Serving Where They Can
While living in the Netherlands, Raymond and Mirjam Reijnen served as full time fire fighters. Now living in Israel since March 25, 2018, the married couple assist as volunteers on their kibbutz. Five days after moving to the kibbutz, “the weekly violence began along the Gaza border at the start of the March of Return.” On their first evening they heard the warning sirens. “Neighbors came by and said, ‘Oh, it’s nothing’, Raymond recalled.’ However, one advantage of the fire and rocket attacks, is they allowed them to integrate into their kibbutz, Nahal Oz. Raymond notes, “It was a great way to mingle into society, to get to know everyone, to be of use.”
Not only have they fought fires, as in the last week alone about 100 fires have ignited from Palestinian incendiary devices, but their home has been hit previously by rocket fire and during another attack, their son was stuck outside their home as a warning siren went off, “and they had no way of knowing where he was.” When asked by their children why they moved to an area near a danger
zone, and the parents have noted the good things of living in South Israel. They also remind their children, that when there is no Gaza violence, ‘It’s great here!’
They have put their firefighting expertise to work on the kibbutz, as they help on a voluntary basis. Raymond notes that originally the balloons that came from Gaza were simple kites or balloons soaked with gasoline. “Now they arrive as clusters of balloons, with explosive devices-one balloon cluster alone is now able to start six fires.
This family puts their firefighting knowledge and effort to use to the benefit of the kibbutz. They happily do it because it’s their home, and they want to help their neighbors (Luke 10:30-37).
(Source: Tovah Lazaroff; The Jerusalem Post)
