Thursday, April 27th
Team #1
2 sets, 1 Tanakh, 1 English bible, and 27 pamphlets were given.
The team of two women were at a local shopping center where they met a woman to whom they gave a Tanakh. She was very thankful when she received the set and said, “Thank you for the good you do”.
A married couple received a set and they spoke about the wife’s personal story. She came from Germany just before the Holocaust began and unfortunately all her family died there, but she managed to escape to Canada. They said they had lived for a while in Israel and that is when the husband said he was grateful for the bible set but was also surprised by such a nice gift. The team asked him what he thought about being reconciled with God and he answered that he believed he was good. They responded that no one is good, and that we are unable to save ourselves. Only the Messiah could make us righteous and “good” before God. He was told that all of us sin and fall short of the glory of God. He was shown the Isaiah 53 leaflet and pointed to the contact information.
A man who appeared to be Christian by faith was offered an antisemitism tract and Beth Ariel’s business card. He thought that he had already heard of the congregation. He was invited to come. Before parting, he asked the team if there was one God and one Messiah and they said yes, it was Jesus, Yeshua and he agreed.
They then met a woman who said she was Christian but when asked, she said she did not believe Jesus was divine. They spoke to her about the trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and showed her the Isaiah 53 leaflet. They quoted Isaiah 9:6 to her, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”. She was asked if she was a Jehovah Witness to which she replied no, but that her friends were, and so they warned her that the Jehovah Witnesses were a cult and encouraged her instead to listen to the teachings on our website. They invited her to come to Beth Ariel and gave her a contact card.
The team also met a French speaking man who was very receptive to listening to the gospel and was encouraged to go the Beth Ariel website to listen to the teachings offered in French. He was also encouraged to seek the truth found in the scriptures.
Just after, another man they met received a set in English and was very touched. He too was encouraged to listen to the teachings and was given a contact card.
Thursday April 27, 2023
Team #2
On a pleasant evening, a team of two women went back to the Jewish area where they had been before. It proved to be a most unique and interesting night.
At the first door, they met a Moroccan Israeli woman who immediately began to speak about an act of antisemitic hate vandalism that had occurred the day before. The school was only a couple of blocks away where an Arab teenager took down several large Israeli flags which had been proudly flying in celebration of Israel’s 75th anniversary. He threw them down on the ground and burned them, with a friend filming everything for social media. It was then posted. The woman, N., was devasted and hurt, and so were we. It led to a discussion about the Abrahamic covenant and how justice will be done for unrepentant individuals who mistreat the Jewish nation. She was curious about the Brit Chadashah and said she would read it and Isaiah 53 in Hebrew. She praised the team for distributing the Scriptures.
Right next door, a Moroccan woman immediately began to yell at the team, assuming they were Jehovah’s Witnesses who wanted to convert them. She pointed to the mezuzah and demanded to be respected as Jewish citizens. No doubt the antisemitic hatred of the day before had disturbed her as well. The team said they were both Jewish, too. Soon, the husband came over to the door and announced that the teenaged vandal had been arrested.
The team saw that N. was getting into her car next door and shouted out that the teenager had been caught. Realizing the team knew their neighbor, suddenly the couple softened and apologized for the way they accosted them at the door. Using Hebrew words whenever possible, the team offered them the Tanakh, tract on antisemitism, and messianic prophecy bookmark, which they happily accepted. With broad smiles, they exclaimed, “L’hit ra’ot!” (Hebrew for until we meet again!) as the team left.
The team gave a set to another woman who probably was a convert to Judaism. Even so, she was surprised to see the Brit Chadashah, which they assured her was a Jewish book. She said she would read the first book, Matthew, to check it out.
The team accidentally went back to the same house where they had no answer earlier in the evening, but just then the Jewish owner drove up! He asked if they were Jews for Jesus when he saw the Brit Chadashah but was assured, they were not. He took the set after initially questioning the relevance of the “little book of Second Temple literature with fulfilled messianic prophecy.”
The team knocked on the door of a man who amazingly said he already had a New Testament and had read it. He told the team he’d worked with someone who was associated with another Messianic ministry who had witnessed to him quite extensively. But an ultra-Orthodox family member (Chabad) would contradict what the believer told him about Isaiah 53 and other passages. The team pursued the discussion by asking how he dealt with his sin. He admitted he was torn and didn’t know what to believe. They told him to ask God to show him the truth, but he said his friend had already told him that. They pointed out that God was after him and had sent them directly to his door that night with the answer! He gladly accepted a Tanakh, bookmark, tract, and the business card which listed how he could learn more about Messiah both online and on the radio from the privacy of his own home. Please pray for L.
Thank you again for your prayers. It was quite the fruitful night!
Friday, April 28th
7 gift sets, 1 Tanakh and 29 antisemitism pamphlets were given.
A man who came from Cameroon spoke with a team member stating that he had stayed for one month at a Kibbutz in Israel and wanted to go back as he was so thankful to the Jewish nation. He said he believed that Yeshua was the Messiah and said that his daughter had also visited Israel twice. He took the set for his daughter as she is involved in the Jewish community. They spoke about faith in Yeshua and having a personal relationship with Him. He was given the business card and shown where he could go online to search out the teachings from Beth Ariel.
A set was given to a Jewish lady who had just arrived back home from Israel.
Another set was given to a woman who wanted it for her Jewish friend.
And another set was given to an elderly, frail Jewish woman who had lost her husband the previous month. She had also lost both her daughter and sister in the past year. The team asked if they could give her a hug and the woman although surprised, received the team with tears. She left to go shopping and they called out that they would pray for her strength.
Shortly after, a man wearing a kippa received the pamphlet while another young Jewish man received a bookmark and listened as the team member reviewed the verses on the back of the bookmark. He listened attentively and thanked her for her kindness.
A Jewish man, originally from Israel was approached while he was eating Chinese food in his car. He was offered the antisemitism pamphlet and was asked where it came from. He was shown the contact information on the back of the pamphlet, and he accepted it and then received the gift set as well. He said he was very thankful for the set.
An Iranian man received the pamphlet and started to read it as the member was talking to him. He said that although he was Muslim, he did not follow his faith closely and stated that he went online to look at different religions. He had a broad view of a few religions and said he knew about the Jewish and Christian faith. She told him that religions were man-made, but that God wanted to have a personal relationship with him. She mentioned that God was not happy with some things that were being done in the name of religion but because man is made in His image, He loved each one of us. He replied, “I know that God wants to talk with us”. He was offered an English bible, but He said he could not take it, so the member offered him a small booklet called the Promises of God. Before leaving to go back to his workplace, he told the team, “Thank you for talking to me, I really appreciate it”.
The teams are seeing answers to the many prayers being offered for the outings and they are very thankful for each one who faithfully prays for them.