In the summer of 1994 a 13-year-old boy named Andre came to Israel from Russia with his mother and brother. Andre was dying from leukemia, and his last hope to live was a bone marrow transplant in Israel. He and his family turned for help to foreign Christians volunteering in Jerusalem. The cost of the treatment was very high, and the family had little. The previous night they had slept in the stairwell of an apartment building.

At a major medical center in Israel, the professor in charge of bone marrow transplantation confirmed that Andre would soon die without treatment, and estimated that he had an 80% chance of survival with treatment. "But I have to tell you one thing," he added. "He could be dying in the doorway of the emergency room, and we will not let him in until every dollar has been paid. That's not the way we want it, but it's the way big medical centers have to do business."

The next day we met with Andre and his mother to deliver the verdict: yes, he could be saved, but the door was closed. We knew of no group prepared to take responsibility for such a case. But the words of Jesus prevented us from passing by on the other side. "Which of these was neighbor to the one who needed help?" he asked us (Luke 10:25-37).

We began to share about Andre's need for help. Followers of Jesus in Israel and abroad started to collect funds, in partnership with other Israeli groups, and the hospital agreed to lower its charges. For Andre the door swung open.

Pleas for help came in from other non-Israeli children. Recognizing the potential for Israel to be a blessing to her neighbors, in December 1994 we registered as a non-profit group called "Light to the Nations." Soon the focus shifted to children right on our doorstep, in the Gaza Strip. Now more than 200 children have come to Israel for emergency surgeries from the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and Jordan.