Texans on Mission volunteers served more than 80,000 meals in Israel in 2024.
The Texas-based missions organization works in partnership with Israel’s Emergency Volunteer Project, which provided more than 800,000 using equipment and facilities Texans on Mission helped develop.
“We now have 10 feeding trailers/units, each with a generator, that can be deployed anywhere,” said John Travis Smith, Texans on Mission associate executive director. “We can house 40 volunteers in Israel and expand that number if we need to.”
RELATED: For more stories on Texans on Mission, click here.
Texans on Mission organizes disaster relief training trips to Israel throughout the year, and it deployed teams a year ago after Hamas attacked Israel. It held its last 2024 training session in November.
“We now have 165 people trained in kosher protocols” required for food service in Israel, said Gary Finley, Texans on Mission Israel volunteer coordinator. “This would staff all 10 kitchens for two weeks. We are continuing training in 2025.”
More trained volunteers are still needed, Finley added.
“If there were a major disaster, we would run short of trained volunteers. So we need more,” he said.
On alert
Finley called 2024 a “roller coaster year” in Israel. The year began with the emergency response when multiple Texans on Mission teams served, which was followed by regular training trips, and then the entire team was placed on standby when the conflict in Lebanon escalated.
In a Dec. 18 email to trained volunteers he said: “For now we will remain on alert. I ask that you continue to pray for peace and safety for our partners over there.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Texans on Mission and originally published by the Baptist Standard.
