Evangelism

Greetings in Messiah Yeshua!

Evangelism: NOW!

Yeshua said in John 9:4, “I must work the works of Him who sent me, while it is day; the night is coming, when no one can work.” There is much work to do in the harvest field. The harvest is ripe, especially the Jewish harvest. We praise the Lord for the privilege of co-laboring with Him at this crucial time in history. As you join with us, both prayerfully and financially, we are laboring together for the glory of God. Night is fast approaching. Just look at Israel, or read your daily hometown newspaper. Great darkness is coming upon the earth. The world needs our light, the reflected light of Yeshua, so that others can be called out of darkness into His marvelous light ([biblegateway passage=”I Peter 2:9″ display=”I Peter 2:9″]).

The Bible says it is wise to evangelize: “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that wins souls is wise.” ([biblegateway passage=”Proverbs 11:30″ display=”Proverbs 11:30″]) The New Covenant extension of this verse is found in John 15:16 where Yeshua the Messiah says to His talmidim (disciples), “You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain…” We were chosen to lead others to the Lord, and to do all that we can to preserve the precious fruit (discipleship).

Creative Evangelism

There are many ways to reach people with the message of new life in the Messiah Yeshua. Our television program is one of them. Our approach is soft and often indirect, but we faithfully lift up Yeshua, the lover of our souls and the Messiah that our people have been waiting for. Our program includes many quotes from the Bible, and we know that God’s word will not return void. Not long ago, we received an encouraging note from one of our partners concerning her elderly parents:

“My parents (both Jewish) both watched and really enjoyed your show! They both came to their Messiah before they left this life! I know your show touched them, and the fact that Jamie was gentile and knew so much really impressed them!” (Oh, that we might fulfill our God-given mandate to provoke God’s precious chosen people to jealousy! ([biblegateway passage=”Rom.11:11″ display=”Rom.11:11″]) Those who are not born Jewish have a great opportunity to touch the apple of God’s eye by simply allowing Jewish people to see their intimate relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and His Messiah.)

Through television we are able to reach thousands at a time, but we also reach out to much smaller groups. For example, each year at Purim Jamie has an “Esther Banquet.” She invites 10-12 ladies to lunch at our home. Some are believers, some are not. Some years, Jamie asks a Jewish believer to give her testimony. Other years, Jamie shares the story of Purim. There is always prayer… and tears. Someone is always touched. This year Jamie was upset because the banquet was “last minute” due to our travel schedule. All the ladies were believers. When Jamie expressed her disappointment to the Lord, He said to her: “Don’t worry. I have a plan.” The plan was wonderful, and creative. God had Jamie and the ladies intercede that day for the salvation of one Jewish lady – named Esther. Everyone sensed it was a divine appointment. We all look forward to Esther’s salvation.

Evangelism via the Internet

Neil received a call at the Jewish Jewels office last month from Michael, a young man in Boston who found our testimony on the Internet. Michael is Jewish and his wife Anna was brought up Presbyterian. They are searching for the spiritual solution for their marriage. They came to Miami because their two year old daughter needs special medical help. They visited us, and we spoke
for an hour before a service at Temple Aron HaKodesh.

Michael is struggling with giving his life to Yeshua and the implications of that for his Jewish family. He also had questions about our belief that there is only one way to God the Father. We showed Michael a number of verses from the Holy Scriptures, especially where Yeshua says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me.” ([biblegateway passage=”John 14:6″ display=”John 14:6″]) The Lord then revealed to us that both Michael and Anna had dabbled in the occult and spirits were keeping them in bondage. When we questioned them about this, they said that it was true. Anna, in particular, was being tormented by satanic messengers. We were able to pray with this precious couple and take authority over the works of the enemy in their lives. They thanked us profusely and went on their way. We know that soon they will both be on The Way.

Evangelism Through Nursery Rhymes

Jamie has a Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education. After spending six years teaching Kindergarten and Pre-school, the Lord called her out of teaching into full-time faith ministry. One of the first things He asked her to do was to reach little children by rewriting nursery rhymes to have Bible based lyrics that would touch little hearts for God. Righteous Rhymes was first published in 1983. Since then, over 20,000 copies of this cassette tape and coloring book have been distributed and we have received many letters like the following which we received a few weeks ago:

Dear Jamie,

“A friend of mine gave my daughter a copy of “Righteous Rhymes” about two years ago. Kristen, who is now five years old, has listened to it all this time and would say the sinners prayer with you. This past Saturday she came to me and told me she had prayed that prayer. When I said to her that I had heard her praying it before, she corrected me and said: ‘No Mommy, I prayed it in my heart!’ Kristen asked me to send you this letter to let you know of her decision.”

