Dear friend,
Shalom from New York City!
I am grateful for what the Lord has done through Your Mission to the Jewish People this year. May I share several first-hand stories of “divine appointments” our missionaries had with Jewish people in which they had significant conversations about the Messiah? Some have even accepted Jesus quite recently through these efforts!
I know you will be encouraged and blessed to read these stories and most of all I hope you will pray for the Jewish people mentioned!
The first story comes from Joseph who serves in Brooklyn and is a part of the team planting a new congregation at our Feinberg Center. Joseph writes,
A couple months ago I met a young Yemenite Jewish man at my book table. Shmulik* was excited to receive a New Testament in Hebrew. It was as if I gave him a bar of gold the way he kept looking at it and skimming the pages! I showed Shmulik where to start reading in Matthew and as he read the opening words in Hebrew he grew very excited, “This is the genealogy of Yeshua the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Shmulik was beaming from ear to ear yet pacing around a bit, telling me how he was taught to avoid the New Testament. He was scared and excited at the same time. I encouraged Shmulik to think for himself, that he will stand alone before HaShem (the Lord) one day and have to give an account. He agreed.
Kirill serves in Chicago with his wife Elena. They came to the U.S. from Germany, but are originally from Russia. God blessed their ministry in Germany but today they have started two congregations for Russian Jews in the Chicago area. Kirill reports,
We recently had a great baptismal service! The testimonies of the believers deeply touched the hearts of those at the service. The testimony of a Jewish sister was very important to me personally. This young woman visited our congregation for the first time three years ago. After that service, we prayed the sinner’s prayer together. Her new life after accepting Jesus was not easy. After years of personal discipleship and ministry she was finally ready to be baptized. What she said before I baptized her touched my heart and life and is a great encouragement to my ministry. She publicly testified, “Coming to faith in Jesus the Messiah and understanding everything He did for me, I want to spend the rest of my life being in His service. What a blessing!”
Anna in Toronto tells this wonderful story…
Ronald,* his wife Sarah* and two kids, Samuel* (12) and Aren* (4), recently immigrated to Canada from Israel. Vladimir and I befriended them, and invited them to our home. We spoke about the Lord, and they were very interested, but could not make a decision right away. Little by little, Ronald and Sarah opened up to the Messiah. Recently we gathered together for tea. The conversation about the Lord was long, and at last they made decisions to pray. At that moment the doorbell rang and their neighbor, Violetta,* dropped by. She began to ask questions too, and we explained to her the way of salvation. Then we offered Ronald, Sarah and Violetta the opportunity to pray; they agreed. Suddenly, Samuel got up from the sofa, came to the table and announced that he was going to pray with us also. We held hands and bowed our heads. So that day, these four souls became children of God. Praise the Lord!
Person to Person – Heart to Heart
I hope these wonderful stories of God’s grace give you some idea of what He is doing among the Jewish people through our staff! I am thankful this Thanksgiving to work with such gifted and dedicated servants of the Lord who serve Him in the power of the Holy Spirit. We do all we can to help our missionaries by praying for them and providing the administrative support and guidance they need to fulfill their ministries. But, I realize that the core of our almost 122-year-old ministry among the Jewish people is what is done by the Lord through His people—person to person and heart to heart, one seeker at a time!
Robert and his wife, Joanna, serve the Lord in Brooklyn and are also part of the team planting a new congregation in the “other” Holy Land! Robert shares,
I’ve had the opportunity to spend some time with a young Jewish man, David,* every week and to study the Bible together. After going through the story of the Exodus, I sensed it was a good time to make the clear connection to what God has accomplished for us through Jesus. We discussed how Jesus is our unblemished Passover Lamb, whose blood has been shed to set us free from slavery, to redeem us, and to bring us to God. The time was right so I asked David, “Do you believe this is true of Jesus?” David answered yes. So I followed up and asked, “Have you ever prayed to accept Jesus as your Savior and gone through the door from a slave to a free man?” He answered, “No…but I think that would be a good idea.” We then prayed, and he accepted the Messiah!
Maxim, who serves in Israel, also shared with us a quick update and report about his incredible ministry among Holocaust survivors,
One of our Holocaust survivors came to faith and got baptized recently. We were praying for his wife who used to say she was not ready for such a step. Nevertheless, she always asked for prayer that she might have the faith that her husband does. Praise the Lord! She said she is ready and received the Lord recently. She attends congregation with her husband and we are eagerly looking forward to her baptism.
Online and In Person
As you know, we have initiated extensive online ministries during the last few years including our Isaiah 53 Campaign, as well as our newest endeavor—I Found Shalom. These websites utilize video testimonies of Jewish people who have placed their faith in Yeshua (Jesus) and are amazing tools to share the Gospel with Jewish people. We have received the contact information of Jewish seekers throughout the United States, Israel and many other countries with whom we are personally following up! May I share one quick testimony? A Jewish man who is married to a born-again woman watched some of the testimony videos we produced and accepted the Lord! The dialogue unfolds as follows,
The Jewish man’s wife writes,
After watching some of your videos earlier in the week, he decided to pray and ask God to show him if Jesus is really the Messiah. I prayed too and ask the Lord to show him in any way possible His truth.
We found out that he lives near one of our staff and I asked our missionary to follow up. She writes a few days later,
Just heard from L. She conveyed how D. is growing and transforming in the Lord. They’ve already attended a Messianic congregation. D also now attends church and loves the pastor!
There are many other stories to tell you as our Isaiah 53 and I Found Shalom campaigns have introduced us to hundreds of Jewish people seeking the Lord and the follow up has almost been overwhelming…in a very good way!
Thank You for Caring!
Will you commit to praying for our missionaries, as well as all the Jewish people (and Gentiles!) they are ministering to? Your prayers are a vital part of our ministry!
We deeply appreciate your prayers and faithful financial support of our missionaries.
We established the “Daniel Fuchs Memorial Fund” for our under-supported missionaries who are still working on raising their full support (Dr. Fuchs was one of our former presidents who served Chosen People Ministries for many decades). Though we need your support in general, you might want to give a special gift this month to help one of our missionaries who have not yet raised their full support.
Your gifts keep Your Mission to the Jewish People moving forward for the Lord.
It takes a village to proclaim the Gospel throughout the world and to be able to follow up on individuals who want to know more about our Savior. So, your financial investment makes all the difference in the lives of our staff and, of course, in eternity for the Jewish people we reach for Jesus the Messiah.
Happy Thanksgiving! I pray this season of the year will give you great joy for all He has done for us through His Son.
Dr. Mitch Glaser 