quarterly FOR CHRISTIANS WHO WANT TO KNOW ABOUT JEWS & EVANGELISM BEGINNING IN JERUSALEM by David Brickner, executive director We just celebrated a very special Shavuot one unlike any in the history of Jews for Jesus! Before I reveal what was so special about it, some may want a bit of background or a refresher on this holiday. Shavuot is a harvest festival. In fact, it s one of three pilgrimage festivals that God commanded Israel to celebrate in a very specific location: Jerusalem. According to rabbinic tradition, Shavuot also commemorates the giving of the Torah (Law) at Mount Sinai, and it is a time to emphasize community. Many Christians celebrate an event that took place on Shavuot, but most know the holiday by its Greek name: Pentecost. In the days leading up to that historic event, Jesus told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem (Acts 1:4). Then He made an amazing promise coupled with a command: But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8). Then in Acts 2 we see how the Holy Spirit came on the day of Shavuot in fulfillment of Jesus promise. Previously, the disciples had wrongly concluded that since Jesus had risen from the dead, His earthly kingdom was about to commence. They were all set to rule with Him in Jerusalem. Jesus departure, as well as His command to be His witnesses beginning in Jerusalem and ultimately throughout the entire world must have come as quite a shock. They thought their job of making Jesus known was done, when in fact it was only just beginning. And now I m going to tell you why this past Shavuot was so very special, and what made it historic for our ministry. Remember the Behold Your God (BYG) Jerusalem campaign I ve told you about and urged you to pray for? Remember how we could not reveal the dates for security reasons? Our Jerusalem outreach actually took place last month, and was in full swing during Shavuot! And, as with the disciples on that first Shavuot after Jesus resurrection, our job is not done in some ways, it is just beginning. I emphasize that because my first public announcement of our BYG Jerusalem campaign was confusing for some. When people heard that this effort was the grand finale of an eighteen-year program to have saturation evangelistic outreaches in every city with a Jewish population of 25,000 or more, some were very concerned. I received letters and calls asking if that grand finale meant we were shutting down Jews for Jesus. I began to realize that Jews for Jesus had become so identified with (continued on page 2) inside JUNE 2018 Beginning in Jerusalem Prayer prompters, cartoon and links for your convenience Bits from the branches in Los Angeles, London and Berlin A Shavuot coincidence leads to gospel conversations in Paris Jerusalem campaign: finished before it s begun? 1 3 4 6 8
women met with her. Due to the very sensitive nature of life in this community, I won t give details, but I can tell you that the husband was pleased with the visit and said he looked forward to the next one. Meanwhile, the wife was so hungry to study the Word that she and our staff member have continued to meet for Bible study. Our staff member says, Every time I leave she says, Don t forget about me. (continued from page 1) our BYG campaigns that some folks may indeed wonder what, if anything, might remain for us to do. Let me assure you, there is plenty to do! The best is yet ahead. In a sense, Jews for Jesus is beginning again in Jerusalem and to the ends of the earth as we bear in mind Messiah s mandate. We have been learning and innovating all throughout our eighteen-year effort, and especially in preparation for our recent Jerusalem outreach. Because Jerusalem is so different from every other city in the world, we began praying and thinking and experimenting well over a year before the outreach. As a result, we have developed all kinds of new and cutting-edge approaches to sharing the message of the gospel with a wide range of people who live in that great city. We formed teams especially devoted to different groups, including Russian-speaking Israelis as well as English-speaking expatriate baby boomers. We formed partnerships to reach those who are caught up in drugs, alcohol, prostitution and homelessness. We developed new ministry projects reaching the arts community, the sports community, university and yeshiva (Jewish education) students, and the Haredi community (ultra-orthodox Jews). Each team did some exploratory evangelism in Jerusalem well before the actual full-on outreach. During one such foray, a member of our Haredi team met a woman who has been drawn to Yeshua (Jesus), but is unable to express her beliefs openly in her community. While one of our men met with her husband, one of our In many ways, the command to be Messiah s witnesses beginning in Jerusalem has become new marching orders for what is coming next in Jews for Jesus. As you read this, we are still processing all that happened in Jerusalem last month. We intend to leverage many of the new strategies developed in Jerusalem to revolutionize our