The Joshua Fund was founded by Joel and Lynn Rosenberg in the summer of 2006. The desire of their heart was to mobilize Christians to “bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus,” according to Genesis 12:1-3.
In this famous passage from the book of Genesis, the Lord promised to bless those who bless the children of Abraham and curse those who curse them. In Matthew 19:19, Jesus instructed His followers to “love your neighbor as yourself.” In Matthew 5:44, Jesus told His disciples to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus exhorted His followers to feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, care for strangers, clothe the naked, care for those who are sick, and visit those in prison.
Seeking to obey these biblical commands, the Rosenbergs established a non-profit educational and charitable organization that works closely with Jewish and Christian allies in Israel and the Middle East, as well as Christian allies around the world.
As an educational organization, The Joshua Fund has sought to engage Christians globally about God's love and plan for Israel and her neighbors. The Joshua Fund has:
- Led multiple prayer and vision trips to Israel.
- Organized conferences, retreats, and seminars about the epicenter for Christians in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
- Addressed millions of people globally through TV, radio, video, print, and the web.
- Built relationships with government, business, and religious leaders.
As a charitable organization, The Joshua Fund has worked in Israel to:
- Enable key support to help advance major media evangelistic efforts taking place in Israel - in both Hebrew and Arabic languages.
- Provide outreach celebrations, Holiday parties, and other key projects to share the Gospel among Arabic and Hebrew speakers.
- Fund Youth events to enable the teaching of the Bible in both Hebrew and Arabic – in Israel & the West Bank.
- Sponsor evangelistic bus tours of Biblical sites for unbelievers.
- Support key evangelistic workers sharing their faith in Israel & the West Bank – in Hebrew, Arabic, Russian and Amharic languages.
- Enable evangelistic sports ministry & outreach.
- Support vital Arabic language, long term Gospel outreach, ministry, and discipleship from home-to-home throughout villages and cities in the Galilee.
- Fund Bible teaching and Gospel Radio Broadcasting in Arabic throughout the West Bank.
- Sponsor Biblical education efforts for Israelis in Hebrew & Arabic languages
- Provide long-term outreach and care being supported among Bedouin populations in Israel
- Provide an expositional Bible study and teaching seminar.
- Provide food to individuals and families in severe need.
- Provide food for Holocaust survivors.
- Provide care for the elderly.
- Help protect and care for unwed mothers and their unborn children.
- Provide medical help for children needing open-heart surgery.
The Joshua Fund has also worked in the Palestinian Territories, as well as in Israel's neighboring countries to:
- Fund life-sustaining heart surgeries for Arab children through a regional ministry partner.
- Assist local ministries that provide food and spiritual support for hundreds of refugee families in neighboring nations through a local Christian humanitarian relief organization.
- Host retreats and Bible teaching conferences throughout the Middle East for pastors, ministry leaders, and their spouses.
- Fund women’s Bible conferences and discipleship programs for those marginalized by violence.
- Facilitate the distribution of Arabic and other local language Bibles throughout the region. This number has exceeded 40,000.
- Conduct women’s ministry activities with those coming out of a religious background and new believers in the region.
- Fund the production and broadcast of Evangelical programs for Arab satellite television.
- Invest in supplemental support for pastors, evangelists, and gospel workers throughout the Middle East.
- Support and provide Bible school scholarships for students from a religious background.
- Assist with support for local evangelistic outreaches in war-ravaged areas throughout the Epicenter.
- Help local Believers in establishing church planting efforts in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq.
- Support efforts to reach the Majority people group by way of Bible teaching, discipleship, and mentoring.
- Establish the first-ever legally-sanctioned Christian radio station in northern Iraq, owned and operated by Iraqi Christians.
- Help build a ministry training center in Iraq, run by Iraqi Christians.
- Provide food and relief supplies to Muslims and persecuted Christians.
- Distribute New Testaments and the Jesus film in Arabic and other languages to Muslims.
Ministry Overview Other Resources Ministry Brochure
The Joshua Fund agrees with the Statement of Faith published by the National Association of Evangelicals:
• We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.
• We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
• We believe in the deity and humanity of Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, in His present rule as Head of the Church and in His personal return in power and glory.
• We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful men regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.
• We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit, by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
• We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost, they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
• We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.
