The Chosen People | NOVEMBER 2019 3
and gave me opportunities to serve the Lord. Chosen People
Ministries also helped me gain the skills to help others who
want to tell their Jewish friends about Jesus.
My wife came to faith in Los Angeles through the work of a
Chosen People Ministries missionary who trained a group of
Korean Christian teens at a very Jewish high school to share the
gospel with the Jewish people and, praise God, they shared the
good news with my wife.
I have been president of Chosen People Ministries for twenty-two
years, and am as excited as ever about the growth and potential of
our ministry. Of course, you have heard the aphorism, “Today is
the first day of the rest of your life!” Funny thing about this…it is
true. Walking with Jesus is never static; it is always dynamic. Our
world is changing, the Jewish community is changing, and Chosen
People Ministries is changing, too.
We are not changing or adapting the eternal message of the
gospel, although our culture pressures us to do so each day. We
remain more committed to the essentials of the gospel than
ever! But our strategies, methods, and tactics are changing
in order to reach a new generation of Jewish people with the
gospel.
More than ever, we need your prayers, help, support, and love.
Without you, we simply could not do the ministry to which God
has called us. Your Mission to the Jewish People is now in more
than twenty-five cities in North America and in nineteen countries
around the world serving the Lord among the Jewish people.
And as we step into 2020—our 126th year of ministry—we are
ready, available to God, and thankful for the opportunity to
serve our Lord, Jesus the Messiah.
Three Major Focuses in 2020 and Beyond
After a long season of prayer, planning, and discussions with
our staff, board, and friends, we have decided to embrace three
major areas of ministry starting in 2020 and beyond.
Israel
First of all, we are going to do all we can to reach Israel with
the gospel. There are more than six and a half million Jewish
people in Israel, and more are moving there all the time. Israelis
are now more open to Jesus than ever before. I believe that it is
the time to strike while the iron is hot—we are increasing our
staff and establishing congregations and centers all across the
country. We need your help and support to make these plans a
reality. We now have ministries in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and in
the northern part of the country among young adults, children,
Holocaust survivors, and more! We have more than twenty staff
members serving the Lord in the Holy Land.
Digital and Social Media
We are using the power of digital and social media for His glory.
We want to focus on evangelism, discipleship, and building
community online for those who come to faith. We are having
good success through our Facebook campaigns that engage
people with Isaiah 53 and a new discipleship series entitled
Follow Messiah. Soon, we will roll out other websites like Chosen
People Answers, an almost encyclopedic apologetics website for
Jewish people that I believe will revolutionize Jewish evangelism.
The Joshua Initiative
We are also investing in the next generation of Messianic Jews
and leaders in the field of Jewish missions. This is why we
started the Feinberg Seminary program in Brooklyn almost
fifteen years ago, which has graduated thirty students, most
of whom are serving the Lord in Jewish ministry. We are
discipling new Jewish believers and helping them become part
of our congregations and centers. We will also intensify our
efforts on college campuses and emphasize children’s ministries
through camping and providing educational resources. What a
joy it is for us to train young people for the Lord.
The Future Is Bright for Israel and the Jewish People
Can I count on you to stand with us in prayer and financially as
we embrace the future?
At the gala earlier this month, we rolled out the To the Jew
First Campaign based upon Paul’s statement in Romans 1:16,
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for
salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the
Greek”.
Here is a summary of what we challenged God’s people to
consider.
We are asking God’s people to support us as we focus on the
three areas we mentioned. The total campaign will be about $3.2
million per year. We will tell you our plans in the months ahead
so that you can better understand why we need this amount.
At the Gala, we asked our friends to consider making a
donation of $1,000 or more so that we can enter the new year
with $1 million towards the annual goal. These funds will
immediately help us pay the rent in Tel Aviv, supplement our
under-supported missionaries’ salaries throughout Israel and
other difficult places, invest in social media advertising, and
help support our seminary training program, camps, and young
adult programs so that we can build a future for the Messianic
movement until that great day when we will all be out of work!
According to the Apostle Paul in Romans 11:25–29, a day is
coming when all Israel will be saved. But until then, please join
me in praying, supporting, and helping us reach God’s beloved
chosen people with the unchanging message of salvation
through the death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah.
On behalf of our staff, I cannot thank you enough for your
faithfulness in response to His faithfulness.
Thankful to the Lord and for you.
Mitch
“Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is
for their salvation” (Romans 10:1).