Report for Wednesday, April 23rd
6 sets and 4 Tanakhs were given.
A team of three were out on this sunny day at a local shopping mall.
Team #1: Two team members, reported that they met a couple on Holocaust Remembrance Day, and wanted to offer comfort so they presented the comfort card and the anti-Semitism pamphlet. They gave them both a yellow metal pin in support of the hostages in Gaza and the couple gladly took them. The team had a conversation regarding the Jewish viewpoint of the Scriptures and offered them a Tanakh in Hebrew. They were told that the team was Messianic and believed that Yeshua was the Messiah and upon hearing this the woman became cautious in receiving the book, but the husband took it in his hand and kissed the book. They were thankful for the gifts.
They then gave a Tanakh to two separate individuals but had little conversation.
They approached a Jewish lady who was cautious with the team, and she asked them if they were with Jews for Jesus. They replied that they were not with them but that they were Messianic. In spite of the caution, the woman took the anti-Semitism pamphlet and comfort card.
Team #2 consisted of just one member. She gave out 1 set and 1 Tanakh. A set was given in Russian to a woman from Russia. It was apparent that she was angry and had vengeance as she spoke about the world situation, so the member spoke to her about the importance of having salvation and being reconciled with God because of sin. She assured the woman that God can take care of everything as He is a just and righteous God. She reminded the woman that vengeance belonged to the Lord. The lady agreed with this statement and received all the literature offered to her as well as the Beth Ariel contact card.
At first, a Tanakh was presented to a man, and he was then offered the Brit Chadashah but refused it. He seemed surprised to hear about Yeshua but he listened to all that the team member said to him. He did though, take all the literature offered. Many pamphlets were offered at this place and accepted. They then went to another shopping mall in the same area.
Here, Team #1 had a small conversation with a young lady from Chabad. They asked her for her age because she looked so young but found out that she was close to thirty and well-dressed in religious fashion. She was opened to listen to a conversation about the Messiah and the team touched on the fact that there was only one Messiah who offered Himself for the blood atonement of all mankind. They talked for some time about the Jewish viewpoint and how they believed Yeshua was the Messiah. As they were talking, the young woman’s friends joined them at the car, and they too were given a comfort card and anti-Semitism pamphlet. They continued for some time about forgiveness of sin. The team then left them to go on.
They met a man and had a long conversation with him as well about the two Jewish Messiahs, one named Ben Joseph and the other, Ben David. They told him that this was incorrect as there was only one Messiah and He would come twice and that in fact He had already come the first time and that He would return to rule and reign in Jerusalem. He opened up to them at that point saying that he had some Catholic, Christian friends who he was doing business with and that in this group, two were Jewish and the other two were Christian. He then spoke to them concerning some personal matters. The team brought the conversation back to the rabbis who believed in Yeshua as the Messiah during the first century and opened Isaiah 53 to him. They told him that they could recognize here that they wrote about the Messiah. The other team member, a male, had a special connection with the man and the man openly said that he did not understand why his two Catholic friends did not engage in going into the Jewish community with this information. This team member explained that he too was a former Catholic and knew of this position but that now he was here to tell him that some people like himself love the Jewish people and serve the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He told this man that he could easily say that today, he loved this man. It was a very touching conversation.
Team #2, the one member, on her own, met a young French woman whose mother was Jewish. When she saw the Scriptures offered her, she was surprised at the quality and asked if her mother could have a set also and told the member that this gift could not have come at a better time with everything that was going on. She confided that she was confused about her identity as her father was not Jewish and that she had been baptized as an infant. The team member confirmed that she was truly Jewish and took this time to tell the woman that she believed that Yeshua was the Messiah. The woman listened intently to what was being said and heard about sin and how this separated man from God and how the Messiah could reconcile man to God. She spoke for a while about her mother being courageous going to Israel every year and that they had a condo that they were trying to sell. It was located in a once beautiful place but that it had declined due to the situation. At the end of the conversation the lady said she wanted to know more and was told that she could call the number on the contact card and that the team member would be happy to get together with her to discuss the Scriptures further.
Another conversation began with a man who was standing near his car smoking a cigarette. He said his wife was Jewish but that he was not. They spoke about Yeshua, Jesus as the true Jesus of the Scriptures and talked about sin. The man confided that he had been Catholic and the member told him then that religion was made by man but that there was only one truth and he could find that in the Word of God. She mentioned how man distorts the word so it was important for him to have a personal relationship with God and how only Yeshua, the Messiah could make him righteous. She told him that there were only two places for his soul to go after death, the first place was to everlasting life and the second to everlasting contempt. She told him it was important to be reconciled to God for his eternal life. She said that the Messiah came to set up a Messianic kingdom, but religious leaders rejected Him. She said that some leaders did indeed believe He was the Messiah but many did not. She pointed him to Zech.12:10 and how one day when they see Him, they will see the hands they had pierced. She told this man that every man was responsible for this but that the Messiah would return one day and rule and reign in Jerusalem. He took the Tanakh then but said he did not think his wife would want the Brit. The member said that if he changed his mind, he could call the office and request one and they would be happy to bring him one. He was very thankful.
