Missionary Renegade: Jews for Jesus "Real Time" for Friday, 30 May 2014

Friday, May 30, 2014

Jews for Jesus "Real Time" for Friday, 30 May 2014

RealTime May 2014

David Brickner video update
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Jews for Jesus executive director talks about the controversial "That Jew Died for You" video, gives update on the legal battle over the arrest and deportation of Barry Barnett and more . . . please watch and share David's video

The Jewish holiday Shavuot is coming up on June 4 and if you've always loved the story of Pentecost in the book of Acts, now's a great time to discover more about this holiday. For a fun way to learn three quick facts, check out our quick holiday quiz, then for a bit more info, go on to our Five Minute Overview of Shavuot. You'll also find related articles on our Shavuot page, and if you're really a fan of this holiday (and it's a great holiday!), pick up a copy of Christ in the Feast of Pentecost by David Brickner and Rich Robinson.

Moscow campaign starts next week!
Next week our Russian and Ukrainian teams will join for an all-out witnessing campaign on the streets of Moscow. Last year's Moscow campaign was one of the most fruitful of all the 2013 Jews for Jesus outreaches worldwide. (Above you can see how police escorted the team on their peaceful walk through Red Square.) In just eleven days, the team of 25 (staff and volunteers) handed out over a quarter million tracts. Over 900 people asked for follow-up. Thirty-eight Jewish people and 33 non-Jews gave their hearts to the Lord. Please pray this year's outreach will be even more fruitful!
As you pray, please lift up the leadership team: Ilya Khaimovich, campaign leader; Larissa Savelieva, second in charge; Reggie Douglas (one of our star Co-Laborers from the US), chief steward, and Bob Mendelsohn (director of our Australia work), chaplain. Maxim Ammosov, our Moscow branch leader, will then be coordinating follow-up.

7 new staff?!
Some think that because Jews for Jesus has missionaries all over the world, we're a huge organization . . . but we're not. That's why we're in awe of the fact that last week we could actually accept seven new people to train to be missionaries on our staff. Wow! We're blessed and hope you'll be praying for all seven: two from Hungary, two from Israel and three from the United States. Pictured here is executive director David Brickner (right) informing one of our new Hungarian staff that he's just been voted in. Note: two of the candidates were accepted pending a good experience on our New York City Summer Witnessing Campaign, so please be praying for them to come through with flying colors.

DrawnOut
The New York branch of Jews for Jesus is, among other things, "teaming" with creative people. Not all creative people are artists, but we've got those too—and a core group of them contacted other Messianic Jewish artists to form a collective called ArtShare.
ArtShare held their first curated event at a local church in New York City's Greenwich Village from Thursday, May 8 to Saturday, May 10. They sent out invitations but also had a welcoming sign and an open door that drew many in from off the street . . . especially on Friday night with the addition of Sabbath candles, blessings and beautiful challahs (traditional braided loaves of bread).
Six local artists displayed their work: photographers, painters, a graphic illustrator, and a fiber artist. We estimate between 150-200 people stopped by to see the show, including 25 Jewish people who do not yet believe in Jesus. Each artist had a plaque next to his or her exhibit, presenting a brief bio and including the fact that they are Jews who believe in Jesus. At one point, a group of three Persian Jewish women came to view the art and had quite a lively discussion about the idea of Jews believing in Jesus. One signed our guest book before leaving, giving her address and expressing her willingness to read the New Testament in Farsi.

Sharing art can provide a great opportunity to share our faith.

Jews for Jesus missionary Melissa Moskowitz, one of the "instigators" of ArtShare, exhibited some of her photographs.

The gospel and graffiti
More than ten Israeli graffiti artists came to display their work at our Moishe Rosen Center and only one of them was a believer in Jesus. Between the artists and those who came to view their work, 130 unbelieving Jewish people visited our center during the event, which was held for two nights.
Eli Birnbaum, who, with his wife Shoshana, heads up our Israeli young adult ministry (including many activities at the MRC), reported:
"One of the cool things was that everyone picked up our brochure explaining who we are and how the Rosen Center got its name. (We recently redesigned the brochure so it's now more professional looking and pocket-sized.) We saw at least fifteen people point to the Jews for Jesus sign or give our brochure to their friends. Some were interested in talking more about what we believe and others just said that they were amazed that we would share our space to do something like this.
"We were reaching out to artists who are marginalized and throughout the event they thanked us for allowing them to exhibit in our space. The timing of the event included Israel's Independence day so we cooked up some food on the BBQ and ate with some of the artists to celebrate.
"Chaim (my brother, who is an intern with us, and who put together the event) reports: 'I found all kinds of artists through seeing their names on the street and looking for them online. We were able to share the gospel with many who came. One guy who walked in asked me, "When can I come to a New Testament lesson, and how much it will cost?" [Editor: obviously we do not charge for Bible studies but it's noteworthy that a seeker was willing to pay to learn about Jesus.]
"'One artist kept saying goodbye but then would get into another conversation with a believer, not wanting to leave. Later we learned that he had once been homeless and had been picked up and cared for by a family of Jewish believers in Yeshua. He was super excited to meet more of us.'"
It's been such a blessing to see how many ways, conventional and unconventional, the Moishe Rosen Center is getting used to lift up the name of Jesus!

