As the days get shorter, the nights colder and we grow weary, we want to stay consumed by the fire, yet not burnt out. We know that such a thing is possible with the presence of the Lord in our midst. (Exodus 3:2)
 
We had two teams last Monday evening. In total, ten sets were given out.
In the majority of cases, people were reluctant to open their doors to apparent strangers, especially at night. But after explaining who we were and that the Bibles were a free gift, their faces changed, and we saw some smiles instead.

This is the report from the first team:

At one door we explained to a young lady that we believed that the Jewish people were chosen by God and that we just wanted to return this gift because it was through the Jewish people that we have the book in our hands today. The young woman replied, “This is cool”, and gladly accepted the Bible. Of the two who refused, one man in his 70’s told us to go home because of the very high winds we were experiencing in Montreal that night. The other gentleman told us that he already had his Tanach and if he was interested in anything further, he could always count on some of his Christian friends.

At another door, a man in his mid thirties answered and asked quite a few questions: where do we come from and where do the donations come from for the free Bible. He wanted to know if this was really a New Testament that we were handing out in addition to the Tanach. He then went on to say that he was greatly offended that in spite of the mezuzah on his door, we would, without regard to it, come knocking anyway.  Should we have explained at that moment that it was in fact the mezuzah that led us to knock on his door? Of course, we did not. He went on to tell us that he is Israeli; that we are entitled to our own beliefs in Jesus Christ as our Messiah but that we should never come to homes such as his (Jewish) to convince others. We immediately excused ourselves and upon leaving his doorstep, he added that we should go home and reflect on what we are doing: knocking at homes of honest Jews and giving out New Testaments. Through all this though, he did remain polite and never raised his voice.

The Second Team:

This was certainly a learning experience because when we got back into the car and shared this with the other team, this is what they had to say from one of the doors where they knocked.  They also had the privilege to meet an Israeli. She told them that she had read passages from the Brit Chadasha because of a Christian friend who had shown her some. Now she was curious. She asked if the New Testament we were offering was the same as the Brit Chadasha – the one her friend had quoted from. We told her yes and that we had one for her. We went on to share about the fulfilment of prophecies she would find in there. We also gave her a bookmark with messianic prophecies which would help her get started.

While one Israeli intimidated, another Israeli intimated an entirely different interest to us.

At another door, the woman we spoke with said she had read the Brit Chadasha and did recognize fulfillments of OT prophecies there.  She spoke about how the Word of God was watered down and wanted to make sure this was an authentic New Testament. How ironic that she would be telling the team this! She asked if she would find the answers to who the Messiah is through this book. We spoke more, and we gave her a prophecy bookmark as well.

Another gentleman who answered the door took a set and told the team that he had a Christian friend who had memorized many verses and reviewed some Scriptures with him. Now that he had the New Testament himself, he would be able to read it on his own. He was thankful for the gift.

To the gentleman who told us to return home and get warmed up from being out in the cold, we say this: “When even one Bible is received, our hearts are very warmed. In fact, the fire keeps growing as we know they heard, for faith comes by hearing the Word. We want to stay consumed by the fire, yet not burnt out. We know that such a thing is possible with the presence of the Lord in our midst. (Exodus 3:2)
 
Thank you for your continued prayer as we recognized that this free present will draw His presence among more of the Jewish people.
 

Calgary Report

This week we were only able to give one English Bible and one pamphlet. Last Saturday, while Donald (one of the team members) was out scouting for homes which had mezuzahs, many Calgarians were out working on their lawns.  It was 21C and sunny. This provided many opportunities for witnessing so a Gentile (English) Bible was given to a couple! On our outreach Sunday evening, a Jewish lady received the complete set but as we were about to leave she asked if we were Jewish. When we told her of our faith, she returned the set. One home had a mezuzah but the man who answered was a Gentile who was given a mezuzah by a Jewish friend while visiting the Polish camps. He accepted to pass along the pamphlet we offered him to his Jewish friend.

 

We tackled a locked condo complex that only had exterior intercoms with name lists. We attempted buzzing the names that sounded Jewish. Only one opened up yet we did not find a door-post mezuzah so we left. We haven’t had much success with condos in Calgary. In 2016 we got into one and were able to knock on many Jewish doors, but the superintendent then intercepted the work and escorted us out of the building! Please pray for us to find a solution because the next subdivision we’re going to be doing has many high-rise towers where many elderly Jewish people live! Thanks for your prayers!

Shalom from the Calgary team

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