Exodus from India
More than 3,300 years after the Lord delivered the Israelites from Egypt, a modern-day Exodus from India is coming to pass, as thousands of lost Jews prepare to make aliyah.
In the farthest regions of northeastern India, along the borders of Burma and Bangladesh, reside the Bnei Menashe (Hebrew for ‘the sons of Manasseh’), descendants of the tribe of Manasseh, one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel who were exiled from the Land by the Assyrian empire (2 Kings 17:6). Despite their dispersion for so many centuries, the Bnei Menashe remained faithful to the ways of their ancestors, observing the Sabbath and Festivals, keeping kosher and longing to return to Zion. The Lord is rewarding that faithfulness by fulfilling their dreams and bringing them home.
In recent years, Christians for Israel has supported the efforts of Rabbi Michael Freund, the founder and Chairman of Shavei Israel, an organisation which has brought more than 4,000 Bnei Menashe to the Jewish state. Shavei Israel has recently received permission to bring an additional 722 Bnei Menashe on Aliyah in 2019, and they need our assistance to facilitate this miraculous homecoming.
The Hoakip Family
Among those waiting to make Aliyah are Batya and Akiva Haokip, and their three children: Rakhem, Dina and Dalia. The Haokip family lives in the Indian state of Manipur, where Akiva is one of the leaders of the Bnei Menashe community. Both he and his wife are college graduates, and Akiva worked until recently as a project manager for the Life Insurance Corporation of India, the oldest and largest in the country. He recently resigned his position to prepare for his upcoming Aliyah. Batya, his wife, runs a medical clinic, and she is anxious to be reunited with her father, sister and brother, whom she has not seen since they moved to Israel. Akiva will be the first from among his family to make Aliyah, and he looks forward to raising his children to be proud Jews and Israelis.
Special Opportunity
The first group of 250 Bnei Menashe is supposed to make Aliyah right after the Passover festival in late April or early May, but the timing of their move depends on funding. The cost per immigrant is US $1,000, which covers airfare and transportation from India to Israel as well as some of the initial absorption costs. For every $1,000 that is raised, another Bnei Menashe will be able to make the long journey home to Zion.
This is an opportunity for Christians and Jews to stand together and fulfil the Divine Will by bringing His children back from exile. We must all rise to the occasion and give generously so that we may merit to see the words of the prophet Isaiah (51:11) come to life: “And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and enter Zion with singing and everlasting joy shall be on their heads”.
Can you help the Bnei Menashe return to their home in Israel?
A plane ticket costs US $1100. If you would like to donate, please use the buttons below. Any amount is welcome. Christians for Israel hopes to help at least 100 Bnei Menashe make their journey home. We ask you to pray for them; pray that their longing to return home may be fulfilled.
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