Chaim (in the blue shirt) sharing with one of the artists.

JFJ in Russia and Ukraine
Jews for Jesus European director Avi Snyder (first row, third from left) met with branch leaders from Russia and Ukraine to discuss tactics for evangelism during these tumultuous times.
Back in February we were urgently requesting prayer for the situation in Kiev and for our missionaries who were out in the Maidan Square, trying to share the love of Jesus with people who were angry and frightened by the violence. This month's strategic meeting of Jews for Jesus leadership in Russia and Ukraine takes place in Odessa, where violence has recently erupted.
Igor Barbanel, who oversees our work in Russia and Ukraine, recently reported from Odessa:
"My youngest daughter warned us that the activists of Maidan had planned to hold a peaceful demonstration about at 4:00 pm in downtown Odessa on Friday, May 2. But once the demonstration began, pro-Russian separatists started firing automatic weapons into the crowd of demonstrators and beating people with baseball bats. The demonstration was just two blocks away from the place of our Sabbath meeting. The special forces had cordoned off the demonstration area. My wife, Galya, and I prayed and proceeded to our Sabbath meeting by car. Praise the Lord, our meeting place remained quiet and our Sabbath service went as planned. On our way home, we noticed black smoke rising next to the railway station. Later we learned that fire had been set to the tents of pro-Russian separatists as the supporters of a united Ukraine took revenge on the pro-Russian separatists for attacking them earlier that day. The special forces were in no hurry to intervene and stop the armed conflict in either case. As a result, 42 people were killed and 170 injured."
Please pray God's blessings on our brothers and sisters in Russia and Ukraine, and especially for Jews for Jesus and others seeking to bring the gospel of peace.

"Christ in the Sabbath" book, hot off the press!
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Dr. Rich Robinson, a Jew for Jesus, gives a video intro to his new book, Christ in the Sabbath. Dr. Robinson has a very approachable way of addressing controversial issues about the past, present and future meaning of this often misunderstood holy day. Please watch and share this short video—and guess what? At the end there's an opportunity to order the book. Be one of the first to own it!

Happy Birthday, Israel!
The state of Israel had its 66th annual Independence Day celebration on May 6 this year. Our Tel Aviv team went on the traditional firework sortie (tract-passing expedition) Monday night, May 5. Outreach leader Vladimir (Vova) Mitnitsky says, "We had a team of twelve evangelists: six Jews for Jesus missionaries, two Israeli volunteers and six volunteers from Denmark. Together we handed out 2,400 gospel tracts to Israelis. Praise God, thousands of people saw our T-shirts with the name of Jesus; we had dozens of sincere conversations and received four contacts from Jewish seekers.
"Our Danish friends went with us on training sorties before the big night. Here is what one of them, Soveig, had to say:
"'I was standing at the Azrieli Center Junction, evangelizing, and there were a lot of people, so we got to deliver a lot of gospel tracts. I especially remember one guy who smiled while he was passing by, receiving a gospel tract. After a few minutes he returned. He began by saying that he did not want us to try to convert him, but then he asked a lot of questions and was very interested. As we talked, he grew more and more interested, and at last we had to send him on to one of the evangelists at Jews for Jesus, because we needed someone who could speak Hebrew, and who could answer his questions better than us. In the end he filled out a contact card. It was very encouraging to have made a little difference in this man's life, and I hope that God will keep on working in his heart.'
"And here is what another volunteer, Rebecca, said about her time: 'Monday night on Independence Day, I was out with a group from Jews for Jesus to share the gospel. I was very excited and a bit nervous about how people would react. I prayed that God would work through me to reach the people I was going to meet. I felt God's presence, and very quickly all the gospel tracts disappeared from my hand and out to the people of God. It felt awesome! I was also blessed with three conversations with people who wanted to know more about Jesus. When the evening ended, I felt thankful to God, and now I can only pray for all the people who got a gospel tract in their hands, that they may open their hearts for Jesus.'
"We are thankful for our volunteers and for friends like you who are praying for people in Israel to really open their hearts to the gospel."
2014 Independence Day outreach in Tel Aviv
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