FEBRUARY 2018 / THE CHOSEN PEOPLE - 7
NURSING HOME BLUES
Cathy, our staff member in the Scottsdale,
Arizona area, has been holding
Bible studies at a local retirement center.
Recently, the daughter of a Jewish
resident (Nancy*) complained to the
executive director that Cathy was using
Jewish verbiage to lure people to the Bible
study to speak to them about Jesus.
The management requested that Cathy
stop inviting people to the study or she
would be told to leave the retirement
center and no longer allowed to return.
The good news is that management had
no objections if Jewish people decided
to attend on their own! Since then,
Cathy has ceased offering invitations
and yet new Jewish people have gathered
weekly at the Bible studies! Each
week, Cathy has either overheard Jewish
people inviting their Jewish friends
to the class, or Jewish people have been
asking, “What is today’s lesson?” God
has a sense of humor, doesn’t He? And
Nancy has returned to the study of her
own accord!
A MISSIONARY AT AN
ATHEIST SOCIETY?
“Would you like some tea, young
man?” Igor was asked. Igor, our staff
member serving in Germany, had
been invited to speak at the meeting
of an atheist society and was surrounded
by twenty highly educated
people with rich life experiences and
astonishing scientific expertise. In a
few minutes, he would have to address
a group of Jewish scientists on a
topic that, as convinced atheists, they
had spent very little time thinking
about. Most could not believe he was
invited to address them at all since the
last presenter was a nominee for the
Nobel Prize! God has some sense of
humor!
“So, how did you come to faith in
Jesus?” someone asked during the
question and answer period. There was
interest in the room to find out more.
In the end, the scientists took all of
the Bibles that Igor had brought with
him! Igor also promised to introduce
the scientists to a good friend who
is a leading bio-chemist in Munich
who believes strongly in the Messiah
and who can explain God’s existence
through microbiology. This will be part
two for them. Please, pray!
AN UNUSUAL OBJECTION
Staff member Ryan K. recently met
with Mordi,* an Orthodox Jewish man
who called the Isaiah53.com hotline.
Mordi asked, “Let’s assume that Isaiah
53 does talk about the Messiah. If he
died for our sins and we are already
forgiven, then why do we have to
believe in him if Isaiah 53 doesn’t say
we have to?”
This was a new one for Ryan, and he
had to think for a while because the
question was so simple, but no one
had ever asked it before. After further
discussion, he realized that this was
Mordi’s defense—if Isaiah 53 really
did talk about the Messiah, then it just
might be Jesus, which was a difficult
thing for Mordi to resolve.
After more discussion, Ryan posited,
“Where in the Bible are we ever blessed
AN ATHEIST HOLOCAUST
SURVIVOR FINDS PEACE
Recently, Raleigh, one of our staff, met
Chaim,* a Holocaust survivor. As a boy,
Chaim and his twin sister were both sent
to a Nazi concentration camp. Sadly, his
sister did not survive. Chaim explained to
Raleigh that he was “born a man,” meaning
that he did not experience a real childhood.
After the war, Chaim moved to Israel,
and, at the age of seventeen, he joined
the Israeli army. He spent more than 40
years in the army and then, at age 65, he
was asked to retire, which he did against
his will.
Chaim no longer had purpose in his life, and as a lifelong atheist, Chaim became very
depressed. Then a miracle occurred. Through a local Jewish believer sharing the truth
of the Jewish Messiah with him, Chaim put his trust in Jesus as his Savior and Lord. A
short time later, his wife became a believer as well. Praise the Lord!
*names have been changed
by not having faith in God or in the
one He sent? Abraham believed in
God and it was accounted to him as
righteousness. What happened when
Israel didn’t accept the prophets? What
happened when they gave sacrifices
but with the wrong heart? They were
not blessed. So if Isaiah 53 is about the
Messiah, wouldn’t you want to believe
in the one who was sent by God?”
Mordi did not have an answer for that.
Please pray that he will continue to
seek the Lord! Ryan and Mordi are still
in contact.