efforts around the world. We are all feeling great enthusiasm and expectation of what the Lord is about to do. I can t wait to share some of the details of our plans with you in the coming months. In a sense, Jews for Jesus is beginning again in Jerusalem and to the ends of the earth as we bear in mind Messiah s mandate. Of course, the key to success for those fi rst disciples who began in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago was the power of the Holy Spirit. That is still true for Jews for Jesus and anyone else who wants to do God s work in His way. Please pray for us to receive a fresh anointing and Holy Spirit power. We need and want to remain radically dependent upon Him as we move forward. I don t know how much more time we have before the return of Christ, but just like those fi rst Jews for Jesus 2,000 years ago, we cannot just stand gazing up into heaven. The best is yet to come... in every sense of the word. Please join us and partner with us as we relentlessly pursue God s plan for the salvation of the Jewish people! David Brickner is also an author, public speaker and avid hiker. Find out more about David, his writings, speaking schedule and possible availability to speak at your church at jewsforjesus.org/david-brickner established 32 A.D., give or take a year WE RELENTLESSLY PURSUE GOD S PLAN FOR THE SALVATION OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE. Jews for Jesus international headquarters: 60 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA 94102-5895; phone: (415) 864-2600; email: jfj@jewsforjesus.org; web: jewsforjesus.org; also working in: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Russia, South Africa, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom; editor: Ruth Rosen; art director: Paige Saunders; design and illustration: David Yapp; ISSN 0740-5901 Volume 9:5778, June 2018; 2018
FREE PLANNING RESOURCE HERE! Our free wills guide is a great financial planning resource, offering lots of tips on how protect your loved ones and create a legacy. To request a copy, call 877-570-6620 or email: stewardship@jewsforjesus.org PRAYER PROMPTERS Please partner with Jews for Jesus by praying for: wisdom as we follow up from last month s Behold Your God Jerusalem campaign Holy Spirit power and leading as we process the lessons we learned in Jerusalem to continue reaching out there and to the ends of the earth grace and strength for new believer Barbara in Los Angeles, and for a fuller understanding of Jesus for Katherine in Paris salvation for Morris and Nathan in London, Yonni in Berlin, Barbara s sons and daughter in Los Angeles and Katherine s mother and sister in Paris gospel seed to grow in the hearts of Russian-speaking Israelis who attended our Chagall event in Israel God s grace in strengthening the next generation of Jews for Jesus FOR ONLINE NEWS OF JEWS FOR JESUS AROUND THE WORLD GO TO: jewsforjesus.org/publications/realtime You ll also find a subscribe button there, so you can receive great content directly. Okay, so our new devotional isn t as epic as all those other great 70s, but it s still pretty cool, and we d love for you to join us in praying for Jerusalem. We ve chosen 70 Bible passages about that great city and provided a brief reflection and prayer based on each one. We invite you to download and print your own copy at: j4j.co/70devo. FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE The enclosed envelope is not a request, but a convenience for those who want to give. For those who want to give online, this URL makes it easy and secure: j4j.co/nl1806 3
Photo Jews for Jesus/Isaac Brickner Your missionaries to Jewish people in London, Berlin, Israel and Los Angeles have news for you! bits from the BRANCHES From Los Angeles, Annette Sofaer reports on an especially interesting journey to faith. Annette explains, Last October, a Christian named Kay asked us to get in touch with a long-time Jewish friend of hers, Barbara.* [That s not the unique part thankfully, people often ask us to help share the gospel with their Jewish friends! ed.] When I visited Barbara, I was perplexed by the wide range of religious symbols in her home everything from Buddha statues to a menorah to a painting of Jesus. As Barbara s adult son Daniel* listened in from the nearby dining room table, Barbara recounted the story of having grown up in a traditional Jewish home 70 years ago, then marrying a man who had grown up nominally Methodist. When the couple was looking for a religious tradition in which to raise their four children, they settled on Mormonism after a home visit by some missionaries! Barbara and her husband had hoped that practicing their religion would create a healthy family, but it didn t work out that way. Barbara (now widowed) developed a deep spiritual hunger that Mormonism could not satisfy. By the time I visited her she d been hearing more about Jesus from several good friends. Barbara (and Daniel!) both listened as I shared the gospel in full. Annette Praise God, the second time I visited Barbara she was ready to