Our new Outreach to Jerusalem initiative is something we are super excited about, as it’s the realization of a dream that God awoke in our hearts a long time ago.
At first it seemed like quite a stretch to imagine us establishing a work in Jerusalem, but as we read in Phil. 1:6, God always follows through to finish whatever He has started.
We serve a faithful God!
He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ
Philippians 1:6
Over the next few months, we aim to bring you uplifting and encouraging testimonies from our Jerusalem Outreach, to show you what God is accomplishing in the city of the Great King, and how your prayers and support are bringing forth fruit to the glory of God. We are believing God for great things in Jerusalem, with the eventual goal of planting a congregation in the city, to serve the broken and needy there in much broader and practical ways, as well as by shining the love and truth of Yeshua to the people.
At our most recent meeting in Jerusalem, a dear lady named Naomi came to join us, to receive help and consolation in her time of need. Naomi had immigrated to Israel and settled in Jerusalem just over a year ago after she had found out that she was Jewish. Growing up in Ukraine, Naomi never knew her mother and was brought up in a foster home. When Naomi finally started digging into her past, to learn more about her biological parents, she found out that her mother was in fact Jewish. After having discovered her Jewish identity, Naomi set out to find her mother, because she felt that she needed closure.
After having gone through the proper channels and having submitted all her documents, she managed to track down her mother to the city of Jerusalem in Israel. As such, she travelled to Jerusalem to meet her mother. After having been reconciled with her mother, who had abandoned her at birth, as well as meeting her three brothers whom she had never known, she decided to make aliyah (immigrate) to Israel along with her husband and five children. It truly was a beautiful moment of closure for Naomi, as she got to know her biological birth mother, while also returning to the land where she felt called to in her heart.
Ever since having arrived in Israel, Naomi has had a hunger to know God and was convinced that by keeping the law, she would draw closer to Him. When she visited us last week at our Jerusalem venue, we talked a lot with her about Yeshua, the Jewish Messiah, about His sacrificial death as the spotless Lamb of God, as well as about the forgiveness of sins through faith in Him.
As we continued to share the Gospel message with her, and how Yeshua conducted His earthly ministry here in Israel, her spiritual eyes opened and she started receiving the Word. She decided for herself – and acknowledged it to us as well – that she was going to start reading the Bible to learn more about Yeshua and God’s plans for her life. She expressed her desire for her entire family to get to know God, and she also mentioned that she firmly believed that God did indeed have a special plan for her and her children.
As our meeting with Naomi drew to a close, she expressed her sincere gratitude for the time we spent together in the Word of God, and for sharing the Gospel message of salvation with her. She said that she was extremely grateful for the fellowship and that the love she experienced was something completely new to her. Naomi had felt the love of God and the Holy Spirit’s touch, and she desired to remain in communication with us, as well as to return for our meetings.
Let us keep Naomi in our prayers, that she and her family will decide to receive Yeshua as their Lord and Savior.
Amen!
