“God, if Yeshua really is the Messiah, then show me.”
This was the prayer of a young Jewish man after he discovered that his mother, a Holocaust survivor, had secretly believed in Jesus (Yeshua) for twenty-five years. He was furious. Determined to disprove her faith, he set out to show her that Yeshua wasn’t the Messiah, but God answered his prayer. He came to share his mother’s conviction that Yeshua is the promised Messiah of Israel. Michael Rydelnik devoted his life to the Messiah and went on to lead Messianic congregations, teach Jewish studies and the Bible at Moody Bible Institute, and host a weekly radio show answering questions about the Scriptures.
The Power of a Transformed Life
For over 130 years, Chosen People Ministries has proclaimed Jesus the Messiah among Jewish people around the world. Time and again we have seen that one of the greatest testimonies to the power of the gospel is a transformed life. This can be especially true for Jewish people. Like many, I was raised knowing instinctively that Jewish people simply don’t believe in Jesus.
That is where testimonies like Michael Rydelnik’s come in. When a Jewish seeker meets a Jewish person who has encountered the Messiah and continued living a Jewish life, something often clicks. If this man or woman discovered freedom from addiction, love they didn’t think was possible, or a deep sense of purpose in the Messiah, maybe they can too.
I Found Shalom
This is why we have recorded more than 100 I Found Shalom testimony videos from Jewish believers and are actively producing more. Hearing in their own words what God has done in their lives puts a name and face to concepts that could otherwise seem distant and abstract: forgiveness, unconditional love, and new life. Just consider what Yelena, a Bukharan Jewish woman whose video we posted in September, has to say about the love of our Messiah:
“I was in awe. I was shocked. There is a man, there is a person that loves like this. I couldn’t believe that love like this exists. I don’t need to search for love . . . I am loved, and something that I was always searching for, I already have.” – YELENA
Or consider the words of Joshua Aaron, an Israeli musician and worship leader, about the change he saw in his life because of the Messiah:
“I was five when I accepted Jesus, andI remember that next day, I was changed. I started singing songs from that very next day. So when I came to grips with the salvation of Jesus, of Yeshua, it did something. Even though in my young brain, there was this truth that just hit me, not in the knowledge part of who Jesus was. It hit me in my heart, like there wast his feeling that He came into my life, and now my life is transformed forever.” – JOSHUA
Our heart is to reach not-yet-believing Jewish people with these stories. Listening to one story might not change a life overnight, but it can plant a seed. Maybe a Jewish viewer will reconsider whether someone can trust in Jesus and remain Jewish. Maybe one line or insight will stick with a seeker long after the clip ends. Maybe someone will realize there is more to this Jesus than once imagined. Continuing to create and share these stories is a priority for us because we know that stories have tremendous power to break down barriers, touch hearts, and stay with a person better than an argument.
Season 2
Recently, we have started releasing a new I Found Shalom video each month. Growing our catalog of testimonies expands our reach as we bring stories from different countries, levels of Jewish religiosity, and life stages. We will also record or translate videos in Spanish, Hebrew, and Russian. Our original round of videos have received 2–3 million views between Facebook and YouTube! Most importantly, these short testimonies have led Jewish people to faith.
Based on this track record, we are confident that the new videos we are posting will touch many lives. In addition to reaching Jewish people online, we provide printed materials that pair excerpts from these stories with a link to the full video collection. We share them with Jewish friends and seekers who are exploring the gospel. We tell Christians and churches about this resource so they can watch these videos with their own Jewish friends.
How You Can Help
There are many ways you can help us reach Jewish people with these testimonies. Please pray that many not-yet-believing Jewish people will watch these videos with an open mind. Pray that God will use these stories of Spirit-transformed lives to reveal Himself to His people.
Every view, share, and subscription tells YouTube that our I Found Shalom videos are worth showing to more viewers. This means that not-yet-believing Jewish people who have never heard of I Found Shalom and were not searching for it might come across one of these testimonies in YouTube’s suggested videos and click it. Find us at www.youtube.com/Ifoundshalom.
Send an I Found Shalom video to a Jewish friend and offer to talk about it together. Sharing this resource in the context of a personal relationship often has a greater impact than someone watching in isolation. Sharing these testimonies also encourages other believers and spurs us to share the gospel boldly. One comment on Michael Rydelnik’s video says, “We thank God for the Jewish believers. We pray for all Jewish people . . . to hear the gospel for salvation.”
Gratitude and Jewish Evangelism
Why are we investing so much money, time, and staff resources to make I Found Shalom videos? It goes back to the heart of our ministry. Our mission statement is this: “We exist to evangelize, disciple, serve, and pray for Jewish people around the world and help fellow believers do the same.” As a Jewish believer for more than fifty years, I am firmly convinced that Jewish missions is an essential gospel imperative.
Since those of us in the United States celebrate Thanksgiving this month, I want to focus on gratitude. It is one reason why the apostle Paul called on Christians, especially non-Jewish Christians, to support and spread the gospel among the Jewish people. In writing about his burden to see Jewish people trust in the Messiah, Paul called his people:
Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever (Romans 9:4–5).
Many of the blessings we enjoy as believers, whether Jewish or non-Jewish, came to us through Israel. The Scriptures, the biblical patriarchs, the apostles, and the Messiah are all Jewish. Paul wrote this in the context of warning Gentile Christians not to grow “arrogant” toward Jewish people (Romans 11:18). Rather, acknowledging these treasures should foster gratefulness, first and foremost, of course, to God, but also to the Jewish people. Christians do not replace or supersede Israel. On the contrary, followers of Jesus are blessed because of Israel (Genesis 12:3).
For this reason, we are called to bless in return. Paul even described Gentiles as being “indebted” to Jewish people by virtue of sharing in these spiritual blessings (Romans 15:27). The greatest way we can bless the Jewish people is by bringing the message of Messiah back to the original messengers. As we give thanks this month, I encourage you to give thanks for these blessings, pray for Israel, and consider how God might use you to bless Jewish people today.
Who’s Next?
May I share with you a sneak peek of the next I Found Shalom video that will go live on November 5? This participant said:
“I tried smoking pot a few times. . . . I was a heavy drinker. I was going to parties. . . . I was exposed to the New Age, which is a blend of Eastern religion, Eastern mysticism, and I was literally bowing down to idols and worshiping spirits. . . . I was homeless, literally broke financially, and broken. I had nothing, so I had to barter for a room . . .”
To find out what happened next and how the Lord turned her life around, go to ifoundshalom.com on or after November 5!
