One Brit Chadashah and a full set were given to a brother and sister. The brother was very interested in the New Covenant after hearing us explain how Jewish it was. Before, he had said it was a book for Catholics. We spoke of how he would see the fulfillment of Isaiah 53 if he read it.
Calgary
Thursday November 18
Two teams of two had a very nice day doing outreach, but it was chilly. We gave one full set of Scriptures, 32 Hanukkah gifts of which 16 were our new pamphlets, and 16 were the scrolls from last year. About seven bookmarks were distributed, and 15 gospel tracts were also given.
There weren’t many people at the first place we went, so we decided to re-visit a few homes in a different neighborhood. Of the six homes where we did go, we got three responses! One Jewish lady accepted our Hanukkah gift with a smile even though her three large dogs were barking quite a bit.
Another Jewish lady thanked us for passing by to meet with our Jewish neighbors for Hanukkah but declined our gifts.
Another Jewish lady also thanked us, accepted our Hanukkah gifts, and took a full set of Scriptures! We couldn’t have a conversation as she was in an ongoing video conference.
We went to a parking lot and encountered more Jewish people. One Jewish woman was happy to share with us on anti-Semitism, agreeing it was spiritual warfare. We shared two Psalms where David trusted the Lord for deliverance over his enemies. Then we mentioned that in the same way one can trust in the Jewish Messiah for deliverance out of the prophesized “Time of Jacob’s Trouble”. As soon as the topic of Messiah came up, she didn’t want to engage any further. Happily, she had already accepted the Hanukkah gift and bookmark.
Friday November 19
Friday was just as nice since we were blessed with cloud free skies. One man went alone to do outreach and we also had a team of two ladies. We distributed about 24 Hanukkah gifts to Jewish people. We gave gospel tracts to around the same number of Gentiles. There were only a few Jewish people in the park but even though the refusals were on the rise, by the Lord’s grace, some accepted our gifts.
We met a nice middle aged Jewish couple who had a friendly conversation with us. They returned the full set of Scriptures saying they already had the Tanakh but accepted the Hanukkah pamphlet. We had an exchange about God’s protection over Israel in the past and His future deliverance of Israel through the troubled times to come. They showed no interest in prophecy.
One Jewish couple accepted the Hanukkah brochure and a CD of the Bible. Since they could not find the traditional gold foil chocolate coins for their grandchildren, we offered them a little Hanukkah scroll.
Another lady mentioned that she would be happy to sit with Catholics, Muslims, and Jews but not to discuss their different beliefs. We asked her what their gods would have to say about past prophecies and the future to come. Then we read her Isaiah 41:21-23. She found our point to be a strong argument in favor of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who alone could foretell the future.
Since we’re dealing with a small Jewish population in one sector, we could sense some fatigue because they’re recognizing us now. After Hanukkah we’re praying for the Lord to open the way to do door to door distribution again, revisiting homes that have accepted the Tanakh. We have a record of those who accepted our gifts since we began the outreach effort there.
Montreal
Friday November 19
One team went to a shopping area in a Jewish area and gave out 33 Hanukkah pamphlets and 30 small gift bags. Three full sets were given.
One Russian woman who received a pamphlet and set kept touching her heart with gratitude. We also gave her the prophecy bookmark and an Isaiah 53 leaflet. We encouraged her to read the entire chapter to get the full picture of Messiah and to see how God’s righteous One could make her righteous. She was all smiles as she hugged us at the end.
Another set was given to a French woman from Hungary who had already read parts of the New Covenant before. She accepted other literature, too.
Another Russian set and literature were taken by a Hungarian woman married to a Russian man. She had time to speak with us as well.
We spoke to a Gentile man who wanted a pamphlet from us. We encouraged him to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
We saw police cars a few times during our outreach, but the officers didn’t approach us. The shoppers joyfully wished us Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach for the upcoming Hanukkah season.
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Sunday November 21
Two teams went to commercial areas.
In 90 minutes the first team gave out one Tanakh, one Brit Chadashah, 53 Hanukkah pamphlets and 25 small gift bags. We finished the outreach when we ran out of pamphlets.
A Jewish immigrant was very kind and open, stopping to talk to us. She happily received a Brit Chadashah and other literature from us. She clearly saw it was marked “New Testament.”
A religious woman hurriedly walked past us to her car, yelling in our direction. She began with, “You know what you’re doing is wrong, don’t you?” We responded that with all our heart, we want to see Jewish people come to know the Messiah of Israel. She then yelled, “It doesn’t even make common sense! He died!” to which we replied, “Just like Daniel prophesied.” As she slammed her car door, she shouted, “What in the world is that?” If only she knew her Scriptures…
A kind couple engaged in conversation with us for quite a while. They wanted to know about us personally and if we had been to Israel. They were fascinated by the commitment of the team member who was not Jewish and had no Jewish ancestry. They wanted to know more about Beth Ariel and asked if we were “born again” after we said the congregation was messianic. Usually that kind of question would be accompanied by negative comments, but they were unphased when they heard it and continued talking to us. They took literature and a Tanakh but asked us if the Bible they were receiving was “normal.” We assured them it was and urged them to read all of Isaiah 53 after receiving a leaflet with four of the verses on it.
One woman accepted a Hanukkah pamphlet and began to look at it when another woman quickly yanked it out of her hand and told her to give it back and not to look at it.
A young Sephardic man was displaying acrobatics in a high traffic area of the parking lot. He wasn’t collecting money but adopted difficult balancing positions non-stop. After quite a while, two young friends came to pick him up. All three were excited about getting our Hanukkah pamphlets and gifts before they drove off.
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The second team gave out four full sets of Scripture, 2 Brit Chadashahs, 27 Hanukkah pamphlets, 21 gift bags, and seven French anti-Semitism pamphlets since the Hanukkah one is only in English. In general, it was a very peaceful time for us at the shopping area.
One Brit Chadashah and a full set were given to a brother and sister. The brother was very interested in the New Covenant after hearing us explain how Jewish it was. Before, he had said it was a book for Catholics. We spoke of how he would see the fulfillment of Isaiah 53 if he read it.
Another set was given to a woman. We marked Isaiah 53 for her with some literature.
Another man took a set in French and a bookmark.
We spoke to a couple of Jewish men about always going to the Tanakh for the truth about the Messiah. They took the Isaiah 53 leaflet and Hanukkah pamphlet.
As always, we thank the Lord for all He has done for us. Your continued interest and prayers are so appreciated as we bear witness to the Messiah who came exactly as the Scriptures tell us. May the Lord open the eyes of people to see Him! Chag Sameach to each of you as we begin the eight- day celebration of the Feast of Dedication, Hanukkah, on Sunday night the 28th!