Moments of grace in Jewish evangelism

I am so thankful to God for what has been a very busy and fruitful summer of outreach to Jewish people.

In my last column I wrote about the plans our mission (IMJP.org) had for summer outreaches in Budapest, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, and London. Now, with these behind us, I am thrilled to share the fruit of those efforts. Once again, God is faithful!

In Budapest, our missionaries Bogi and Feri Kozma, led a team as they handed out gospel leaflets, held park outreaches, and organised a panel event with both a pastor and a rabbi. From these efforts, five Hungarian Jewish people asked to learn more about Jesus.

In Paris, our missionary Aurel Vidal and his team gave out 500 New Testaments to Jewish people and spoke to many Jewish passers-by, resulting in 25 new Jewish contacts.

Across the Atlantic in Rio de Janeiro, Sergio Danon’s team of 20 volunteers distributed thousands of gospel leaflets in Jewish neighbourhoods and sang Jewish-flavoured gospel music. There, ten Jewish seekers asked for further contact about Jesus.

Finally, our Summer School of Jewish Evangelism in London brought together 12 participants from around the world. They received training and went onto the streets and door-to-door in Jewish neighbourhoods, handing out thousands of gospel tracts and finding seven Jewish people who wanted more follow-up about Jesus.

Together, these four cities for the summer saw 47 new Jewish seekers give their details for further contact, hundreds of gospel conversations, and thousands of gospel materials given away. I know this sounds like a lot of statistics, but behind these numbers are real people.

In Rio, Sergio had just finished speaking to one Jewish seeker, when another named Eliana approached him. Although she is Brazilian, she lived in Israel for the past 17 years. She was only in Brazil briefly to finalise the sale of her property before returning permanently to live in Israel. After hearing our team openly speaking about Jesus with other Jewish people, she thanked them for caring about Jewish people enough to even share Jesus with them. Jewish people around the world are feeling so much pressure and even hatred, that they feel a blessing when Christians are willing to show God’s love through intentional witness.

As Sergio shared that the peace Jewish people long for is found only in Messiah Jesus, Eliana listened carefully and was open enough to give her details so Sergio could stay in touch and continue the conversation.

Alongside these Jewish seekers like Eliana, who are at the start of their faith journey, we are also seeing Jewish people further along coming to saving faith. In Jerusalem, our missionary Aviel Sela continues to lead evangelistic bus trips to Biblical sites, even during the ongoing war. On one of these tours he met Vladimir, a Russian Jewish psychotherapist who had moved to Israel three years ago. Vladimir was angry with God because of all the hardship he has endured. He told Aviel that he cried out to heaven with no answer. Their conversation turned to Jesus, and Aviel explained their meeting might be God’s answer to his cries. Deeply moved, Vladimir agreed to meet Aviel again.

After a trip back to Russia, Vladimir returned with many questions about Jesus. Aviel shared both the Scriptures and his own testimony of how Jesus had changed his life. Eventually Vladimir accompanied Aviel to church, where he saw doctors, lawyers, and others joyfully worshipping the Saviour. His prejudices melted away. Later, after reading John chapter 3, he phoned Aviel to say he finally understood what it means to be born again. Over the phone, he repented of his sin and prayed, giving his life to Jesus. Today Vladimir is being discipled, and we rejoice with heaven itself over his salvation.

Friends, this is why we do what we do. Mission to the Jewish people is often a long road, filled with conversations, delays, refusals, and sometimes hostility. But it is also filled with moments of grace, like Eliana’s openness and Vladimir’s new birth. The Lord is at work among his lost Jewish sheep, opening hearts and eyes to the truth of the gospel.

To those who want to dislike Jewish people in light of the ongoing war, you must remember that there is only One who can change Jewish hearts. And there is only one group who can provide God’s message that brings such change: us evangelicals. So please don’t fall into apathy or resistance to Jewish people’s need for Jesus. Together let’s make Jesus known to Jewish people, because “the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Rom. 1v16)