Two specific goals
The overall goal of Fields of Mercy (FOM) is to provide education and social assistance to those in need, such as widows, orphans, Holocaust survivors, the poor, refugees and ministry workers. This assistance includes charity on practical levels.
As charitable assistance on the most practical level imaginable, FOM’s Cemetery Project also implements a Biblical truth that receives scant attention: thoughtful preparation for death, including one’s own burial, is a hallmark of mature faith in God.
We read that when Sarah died, Abraham took action to buy an entire field for its full price (Genesis 23:1-9), acquiring a final resting place not just for his wife, but for himself and his family also. Before Jacob died, he instructed his sons to bury him there (Gen. 49:19-21). Joseph made similar arrangements before he died (Gen. 50:24), and he was duly buried in Shechem, which his father had given to him for an inheritance (Joshua 24:32).
As believers in the Land increasingly suffered from not being able to follow this pattern, FOM took the initiative to meet the need. Registering with the Israeli government as an official NGO, we declared our goal of lobbying the authorities to allocate a cemetery for New Testament believers in the Jerusalem area. FOM’s message to Israeli government officials is to remind them of a well-known Jewish teaching: the most righteous deed anyone can perform is to care for the dead, because they are not able to repay you.
This precept unconsciously echoes a similar command from Jesus to do good to those who cannot reciprocate, with the added promise: « You will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. » (Luke 14:14) Thus, the same message resonates with New Testament believers as well.
FOM also aims to facilitate an honorable burial process, which will ease the burden of the grieving family. This project enjoys support from the Protestant and Evangelical communities in the Land.