April 2024
The Chosen People Newsletter
Passover - The Hope of Victory
Volume 30, Issue 3
Dear friend in the Messiah, I would like to wish you a Happy Passover and Easter. Since the exodus, Jewish people have celebrated Passover as a memorial to God’s love, power, and plan for His chosen people. It is a reminder of how the Lord of the universe, against all odds, promised to deliver the Israelites from Egyptian bondage and bring them back to…
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For thousands of years, Jewish people have celebrated Passover, remembering God’s deliverance of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and His faithfulness over the centuries. This month, millions of Jewish people worldwide will gather around the table to recount the…
There is an amazing parallel between the story of the first Passover in Egypt (Exodus 12) and the final week of Jesus’ life (John 12). Exodus 12 begins with instructions regarding a lamb: Speak to all the congregation of Israel,…
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Ministry News Briefs
One of our staff recently received the following note from someone who heard him speak at a church:
I asked you what I could do regarding a good friend of mine who was a Christian recently married to a Jewish man. Your advice was never to stop praying for them. I spoke to her this morning, and she gave me the news. Her husband has become a [Messianic] Jew [one who believes in Jesus] and has even been baptized! I NEVER stopped praying for them. I read all your articles and devotions, watched every video I found, and shared with her what seemed appropriate to give her strength and peace. It was, as you said, nothing I could do but pray. [You said] God [would] work in her husband’s heart, and He did. What a glorious day, and I thank you for the advice, for it gave me hope and reminded me to just carry on with consistently putting them in God’s hands.
“You are spreading so much light and love through this, you don’t even know how it impacts us. Thank you.” This comment is what a religious Jewish woman told one of our missionaries as she handed her a white rose. She was expressing her heartbreak and solidarity with her people as the Jewish community continues to experience great grief and fear following the horrendous terror attacks in Israel on October 7. Since the massacre and subsequent war, antisemitism has risen in tremendous amounts. Violence, vandalism, and hate speech against Jewish people—simply for being Jewish—have skyrocketed.
Our staff has spoken with Jewish people about the current climate of antisemitism in the United States and around the world, and they have expressed their fears for themselves and their children. They do not feel safe. While attending a solidarity gathering for Israel, many Jewish people thanked our staff for being there, saying, “Last time this happened (referring to the rise of antisemitism leading up to the Holocaust), most Christians did not do anything to stop it.” This perception is heartbreaking, and it is not what we want the representation of Jesus to look like to Jewish people. As His followers, Your Mission to the Jewish People strives to help reveal God’s heart for His people, and one way to do so is by participating in His love for Jewish people and His desire to see them find salvation in Jesus.
In June 2023, the Katz* family became the first Israeli travelers to use our Host Israelis network. They traveled across the United States for about six months, staying with a dozen or more hosts on our network. Before they left their home at the beginning of last year, they had never heard of Jesus or the gospel. While traveling, they heard the gospel from every host they stayed with on our network, who also gave them evangelistic materials and the New Testament in Hebrew. They read everything eagerly and followed up with many questions.
We are so happy to report—praise God—not only is the Katz family now professing faith in Jesus as their Messiah, but they connected with our staff there once they returned home to Israel. They got plugged into the Messianic community for essential fellowship and discipleship!
The Katz family volunteer at Chosen People Ministries’ outreach center in Tel Aviv, which was converted into a packing and distribution center to bring provisions and the gospel to those in need during the war.
After three long years of building the Host Israelis network, we already see the fruit of our labor. Seeing our first guest come to faith feels like God’s stamp of blessing on this network. God has proven Himself victorious and faithful against all the many spiritual battles and heavy opposition we faced in building this network. We pray this is only the first of many Israelis who come to faith in Jesus through hosts on our network.
We pray Israelis will increasingly use our network, hear the gospel, and come to faith in Messiah.
*Names changed
Shalom, dear friend. I hope this letter finds you rejoicing in the Lord. This year, April is a joyful month for me as my birthday falls one day before Passover! Most years, my birthday falls during Passover, and I have to endure eating unleavened birthday cakes. The only tolerable ones were those made with chocolate fudge. This year, I can eat a normal birthday…
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