Knock and Talk week of March 19-23, 2017
Montreal, Quebec
It was a beautiful evening. We had one team with two people. We packed up the car with 10 Bible sets and were delightfully blessed to have given out 6 of them plus one New Testament. At the first door we needed to leave the Bible set on the chair outside because the woman was unable to open her door. At the second house the gentleman was very pleased to receive the full set and at the third door the woman said she already had a Tanach, but she readily received just the New Testament.
At another home, we again were asked to leave the Bible set outside on a chair because the gentleman claimed he was unable to get to the door. Though the books were not given directly into the recipients’ hands, the people at both these homes knew what they were receiving.
One lady was very surprised that we were handing out Bibles, but showed great appreciation and took a set. At one home, the woman did not want to open her door and asked that we kindly leave the set in her mailbox, which we did. The final set was given to an Israeli woman who wasn’t that familiar with the Scriptures or with religion in general. Hearing that, we thought, “What a perfect way to begin so that she may get a clear picture from the start.” We explained what the Tanach was. When she understood, she received both the Old and New Testaments. As we reflected on the evening, leaving the sets on the chairs outside made us a bit skeptical but when we know Who the chairman of operations is, we know to leave all things in His lap. Yes, climbing into the lap of our Heavenly Abba gives as the peace of a satisfied and restful child.
Calgary, Alberta
Because of the Jewish feast of Purim, we skipped going out that Sunday but were able to get out this past Sunday! We knocked on 6 doors which had mezuzahs. There were 3 absent households as well as three responses. One lady was understandably upset because they were about to have supper but we were surprised when she accepted all we offered including the full set and a pamphlet! Another lady refused the Scriptures claiming she already had both the OT and the NT but hastily accepted the pamphlet, “It Is Written” and then closed the door. The third lady who answered was surprised that Jewish people were doing a door to door outreach. We immediately admitted to being Christians (Gentile believers) who loved the nation of Israel. She bluntly responded with, “I pass”. While door to door evangelism might evoke criticism from those who feel their privacy being threatened, let’s remember that the God of Israel goes much deeper than a knock on the door in revealing to us the secret faults that lie deep within the crevices of our hearts. May our knocking be the first step in reaching these people, sharing the truth about the Messiah and may the Lord clean out sin and knock good sense (godly wisdom) into their lives.
We’re grateful to the Lord that more families are accepting this free gift but humbly plead with Him that Jewish households in Calgary would be more willing to take the time to share with us concerning the Scriptures. We pray that the Lord continues to bless all the outreach that is going on with those whose hearts burn to share His Word.
Buffalo, NY
Last night we again visited the Weinburg Campus. This is the same building we visited the week before. Out of the 64 apartments in this new wing, we saw only five which had mezuzahs. Quite a surprise as this is a very Jewish residence. There are Jewish paintings everywhere. They celebrate Shabbat each week. Where have all the Jews gone? In four of the five Jewish apartments there were no answers. At the fifth, the woman refused the set. We then revisited seven Jewish homes from the previous week and had only one answer where the lady was asleep but the caregiver was very happy to take the set for her. She insisted on taking the NT as well. The woman residing in this apartment is the sister of the gentleman we prayed for last week — the one who was having the operation. The caregiver mentioned what a great family they are! How interesting that several siblings are living in the same dwelling, with each one in their 90’s! May this allow for an easier opportunity for each sibling to influence the other in receiving Yeshua as their Permanent Indweller. Next week we plan to revisit the gentleman who had the operation. We will also revisit the ten others where there was no answer, perhaps at a different time of day so that we may catch them at home. “He who scattered Israel will gather him”! We are so blessed to be a part of this work.