Abundant Life

What started as an outreach to help Israeli women refrain from having an abortion, today is a thriving organisation which helps battered women re-establish their lives with dignity and hope.

For over eight years now “Abundant Life” has been tirelessly rescuing lives, both of unborn children as well as their mothers, who often come feeling hopeless when they learn they are pregnant. The center’s main counsellors, the husband-and-wife team of Yishai and Anat, reach out to these outcast women, many lost in prostitution, drug addiction, sex trafficking, or simply impoverishment.

Learn more about Abundant Life's work against human trafficking in Israel »

In describing their approach to helping women in crisis, Anat quotes Scriptures with ease.

“The Lord gave us Torah as guidance, and as a warning,” she insists. “The Creator of life, who created us in His image, is telling us in His word to fight for life and not to be passive. We believe in the sanctity of life”.

When the couple first opened up their home to those in need, they weren’t sure if it would work or if it would be safe for their own children. But they knew it was a calling of God and that He would protect them. Fighting for the mothers and the babies in their wombs, the pair quickly learned that each case comes with a troubled past. And not all stories have a happy ending, as many require a long season of healing and grace.

Often the women seeking help are pursued by violent men. The Abundant Life home needed a security gate and alarm system, which the ICEJ AID department was able to purchase. Today, both the women at the shelter and Yishai and Anat’s own family feel safe and protected.

The couple also meet weekly with victims of sex trafficking for a Bible study. In addition, Anat meets with women who need emotional healing after already having an abortion. The seminars she conducts are never easy, but she believes they are absolutely necessary for the women who have already suffered enough. Through this part of their ministry, a ‘shoes monument’ was created to symbolise the pain of mothers towards their aborted babies.

There is now a collection of 150 pairs of baby shoes in remembrance of the 150 abortions that are performed in Israel every day. A card is attached to each pair of shoes written by mothers to their aborted baby, expressing words of sorrow, love and regret.

Deuteronomy 30:19 encourages us to “choose life so that they and their children may live”. This is the inspiration behind many of the initiatives taken up by Yishai and Anat. Through partnering with Abundant Life, our ICEJ Aid team is making a difference in the lives of broken and battered Israeli women, giving them a real chance to choose life!

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