For now, the Montreal teams are still on the streets, most often at shopping centers. Once the masks come off, we will start back going door to door! In Calgary, they have already returned to knocking on doors. Thank you for praying with us.
Montreal, Friday, March 11th
We were two teams on this day. Here is the first report:
A Jewish man did not want to take the tract when we first offered it to him but later as one team member passed his car, he called us and wanted to receive the pamphlet on Purim. After speaking a bit on the story of Esther, the member offered the verse Matthew 16:26: “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” to which he listened intently. He encouraged her to continue to share the Word of God as he took the pamphlet.
After receiving a French antisemitism pamphlet, a Jewish woman took the gift set in French as well.
Soon after a man was approached as he was putting groceries in his car. He thanked the member for the Purim pamphlet and then the member asked if he had a Tanakh. He said no and agreed to receive it and as the one member got the set from the car, the other team member chatted with him. That was a great strategy. He was beaming as he received his gift!
Then a young Jewish mother received a Purim pamphlet and she exclaimed that her son would love this. Just after, the young boy of 7+ came out from the car holding the pamphlet in his hand, shouting, “Thank you, thank you, my friends at school can now hear the story about Purim!”
We noticed a man sitting a long time in a car and one of the team members went over to visit him. He began speaking with her and she could see that he was very sad, so she shared her testimony as well as the story of Nicodemus and how trusting in Jesus led her to salvation. She spoke of life and death situations and he listened quietly.
The Second Team’s Report:
They approached one woman who took the pamphlet but said she had difficulty understanding the writing, so she was encouraged to visit the website for the teachings.
Next a man received an Eng. / Heb. set saying “Thank you” over and over in Hebrew.
They met a man wearing a kappa who received the pamphlet and teased the ladies about the importance of knowing the Scriptures and yet he asked them, “Why are you so nice to me?”
Finally, they met a man who said he had made his donations but they told him they were not there for that but to give him a free set out of love. He was surprised but took, with thanks, the gift set offered.
Montreal
Tuesday, March 15th:
It was a sunny day. One team of two went to one shopping center briefly giving out pamphlets. Unfortunately , after receiving a pamphlet, one woman stayed outside her car to read it, and then took a screenshot of the pamphlet, and began making a call. At this point we decided that we should go to another shopping mall and praise God we did because we had many conversations there.
An elderly woman who was well dressed received a pamphlet exclaiming that she had no one to read it with. She told us she was lonely as all her family lived far away. We encouraged her to go to the website and write in, requesting that someone could come and visit her and read the Scriptures with her.
A man received the Purim pamphlet and was then offered a gift set. He repeatedly asked why we were giving him a Brit Chadashah as it was Christian. We responded by explaining that the goal was to read the prophets and prophesies of the Tanakh and then read of their fulfillment in the smaller book. He accepted the answer and asked where our congregation was. Thanking us, he placed the set in the car and went off to get his groceries. May the food he receives be spiritual to fill that empty spot that hungers for the Messiah.
A woman was on her way to her car, and she received the set in Eng. / Heb. and was thankful.
Then, just after, a woman with eye issues received the Purim pamphlet and although she said she had everything, she took a Brit Chadashah for her grandchildren. We were not certain if she understood what it was but then speaking of her loneliness, we shared with her how she could draw near to Hashem (Hebrew which means the name, which Jewish people often use so as not to use God’s actual name in vain). We prayed for her and closed up in the name of Yeshua. It then registered with her who we spoke of, yet she thanked us for our kindness.
A pamphlet was given to a Gentile believer who took an English Bible to give to someone who was brought to the Lord just the day before.
Then a lady nearby accepted a bible while one of the members spoke to her of the gift of eternal life.
Another Jewish lady was in a hurry but received a gift set.
Lastly, a religious Jewish shop owner in the area stopped to speak with us in a gentle manner and spent time with us discussing his faith, traditions, the Kabbalah, and the Messiah. We could see from his conversation and the fact that one of his favorite movies was The Last Supper filmed in the 80s, that he was searching for the real Messiah. He accepted the Brit Chadashah in English and thanked us greatly for speaking with him. Hopefully we will meet him again for more conversation!
Today 3 gift sets, 2 Brit Chadashahs, 1 English Bible were given out. Approximately 40 pamphlets on Purim were also given out.
Calgary, Alberta
Friday, March 11
Today was an exceptional outing. We had already visited these homes 5 to 6 years ago. At that time almost all had refused to share with us or to accept our gifts, so our expectations were low. The Lord surprised us. Only one man declined our offer because he was not religious but was happy to listen. In all we distributed 5 full sets of Scriptures with the accompanying Isaiah 53 pamphlet / Messianic bookmark and a total of 7 Purim pamphlets were received. None who answered the door refused to listen to us, and all but one husband was grateful for our visit.
We had a very nice discussion with a retiree who was happy to interact with us on the topic of antisemitism and the war in Ukraine. We spoke about the forces of darkness involved to which he agreed. We pointed out the fact that the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, had delivered Israel from antisemitism in the past, and likewise we were praying for the Ukrainian president and for the peace of Jerusalem. He happily accepted our Purim leaflet, the Isaiah 53 leaflet and the Messianic bookmark but claimed that he didn’t need the Scriptures we offered.
Three middle-aged men were conducting business on their phones, but took the time to answer us. Two accepted all we offered them and the other accepted the Purim pamphlet but returned the Scriptures. All thanked us for visiting them for Purim even though they were busy.
