Straight to The Heart

We met a woman at one door who had a big smile and chatty children in the background. Although busy, she took the set and asked if we wanted a donation. We assured her it was a gift to which she smiled and thanked us twice. She assured us she would read it. A second set was given to a caregiver who popped her head out of the door to say her client was sick in bed. She thanked us quickly and closed the door.

 

We offered a set to a young man who was amazed by what we were doing. He said he already had a set and we spoke about the rising anti-Semitism and the situation in Israel. The father then arrived and confirmed that they already had a set but thanked us for distributing the bibles.

 

We then met a lady who claimed to be 92 but looked much younger. She spoke about her loneliness and after giving her a set and taking our leave, we saw her eyes tear up. We asked if we could pray for her. She declined the offer but invited us in to see her poodle and share more. We then remembered her from a few years ago when she had previously accepted a set. She relayed to us about her granddaughter’s illness. She had flown to Florida to be by her bedside, so we were able to encourage her with the Word and how the Lord gives us peace in times of illness. We gave her verses from Isaiah that she might draw strength from. She offered us a drink and we said that perhaps we would be able to visit another time, and that we were unable to stay. Please pray for her daughter and her granddaughter.

Though we know there are no accidents with the Lord, we inadvertently knocked on the door of the same female Holocaust survivor we visited several weeks ago. She was touched by our return and expressed concern about how much Israel is being targeted these days. She seemed opened to talking. We could feel her grief for the Jewish nation, and her hope in the coming of Messiah. She thanked us for the visit. She did not take the set because she said she could not read the fine print. We left by telling her that the One Who guards Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.

 

At another door, a Jewish couple was very touched when we spoke abut the prophecies found in the Scriptures, but they declined the set saying that they had their own books and teachings.

 

We then met a woman who was very welcoming and thanked us for the bible. We encouraged her to read it and saw her desire to know more about the coming Messiah. However, later, she came back to us saying that her daughter said they had all the books they needed for now.

 

We met another woman who had severe arthritis. She was very welcoming. She told us that she was at first afraid of answering the knocks on the door because she is Jewish. She received the set with joy but explained that since she herself does not read English, she would give it to her daughter. She gave us a hug as we left and thanked us in Hebrew with a warm “Todah Rabbah”.

 

Another young woman gratefully received the set. Our time with her was short as she seemed busy. When we mentioned the coming of Messiah, she said, with a hint of discouragement, that it’s been a long time that the people have been waiting; in fact, thousands of years. At another door, a man together with his wife received the set. He was indeed a character, jovial yet looking to be evasive when we asked if he would like to read Isaiah 53 with us. He spoke about his reading the Tehillim (the Psalms) everyday, yet he seemed to ramble on about things, in an effort to avoid reading Isaiah. In any case, they were grateful and thanked us for the good work of bringing the Word of God. They invited us to come in for a glass of water. We politely replied that we were going to drink from God’s Word.

 

At another door we met a tall, strong man with tattoos. He was pleased to receive the Tanakh but absolutely refused the Brit Chadasha. He had a big star of David tattooed on his right arm. We asked him to read Isaiah 53. He was just about to start and then said, “Oh but you know, these Scriptures have to be read in Hebrew to understand them”.

 

Another man received a set, with the door only half opened, but we still managed to mention that it was a book about the Messiah.

 

When we came to the last door, we had only a French set left and a Brit Chadasha in English. We thought to go get another English Tanakh in the car downstairs but decided to just stick with the French one we had. The door opened, and the lady said, “Bonjour”! We then gave her the full set in French. C’était magnifique!

 

In total, for the two teams, seven full sets were handed out as well a one Tanakh.

 

 

This past Easter, a friend of one of the team members asked for a set to be given to a Jewish businessman. He accepted the full set!

 

 

Though we both had a cold, we were so excited to go out because of having to cancel the outings due to the Feast of Passover. We knocked on 11 doors; we had seven respondents, three of which declined our offer and two others who accepted the full set. One accepted just the Tanakh and another young couple accepted the Brit Chadasha!

 

The first respondent to accept the full set was a 92-year-old widow who invited us to talk with her in her living room. She said that she was very skeptical about religion but was envious of our zeal for God! She seemed very curious about our faith in Jesus and asked if we thought it would be Jesus that will return as Messiah to deliver the Jewish nation and establish the Kingdom! She was very informed about the bible and listened as we expounded on Isaiah 53. We read the first five verses of Isaiah 53 with her and were amazed to see how we provoked her to jealousy.

 

Another middle-aged Jewish lady answered us. She was all smiles and gladly accepted the full set of Scriptures. We encouraged her to read Isaiah 53.

 

An older man accepted the Tanakh but declined the Brit Chadasha. As we were walking back to the truck to get another Tanakh, we encountered a young Jewish couple in their car. They did not have the time to wait for us to get the Tanakh so they took just the Brit Chadasha (New Testament) we had in our hand and then drove off.

 

Please pray for the 92-year-old woman, that the Lord would show her that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah. She said she understood that Jesus was born and had died a Jew and she even admitted to His resurrection!!! She had certainly been exposed to Christianity for her to say such things.

 

Please pray that we can set up an Edmonton Outreach team. We already have one person who is praying about joining us in this ministry!

 

Thank you for your continued labor of love in prayer for our teams in Montreal and Calgary.