come in repentance before God and receive Jesus forgiveness! I m hoping that the newfound faith of this matriarch will affect her whole family. I had the opportunity to meet another of Barbara s sons, Bill,* who seemed less than thrilled to make my acquaintance. Barbara s daughter lives near me, and I hope to meet her soon. Please pray with me for the whole family to come together in a life-changing faith in Yeshua! From Israel, Valeriy Bolotov reports, Knowing that the painter Marc Chagall enjoys popularity among Russianspeaking Israelis, we planned an art event to present reproductions of his paintings. We heard about an artist in Jerusalem who was born in the same city as Chagall and has adopted his painting style. We asked her to share what she knew about the great artist with us and invited our contacts to the event. Valeriy The day of the event came and, as people streamed in, I feared the room would be too small but no one was turned away. The paintings created an atmosphere of beauty, benevolence and love. After the speaker finished her talk, visitors stayed to take a closer look at the paintings. People thanked us for introducing them to a completely different Chagall, one who as it turned out loved God and was well acquainted with the Scriptures. Twenty-five people filled out our survey forms, and all were enthusiastic. We have continued building relationships with them, taking every opportunity to have conversations about our faith. We were about to finish cleaning the hall we had rented, when a man who lives in the same building came in and started a conversation. He had recently moved to Israel and was looking for spiritual fellowship because, as he put it, he was searching for God. He left us his contact details and said that he would definitely come to our Hebrew language learning club. Please pray for the gospel seeds we planted that night to grow in the hearts of our visitors. From London, branch leader Julia Pascoe reports, I have mentioned Rachel in previous newsletters (most recently in Photo Jews for Jesus 4
are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. Photo Jews for Jesus/Paige Saunders Julia March). Well, since her baptism, Rachel has been looking for opportunities to share the good news of Yeshua with other Jewish people. Morris,* a Jewish friend who attended her baptism, has since been to one of our Messianic Shabbat gatherings. Morris grew up going to synagogue. He was struck by how many rules and regulations had to be observed and kept, and he began to wonder what his religious life had to do with God. During our Shabbat dinner, he asked questions and listened to the testimonies of four other Jewish believers. Morris is planning to come again to our Shabbat dinner. Please pray that the Lord will work in his heart, that he ll want to look at the Scriptures with us. This verse seemed to touch Nathan s heart and he eagerly showed it to Colin. He expressed how helpful it had been talking with a Jewish believer. Rachel invited him to our next Shabbat dinner! Please pray that the Lord will reveal His mercy and love to Nathan and that soon he will believe and receive God s forgiveness and new life through Jesus. From Berlin, branch leader Aaron Lewin reports, I first met Yonni* at an evangelistic fellowship for Israelis, which we put on monthly in partnership with other local ministries. He came with his friend, who is a regular. Upon asking me what I do, Yonni was very surprised to hear that I work with Jews for Jesus. He knows us from America, where he lived for a short time several years ago. As Yonni and I talked over dinner, he expressed an interest in spiritual things. When I opened up about my own spiritual life, Yonni was very happy to interact because, as he put it, he doesn t have many friends who are open to talking philosophically. When Rachel took her car for an annual service, Colin, one of the motor staff, asked what she was reading. It s a book on exercising, but I have a better book in my bag to show you, she said. With that, she took out Discovering Jesus in the Old Testament a daily devotional that takes readers from Genesis through Malachi, shining light on how the Jewish Bible points to Jesus. Colin happened to be a Christian. When he realized that Rachel was a Jewish believer, he ran to tell Nathan,* the sales executive, about her. Nathan is Jewish and Colin had been witnessing to him for some time. Nathan was busy, but he stopped everything to talk with Rachel! They sat for over two hours in the middle of a busy work day. It turned out that Nathan had grown up hearing the gospel; his mother was a Messianic Jew! As they discussed the good news of Yeshua, Nathan confessed that the main obstacle preventing him from surrendering to Jesus was that he d done too many bad things in his life and believed he was beyond God s forgiveness. Rachel explained that none of us deserves God s forgiveness, but that He is full of mercy. She showed him Lamentations 3:22 23 Through the Lord s mercies we Aaron Since Yonni was interested, we got together again to continue the conversation. Like many people, he is wary of religion, having seen bad examples throughout his life. As I began to explain my relationship with God and the quality of life that we can have through Yeshua, Yonni started to open up. I can see that he is curious and interested in Jesus. Please pray that we would continue meeting and that Yonni would find the stability he s looking for in Yeshua rather than in material things. *Names are changed to protect privacy. Photo Jews for Jesus 5
