An innovative gospel outreach in Jerusalem has sparked great interest among hundreds of Jewish people wanting to know more about the claims of Jesus.
The brainchild of the International Mission to Jewish People (IMJP), the five-day initiative was specifically designed for those who had lived through the Holocaust. It comprised four tours of Biblical sites in Galilee, ending with a concert featuring performances by local musicians (all Jewish believers in Jesus), and a gospel presentation by IMJP missionary, Aviel Sela. It formed part of a strategic plan, developed over a number of years, to reach Jewish people with the good news about Jesus. More than 200 people joined the site tours, to places such as the Mount of Beatitudes where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, and 185 Jewish people attended the concert, 156 of whom gave their contact details and took away Christian literature.
Sela said; ‘Several days after the outreach I visited Judit, a Holocaust survivor in her eighties. We opened the Bible to the Psalms and God moved in her heart as she invited Jesus into her life. We are now putting in place a plan to follow up everyone who attended the outreach and indicated they wanted to know more about the Messiah Jesus.’
Sela also answered some questions from Evangelicals Now about the mission:
en: Why did you hold the mission at Pentecost when that festival has no significance for Jewish people?
AS: Pentecost is also the Jewish Feast of Weeks/Shavuot, one of the three main feasts commanded in the Bible (Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles). There were 50 days from Passover to ancient Israel’s next harvest of the Feast of Weeks, which is why the word Pentecost comes from the Greek word for fiftieth.
The 50 days is a countdown from the first-fruits at Passover to the greater harvest at Shavuot. IMJP is committed to sharing the good news of Jesus with Jewish people and trusts God to bring in a harvest, as Jewish people realise Jesus is not just from them, but also for them.
en: Why do you think it resonated so much with Holocaust survivors?
AS: I have been able to develop strong relationships with many victims over many years. They have been on the gospel Galilee tours, and during lockdown some attended English and Hebrew lessons held on Zoom. So at this event I was able to share Jesus – in a very culturally contextual way – through the Feast of Shavuot.
