An atheist mensch who survived the Holocaust and still refused to believe … until …
Lev (name changed) was a strong man. He had needed to be to survive the Holocaust when the majority of his Jewish friends and family members were driven out of Poland and into death camps. Somehow, Lev and his wife Dania (name changed) made it through the war.
But the horror of that time reinforced to Lev, a secular Jewish person, that there is no God. He and Dania have been atheists for many years—although when they met our missionaries, they welcomed them and, over time, became dear friends.
Age caught up with Lev recently, and his health began to decline. With the pandemic lockdowns, it was more than a year since he had seen his Messianic believing friends. When they were able to visit again, they found Lev weak but still interested in a lively discussion about spiritual things—and even what happens after we die.
That day, Lev prayed with our missionaries to receive Jesus as his Savior! Although he had not read the Bible or studied theology, he had a strong faith and thanked the Lord for his salvation and for forgiving his sins.
That was last May. Lev remained strong in his faith even as he continued to decline physically, and he recently passed away at age ninety-four. We are so thankful to know he is now in heaven with his Savior! Please join us in praying that his widow, Dania, will soon choose to follow her Messiah, too.
Sharing the love of the Messiah in a Jewish neighborhood of the United States
A Messianic congregation in a predominately Jewish neighborhood of Pennsylvania is sharing the good news about Messiah with their Jewish neighbors. A team of twenty-two believers, specially trained and equipped with our outreach materials, recently spent an evening sharing the gospel.
“We sent them out two by two while we remained at our prayer station,” says their Messianic rabbi. “For many, it was the first time doing street evangelism. They all handled themselves wonderfully. We sowed a lot of seeds and engaged in lots of conversations.”
The congregation had set up a prayer station, and many people came by after talking to the believers who were sharing the good news.
“I had a chance to talk to and pray for quite a few people. I am so proud of these courageous saints. We will be planning some more of these outreaches to train the saints in evangelism and spread the gospel of Yeshua’s love.”
From the back-packing trails of Brazil to urban Chicago, you are sharing the good news!
One of our Brazil adventure teams—who often meet up with backpacking young Israelis and share the good news with them—found themselves sent home in 2020 when the pandemic was raging and no one was entering Brazil for tourism.
“One important way we ministered was by giving the backpackers travel-size New Testaments. When the pandemic struck, the opportunity to continue giving New Testaments to Israelis disappeared—or so we thought,” says a missionary who had been forced to return to Chicago because of the pandemic.
Out of the blue, a Messianic beleiving friend in the United States contacted them to say her friend Anna (name changed) was asking about her faith in Christ and wanted to know why she thought the New Testament was God’s Word. Our missionaries were able to send Anna her own New Testament!
“The Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 3:16, ‘But whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.’ It is our hope that, through the reading of the New Covenant, Anna will turn to the Lord, and the veil will be removed. Please pray for God to remove the veil from Anna’s heart and the other Israelis who received New Testaments. Pray they will believe in Jesus as their Messiah. We desire to be used by God as He brings the Jewish people to Himself.”
Please join in prayer for Samuel!
Samuel (name changed) belongs to a traditional synagogue just down the street from one of our Messianic congregations in Virginia. He had noticed our congregation before, and he finally visited during the pandemic when we began offering food distribution.
He was pleased we welcomed him so warmly into the congregation and soon began sharing about his own life and spiritual journey. He had been reading the New Testament and even had dreams about Yeshua!
“I came to realize Yeshua has been pursuing Samuel for a very long time,” says the congregational leader. “He seems so very close to fully trusting Messiah for salvation. We are trusting the Lord to draw him to the truth.”
Please pray with us that Samuel and other Jewish people in the area will choose to follow Jesus. Thank you!
