Friday January 5
On a chilly day, two ladies went to a local Jewish area and spoke to shoppers at a strip mall, with literature for both Jews and Gentiles. We wished a happy new year to the latter, offering them our Christmas tract and saying it offered joy for the new year. Most people returned the wishes, smiled, and accepted the literature. When we saw someone Jewish, we offered a tract on the blessing of Israel and usually a card of verses from the Hebrew Scriptures with words of comfort for the Jewish community following the October 7 massacre in Israel and the outbreak of global as well as local anti-Semitism. Most did not accept when we also offered the Tanakh, saying they already had one, or that it was too big. In all, we gave out two full sets of Scriptures, one Tanakh, one English Bible, over 100 Christmas tracts, and over 30 tracts to Jewish people.
The first conversation we had was with Arlene, a Jewish woman who had already professed belief in Yeshua. She asked us to pray for her friend Jack, who has some health issues.
We met a woman who had previously prayed for salvation with us. She was with her son, and said she was planning to come to the congregation soon.
A Muslim man was interested in hearing more about Jesus and salvation, and happily took an English Bible.
A Caribbean gentleman said he was really interested in hearing more and speaking more about Jesus and the salvation He offers. We told him he could make an appointment with someone if he called the office number.
One Jewish woman who received the tract on the blessing of Israel thanked us in Hebrew, saying, “Todah!”
A man from India came up to us and asked to have one of the tracts. We invited him to Beth Ariel and mentioned that there were some people from India who regularly attend the service.
We met a Jewish woman who we had previously encountered from a past outreach. This time though, she took a tract on the blessing of Israel for her Jewish friend.
A Muslim man from Egypt was very concerned about the current situation in the Middle East and took a Christmas tract.
A French-speaking Jewish woman was very grateful to have a full set and was impressed that it was free but kept trying to offer us money. We insisted that we take no gifts.
A Jewish man who had dropped some money on the ground had initially refused to take the tract, but when he found all of his money with our help, he said that he was blessed and then accepted the tract. God orchestrates everything so perfectly!
A Jewish woman smiled and nodded at us from inside a restaurant in the strip mall. The team member then walked into the business and confidently offered her a tract on the blessing of Israel, which she accepted.
A full set was received by an orthodox woman whose young son was already seated in the car. She was busy piling their grocery bags into the back and was surprised by the fact that everything was free and that we would not accept donations to offset the cost. She happily took the gift bag, wished us well, and thanked us with a big smile.
An ultra-Orthodox man spent time talking to the Jewish team member, saying that God (HaShem) was always with her as a “good soldier!” Upon hearing she was single, he promised that Messiah would find her a husband when he returns. We spoke of how the rabbi from New York who was held up as Messiah did not fulfill the biblical requirements for being from the tribe of Judah and born in Bethlehem. We said we believed Messiah was coming back after initially coming to redeem us first. After carefully examining the Tanakh, he accepted one in a gift bag, along with the tract for Israel, exclaiming we should be courageous in our distribution. If only he knew…
Monday January 8
Two ladies went to a Jewish neighborhood after dark to begin door to door evangelism following the October 7 attacks in Israel. It has now been three months. We have heard of threats and attacks on Jewish people here in Montreal and refrained from going out at night when Jewish people would be leery of opening their doors. Not knowing what the response would be, we went back to finish the street we had begun during the holiday of Sukkot, or Tabernacles last fall. The snowplows had piled up snowbanks the length of all the streets, and the sidewalks and stairs at private homes had snow as well, but the street sidewalks were fairly clear. We noticed that more homes had outdoor lights on than when we went in September. Were they being more cautious about possible unfriendly visits? As in other Jewish neighborhoods, many homes have doorbells with a camera so they can screen those who are at their doors.
We chose to greet people with “Shalom, shalom!” as soon as they opened their doors a crack to see who was there. Everyone opened their doors completely on this fairly mild winter night. Most took our tract on anti-Semitism as we expressed solidarity with the grieving community, now more fearful for their own safety. We also gave the comfort cards and said we were all needing to take refuge in God alone in these difficult times. We met a mix of French and English speakers during the two hours we were out.
One man, who jokingly said he stopped being Jewish after his Bar Mitzvah, took quite a bit of time to talk to us at the door. We talked about sin and about blood atonement for his personal sins and challenged the traditional unscriptural Yom Kippur rituals of modern Judaism. He did not want a Tanakh, but accepted the Brit Chadashah, the leaflet with four verses from Isaiah 53, the messianic prophecy bookmark, the card, and the tract on anti-Semitism. He said he hoped a messiah would come. He wished us well and cautioned us to be careful as we continued on our way that night.
Others at the door accepted the anti-Semitism tract, acknowledging that times had changed significantly for Jews around the world. We gave the cards to comfort and encourage them to look to the God of Israel.
A very friendly and more religious French speaking young man happily accepted a Tanakh from us, saying he did not want the New Testament. He said he would take everything else we were offering and warned us to be watchful as we went.
Another man asked us if we personally knew anyone who had been killed or kidnapped in Israel. The secretary of one of his friends, a middle-aged woman, was still being held hostage there, and he expressed deep concern for her, even though he had never met her.
The Jewish community is grieving together as one family, but during this time they need to turn to the Messiah who God already sent for atonement and real peace in this troubled world. Thank you for your continued prayers as we hold out the Word of Truth to them. We will continue with both door to door and shopping area outreaches as weather permits this winter. God bless you for your partnership and involvement!