From Kata Tar in Budapest

We met Yoram,* an Israeli Jewish man, at an open-air Kabbalat Shabbat (literally “welcoming the Sabbath,” a Friday evening service to open the Sabbath). He had heard our music from his apartment and came down to join us, and he’s been attending faithfully ever since. He had immigrated to Hungary from Israel and is studying Hungarian at the university. At a recent Shabbat service, we studied Jesus’ genealogy in Matthew and discussed God’s faithfulness in protecting the Messianic line. Yoram’s mother is a Hungarian Jewish Shoah (Holocaust) survivor, and so he realized how God had also preserved his own family line through history. We led in a closing prayer of repentance, and afterwards, Yoram told me in broken Hungarian, “The message really touched me, and I heard Yeshua knocking on the door to my heart. I closed my eyes and opened my heart to let him in.” Praise God!

From Stewart Weinisch in New York

Ruti* and I had been meeting for three to four weeks. She had many questions, and one by one, I answered them. I connected her with Vered, another missionary in NYC who, like Ruti, is also Israeli and speaks Hebrew. Vered and Ruti connected instantly. At the end of the call, I said to Vered, “From the way you’re talking, it sounds like you’ve known each other for years,” to which she explained, “That’s just Israeli culture!”

Vered and I met with Ruti together a couple of times, and Vered has also met with her on a one-on-one basis. One day, Ruti texted me with two questions: “What does the Bible say about heaven and hell?” and “What does it mean to be saved?” since she and Vered had discussed being saved prior to our call. During our next visit, I answered both her questions. It seemed like Ruti was probably already saved, but I asked her if she wanted to do it officially through a prayer to receive her Messiah. She agreed, and I asked Vered to pray with her (in Hebrew) to receive Messiah. Vered prayed, and Ruti repeated the prayer. Hallelujah!

From Annette Sofaer in Los Angeles

Our Los Angeles branch has been praying for a Farsi speaker for the Persian Jewish people attending our events. Recently, Sofia,* a Persian Jewish woman, came to a challah-braiding workshop at our Upside Down café. She was clearly having a good time, but since she barely spoke English, none of our staff were able to share much with her about Jesus. Not long after that, in what appeared to be an answer to prayer, Hana* came to our LA branch Shabbat dinner for the first time.

Unbeknownst to us, Hana had immigrated from Iran as a teenager and was fluent in Farsi! Hana shared her testimony of how Jesus had shown himself to her and her mother even though they grew up with no religious backgrounds. Sofia had also come to that dinner, and Hana shared the gospel with her in Farsi. Sofia enjoyed her evening. We hope she’ll continue coming to our events. I encouraged Hana to consider volunteering with us to share the good news of Yeshua with more Persian Jewish people who come to our space. Praise God for how he is advancing his kingdom here in LA!

*Name is changed to protect privacy.