1.17.2017 JEWS FOR JESUS - November 2016

Making God Smile - by David Brickner, executive director

I recently enjoyed some quality time with my granddaughter at an ice cream shop. she wanted a vanilla cone and when I went to pay, the lady behind the counter said, 'if it's for her, it's free. after
Norah had eaten most of it, we went back to the counter and she said,
'Thank you for my ice cream cone.
the lady was so happy to receive those sweet words that she almost started to cry.

that got me thinking about how much the Lord appreciates our 'thank yous'.
remember the story of the ten lepers in Luke 17?
we want to be like the one ( a Samaritan) who made sure to come back and give thanks to Jesus.
So what are you most thankful to the Lord for today?

among so many other things - such as life and health and salvation in Christ  - I am thankful to God for you , and every single dear Jews for Jesus friend who has stood with us, prayed for us and supported our efforts to proclaim the gospel around the world.

thankfulness is a recurring theme throughout God's word. central to our heritage of faith - and certainly to my Jewish background - are the regular and genuine expressions of thanks to god for His blessings.
IT'S ONLY HUMAN TO FOCUS ON OUR PROBLEMS, of course. but no matter what problems we may be facing, we still have so many reasons to thank God. doing so can turn our hearts from trusting in ourselves to relying on His promises.
thankfulness to god not only blesses Him, it blesses us. so an attitude of gratitude should be our goal every day, don't you think?
with Thanksgiving coming soon, the best advice I can give to you and other brothers and sisters in Messiah is the same advice I give to myself -...'Oh, give thanks to the Lord!call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples! I chronicles 16.8

in ancient Israel, giving thanks went far beyond mere words. genuine thanksgiving was most sincerely expressed through special offerings to God as described in Leviticus 7.12-3. the Israelites presented thick loves of leavened bread as well as unleavened bread made with the finest flour and olive oil.
in Deuteronomy 16 we find that freewill offerings were offered in proportion to the Lord's blessings. those thank offerings were not necessarily given out of an overabundance of resources, but often out of need in sincere recognition of god's gracious provision, especially in troubled times.

the psalmist is surrounded by the threat of death and the pain of all sorts of trouble and sorrow when he asks the Lord for deliverance and declares, 'I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord. psalm 116.7
so it's not just when all is well that we need to thank God. it's when all is well that we need to thank God. it's when we recognize our need for Him and for His intervention in our lives that it's most appropriate to offer the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.

think about Leah, the wife of Jacob. C didn't love l, which caused her great pain. she tried to gain J's love through giving birth and said as much when she named their first 3 children Reuben, simeon and Levi.
Reuben means 'Behold, a son' or according to some, 'Behold, my affliction'. and the reason she gave him that name?...for she said, 'The Lord has surely looked on my affliction. now therefore, my husband will love me. Genesis 29.32
then came Simeon, which means 'heard' and L said, 'because the Lord has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also. Genesis 29.33
next came Levi, which means, 'attached' because l thought 'now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons'. Genesis 29.34

L was hoping to triumph over rejection and gain the love of her husband through her children. but it didn't work. it was only after she had her fourth child, that she decided to put aside her disappointment and instead give thanks and praise the Lord. so she named the child Judah, meaning 'praise'. and that was the child God chose as He narrowed down the line through whom Messiah would be born. what an amazing gift!
Leah is a picture of all of us who struggle to find love and acceptance in the midst of painful circumstances. with our eyes only on our predicament, we convince ourselves there are solutions to our problems within our grasp, if only we can change our circumstances. L's circumstance didn't change, but her heart did. the choice to thank and praise God is one we often make in spite of, not in light of, our circumstance. but praise and thanksgiving are powerful and transformative. giving glory to God calms our fears and opens our lives to new things.

yes, it's clear from even the most cursory reading of Scripture that deep, authentic appreciation
is pleasing to God
central to our faith and
good for the soul.
i'm going to make the extra effort at this season to be thankful, to heed the admonition of Scripture and to make known God's deeds to you and to all the people. I hope you'll join me and maybe even drop us a line to let us know how you and your loved ones are focusing on thanksgiving.

all around the world, our Jews for Jesus missionaries and volunteers are out and bout. whether we're proclaiming Christ at a Thanksgiving Day parade or witnessing among the throngs of early holiday shoppers, we have a message of hope for a lost world. those who hope in the Lord have great reason to give thanks, regardless of their circumstances. please join us in giving thanks to Him in making known His deeds among the people. like Norah, let's make a specific effort to return to Him and give thanks. I don't expect the Lord to shed tears of joy, but I believe our gratitude will certainly cause Him to smile.


