A group of Christian college students has been raising money to help Jews escaping from Ukraine.
Passages, which focuses on bringing Chrsitian students for “rite of passage” trips to Israel, recently raised more than $20,000 to assist with the refugee crisis.
In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), Passages CEO Scott Phillips said that “the reason we bring students to Israel is to connect them to Israel, to their faith and to give them an appreciation for the Jewish community worldwide.
“We knew that our students wanted a way to get involved,” he continued, “to help with what's happening in Ukraine. And with our mission about raising awareness about antisemitism and building bridges with the Jewish community, this was a great way for us to get our students involved, but also to really, tangibly help Ukrainian Jews that are in Ukraine.”
Passages raised $12,000 directly from college students, which it was able to double with a matching grant, Phillips said.
He spoke with CBN on the cusp of a new season of Passages tours, as Israel recently reopened its skies to all tourists. Phillips said the organization hopes to bring 2,000 students to Israel this year and another 3,000 next year, with the aim of bringing 10,000 Christian students to Israel per year within the next five years.
“It is ambitious, but we think we have God’s blessing for it,” Phillips said.
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