JULY 2017 | THE CHOSEN PEOPLE | 7 EVANGELISM CLASS GETS AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR A church recently had our staff member, Greg, give a monthlong class called “How to Witness to Jewish People.” Greg was delighted to share his experience of 20 years in Jewish ministry with the church. One particular Wednesday, the youth pastor brought an unexpected guest— his non-believing Jewish father, Marty.* Surprisingly, Marty was nodding in agreement during Greg’s message, and even said he would read the Isaiah 53 Explained book that Greg gave to him. Marty agreed to meet Greg after the seminar to continue talking about spiritual matters over coffee. Since then, Greg is happy to report that he has met with Marty several times and they have discussed Messianic prophecy, the claims of Jesus, and the deity of Messiah. Marty is on the trajectory of coming to faith, but he is very honest that he needs to truly believe in his own heart that Jesus is the Messiah. Please pray for Marty! AGING HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS HEAR THE GOSPEL Israel staff member Maxim K. has organized a club for Holocaust survivors in Jerusalem. Sadly, over the past month, six Holocaust survivors have passed away. While they were alive, Maxim was faithful in sharing the Gospel with them and he writes, “I truly hope that I will meet them in heaven. Many of these survivors still do not know God and I realize more and more how important it is to talk to them about Him. We certainly help with practical matters, but it is the spiritual matters that are most important.” The good news is that ministry which specifically focuses on Holocaust survivors continues to thrive at the Jerusalem Center, and it is vitally important as these precious people are passing away. KOSHER AND COMPLICATED Our worker, Sergey, met with Sam* for dessert and coffee. Sam* refused dessert since he doubted if it was really kosher, but he did agree to have a cup of coffee. Over coffee he brought up the intricacies of kashrut (kosher). After discussing all the “technical” matters, Sam talked about the dishonesty of some rabbis who are responsible for approving kosher food. From there the conversation developed unexpectedly; Sam said that someone else’s dishonesty is not what matters because every person should be responsible for himself. He even confessed that if his life is judged according to the Torah, he will be guilty before God. Sergey used this as an opportunity to talk about faith, God’s mercy and the Messiah! The conversation with Sam was brief since he was working, but he stayed in touch with Sergey. *names have been changed ONLINE DISCIPLING IN TEL AVIV (AND AROUND THE WORLD!) Robin, one of our Israel staff members, recalls, “When I first moved back to Israel, I met Ben. He had become a believer two years prior, but hadn’t told anyone. He needed to grow in his understanding of Jesus before he could make his belief known. He knew there would be a cost. He wanted to know, ‘Now that I believe, what comes next?’ He had trouble finding that information.” Chosen People Ministries has a new discipleship program in Israel that provides online follow-up for those seeking and coming to faith at home through the I Found Shalom videos. The hope is that these discipleship videos will make the journey easier for many Israelis and Jewish people around the world (we are filming in Hebrew and English) who don’t live near a congregation or church, are under age to meet with someone in person, or need to understand more before they are ready for the next step. Robin is excited to be a part of this ministry helping new Israeli believers grow in their faith! WWW.IFOUNDSHALOM.COM
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