ODESSA  join us in giving thanks to God for
His grace on our Odessa Jubilee Campaign...Turning trouble into Triumph in Budapest

it was one of those Holy spirit moments - our leadership council had no idea what God had in mind or how long the door would be open for ministry, but outreach worker Elizabeth Terini (born and raised in the former Soviet Union) and Avi Snyder (one of our US branch leaders) sensed an urgent call to bring the gospel to Odessa.  it seemed clear that God was calling the shots so we sent the Snyder family and Elizabeth off with much prayer. that was 25 years ago. we had no idea Odessa would become the launch pad for the gospel to go out to Jews and Gentiles throughout Russia, Ukraine, then Germany and Hungary. the hearts of our Odessa team still beat passionately for the Lord. they have endured through many hardships in a country that is unstable and war-torn. with faith fixed on Jesus, the Rock of Ages, the team purposed to celebrate their 25th year of ministry with a two-week witnessing campaign.
branch leader Leonid Vasserman assembled a team of about 50 campaigners. a third were staff; the rest were volunteers, mainly from two of the congregations Leonid has established in Odessa. five volunteers came from a Hebrew/Russian -speaking congregation in Haifa along with their leader, Mark (originally from Tashkent, Uzbekistan). mark received the Lord along with his whole family when we had a covert outreach in that city - he was only 16 at the time. later Mark trained with us in Odessa, then he returned to Tashkent to start his own work until he moved to Israel.

about 20 campaigners formed a special youth team, led by Leonid's son, Sasha, who is one of our outreach workers.  (some of you intercede faithfully for us using our monthly prayer prompters; rejoice in this answer to your prayers and ours for the next generation of Jews for Jesus. please keep praying - THERE'S SO MUCH MORE GROUND TO COVER ALL OVER THE WORLD!

the Spirit of God really was upon this campaign. prior to the final event,
925 Jewish people had given contact information to hear more about Jesus,
as well as 1223 non-Jewish seekers.
159 people prayed to receive Jesus, of whom 39 are Jewish.
the team handed out 336,900 gospel tracts. all within two weeks!
and that does not include the final event on the last night of the campaign.

the dramatic conclusion was a concert that featured a variety of music and folk dances
(including a 'bottle dance' like the one some of you might recall from A Fiddler on the Roof).
the room was packed to overflowing, literally!
all 1200 seats were filled and about 300 more occupied the standing room - plus 500 people
watched a simultaneous video program of the concert on 2 large screens in the lobby.
many more remained out on the street.
besides the music and dance, there was a testimony and a call to repent.
so many people raised their hands in response to the invitation
that Leonid could only estimate that somewhere between 40 to 70 percent of the people he could see responded
and prayed to repent and receive Jesus.
we do know that we received contact cards from 314 Jewish people and 571 Gentiles
who do not yet know Jesus.

Leonid said, 'there were many difficulties just before the concert, but God gave us abundant grace.
Thank you, our dear brothers and sisters, for all your prayers!
European director Avi Snyder reports,
'throughout our two week Budapest campaign we invited people to a presentation of 'Multitudes',
the art show that displays the very Jewish nature of the gospel of Matthew.

'five hours before the event, we received an urgent call from the administrators of the venue where the event was to take place.
they were under heavy pressure to cancel,
which they knew would put them in legal jeopardy for breach of contract.
they implored us to accept a change in location - to the Israel Cultural Center -a 5 minute walk away from their own facility.
there would be no extra cost to us and they promised to redirect people to the new venue.

'It was clear the through no fault of their own, they were caught in a no-win situation,
and were making every effort to 'do right' by us.
I agreed to the last-minute change and i believe God honored the decision.
the hall was packed to overflowing, with over a hundred people attending.
at least 20 unbelieving Jewish people came to see the paintings.
many had received an evangelistic tract and invitation on the street from one of the campaigners.

"excellent gospel-focused conversations followed the presentation for another hour and a half.
the paintings were on display at the Center until August 19,
which allowed even more people to view the artwork
and read the verses and brief commentary accompanying each one.

