Using ambulances for peace?
Magen David Adom is the Israeli ambulance service. Over 80% of its staff are volunteers and they are drawn from every sector of society - Jewish, Muslim, Israeli, Arab, Druze, Crhistian.... You name it and you will find volunteers. It is very common to have an ISraeli Jew and and an Arab Muslim working on shift together in an ambulance.
Equally, Magen David Adom treat absoultely everybody in Israel equally, again regardless of religion or politics. In fact, they even treat failed terrorists and anti-Israel demonstrators.
Thus it is an organisation that promotes unity in Israel. Furthermore, they work closely with the Palestinian Red Cross and frequently there ar transfers from Gaza for people that need to go to Israeli hospitals.
MIB Travel is proud of its association with Magen David Adom. Mark Madeley was one of the founders of Christian Friends of Magen David Adom (CFMDA) back in 2006 and is CFMDA's President. He is also a Vice President of Magen David Adom UK, which is the actual charity. In this county it is predominantly Jewish.
CFMDA has so far given 8 ambulances, 2 blood mobiles (lorries for collecitng blood) 4 medicycles (fast responder motorbikes) and paid for the refurbishment of the emergency room in Kiryat Shmona, in Northern Israel.
Why? If you want to find the first written record of an ambulance, we would direct you to Mark 2, where 4 men carry a poorly man to Jesus, the healer. The Latin word for walk is ambulo, ambulare from which we get ambulance. So today, we have 4 wheels, not 4 men, we still have the sick person and they go the healers the doctors.......................and as we are Christians, we believe to Jesus too.
For more information go to Magen David Adom's website or here for details on CFMDA - scroll down the committee list.