Montreal, Quebec
October 28th
There were two teams this evening. Each team gave out one set.
Can we say that we felt a darker than usual spirit being out in the streets that night? Many homes were decked with ghosts and cemeteries, witches’ brooms, and orange lanterns in preparation for Halloween. It was uncomfortable making our way through cotton fabricated spider webs, but we did. Of course, we were not expecting any sort of sweets from those behind the door but wanted instead to offer the nourishment from the Word of God.
The first team met a middle-aged man who asked if he needed to pay for the books, and questioned them as to why it was free. They told him that the value of the books have more worth than anyone could really afford. They told him how valuable it was because it was God’s word. He took the set. This was the first door they knocked on that evening and the only home to which they gave a set.
Strangely enough, the other team had received refusals and found empty houses the entire evening until the very last door. There, they were able to give a set to a woman who was a caregiver of an elderly Jewish person. The team asked if she might want to read it to her employer. The caregiver took the set. We pray she would read from this book which does not speak of the fear of ghosts, but rather the fear of the Lord Who would hallow her with holiness.
Nov. 4th
We had one team of 3 people. We gave out 4 full sets, one Tanach, and one English-only Bible.
At the first door, we met a woman of about 40 years of age. When we offered her the set, she seemed so pleased. She told us that she had just ordered a French Tanach online at Amazon and would love to now receive the English/Hebrew version. When we offered her the New Testament, her son of about 10 years old, who was standing by her at the time, took the book and left with it. The mom then told us that she would read the book with him later. We had time to share about the Messiah and Isaiah 53. What startled us during this encounter was that at the very moment that her son left with the New Testament, we heard a loud shofar blast coming from inside the home. The woman explained that it was her husband who was practicing. He sounded well trained. We had just heard the shofar numerous times over the high Holidays, so it was a sound that was easily recognizable. We pray that the sound of a divine flourish of trumpets would be heard in that home and that this delivered gift would deliver them into the Kingdom one day soon.
At the next door a man opened, quickly took the set without much conversation at all, thanked us, and closed the door.
At the third door, a gentleman questioned us as to why we were doing this. We shared our faith, spoke about the Bible, about prophecy and Israel. We explained the covenants that God made with Israel. He was listening to everything we said without questioning us. He took the set and even gave us his name so that we could pray for him. Please pray for M. Thank you.
At another door, we were met by a woman who claimed to be very sick. Telling us not to get too close, she took only the Tanach and graciously thanked us for the gift.
One elderly man opened the door and told us that it was too late and too dark to receive anything from people. We explained what the gift was, but he repeated that it was too dark outside. Let us pray that it is not too late for the darkness to be lifted off from many who need to see the light of God.
At another door, we met a man who was rather tall. As we began sharing with him and asking him if he would like to receive the set, we heard his wife just behind him, who being rather short herself, was totally out of view. But what we did hear was every time we asked a question, it was his wife from behind who answered. He merely repeated what his wife said. He may be tall, but we saw who was truly head of the family.
There were quite a few refusals this evening and many absentees. At our last door, which was in an orthodox section of the suburb, a woman who was not religious kindly took the set. Without saying much, she thanked us as we left.
We did knock at one door where a Gentile woman answered. She had recently moved in and had not removed the mezuzah from her door. This gained her a gift as she thankfully received the English only Bible.
Thank you as you continue to pray along side us in our weekly Knock and Talk outreaches.
From Calgary, Alberta
Nov. 6th
On our first outreach since the Fall Festivals, we revisited nine previously absentee homes. Only one household responded, where a middle aged and very busy mom accepted an Isaiah 53 leaflet while on the go. On that Sunday afternoon the great majority (8/9) were absent, so we decided to try a new strategy – revisit these same homes on a weekday!
We got out at 6 PM that day. Our strategy worked well. Out of these eight homes, only two didn’t respond, three full sets were distributed, and we had a good conversation with a young man.
Our first respondent was a middle-aged man who accepted the full set of Scriptures. As he was about to close the door we pointed out Isaiah 53 and inserted the leaflet for him to read!
The next respondent was a young man who graciously refused our gifts, pointing out that he was Jewish and fully satisfied with his religion. He also claimed that he reads the Tanach but the New Testament spoke of Jesus and that wasn’t for him! One of the team members immediately exclaimed, “Yes, but Jesus fulfilled the Jewish prophecies”. The respondent denied that claim. We then invited him to read the Isaiah 53 leaflet and accompanying Talmudic writings so that he could cross-examine our claim that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah! Once again, he refused, but seemingly touched by our love for his people, and thanked us for our visit. We then exchanged blessings with him before leaving!
Our next respondent was a young mom who very happily accepted the full set of Scriptures, thanking us for our generosity. She was barefoot at the time and since the outside temperature was -10 C, we weren’t comfortable exposing her for very long to such blistering cold. We briefly encouraged her to read Isaiah 53 and the Talmudic writings on the leaflet.
The very last door we knocked on was one where the occupant was hospitalized, but a young lady (most likely Christian) was caring for the pet dog. She happily took the full set of Scriptures, promising to pass them on to the Jewish man. She congratulated us for our work!
We are very grateful to the Lord for the very touching responses we get from our Jewish neighbors!
On another note, we did have the opportunity to invite C., a Jewish convert, for coffee or lunch. He took our phone number, so we look forward to another opportunity to speak with him.
While scouting out another subdivision of Jewish homes in Calgary, the team had a great time of fellowship and had the opportunity to witness to people they met along the way!
In total, we now have well over 200 homes we need to visit in the upcoming months! We greatly appreciate your prayers in support for our work among the Jewish people in Calgary!
Shalom shalom from the Calgary team