A SHAVUOT COINCIDENCE LEADS TO GOSPEL CONVERSATIONS IN PARIS KATHERINE S JOURNEY TO FAITH BY JOSHUA TURNIL, PARIS BRANCH LEADER Katherine* is a Jewish woman in her 60s. She keeps the Sabbath and lives a strictly kosher life; she is the most religious woman in her family. Though she grew up with a strong Jewish identity, Katherine did not become religious until the aftermath of a tragic malpractice incident, in which she was one of a group of victims. She was pregnant with twins at the time, and only one of the babies survived childbirth because of the medical mishap. Katherine decided to become very serious about religion and adopted a Hasidic (sometimes referred to as fervently religious, Haredi or ultra-orthodox ) lifestyle. We didn t meet Katherine until years later, after she d retired. Her children were grown and she decided to get a dog, Winky. She loved Winky. Not long after Katherine got Winky, she came to our Shabbat service. Her clothing and demeanor immediately signaled me that she was not secular. As I approached Katherine, I was very direct with her, You are a religious Jewish woman; shouldn t you be at shul (synagogue)? She said, Well, they won t let me bring my dog Winky to the synagogue service. If Jews for Jesus will let me bring Winky, I ll come to your services! Honestly, I didn t know what to think. I ve been a missionary for a long time, but no one had prepared me for this one! We decided to let Katherine bring Winky. I have not regretted it. Since then, she has also brought members of her family, including her son and granddaughter! She even invited me to the hospital to speak to her father on his deathbed. While there, I met her mother and other siblings. Recently, Katherine came to the office and was ready to pray to receive the Lord. After she prayed, her first question was, What does Yeshua say is allowed on Shabbat? She still valued her Jewish tradition, but felt the weight of religion was unnecessarily strict and wondered where Jesus stood! KATHERINE S STORY CONTINUED BY KARL DESOUZA, MISSIONARY IN PARIS Recently, I had a Bible study with Katherine. Though she has embraced Yeshua as her Messiah and trusts in His sacrifice for the forgiveness of her sin, like many, she struggles to understand how He can be God. Our study was based on the week s parsha (the weekly Torah portion read in synagogues). She was scandalized to read that Aaron, Moses brother, had been complicit in the sin of the golden calf that terrible idolatry that resulted in the death of 3,000 people. Adamant that my Bible must be wrong, she insisted on returning home to get her own Hebrew/French Bible to see what the passage really said. Photo Jews for Jesus/Paige Saunders Josh Katherine invited me to join her and also to meet her mother. She looked up the text and was stunned to discover that she d been mistaken, and her Bible confirmed what she had just seen in mine. This turned out to be really helpful, since Katherine pointed out that it is important to verify what the Bible actually says. I agree! I then turned in my Bible to Acts 2. As she began to read, she immediately blurted, This is the New Testament and 6
has nothing to do with the Torah passage. However, when she saw that the events of Acts 2 took place at Shavuot (Pentecost) it caught her attention. She remembered having learned that the Torah was given during this holiday and the story from the parsha was fresh on her mind. As she continued to read, her eyes widened and she exclaimed, 3,000 saved at Pentecost! POINTS to PONDER Editor: Here are some questions we pulled from the story you just read; your answers might provide some helpful takeaways for your own outreach to those around you! The parallel between the 3,000 who died because of idolatry and the 3,000 who were saved because they trusted in Jesus was not lost on Katherine! Was it disrespectful for Katherine to ask if she could bring her dog to our Shabbat service? Was it wise for Joshua to agree that she could? When do you think it is right (or wrong) to say yes to unconventional requests for the sake of reaching unbelievers? Photo Jews for Jesus/Joel Athia Shortly after our study, I met Katherine s sister and mother. Katherine told them how she had been mistaken about the parsha passage. This opened up almost two hours of spiritual questions and discussion with the three women. Katherine s sister says she doesn t believe in religion, yet she likes the idea of a relationship with God. Her biggest question is about suffering, and particularly why her sister has suffered so much. The