Another Tanakh was given to a man with a cane who was wearing a kippa. He was elderly and they met him as he was crossing to the other side of the street. They were concerned for his safety, so they joined him. He told them that he was from Casablanca and had returned to Montreal after a lengthy time away from Canada. He said that his daughter and her husband were with him. He complained about the bank being so different these days, so the team waited for him while he went inside to do his banking. They walked with him again across the street to make sure he was not harmed and offered him a Tanakh and a comfort card which he accepted as well as the anti-Semitism pamphlet. They told him that their rabbi was from Casablanca. He asked if this teacher was a doctor to which they said no, but that he came from a long line of rabbis but that he believed that Yeshua was the Messiah. He seemed interested so they told him that they had placed a contact card in his gift bag. It was another beautiful encounter.
They gave out many pamphlets and had beautiful encounters with people and thanked God for this time and His faithfulness, plus they were grateful for the many prayers that were offered up to God for the outing.
Report for Tuesday, April 24th
3 sets, 1 Tanakh and 1 Bible were given
The day of Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day brought sunshine and warmth to Montreal and the team was eager to meet with people and bless them with their gifts of the Scriptures. An English bible was given to a non-practising Catholic woman. She spoke mostly of works and so the team led her to compare the differences between religion and relationship with God. They said that God wanted to have a relationship with her through Jesus and told her that we all need to have reconciliation with God and that once reconciled with Him we could bring our offerings to Him. She was thankful and grateful for the gift. Talking further with her, she told them that she lived in a Jewish area and spoke of a neighbour who had just lost his wife and asked if she could take a set to him. She was given an English/Hebrew set and told that if he did not want it she could give it to someone else in that community who did. The team offered her the Beth Ariel contact card and invited her to come to the congregation on Saturday and reminded her that it was important for her to read the Word and to listen to the messages so that she would understand where her soul would reside once death occurred.
The team walked by a car that had tapestry on its hood. This tapestry had words written in Hebrew and a drawing of a crown was there as well. They were curious to see if someone was inside the van and at that moment a woman came out and greeted them. She was in her thirties, and she told them that she belonged to the Lubavitch community. They spoke to her for about 20 minutes and realized that she was into different books as she quoted a verse that was not in the bible. She had quoted this verse and the team told her that they knew that the verse was not in the bible and as she searched her phone, she discovered that the words came from Kabala. They told her about the difference between rabbinical and biblical Judaism. Understanding what they told her, she also recognized that they knew the Word of God. She then told them that it was important to do good deeds and to bring kindness but the team replied that she could do that only once she had reconciled herself with God through Yeshua and once she had done that, then she could bring offerings to Him. They told her about being born-again so that she could receive a new heart, the Ruah HaKodesh who would lead her to live a holy life and serve God. They spoke of atonement through the blood of Yeshua and about Yom Kippur. She said she was not aware of this atonement and so they spoke about Exodus and how a physical redemption took place. She understood the reason that the blood was on the door post and so they quoted Lev.17:11 to her and told her that it spoke of a final sacrifice and how the Messiah could remove all sin. They told her that in Isaiah it says that God can remove all sins and can wash us as white as snow and that our nature could not be changed by ourselves, that only God could do that. The woman wanted to film them for her group but was satisfied when they took a picture of her receiving a yellow hostage pin. She was given an anti-Semitism pamphlet, a bookmark, a comfort card and the Beth Ariel contact card. Just then she received a phone call regarding her son who was sick and she bid them goodbye with thanks.
A set was then given to a woman who was very grateful to take it. She did not know that it was Yom HaShaoh but she was invited to visit Beth Ariel Congregation and given the contact card.
They then met a religious couple. They were dressed in black and white and the man was holding a Tanakh. They received the hostage pin each and then they shared how one of their family members died in the holocaust They mentioned that they had 8 children and thirty grandchildren. They gave them a Tanakh and a comfort card. They hugged each other and were thankful to receive the Tanakh.
The team then left this mall and went to another shopping mall. Here they gave a set to a woman who spoke Yiddish but she took the set in English. They were also able to meet a couple of religious men who were wearing tzitzit and a kippa and were able to give them a comfort card and they offered one of the men an anti-Semitism pamphlet. The team finished here and praised God for a wonderful outing.