Tuesday, June 24th
2 sets, 1 Tanakh, 1 Brit Chadashah and several pamphlets, comfort cards and bookmarks were given.
A team of two women were out on a pleasant evening to do outreach door to door in a local residential area. At the first home they visited a man who told the team that his wife had previously received an identical set while at a local mall. He told them that he wanted to give that set back to them saying, “It was not for them” but showed no anger. The team thanked them and left.
A set was given to a young man who seemed very grateful and touched however they did not have much conversation with him.
At the next home a woman opened her door just slightly and was greeted by their cheery “Shalom, we come in peace!” She then opened the door and was told that they had come to give her a Tanakh as a gift. Her son came to stand behind her at that moment and asked what the gift was. They explained that it was a Tanakh from the Society of Distribution of the Hebrew Scriptures. The woman received the gift cautiously and they spoke to her for about five minutes when the son called her to return inside. She appeared very grateful and thanked them.
The team met a man who answered the door. He lived in a second floor apartment and called down to them that he had a Tanakh and was about to close the door when they offered him a bookmark and changing his mind, he came down to them and they were able to speak with him for about twenty minutes. He shared that he had been a priest about 20 years ago but that he now was a practicing Orthodox Jew. They had a short conversation with him about Yeshua being the Messiah, however he returned saying “you cannot convince me” and so they replied “no, only God can show you the truth if you would seek Him with an open heart. They then said that the Word of God was in the Brit Chadashah and he agreed saying that he had many books that were words of men. They had a long conversation with him and felt that he was beginning to open up to them. He received the bookmark and told them that he would listen to the radio program. They offered to visit again and also suggested that he call the office for further conversation. He then thanked them. They observed that he seemed happier, and they talked about sin and the Messiah being able to make him tsadik, righteous through blood atonement. It was a very touching conversation.
They met an elderly couple, and it was the husband who opened the door saying that he had a Tanakh and was not interested but then the wife came to the door, and they had a ten-minute conversation with them. They offered her the Tanakh, but she refused and asked them if they were from Jews for Jesus. They told her they were not but that they did believe that Yeshua was the Messiah. She told them that a team came years ago, and she took their bookmark. She confided that her son-in-law was a Messianic Jew and they then spoke about current events and how people were removing their mezuzah from their door but she said she would not do that. She was offered the Brit, and although she declined that, she did take the contact card.
As the team was driving, they saw two young men walking their German Shepherd and a while later coming to a door, they met one of the young men still outside with the dog. He told them he was twenty-three years old and loved God. He listened to them and shared that he believed what they said was true, that the Messiah could make man tsadik. He also shared that he had many family members in Israel and the team told him that they were praying for Israel. A team member asked if they could pray for him, and he received their prayer. He was grateful as he took the set and gave them a hug. As they left, they said they pondered if he would be one of the 144,000 who would be chosen.
At the last door they met a woman who was on the phone with her son. She stated she did not feel well and so the team prayed for her. She declined the Tanakh but received the Brit Chadashah.
It was a wonderful evening for the team, and they were humbled and grateful to be able to go out and have such beautiful conversations. They praised God and thanked everyone for the prayers for the outing.