Mary Lowrey email response to Elisheva/Christiane. Mary wrote
this letter in November 2021
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Dear Elisheva,
I apologize for the delay in responding to your email. In
response to your questions, I have written the following:
In 1982, Van and I made our second trip to Israel – this time
with a Messianic Jew who made the Scriptures come alive for us.
We returned with a firm conviction that the Lord would lead us
into some kind of work in Israel. We shared this with some
friends who also had a love for Israel, and we began to consider
the possibility of forming an organization to support
evangelistic efforts in Israel, and spoke with a lawyer about the
legal requirements. Shortly thereafter, we met Yaakov (Jacob) Damkani.
We listened to his testimony about his conversion to
Messiah and his desire to return to Israel to serve the Lord. We
met one more time with the lawyer who filled out the paperwork
for the incorporation. The name of our organization was TRUMPET
OF SALVATION TO ISRAEL, INC. and the stated purpose was to take
the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to all the
inhabitants of Israel.
Four people, including myself, signed the founding papers. One of
them has since passed away and two have moved to another location
and have had nothing to do with the Trumpet of Salvation for many
years. Yaakov (Jacob) Damkani’s name does not appear anywhere in
the incorporation papers filed with the appropriate government
agency, nor was he a member of the board. We voted to send Jacob
to Israel as a laborer to work under the authority of our
organization. Not too long after that, Jacob came to Van and me
and told us about a house in Jaffa that he wanted to buy. I’m not
sure what all was involved, but he needed $40,000.00 "key money"
to purchase the property, which belonged to a church. Our mission
had just begun and we had very little money available, so Van and
I personally financed the initial cost. After we took possession
of the house, Jacob informed us that all of the electrical
wiring, plumbing and other items needed to be replaced, which
would cost another $40,000.00. Our organization provided funds to
cover this additional cost. With God’s help, the Trumpet expanded
to include numerous other families serving in Israel.
In the early months of 2000, Jacob called to inform us that
someone in Switzerland had given him a very large sum of money
which he used to purchase a piece of property in Tel Aviv. Jacob
informed us that the property was in the name of Root of Jesse, a
"non-profit" organization. He then informed us that the gift from
Switzerland had not been enough to cover the cost of the property
and that he had borrowed a substantial amount to complete the
purchase. The bill was due and he could not pay it. Jacob asked
me to write a letter to supporters asking for their help.
Believing the land was in the name of a non-profit organization,
I wrote the letter. Since not enough money was raised, Jacob
asked Van and me to loan him the money to pay off the bill, which
was about $50,000. We welcomed a mortgage on our house to raise
the money we needed. Jacob told us that we didn’t need to send
him any money until the loan was paid off, which we did. But then
he told supporters that we would NOT wire money to him as they
requested, which caused them to question our integrity. At least
two supporters demanded repayment of their years of support.
Our board chairman was Ron Maley, a very God-fearing and wise
man. He learned that ownership of the property belonged to a
non-profit organization, and I asked Jacob about it again. He
assured me that it was a non-profit, and I asked him to send me a
copy of the papers. He did – in Hebrew, which we couldn’t read. I
faxed the papers to a lawyer in Haifa, who said it was definitely
a nonprofit. Ron and Darlene traveled to Israel and spent about
two weeks with Jacob and the lawyer trying unsuccessfully to get
the proper corrections. The board asked Jacob to come to the US
and we held a special board meeting. He promised several times to
change the title to a non-profit, but finally said he would not
do so.
Jacob then said he
wanted to start an organization under our
name, Trumpet of Salvation to Israel. We asked Jacob not to use
our name because we had several families who served Trumpet and
did not know about his land purchase. Instead, Jacob requested
that we give up the rights to the name and
change the name of our own nonprofit organization. (We later
learned that Jacob had already established one or more "Trumpet
of Salvation" organizations in Europe and Australia, through
which he was secretly raising funds for his building project,
without the knowledge or consent of the TOS board to which he was
supposed to report. He also established a "Trumpet of Salvation"
in Israel and a website under our name, also without the consent
or knowledge of the Board. )
In order to change our name, a lawyer would have had to file new
papers, change several bank accounts, change all our printed
material, and do many other things. Jacob, however, insisted on
taking our name. As you know, this has caused great confusion
among supporters of our other collaborators, some of whom have
unknowingly sent donations through Jacob’s Trumpet of Salvation
website. We have no idea how many such donations have gone
undetected and have not been returned to their intended
recipients. On his website and in printed material, he states
that he founded Trumpet of Salvation for Israel, which of course
is not true.
All of this is so sad and heartbreaking. So much trouble and
heartache could have been avoided if the land purchase had been
handled in a legal and proper manner. Our board felt strongly
that it was morally wrong to accept monetary donations from other
believers to invest in a for-profit business, and Jacob’s actions
jeopardized our own legal standing as a non-profit organization.
We believed we had no choice but to sever our financial ties with
Jacob, which we did.
Before Van and I left on our last trip to Israel, I called Jacob
and asked him if we could visit, and he said no, he didn’t want
to see us. This was disappointing because Van was having health
problems and I knew it would be his last trip.
The huge emotional investment we made in Jacob was even greater
than the financial investment. He spent many weeks in our home.
We ate together and prayed together. We took him to all kinds of
meetings, from small home gatherings to speaking engagements at
large churches – some out of state to raise funds. We believed in
him, trusted him, and loved him like a son, and of course we were
saddened to see so much of the effort we had put into the work in
Israel not come to fruition. But all this is not the most
important aspect. The most important aspect is the spiritual
aspect. That a Messiah believer might lie, deceive and mislead
supporters about the use of their contributions is unthinkable.
My main concern now that more facts have come to my attention is
Jacob’s position before the Lord. We all have things in our lives
that we need to repent of and ask God to deal with us not as we
deserve, but according to HIS goodness. I pray that was the case
with Jacob.
Elisheva, I don’t know how you or Jacob would feel about an
opportunity that came up. J...... P........ told us about a need
in their community. They are no longer able to meet in their
current space and are in desperate need of a permanent location.
Would you and Jacob possibly consider using some of the funds
from the sale of Gilgal for this community?
I am very grateful to you for reaching out to me after all these
years. It has not been easy for me to put all this in writing,
and I welcome your comments or additional questions.
Blessings and Shalom,
Mary
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