A middle-aged lady accepted all we offered and took the time to listen to us on the 1st coming of Messiah, and on the atonement He accomplished for His people and all the Gentile nations. She listened to us with great interest when we shared on Daniel 9 that the Messiah had to die before the 2nd Temple was destroyed. She committed to reading the New Testament, and was grateful for our gift of Scriptures.
Another lady listened very attentively to all we shared with her on the 1st coming and the soon return of the Jewish Messiah. She accepted our gifts at first, but her husband kept saying “No, no, no” … so she returned our gifts.
A young man was grateful that we passed by for Purim. He accepted all we gave him but didn’t have the time to talk with us.
Another woman was busy on her phone, but heartily accepted all our gifts behind the window without opening her door. As we left, she returned our “Happy Purim” greeting and a nice smile. We thought that she might have had concerns over Covid.
In all 10 homes were visited and only one household was absent.
Monday, March 14th
Six full sets of Hebrew Scriptures, 1 New Testament with Psalms, 1 English only ESV Bible and a tract were distributed.
The local Chabad Lubavitch Synagogue secretary’s wife declined the Scriptures but listened to us about the Jewish Messiah’s 1st coming and 2nd coming. She thanked us for passing by for Purim and accepted all the literature we offered; a Messianic bookmark, the Purim pamphlet, and the Isaiah 53 leaflet. Four years ago, we got a cold no thanks. Surely our prayers are being answered!
A middle-aged Jewish lady who wasn’t religious (removed the doorpost mezuzah) was happy to listen to us chat about the 2 comings of Messiah – 1st on a donkey Zachariah 9:9 … and a second time to establish His soon coming Kingdom. We mentioned that the times of Jacob’s Troubles were to happen before the Kingdom was established. The good news was that those who turn to the Scriptures to identify their Messiah would be delivered by God’s hand. She thought that is what was happening now, but we mentioned that Zachariah 13 indicated that things are going to be much worse. We invited her to read chapters 12 to 14 for herself … she thanked us for the opened discussion and the gifts.
A Jewish gentleman was in his garage getting ready to leave. He happily accepted our Purim gifts and the full set of Scriptures, but seemed in a hurry to leave when we started sharing about the Jewish Messiah.
A Jewish man with a radiant smile, accepted all our Purim gifts and the full set of Scriptures but couldn’t listen to us as he was busy on the phone.
A kind Jewish lady was very happy that we passed by for Purim. She listened to us attentively on the topic of Messiah for about 5 minutes. We had time to expose the Zachariah 9:9 prophecies and the two comings of her Messiah. She was very touched by what we said. Even though she didn’t comprehend what we were explaining, we could sense she was excited and even a bit jealous of our faith.
A very kind Jewish man respectfully listened to us on the topic of the Messiah and accepted all we offered including the full set of Scriptures. He seemed to be in mourning. We asked if he had family caught in the Ukrainian war. Our suspicions were confirmed; his wife’s family is in the Ukraine. We mentioned how sad it was that this unjust war is happening, and that we would pray for her family. He blessed us for our concerns and for offering our prayers.
At the last home we visited we met two very nice Gentiles who were renting from a Jewish family. They accepted a tract, a New Testament and an English only Bible and then offered to give our Purim gifts to the Jewish homeowners.
Tuesday, March 15
Today over half of the homes visited were absent. They were probably at work.
We were so happy to encounter a very opened Jewish man, a follower of the anti-missionary Rabbi Tovia Singer. He invited us to sit down and listen to a portion of Rabbi Singer’s commentary on Zachariah 9:9. After carefully listening to Rabbi Singer, we said that we totally agreed with what Rabbi Singer had to say. He said that Rabbi Singer was beating around the bush. He then gave us an explanation on why Jesus didn’t qualify as Messiah to cover Rabbi Singer’s short comings. He had never heard of the necessary atonement by the Lamb of God found in Isaiah 53. He asked about Beth Ariel, we provided him with the Beth Ariel contact information. He accepted a bookmark containing many Jewish prophetic writings on the topic of Messiah and our Isaiah 53 leaflet containing Talmudic arguments on why Isaiah 53 was speaking of Messiah. He accepted to give us some time to witness on why we as Gentiles, came to the conviction that Yeshua is the Jewish Messiah. We were able to briefly share about the Book of Esther which was when we seemed to have his full attention. He thanked us for passing by. We invited him to contact us, and we thanked him for taking the time to share with us.
We visited a Gentile lady who we hadn’t met for over 4 years, who had a Mezuzah on her door post. She asked for a full set of Scriptures and the Purim pamphlet so that she could pass that onto other people.
An older Jewish man originally from Moldova was happy to meet us. He had difficulty speaking English but was happy to receive all we offered for Purim, including the full set of Scriptures. He thanked us for passing by.
Providentially, the last encounter we had, was with two Jewish ladies who were just on their way out of the house. Both were very happy to accept all our Purim gifts. They were surprised by our gifts and thanked us for passing by.
Two men refused our gifts after they asked us if we were Christians. They said they didn’t need anything from us. We offered our greetings for Purim just the same.
In all we distributed 4 full sets of Scriptures and 6 Purim pamphlets, bookmarks and Isaiah 53 leaflets were given.
Praise the Lord for He listens to our prayers.
Shabbat Shalom,
The Calgary Team