Bits from the Branches

Thanks to those of you who have been praying for Jews for Jesus during this strange time. We are truly amazed by God’s grace in opening doors we would never have imagined during the pandemic! From Hungary, to Israel, to Sydney, and beyond, He’s at work. We hope you will be encouraged to see how ministry has continued—and in some ways increased—during this time.

Bogi Kozma reports from Budapest. “‘Beyond Schmooze’ is a new gathering where we invite our contacts to discuss spiritual topics that are intellectually challenging, such as why a good God allows people to suffer. I led the first ‘Beyond Schmooze’. We examined the topic of miracles from the viewpoint of the Old Testament, the Talmud, as well as modern rabbinical writings, and also from the New Testament. Seven guests attended, and after the group discussion, we had some good one-on-one conversations. Then the next month, Avi Snyder, pioneer of our work in the former Soviet Union, Germany, and Budapest, was our speaker, and we discussed what it means to be God’s chosen people. Eight guests attended, and again, we had good conversations. Since lockdown we decided to do livestream. We wondered if the technology would be conducive to the event, but 27 guests—more than three times as many as before—joined us! Even our Orthodox Jewish friends stayed to the end as I concluded the evening with the message that Yeshua the Messiah is the Prince of Peace, and that His purpose is much more than bringing the victory for one nation at one point in history. “Pray that these events continue to inspire meaningful conversations with Jewish people who don’t yet know Jesus—not only during this time of restrictions, but face to face after the virus.” Note: Bogi Kozma serves with our Budapest team in partnership with Christian Witness to Israel.

Paris Branch leader Joshua Turnil reports. “Lionel Gimelfarb, a Jewish believer and a trained pastor, has been on our staff for two years. He and his wife, Valérie, are both triathletes, and Lionel is also a trained fitness instructor. His background gave us a unique way to minister during the pandemic. “As part of the pandemic lockdown in our country, bicycling was banned, and people are only allowed to walk or jog within one mile of their homes. Most live in apartment buildings and are not getting enough exercise. Lionel created a livestream video called ‘Fit to Faith’ which he streams every Monday to Friday morning. The video provides 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise for all levels of fitness, accompanied by spiritual songs and Scripture verses. We wanted Jewish people who don’t yet know Jesus to feel welcomed and included, so we chose our Scripture verses from the Old Covenant, and we used a lot of Hebrew. More and more Jewish people who aren’t yet believers have been tuning in! Please pray that this endeavor will bear fruit in the future, and that the fruit will endure!”

You Are Reaching Jewish New Yorkers for Jesus. Last year, our New York team relocated to Greenwich Village, just down the street from New York University. Jews for Jesus founder Moishe Rosen first caught a vision for new ways to reach Jewish people with the gospel in “The Village,” and it’s still a great place for creatively communicating the good news. We had a terrific autumn outreach to last year’s returning students, and we even had Bob Mendelsohn with us for a big part of that outreach. (Thanks, Australia for the loan!) We thank God for a space where we can warmly welcome people to gather for Bible studies, Shabbat dinners, holiday events, and more. As COVID lockdown orders start to lift and people slowly begin engaging in social interactions once again, we will be ready to meet people’s hunger for community and spiritual support, and we look forward to sharing what Jesus means to us. But even during the height of the pandemic in NYC, our missionaries were not slowed in their efforts to reach out to seekers during shelter in place orders, and they became even more innovative and adaptive, reaching people through any medium available. New York branch leader Liz Goldstein reports, “Though Sheila* is a New Yorker, Josh Sofaer first connected with her from his home in Los Angeles—over LiveChat. Josh passed her name and number to us, and I met with her a couple of times by phone. Sheila’s Christian boyfriend had been sharing the gospel with her, but, as a Jewish person considering Jesus, there were things she couldn’t quite understand. She needed to talk to another Jewish person about Jesus, and that’s exactly what we did. I also gave her Shoshannah’s phone number (Shoshannah is one of our veteran missionaries), so that more than one of us could be available to her. When Shoshannah connected with her, Sheila had already become a believer! Thank you for your prayers and support that make it possible for Sheila and so many others to meet the Prince of Peace.”

October 2020