What is wonder? It’s what takes your breath away and then when you get it back again, you are changed because of the wonder that has filled you.

Shalom Aleichem!

Although I am always repeating that the night of outreach was amazing, there are no empty echoes here. Rather it is a confirmation of God’s amazing work. New souls are each time receiving the Scriptures and that is what qualifies these evenings as truly amazing! The wonders of God are always a matter of perspective. Don’t say your day was awful, but instead, unearth the true root of that word. We treasure the awe-filled moments each day and with each evening’s outreach.

The offer of a free bible set provokes some to ask… “Where’s the catch?”… Our answer: God catches us off guard every time we see how He controls everything pitched our way.

Shalom everyone!

We are grateful to God for the lovely night we had! Catherine, who participated in the outreaches almost every week these last 3 years was thrilled to join us once again after being away because of health issues.  It was equally joyous for us to have her back! We were two teams on Monday evening: Catherine and Danielle formed the first team while Sarah and I (Hugues) formed the second one.

Once again we started out in a new building and as is often the blessing from our great God, the front door quickly opened and we gained access in. Starting on the top floor, Danielle and Catherine knocked on a door and met a woman who had some difficulties walking. She also shared about a wound to her eye. She gladly took a set and said that it was a great blessing for her.  She even maintained that this was a specific divine encounter at a very important time in her life! Her eye injury did not block her positive view of this offer nor did her poor gait slow her down in receiving the gift.

This past Monday night, we were one team: Danielle, Sarah and me (Tina). We decided to go back to the same part of town where we had left off last week. It was clear that there would be far fewer mezuzahs than expected since Jewish people have moved on while others have moved in. As usual, we began the evening with the expectation of being a blessing to the Jews. It’s so amazing how every time we need to enter a building, the Lord always provides people who let us in. It was the same again this past Monday. However in the first four buildings we visited, there were either no mezuzahs at all, or refusals, or no one answered.

This Monday night April 25, 2016, we were one team. Danielle, Sarah and myself (Tina). We began the evening with a new apartment building. We had only to wait a few minutes when two people walked up to the door, and let us in. There were only a few mezuzahs in this building, but every door provides an opportunity. At the first door we met an older woman using a walker. We told her our purpose for the visit and she asked us whether we were Jewish. Danielle explained that we love the Jewish people because we received the Word of God through them. She was surprised, accepted the set and then told us that she was going to show it to her sister who was married to a rabbi.

Isn’t it fascinating and ironic how because of fear of persecution, some Jews may not put a mezuzah on their door frame while some non-Jews have inadvertently been blessed by keeping it there?

Shalom everyone!

Monday night was unique and special! Danielle, Tina, and I made one team and we started off in a large apartment building. The minute we entered the lobby, we read a warning about surveillance cameras and the interception of solicitors. Although technically we do not sell anything, we agreed that we should not start our evening there, but rather try the smaller building just across the street.

We arrived at the same moment as another woman and so we simply followed her in. Another case of divine timing. This was a small 5 storey building. As is our custom, we began on the top floor, where we found only one door with a mezuzah. We knocked  and a voice from behind the door asked us what the call was all about. Tina explained that we were there to offer a gift to her and all the Jewish families of this building. A  black  and very responsive woman opened her door and was softhearted when we offered her a set of the Scriptures.

We started out the evening with two teams: Danielle, Tina, Sarah, and me. We still had two more buildings to explore in this neighborhood through Knock and Talk. We decided to go with the smaller building first. Just as we were praying to the Lord to open the hearts as well as the doors that night, someone drove up to the front driveway to drop someone off. Tina then rushed out of our car, and got there just in time to get in through the front door. Great moment!

Shalom everyone! Being back on track Monday night, we quickly discovered that we were on the right side of the tracks as we kept track of the blessings that night brought. In fact, we must have been on the fast track, because in a short time we gave out 11 Bible sets! This is like 11 precious pearls given out into the hands of people who will then be responsible to seek its true and deep value. If one is dying of physical hunger, this pearl will do nothing to revive him or her, but should they be tracking spiritual truths, these pearls will not allow them to be stranded from God.

“He said he did not want to lack respect but refused to take a set because he said he didn’t know what was in the book.”

I have a granddaughter. She is at the age where she can, without hesitation, decide if a new food item would be to her liking… even before tasting it! She, like many of us, has preconceived notions about the flavor before it even hits the tongue. I tell her, “Look, just taste it first… you never know what you might be missing ….imagine if you had said no to chocolate without giving it a chance”. The key driver for our eating (and possibly tasting) is hunger yet we are so influenced by many other factors… social, emotional and intellectual factors. So whether we ever get to taste spaghetti squash will not affect our eternal tent, but refusing to taste the Word of God because of cultural or religious constraints will indeed have tremendous implications for us. Our responsibility as we go door to door is to heighten the senses and help people realize that they are indeed hungry for something other than food. We pray that the words used in these conversations with our Jewish friends would trigger a challenge that would result in a spiritually nutritious diet. So let’s offer them the milk of the Word and free them from the dark side of chocolate!           

Sharon G.

 From the Outreach Team: Monday, March 21, 2016

Shalom Aleichem!

I hope you are all doing well in the Lord! I am glad to share with you that although we were only one team (Danielle, Sarah and myself, Hugues) this past Monday night, we experienced a very blessed distribution since we gave out 10 complete sets and one Tanach,  so here are at least 11 more reasons to praise the Lord!

Shalom chaverim (friends in Hebrew)