A Hazor'im group recently spent three weeks in Israel which overlapped with the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles. It is the second visit this year and the modus operandi of the group has been established. While respecting the liberty Jewish evangelistic groups, like Jews for Jesus, have in bringing the gospel to their own people, I am led of the Lord to a more cautious approach, for three reasons. Firstly, we Gentiles have a lot of baggage when it comes to proclaiming the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua, to His people. We cannot get away from the fact that "Christendom" abused the Jewish people and we, in some sense, represent this history. Secondly, using the Messiah Comes T shirt makes us extremely visible and automatically invites people to us resulting in conversations. We are not "hard selling" Jesus, but rather are trusting Him through His Spirit to draw people into a discussion concerning the Messiah and their salvation. Thirdly, with the exposure we are getting country-wide, there exists a very real threat of not being allowed back into the country. Evangelism is an extremely emotive issue in Israel with radical anti-evangelistic groups such as Yad L'Achim, vehemently opposed to this type of ministry. We need to be sensitive to the situation.
The vehicle, Messiah Comes, continues to astound me. It is universally accepted in Israel by all parties. I have yet to have anyone attack us for the shirt, in fact the opposite is true. It attracts the attention of all who walk by. Their eyes dart back and forth as they read, alternately they can be seen standing behind reading the various names of Messiah in the Hebrew scriptures. And of course the URL is there so they may go and read up more about it in the comfort of their homes. Many make mention of the fact that they like the shirt and ask where they can purchase one.
Was the trip a 'success'? - it is a question the Lord has the answer to. We can only be obedient to the call of "go". I will add to this a report of the more significant or interesting encounters we had. May the LORD truly be glorified in anyone coming to faith through the endeavors of those partaking in this ministry.