'Isn't that just like God?
an attempt to thwart the gospel event was turned to victory, thanks to your prayers and His grace!

'the Budapest campaign ended strong.
in two weeks, we placed 207,360 evangelistic tracts into people's hands.
57 unbelieving Jewish people and 413 unbelieving non-Jews gave us their contact details to learn more about Yeshua (Jesus).
and praise the Lord, two Jewish people and 21 non-Jews prayed to receive Him!
please pray for each one to grow in grace and strength!

Kata Tar, campaign co-leader, adds:  'we tried something new at Szell Kalman Square - setting up a tent to offer people shade from the heat, a cold drink and prayer.  we ran into unexpected difficulties with set-up and wondered if the idea had been a mistake. but then a strange and wonderful thing happened within two hours, four people prayed to surrender their hearts to the Lord!  the first one, Attila, in his mid 30s, wanted to talk before we even finished setting up the tent, but we were able to sit in the shade and chat.
'Attlia remembered having received a tract from me about a year ago.
while he believed Jesus is the Messiah, he was fearful about
what he might have to give up to follow Him.
when I explained what Jesus promises us in exchange - a new heart and eternal life -
he was touched and wanted to pray with me to receive the Lord.
what a joy when a sower of gospel seed can later see the ripened fruit and even harvest it!
please pray for Attila
to find a strong and healthy church,
to grow in the Lord and
become a sower of Gospel seed himself!


bits from the Branches

from BERLIN, AARON LEWIN  reports 'Ron was one of the first people I made contact with after I arrived in berlin. we've been meeting on a regular basis in order to improve my Hebrew and his German. of course, we're always able to talk about Jesus. R suggested that we read in hebrew from a well-known Israeli newspaper and we ended up choosing an article about Messianic Jews in Israel. I was amazed by how clearly the gospel was presented in this article. it was great to see Leviticus 17.11 - which explains the necessity of a blood sacrifice - quoted! R understood the concept but said he thought it was 'a bit barbaric', his interest piqued as I mentioned the plot of a recent superhero movie in which one person dies for another. R listened with interest once I mentioned the Hollywood blockbuster! truly God can use anything to make His truth known! please pray that whether through Batman, Superman or Leviticus, R would clearly understand the gospel and its implications on his life and come to know the one who died for him.

from Israel, TATYANA BOLOTOV reports, 'Raya participated in several of our guided tours, yet was reluctant to communicate. I continued to pray for her and the Holy Spirit encouraged me to be faithful in calling her on the phone. during one of our phone conversations, R agreed to meet with me. when my husband and I came, R was eagerly anticipating our arrival and even ran out to meet us. she said that she had read the books we had given her. from the moment we entered her house, tears of joy continually streamed from her eyes and her heart was full of excitement. she gladly accepted the proposal to receive Yeshua the Messiah into her life and then fell on her knees and started to thank God for her deliverance. hallelujah! please pray for her thirst for her God, the God of Israel to be further multiplied.
VALERY BOLOTOV reports, 'my wife Tatyna spoke with 91 year old Grigory during our telephone campaign in samaria. G fought in World War II and experienced much sorrow, yet he's remained softhearted and was open to meet with us. we sent him books which he'd said he would read, but he mistakenly gave us the wrong apartment number, so his neighbor Boris received the books. sometimes God uses mistakes for His purposes. we first spoke with B and told him about salvation through the Messiah Yeshua and then we went on to Grigory. G didn't know mush about "God, yet he was open to Him. after we explained the gospel we invited him to pray the sinner's prayer. he agreed to do so and afterward, he frankly added,
'this is right.
Jesus died for all of us!'
G asked us to continue to visit with him, so that his faith might be strengthened. thanks be unto God for one more life saved!

also from V,  'I was doing street evangelism when Vasily approached me. he had been seeking God for a long time, but was hesitant to invite Him into his life. V is a smoker and he thought that he had to be holy and free from addiction in order to approach the almighty. I cited Yeshua's words, 'those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance'. mark 2.17. Vasily was glad to hear this and asked how he should pray in order to have a personal relationship with Jesus. we prayed together right on the street. V isn't Jewish, but his wife is. she is often sick and has asked him to pray to Jesus for her healing, for she thinks that Jesus isn't the God of the Jews! Vasily gave us his address and asked us to send him our free books. please pray for him to grow in faith and that his wife might also receive Yeshua as her Lord and Savior.