Reaping in Due Season

“And let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” ([biblegateway passage=”Gal. 6:9″ display=”Gal. 6:9″]) Evangelism is more than words. It is living the message, “being” a witness. It is showing the character and person of Yeshua in our own lives, so that others will desire what we have. This is what we desire in our personal lives. We ask the Lord to help us be more like Yeshua. By the grace of God, all of us can be conformed to the image of His Son. For many years we prayed that not only our words, but our lives might be a witness to the young men that came to our home to tape the Jewish Jewels television programs. We tried to minister the love of God to each one as we had opportunity. There were many lunches eaten together between programs, and quite a few opportunities to share one on one.

To our great delight, we received a holiday letter this year from Carl, who supervised the lighting of the Jewish Jewels set for many years as a single, nonbeliever. He has since married, moved to California and become a believer. He wrote: “We are all so grateful for the lives that God has blessed us with. We are healthy, we have homes, we have food and clothing. The fact that we are here on this planet means God has something for us to do, and all of us that are living today have the blessing to let hurting people know that God was with us on Sept. 11th, that He wasn’t sleeping, and that He is with us always.” Wow! This is not the same Carl that we shared Yeshua with years ago. He has met the Messiah. He is a new creation. The Holy Spirit drew Him and he has been born again. Glory to God! Keep on sharing the Good News. You too will reap in due season!

Evangelizing Latin America Jews

From March 11th to 13th there was a conference in Orlando, FL, on Evangelizing the Jews of Latin America. Jewish people who speak Spanish are a minority of a minority, but there are thousands of them throughout Latin America. The Lord is beginning to move in the hearts of these children of Abraham. This conference was the first of its kind, and Neil encouraged Jamie to attend.

She was part of two panel discussions and one devotional, all in Spanish. It was fascinating to hear about ministries in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay, Nicaragua, and Honduras that are reaching Jewish people for Yeshua. There is even a ministry in Israel reaching out to the Jews that are making aliyah from various Spanish-speaking countries. The Latin/Hebraic
combination is a powerful, passionate one! We look forward to future Spanish/Jewish ministry as the Lord opens doors.

God is full of surprises. Jamie made seven seashells with messages in Spanish to bring to the conference and one of the Messianic rabbi’s wives was very excited about them since she is sharing Messiah with a number of Jewish women in Mexico who collect seashells! A package of shells has already been sent to Mexico. Another truth about evangelism: “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise!” ([biblegateway passage=”I Cor. 1:27″ display=”I Cor. 1:27″])

A Burden for Souls

Upon arriving at the Ramada Inn for the conference, Jamie and her roommate, Sharon (one of our Jewish Jewels blessings) were met by Reynaldo, the bellman. Jamie responded to his sweet smile by saying in Spanish, “Hello, Reynaldo, I’m Jamie and this is Sharon. We have to speak in Spanish because I need a lot of practice.” Reynaldo was delighted to chat in his native language and by the time they went on the elevator to the fourth floor, Reynaldo knew why Jamie and Sharon were at the hotel, and who they were. As our bags were unloaded from the cart, Jamie invited Reynaldo into the room and asked if he had ever read the Bible. He responded: “Once, inViet Nam. After all, there was a war going on.” Jamie responded: “There’s a war going on here, too. You need to read the Bible NOW.” Out came the Spanish Bible, Reynaldo read from John 3:16, and John 1:12, Jamie presented the Good News of Yeshua, Sharon interceded in the Spirit, and about ten minutes later Reynaldo prayed with Jamie to receive Yeshua as his Saviour and Lord. Our new brother in Messiah shared what had happened to him with his wife, be began to read the Bible and asked for the time that Jewish Jewels is on TV in the Orlando area. When she arrived home, Jamie sent Reynaldo discipleship material and a note encouraging him to get grounded in a good local congregation of believers.

Precious Israeli Souls

“Comfort, yes, comfort my people, says your God. Speak comfort to Jerusalem…”([biblegateway passage=”Isaiah 40:1″ display=”Isaiah 40:1”])

From May 7 until May 15 we will be in Israel representing Yeshua and His love to the hurting Israeli people. We are not going to witness. We are going to “be witnesses.” Our first goal is to minister the love of the Father to people who have never experienced it. We desire to bring Israelis home to their Father’s house. Once in His embrace, His Spirit can reveal their Messiah to them. We will be ready with the words of life as the Lord opens doors and as we see which hearts have already been prepared. We plan to lay hands on the discouraged, fearful shopkeepers on Ben Yehuda street and pray for their protection and God’s provision. We will also visit workers in the Tourism industry who have been out of work due to the drop off in tourism. We want to be able to present them with gift certificates to the large Supermarket in Jerusalem so that they can buy food for their families. The Lord has other plans for our brave little group, possibly with families of terrorist victims, and orphans.

We covet your daily prayers for us. The Lord has led us to create a prayer schedule for the days that we will be in Israel. (See top of first page.) Your intercession during these days can mean the difference between life and death, lives lost and lives saved. Fasting, coupled with your prayers would also be deeply appreciated.