Wednesday, September 11th
2 English Sets and 1 English Tanakh were given.
A team of two were out on a beautiful evening in a residential area. The first encounter, where the first set was given, was with a woman sitting on her balcony. They introduced themselves and she told them that she was in mourning as she had just lost her mother with whom she had been very close. She could not believe that the team had chosen to visit her at such a very difficult time in her life. She said that she had begun getting angry with God and was thinking of speaking with a rabbi. The team shared with her that God was calling her and that He was suffering with her. They told her that God wanted her to have His words of comfort. They told her that Jesus, Yeshua was the Messiah. She mentioned that a rabbi had told her that one is not Jewish if they believe in Jesus, to which they replied that rabbis took it upon themselves to define who was Jewish. They also shared that the rabbis often use other books (Talmud etc.) before consulting the Scriptures. They shared that the Tanakh and the Brit Chadashah were the true word of God and encouraged her to visit Beth Ariel. They gave her a contact card with their names written on it along with one member’s phone number. She said she felt comforted and so they prayed for her as her eyes filled with tears. She received hugs and thanked them. The team expressed that it was a blessing to see how God was calling her and how she received comfort through them.
They met a woman whose husband was Jewish, and she received the entire set. There was no conversation, but she was grateful for the gift set.
They then met a woman who chose to take only the Tanakh and refused the Brit. They had an opportunity though to testify about Yeshua and share how He was the Messiah. Taking the Tanakh she exclaimed, “Keep up the good work!”
It was a wonderful evening, and the team saw how God was sovereign in leading them to the grieving woman. They wanted to thank everyone who had prayed for them on this evening.
Thursday, September 12th – Door to door
5 Tanakhs (1 Russian, 2 French and 1 English), and one French set were given.
A team of two ladies were out during the day in a local residential area. They went to a busy street where they found only 5 doors that had a mezuzah. Only one religious man received an anti-Semitism pamphlet and a comfort card but there were no answers at the rest of the doors.
They met one young Jewish woman walking her infant. She was French from Paris but had been living with her husband in Edmonton for a few years. She said they had decided to move to Montreal because they had no Jewish community to be with there and wanted to bring their child up in a Jewish environment. They offered her the Tanakh in English and spoke of the promises of God. She was very excited to receive the scriptures, and she mentioned how she would read to her husband as he was Russian speaking. They then offered her a Tanakh in Russian as well as one in French. She said she would not take the Brit Chadashah after she heard that it was written by Jewish men who believed Yeshua was the Messiah. She was content to receive the Tanakhs and thanked them profusely.
At another street that appeared to have mezuzahs on all their doors, they met a woman who had just returned from visiting her daughter in Israel. As they offered her the Tanakh, she wanted to make sure it was written in the correct Hebrew. She was reassured that the Hebrew was the same as those in the synagogues, so she happily took it.
At the next door, they met a very religious man and as they introduced themselves, he asked them if they were part of the Jews for Jesus organization. They told him they were not but that they did attend a Messianic congregation. One of the team members told the man that their pastor was Jacques Gabizon to which the man exclaimed, “Oh, I know him because I know his brother very well, he is my friend!”. The man continued saying that the pastor was no longer Jewish because he converted to Christianity. The team tried to explain that he was an excellent teacher in the Word and perhaps he would like to visit the congregation one day, to which he replied, “Ya, ya, ok, he’s still Jewish”. He was very kind to the team after that and accepted an anti-Semitism pamphlet. They parted on good terms with a smile and good wishes for the day.
At another door, the team met an elderly French man from Morocco named “D”. He was very interested in hearing the gospel of Yeshua. He was informed how it stated in Micah 5:2 that He was born in Bethlehem, was of the line of David (Isaiah 11:1-2) and how He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey as foretold in Zechariah 9:9. They further shared that it was written that His hands and feet would be pierced and that His blood would be shed as an atonement for man’s sins. His eyes were moist as he listened to them and with emotion, he took the set and thanked them for the explanation and their time. He also accepted the contact card for further teaching
At the next house, a young boy came to the door and immediately called his mother. She took the Tanakh, comfort card and anti-Semitism pamphlet as she was on the phone but thanked them as she closed the door.
