Spotlight on Israel and Israelis

This month, there were so many exciting reports about Israel and Israelis that we wanted to feature them in our News Briefs section:

Center Café Sparks Interest

Lisa W., who has been serving in Israel, was strolling along a street in Tel Aviv when a Jewish man approached her to ask for directions. As they conversed, he asked where Lisa was going and she told him she was heading toward our recently-opened Center Café. He told Lisa he did not believe in Jesus, but also said that he had been reading the New Testament. He agreed to join her for a cup of coffee at the café. As they opened the Scriptures, he asked Lisa to pray that God would reveal the truth to him. When they ended their visit, the man expressed a desire to join the weekly meeting at the Messianic Center in Jerusalem.

In Miami, Israeli Comes to Faith

Manuel Goffman, who leads a Messianic congregation in Miami, has been ministering to David,* a young Israeli man who came to a worship service. Manuel says, “My ministry with my wife Rosita is to encourage people in discipleship and bring them to a personal relationship with us that will, we pray, bring them to a personal relationship with God. This is especially true with the young people, whom we ‘adopt’ as our children. As they see the Eternal One working in their lives, they are led through this experience to receive Messiah, and then continue to grow.” This was David’s experience. He saw the Lord working in his life through the patient ministry of the Goffmans, and just a little while ago he joyfully told them that he had received the Lord!

Tel Aviv Ministry Offers Hope and New Life to Homeless Man

The street ministry that Brian S. operates in Tel Aviv confronts human tragedy on a daily basis. But the light of the Gospel banishes the darkness of sin, as Brian tells: “A man named Isaac,* who is a Russian Jew, was helpless, hopeless and homeless, looking for any park or bus bench to sleep on. Until he came to us, he had searched for hope in a bottle of vodka. However, he found real hope when he came to our soup kitchen in Tel Aviv, where he began to surrender his life, begging for us to take him in to our Bible-based rehab center. This is where he cleaned up his physical life, renewed his mind, and within two weeks gave his life to the Lord. Please pray for Isaac as we continue to disciple him and four other men who are new in their faith.”

Holocaust Survivors Hear Gospel at Piano Concert

Henry N., who has led a Messianic congregation in the West Bank for the past ten years, is also a highly gifted classical pianist from a family of similarly gifted artists. His whole family, including his children, gave several concerts for Holocaust survivors and other elderly people in Jerusalem. The listeners were very attentive, Henry reports, not only to the music but also to the Gospel message that followed the program. Henry says, “We even met some people who had attended concerts given by my father and grandfather in the former Soviet Union! After these concerts, it was much easier to present the Good News of salvation to them!”

*name has been changed