FIBA in Action

In a gesture of kindness and encouragement, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (www.ifcj.org) generously gifted $50,000 to an African American church to assist in the rebuilding process in New Orleans.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina we continue to see an outpouring of compassion by the most unlikely new friends. In a gesture of kindness and encouragement, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (www.ifcj.org)generously gifted $50,000 to an African American church to assist in the rebuilding process in New Orleans. Said IFCJ Founder and CEO Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, The devastation and trauma suffered in Louisiana will take strength and faith to recover. Our shared Judeo-Christian values laid the foundation for building this great nation, and will lay the foundation for the rebuilding of New Orleans. The Fellowship, with the compassion and support our caring Jewish and Christian donors, will continue to support the African American church during this critical time.

The $50,000 gift was presented on Wednesday, September 28th in Washington D.C. during IFCJ's International Conference, Stand for Israel (www.ifcj.org), to Pastor Willie F. Wooten of Gideon Christian Fellowship of New Orleans, Louisiana (www.gideonchristianfellowship.org) whose ministry and home were destroyed by the fierce effects of Hurricane Katrina. Former Chairman/CEO of the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) Glenn R. Plummer (www.glennplummer.net), the first African American to hold that position in the organization's sixty-three year history, has been instrumental in bringing together IFCJ and African American ministries.

"I received one of the most wonderful yet surprising phone calls when a Jewish-led organization reached out with a specific request to help rebuild an African American Christian church in New Orleans. As a pastor, I understand the implications of such an alliance and how significant it is to our entire country. It is a partnership between Jews and Christians that will break through unbelievable barriers." Says Pastor Plummer, "For the African American Christian and the Jew to come together in unity, the impact both naturally and spiritually will be incredible. God is apparently up to something big."

If Pastor Plummer was surprised, imagine the shock for Pastor Wooten, who while on an airplane headed back to New Orleans, received an unexpected phone call from people with whom he was only vaguely familiar, pledging $50,000 to the rebuilding of the devastated ministry.

"I can not properly describe in words what it meant to receive the phone call from Pastor Plummer regarding the generous gift from IFCJ toward the rebuilding process. This gift will not just impact the rebuilding of a church building, but more importantly, in rebuilding the lives of the people." The humble pastor continues, "The leaders of New Orleans have been asked to rebuild a city --- not a building or a neighborhood --- but an entire city, and the greatest resources of any city are the human resources", comments Wooten. "The mind can hardly wrap around the task at hand, but the Bible gives clear direction in saying that unless God built the city, we build it in vain. The people of God have been commissioned for this work, both the Christian and the Jew. We are grateful, and yet it is mind boggling".

Both Wooten and Plummer, are deeply committed supporters and outspoken proponents of Israel.