Paul Calvert talks with Daniel Carson from CBN Israel about how they are making a difference among the Jewish people.

Daniel: One lady who survived had been left by her mum and lost all of her family. She ended up being alone, living on whatever she could gather. She was taken in by a Gentile who allowed her the opportunity to survive and then later on in life she was able to migrate to Israel. She had some significant needs and we were able to help out with some of those, which is a tremendous blessing for these individuals.

Paul: Many things have been done to the Jews in the name of Christianity, so is the work that you are doing today breaking down the walls of suspicion?

Daniel: Yes, I think that we are very clear that the assistance we are able to provide usually comes from the evangelical Christian community who love and support Israel. They recognise the history of the church has not been very good with the Jewish people and yet have a love for Israel, for God's people, and want to show love and mercy the way we were called to do so from the beginning.

Paul: How do the Holocaust survivors respond to that?

Daniel: Well there are the scars and the pain of the past and the fact that the Holocaust happened in what they recognise as Christian Europe, it's a major blemish on the history of the church. Yet I think in genuine one-on-one contact where people are able to show practical love with no strings attached and no request for anything in response. This is our way of meeting a need and showing love, care and support in spite of the suffering the past.

Paul: Another project that you do is working with single mothers. Tell us a little bit more about that.

Daniel: Anyone who has been a part of a family knows that everybody goes through ups and downs, good times and bad times. Some families end up in very hard situations. All it takes is for someone to have a major catastrophic illness, could be a car accident or an economic downturn which destroys a business. These are all things where you end up in a real crisis situation.

One of the things that we have found is that teaching people how to properly manage financial resources, in other words by not living beyond their means and being responsible. We teach them about income verses expenses, how to increase income and how to minimise expenses in order to create a situation where the families can sustain themselves.

So the education process is a huge part of what we do. We don't just take a family in crisis, we go into the details of how did they arrive at this crisis and what were the contributing factors. Sometimes it's not the financial help that solves the problem, it's actually the education to properly manage the family resources that keeps a person out of the cycle of poverty.

Paul: And when you help the mother you are also helping the children, blessing the children too.

Danial: Yes, especially with single mothers. We do have a crisis of fatherhood all around the world, where fathers do not step up and take their responsibility seriously. There is abandonment of the family and this cultural phenomenon has created our new orphans and widows and not necessarily because the father has died. This kind of hurt is very hard to heal.

But by teaching these mothers proper ways to meet the needs of their family and educational opportunities so that they can be better providers for their kids. Sometimes it's after school programs for kids that are in need so as to alleviate the mum's need to be at home at certain times and allow her to work more. There are all kinds of solutions that are available to get people to a point where they are self-sustaining, rather than just handing out a cheque.

Paul: So are you being a surrogate father to those who don't have a father?

Daniel: I wouldn't say an organisation like ours is able to provide that level of assistance. Taking the place of a parent is not something that any organisation is equipped to do. But having mechanisms that allow people to cope with the challenges they are facing and re-establish hope in people's lives, allows them to maybe look back at the experience, learn from the process and be able to make better decisions going forward. As well as see a brighter future as they go through the daily struggles that anyone goes through.