Another Jewish lady who was leaving her driveway stopped to inquire what the team was doing. She did not take anything from them but noticed the neck chain that one of the team members was wearing. She was told that it was from the March for Jerusalem which took place the previous Sunday. She immediately asked if she could have one. Unfortunately, there were no extra ones to give but still she seemed less leery of the team at that point, but then said she needed to leave.
As the team was departing for the day, they noticed several signs on lawns which was probably put there by their synagogues. One sign read, “Have faith that you can make a brand new start” and another said, “Everything in the world has a message from heaven in it. Let it guide you”.
The team wants to give all the glory to God for the encounters that day and thanks all for the prayer covering.
Thursday, September 12th
2 English sets and 1 English Tanakh were given.
This report is from a team that went door to door in the evening in another residential area. They shared that the first Tanakh was given to a man who was in a hurry. He confided that his wife’s mother had just passed away, so they quickly gave him the Tanakh and comfort card.
A set was given to a man who had just moved to his parents’ house. He was happy to take the Tanakh as he had not seen one in a long time and took the Brit Chadashah as well. The team spoke with him for about 10 minutes and gave him the contact card so he could listen to Pastor Jacque’s teachings.
A woman from Poland received an English set. She had lived in Russia but had since lost her ability to read in Russian. She was grateful for the gift and said that she did not read very much anymore but assured them that she would give the set to her son who reads Hebrew so that she and her husband could listen along. They also gave her a contact card, encouraging them, as a family, to listen to the teachings. They took some time to tell this woman about man’s sin and how it separates them from God and how redemption came through Yeshua who could make one righteous before God. She was very grateful for the lovely set.
The team said that there were many doors that did not answer but they did have some wonderful conversations at the ones which did open to them and were thankful.
Monday, September 16th
1 English gift set, 1 Hebrew Tanakh and 1 English Tanakh were given.
On this evening, a team was going door to door in a local residential area. They stated that there were many “no answers” but they did speak with one man who had many different ideas about the Messiah. He did not have a clear concept about who the Messiah was even though he had taken classes in theology. Despite these classes he remained confused but was open to hearing the team speak about Yeshua. He chose not to take the Tanakh because the books of the bible were not in the same order as the ones found in Jewish publications of the Tanakh. He did take the anti-Semitism pamphlet and the contact card where he could tune into the teachings from Pastor Gabizon. At that point the man’s father told him he had a phone call waiting for him. The gentleman then left the conversation.
They went to a home where a couple were sitting outside on their 2nd story balcony. A team member expressed how it was such a lovely picture to see this couple sitting there together as they ate their meal. The husband came to speak to them and said that he read and spoke mainly in Hebrew. At offering the Tanakh the first time, he refused saying he had one. However, as they brought a Tanakh from their car, they asked if they could join them and so they climbed the stairs to their apartment. His grandson was there, and he confirmed that his grandfather understood English. The man took the Tanakh then and read a few pages. Seeing that it was correct, he accepted it and for a few moments they discussed the Messiah with them. They gave him a bookmark pointing to the fulfilled prophecies of the Messiah.
Going next door, the team was greeted by the man’s daughter. They had a 30-minute conversation with her and she received the set. She had many questions for them, and she said she had some for the rabbis as well. “Why are there so few people who believe in Yeshua?” She noticed in the Jewish faith that it was more about mitzvahs than about sin. The team said in return that in Isaiah 53 you can see that the Messiah is able to make a person righteous and they spoke about the blood atonement and how the just shall live by faith. She was told that Abraham was justified by his faith because he believed God. She was informed then that only a minority of people both in the Gentile and Jewish nations would believe in God’s word. The woman said she would like to visit Beth Ariel but only after the holidays, so she was given the contact card. They prayed for her and gave her a big hug. She was very grateful for the conversation.
The team reported that many of those who opened their doors were very polite and said that many already had a Tanakh. Please pray for these people that the door to their hearts be opened.