subject of Jesus divinity was raised so I asked them: If the Messiah is merely human, why would God say that He will reign over Israel and all the nations for eternity? They received that as an interesting and thought-provoking question. Katherine s sister read many passages that we discussed aloud for all to hear, including Isaiah 53. She also seemed captivated by Jesus Sermon on the Mount. Please pray for Katherine to grow in her understanding of her new faith, and for her mom and sister to find salvation in Yeshua! *While her name was changed to protect privacy, an interesting fact about Jewish life in Paris is that many have names that are not recognizably biblical or Jewish. Karl Katherine does not have the whole picture of who Jesus is, but she has begun following Him as best as she knows how with what she is able to understand for now. Do you know anyone like that? What do you think is the best approach/way to relate to someone in that situation? Katherine and her sister had two very different reactions to the problem of suffering. Katherine s suffering led her to become more religious; her sister found suffering to be a roadblock to faith. What does that tell you about how to approach people on sensitive issues? RANDOM JEWISH FACT OF LIFE In a very strictly Orthodox Jewish home, having a dog is somewhat complicated by the fact that the family cannot feed the dog anything that contains biblically unkosher meat (such as pork). Nor can the family feed the dog anything that contains both meat and milk products! 7
FINISHED BEFORE IT S BEGUN? We have been praying and planning and pouring effort into Behold Your God Jerusalem for a long, long time. Can you imagine how thrilled we are to be able to tell you that last month as you were praying for the outreach it was actually happening? Can you imagine how glorious it is to be able to say that our month-long outreach to the people of Jerusalem has finally taken place? Sometimes we have to wait longer than others to see what He s doing and what part we played. Which of us at one time (or maybe even many times) has wondered how God will use our efforts, or maybe even how we will get through a particularly challenging task He s called us to do? Yet we can look beyond ourselves as we wait to see how it all comes out, knowing that God s got this. But there s just this one thing: You are reading this announcement in June and we are writing it in April. The campaign is in May. See what I mean? You are reading about something that just happened; we are writing about something that s just about to begin. If you get our online communications as well as our print news, you ve already begun to read a bit of what God did in and through Behold Your God Jerusalem. Yet as I write this I am still praying, dreaming, hoping, and yes, a little nervous. I was not part of the front-line evangelism, but I had the opportunity to help create a brand new means of outreach that just might open doors to a very difficult-to-reach group of people. As I prayed through the entire project I felt (and I sure hope!) that God was guiding me but then I had to release the finished work into His hands and the hands of those who were taking it to Jerusalem. And now while you re reading, I m waiting and anticipating news of the whole outreach, but especially the part where I got to contribute. In many ways this strikes me as a metaphor for all our service to our God and King. It s exciting and yet mysterious to join in His work. When we step into God s plans for His kingdom purposes, we can be certain that all prayerful and Spirit-led efforts to reach people for His honor and glory will bear fruit. But we can only wait and hope we get to see some of how and when that fruit will appear. You are reading about something that just happened; we are writing about something that s just about to begin. In faith, I can ask you to pray for God to nurture and water all the gospel seed that was planted last month, knowing that by the time you receive this, it will be a timely request. Think about your own walk with the Lord. Whether you are preparing to tackle a huge challenge or are in the midst of that challenge, whether you are waiting to see how some of your most earnest efforts will pan out or rejoicing in answered prayer God is at work in you and through you! When we are His children by faith and through the grace of a life surrendered to Jesus, all that is most worth hoping for is in His safe keeping. God promises that His plans will be accomplished. As long as we hope and pray and make ourselves available to join in what He is doing (versus expecting Him to join our plans), we know that however long we may have to wait to see things unfold, from God s eternal perspective it is finished! When our hopes and dreams are inspired by and aligned with God s will and His ways, we can rejoice and look forward to all the stories He will one day reveal to us. What a comfort to know that while we wait, He is always able to see what was, what is and what is to come! Ruth Rosen editor Front cover photo:?? 8