen or monthly food packets for 10 families. This money cannot buy back any of the hours of suffering or hunger many endured then, but it will ease their final days now. As the USHMM says in its 2010 theme, WHAT YOU DO MATTERS! Please give generously. You may use our online secure donation site at www.godsgraceinternational.org/donate.htm.

Truth can be denied, but it is still true. The Holocaust is a fact. Remember Jewish survivors.

Because of God’s Grace,
God’s Grace International

Michael William Becker
President