Sometimes when we go out door to door, people ask us why we do what we do, especially when it’s cold outside. But it’s not about us and what we do. So we point our answers to Yeshua because it’s all about what He did. It is Yeshua Who has the right of way, having privilege and eternal seniority, always going ahead of us. We are not only looking to answer their questions rightly but we are hoping they will one day ask, “How can we be right before God?”
As we went door to door we were two teams of two and again blessed to have another sister praying and keeping a warm vehicle ready for us just in case. We thank God for His protection as the sidewalks and the driveways were slippery. Praise God; a total of six sets were given!
The first set was given to a young mother with three daughters. As she opened the door she immediately invited us in from the cold. As we offered her the set she was so thankful and asked us why we were doing this. We explained the reasons and then spoke about the prophecies of the Messiah. Just then, her daughter of about 13 years of age, asked us who the Messiah is. We responded by saying that He is the one Who will come and reign in Jerusalem and that all the nations will come and worship Him. During the conversation she also asked where we were from and we said that we were Jews and Gentiles studying the word of God. When the mom saw the New Testament she said that she would not read it, but she kept it just the same. We mentioned to her that the New Testament was written by Jewish men. As we left the house, we encouraged her to read the prophecy of Isaiah 53. We thank God for this wonderful encounter that we had and we were very touched by this young girl who was asking about the Messiah’s identity.
As we walked just next door, a man was in his driveway and asked, “What are you doing out in this cold? I am going in my garage now, so what do you want?” As we offered the set he asked us what we wanted in return for it. We said we were thankful to have received the word of God through the Jewish people. He asked us again what we wanted and again we answered that it was a gift. Religion has taught us a works ethic that is hard to dismiss. In the end, he accepted the set and thanked us.
At another door a woman answered and asked us who we were and why were doing this. Our task is to get them to ask those same questions, not to us, but about their Messiah. She took the set. At another door a teenager, maybe 18 years was quite surprised as we offered the set, especially when seeing the T’nach. He called his mom right away. As she came to the door she asked us where we were from. We explained that we had a gift and that we were from a congregation of both Jews and Gentiles who study the Word. We told her we love the word of God. She accepted the set with joy and reached down in a box that was on the floor, just beside the door and handed us a couple of kippahs. It was very endearing and we rejoiced and thanked God.
Here is the report from the second team of Montreal’s Knock and talk
Shalom and told her we had come to bless her with a gift. She assumed that we had found her because of the Mezuzah outside. This was very true.
She blamed God for the situation, had spoken to her rabbi, and wondered why God had not taken her instead of her son. We spoke about the Word of God, the Fall in Genesis, the promises, the love of God, the New Covenant and how God does indeed listen to the prayers of people (Ps. 116). She was surprised that we, as Gentiles knew so much about the T’nach. Although she seemed to appreciate what we were saying, she did not want to accept the set.
We assume that having a rabbi for a brother in law might well have influenced her decision.
But we felt blessed to have had the chance to speak with her. God knows her situation and knows her heart. Later, with the two teams together, we prayed specifically for this precious lady. It was a wonderful evening as we rejoiced for the sets that were given, for the wonderful encounters and the words spoken. Thank you all for your prayers until next week God willing.
From Calgary Alberta
Our first 2017 Calgary outreach has provided the opportunity for 2 bookmarks to be given, since the respondents already had the T’nach, and they did not want to receive the Brit Chadasha. In all we were able to knock on 6 homes with mezuzot; one of those homes was occupied by a Gentile tenant who wasn’t interested in a Bible, and in another home the occupants were absent.
The Lord provided us with very nice weather. We hadn’t been able to do any outreach for a while because of the cold and because of Chanukah. We are presently low on Hebrew Scriptures and Gentile Bibles, which is a subject of praise since the rate of distribution has been on the rise since this past Fall. Please pray that the Lord will continue to provide us with Hebrew Scriptures and give us opportunity to share with both Jews and Gentiles. May they accept His free gift according to His providential grace.
Shalom, shalom from Calgary.