Rebekah Bronn

I grew up in a family that was Jewish and believed in Jesus. Some of my favourite childhood memories involve Shabbat dinners with my family or celebrating Passover and Hanukkah. We also celebrated Christmas and Easter and attended a local church. Being Jewish and believing in Jesus has always been a part of my identity, but growing up in rural New Zealand, meant that I didn’t have that many opportunities to interact with Messianic groups or other Jewish believers. To me, my Jewish identity was usually personal. It wasn’t something that I ever really felt the need to share with others and it didn’t come up that often in conversation. 

My Dad grew up in London in a secular Jewish home. My Grandparents were raised in more religious homes, but left those traditions behind when they got married because none of it felt personal. 

The first time my Grandma heard about Jesus was when she was about eight years old. She was part of the girl guides and they met every week in a Methodist church. Sometimes they would listen to a sermon by the minister and my Grandma told me that when she first heard about Jesus through one of these sermons she was captivated. She thought to herself that if she had been alive in the time of Jesus, she would surely have been one of his first followers. And then she thought that she must be the only Jewish person in the whole world to have ever considered this! As Grandma got older, she was still curious about Jesus. She wondered if she should go to church with some of her Christian friends, but knew this wasn’t an option because she was Jewish.

Years later, when my Dad was about eighteen, my Grandpa was working with a Jewish man, Stephen Pacht  and Stephen shared that he believed Jesus was the Messiah. Grandpa wasn’t interested in this, but told Stephen that my Grandma might be. Stephen then met up with my Grandma and shared the gospel with her. It was the first time she had heard anything about Jewish people believing in Jesus! And the first time that she felt that it was ok for her to read the New Testament. That it wouldn’t stop her from being Jewish. She came to believe that Jesus was her Messiah and not long after, so did my Grandpa, Dad and Uncle. This was a pivotal moment in their family and so, in mine as well. (Stephen Pacht later went on to start the Jews for Jesus branch in Paris and Also lead the branch in Switzerland, only retiring recently.)

My mum is from New Zealand. She is not Jewish and grew up in a Christian family. Her parents both had a strong love for the Jewish people and Israel. Their home was full of Messianic books, music, and china; it basically looked like the Jews for Jesus shop in Sydney! For many years, they hosted Israeli travellers through the HIT and Chiburim programs.

Our house was very near to their home, so I was able to hang around with heaps of Israelis for a lot of my childhood. 

When my Mum was in her early 20s, she lived and worked in London. One day she happened to see some people down the street with T-shirts that said ‘Jews for Jesus’ on them. Because her parents were very interested in anything Jewish, my Mum went over to the people and asked them who they were. She also asked if they could recommend any churches. They told her about a Messianic congregation which my Mum started going to and it was there that she met my Dad. So in a way, Jews for Jesus has been fairly instrumental in my Grandparent’s life, in my parents finding one another, and thus in my existence, and in so many other ways.

I was born in London, but my parents moved back to New Zealand when I was just a baby. I spent my whole childhood in New Zealand living on a dairy farm outside of a small town near Palmerston North. I am the oldest of five children, and I am so grateful to God that all my siblings love and follow the Lord. 

When I was 18, I left home and headed overseas. I worked in London for a few years and did a lot of traveling. I have also lived in Israel for a short time and volunteered at a hostel ministry there. It’s called the Shelter and is based in Eilat. The leaders and volunteers there are doing amazing work to reach out to travellers. 

Although I have been a follower of Jesus from a young age and at different points in my 20’s have volunteered with ministries sharing the gospel, it never really crossed my mind that I could be a missionary to Jewish people. In fact, I didn’t have very much interest at all in Messianic things. 

In the summer of 2019 I visited Sydney for the first time and while I was there, Mum mentioned that there was a Jews for Jesus shop and that I should visit it. I knew a bit about the ministry Jews for Jesus through my parent’s story, but if I am perfectly honest I didn’t have much interest in visiting the shop and didn’t make time to pop in.

But fast forward six months and I was on a plane moving to Sydney to work at the same Jews for Jesus shop that I hadn’t even wanted to visit! So what changed?

The same summer I visited Sydney, I also volunteered with a ministry in New Zealand that was reaching out to Israeli travellers and it was while I was there that God started to change my heart. I was having some really amazing conversations with the Israelis and so many of them were really interested that I am from a Jewish family that believes in Jesus. They were so curious and it really felt like I had a foot in the door already because of my background. And I suddenly began to feel so strongly that I wanted to learn more about sharing Jesus with Jewish people. I had recently moved back to New Zealand after spending some time working in London and was really seeking God for my next step. So I just reached out to any Messianic organisation that I knew, to see what kind of serving opportunities they had. Well I made contact with Bob in Sydney and he offered me an internship which turned into me being offered a position on staff and 3 and a half years later, I have finished my training and I am a missionary with Jews for Jesus.

For me, my faith is the most important part of my life. I see my faith and walk with God as a journey, one where He is always teaching me new things about Himself; and I am learning to trust Him. 

I love my work at Jews for Jesus, but it does really stretch me! I have so much to learn and I am meeting people every day who have such different stories and backgrounds. Sometimes I find it overwhelming when I try to figure out how to share Jesus with them all! But God has been so faithful and has encouraged me in so many different ways, and He has really confirmed to me that I am where I’m supposed to be and to just rely on Him. My prayer is that I will always have a soft heart to hear His voice and that I will not do things in my own strength, but will instead walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.