Calgary
Thursday, December 9
Three of us participated in the outreach. Just before leaving the house for the outreach, we got devastating news that a very dear brother of ours, a pillar at our church, had just gone to be with the Lord. We felt overwhelmed and in shock as we left. But the Lord granted us the unexpected! A record breaking eight full sets were given out that very day. And for the first time we gave out a Russian-Hebrew set.
The Russian lady we visited last Monday, again refused all we had to offer, even the Russian set we had fetched specifically for her. After visiting 12 homes, we thought perhaps we could find a Russian speaking Jewish person at a Russian grocery store. Unfortunately no Jewish person was found, but a Russian Orthodox lady asked for the set, saying she had many Jewish friends who would be very happy to receive such a gift! So we handed her the Russian set for her Russian Jewish friends.
At the next home we visited, an elderly Jewish man gladly accepted the full set saying he would give it to his wife who reads Hebrew.
Another full set was received by a young Jewish lady who proudly presented her two children who smiled back at us. She was barefoot with the door fully opened at -3C, so we couldn’t talk for long. She thanked us for passing by.
A young Jewish man got out of bed to answer the door. He listened to us explain that anti-Semitism was connected to Genesis 3:15, an epic spiritual battle between the seed of the woman – the Jewish nation with her Messiah – and the powerful seed of the serpent. He was very interested and took the full set and all we had to offer, including a messianic prophecy bookmark, and two pamphlets on the Jewish Messiah returning to deliver His people.
Another Jewish man was happy to take all we offered: the full set and the new Messianic booklet on the return of Messiah. He seemed eager to read it.
An elderly Jewish lady kindly accepted all we offered including the full set. Her door was barely cracked open because of the cold air.
An elderly Jewish man thanked us but said he couldn’t speak with us since he was playing bridge.
We decided to knock on a door that had answered with a brash “No thanks!” back in 2017, but this time a smiling Jewish lady accepted all we had to offer, including the full set. How great is our Lord who can change people’s hearts!
The last home we visited this next home was back in 2018 when a French speaking person answered the door and declined our offer. This time no one answered the door. Just as we started the car to drive away, a lady suddenly came outside in her bare feet, waving at us. She identified herself as an Ethiopian Messianic Jew. Sadly she did not have a Messianic congregation to attend so we gave her Beth Ariel’s web address. She received our full set of Scriptures and all we had to offer. We told her that we’d be happy to come by again to visit our newly found sister in Yeshua. Her face lit up and she gave us her phone number for a follow up visit.
How great is our God, who alone can change hearts. We began both weary and grieving, but He lifted us up for the task at hand. Isaiah 40:29 He gives strength to the weary and strengthens the powerless! Many thanks to all who are interceding for our team.
Montreal
Friday December 10
One team of three went out to a very full parking lot in a Jewish area on a chilly day. A total of four sets were given out, four Brit Chadeshahs, and one Tanakh. About ten bookmarks and 67 anti-Semitism pamphlets were distributed.
A couple who said they had a Tanakh at home took a Brit Chadeshah in English. As we continued the conversation, we thought we heard a slight Russian accent and asked if they read Russian. They brightened up right away and said Russian was best for them even though they had been in Canada over 30 years. When we handed them a full set in Russian, their eyes nearly filled with tears. The husband immediately exclaimed, “No more TV! Just reading!” They were very happy to receive a prophecy bookmark and an Isaiah 53 leaflet, thanking us over and over again for all the gifts, nicely placed into a pretty gift bag.
We gave a French Bible to a Muslim man from Morocco, who told us the King of Morocco had at one point, protected Jews to a certain degree. We had other good conversations with Gentiles as well.
A woman who received a Tanakh didn’t know when anti-Semitism would end, but we told her it would be when Messiah returns. She said she didn’t know how she would recognize Him, so we gave her a prophecy bookmark. We also spoke about the two places for the afterlife as seen in Daniel 12:2, as our life fades away so quickly. She didn’t want the Brit Chadeshah, though.
Another woman accepted a Brit Chadeshah as she got into her car, listening to us speak about the Messiah as our mediator and as our righteousness.
Two sets were given to a woman who wanted to give one of them to an observant friend. We talked about the two comings of Messiah with her.
Sunday December 12
One team of two women experienced two touching conversations as you will read. We gave out 36 pamphlets and three full sets in all.
A retired officer from the Israeli army stopped to speak with us. He had recently suffered a deep personal loss only two weeks before. When we gave him a set, he had tears in his eyes and said, “You’re going to make me cry.”
He agreed with us when we said man could not bring peace to the earth, but only the Messiah. We shared the verses from the Isaiah 53 leaflet with him, too. We mentioned how God seeks a relationship with us, which is not taught by the rabbis.
After a long conversation and after asking his permission, we prayed for him and his circumstances in Yeshua’s name, and he said “yes” in Hebrew at the end. He kept saying that God had prepared for us to meet him at this time in his life. We also showed him the Beth Ariel web site and said he could meet with someone again if he so desired.
A Jewish woman was surprised to see that we showed her the Brit Chadeshah. She asked why people call the Messiah “Jesus” instead of Yeshua.
For some reason, her rabbi had previously asked her if she planned to become a Christian to which she replied she would always remain a Jew. Perhaps they had spoken about Jesus. We talked about how Jewish the early church was, and that Jewish believers in Yeshua would always be Jewish, even though they no longer follow the religion of rabbinical Judaism. She took the Isaiah 53 leaflet and was told how she could listen to the radio show here in town, since she doesn’t have internet service.
We encouraged her to believe in Messiah, and she said she believed in God.
In the past, we have had opposition in that area of town, but we had none that day. It was a great time of fellowship as we ministered together as a team.
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Praise God for these wonderful divine appointments and good works that He prepared beforehand for us to do. We cherish your prayers for all these in the report, those who have received literature from us in the past, and also for our future outreaches in Alberta and Quebec. Shalom!