What is wonder? It’s what takes your breath away and then when you get it back again, you are changed because of the wonder that has filled you.
Shalom Aleichem!
Although I am always repeating that the night of outreach was amazing, there are no empty echoes here. Rather it is a confirmation of God’s amazing work. New souls are each time receiving the Scriptures and that is what qualifies these evenings as truly amazing! The wonders of God are always a matter of perspective. Don’t say your day was awful, but instead, unearth the true root of that word. We treasure the awe-filled moments each day and with each evening’s outreach.
Although we were only one team, Danielle and myself, the Scriptures were distributed in abundance. We gave out a total of 14 sets that night alone! The minute we arrived at the building, God renewed His usual blessings by having someone there to let us in.
Many of the residents we visited were over 60 years of age and did not open up right away! They first asked us from behind their closed door what we wanted. When they heard Danielle‘s soft spoken and inviting voice, they opened their doors to us! The large majority of them joyfully accepted the Scriptures and many told us we were doing a great work.
When one woman in her 60’s asked us why we were doing this, we told her we wanted to bless her with the Scriptures. She explained that she had studied Judaism in depth and showing us the New Testament we had just given her, she affirmed that her curiosity would lead her to read what was in this Book. In fact, she promised us she would. Let us pray her way toward completing that pledge!
Later on, we met an older woman who had just returned from the hospital. She told us our timing was perfect and asked us which Testament (New or Old) to start reading first. We encouraged the Spirit’s work and gave her the option of being inspired in her choice…and told her to read both… after all, they really form one Book and complete the work of the Author of inspiration. We also gave her the bookmark on the Messianic prophecies.
Later on, we met 2 Moroccan Jewish ladies who asked us for the French/ Hebrew Scripture edition. While Danielle ran down to the car to get one, I stayed with them so we could converse even more. It was great. We spoke about messianic prophecies and the vast differences between Catholicism and the Jewish/Biblical perspective of the New Testament. We really had very good discussion time about Yeshua and one of the ladies asked for another set for her daughter. She said we were a very pleasant surprise!
We also met another older woman who said she desired to read the New Testament but could not read much of anything these days because of her eyes’ macular degeneration. Here we had a Jewish woman wanting to read the New Testament, yet unable to and it broke our hearts. We promised her we would find a French audio version of the New Testament. She invited us to come back with it. She was so happy with our visit that she took a set for her son and was holding it with great care and gratitude. It was all very touching! We pray that those same words of hope which Yeshua spoke into the ears of the blind men He healed would be equally effective in bringing this woman to salvation because faith, after all, comes by hearing.
Another Jewish woman wanted a set in French but since we had already given them all away, we promised to come back within 2 weeks. She said, “Come back as soon as possible!” and by the grace of God, we hope to! So we definitely praise the Lord for all of these exceptional encounters and ask each one of you who support us in prayer to keep on because it works. And if it works to plant the seeds through the giving of Scripture, we believe it will work to grow and reap the harvest as well.
Have a blessed week!
Hugues
We want to encourage our readers about the ongoing work in Calgary.
Here is this past week’s report:
John was our new team member this past Monday night. We rang 11 doors altogether, 3 of them with mezuzahs. The first Jewish man said no. At the second door no one was at home and at the third home Robert (not his real name) answered and we offered him the T’Nach and New Testament. He asked who we were and why we were doing this. I said I believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and in gratitude for that, we wanted to make sure everyone in Calgary had a bible in their home.
The conversation was fluid and Robert was open and receptive. He acknowledged that these were indeed difficult times for both Jewish people and believing Christians. We discussed Isaiah 53 and shared how the Messiah had to come twice; first as the suffering Messiah ben Joseph and then as the glorious Messiah ben David. I shared my excitement about the most incredible Book in the world and spoke of my gratitude to the Jewish people who were chosen to preserve this timeless Book. We discussed the world’s state of affairs, especially in Europe. This was of particular interest to Robert since his son joined the Israeli army and stayed on to take up residence there. Interestingly, this man had recently started a nonprofit organization to teach on the prevention of anti-Semitism. Through all the many topics we touched upon that evening, we always returned back to the base of our hope… the Bible itself. We left him with Ariel’s web site (www.arielcanada.com) and encouraged him to seek out the teaching there.
We look forward to your valued presence with us next week as you pray when we return to the streets of Calgary.
John, Donald (on holidays) and Valerie