Shalom!
TUVYA AND ELLEN ZARETSKY, JEWS FOR JESUS
On January 6, the Washington Jewish News reported that Jews for Judaism, an anti-missionary group based in Washington, D.C., has run out of funding from the Jewish community. After 32 years of trying to keep Jewish people from hearing the Gospel they closed shop. It is an example of why I teach our staff that our motivation to proclaim truth in Messiah Jesus is stronger than what motivates the people who oppose us. We are not driven by ideology or religion, but in the knowing the love of God and His goodness. We are moved to proclaim His truth because we have been transforming by His grace and His Spirit. It is a blessing to participate in our destiny as proclaimers of Messiah and to pray for those who once opposed the Gospel.
I’m excited about the opportunities that lie ahead for us in 2016. First, I want to say thank you for your prayers and partnership with us. Our work is impossible without the Lord’s grace and your involvement. I began as the first Field Missionary with Jews for Jesus in February 1974. Amazingly, today I’m even more enthusiastic.
One reason is from a decision made during the Jews for Jesus Senior Advisory Council meeting in San Francisco early this month. I proposed an initiative to our leadership, to conduct an evangelistic test case for ministry to Jewish-Gentile couples in Southern California. I’m delighted to report that it was unanimously adopted. I am heartened that my colleagues will embrace a new evangelism challenge. I will put the plan into action when I return from Israel in mid-February. I’m grateful to the Lord for His favor and leading into this project. Please pray with me for His sufficiency to accomplish this new initiative.
Since 2012, I have served as a Lausanne Catalyst for Jewish Evangelism. In August, I and one other Jewish Mission leader will serve as mentors to a Lausanne Younger Leaders Gathering (YLG16) in Indonesia. It is a meeting to mobilize and stimulate vision for 1,500 younger leaders in world evangelism. Two thirds of them will be coming from Asia and Africa. Please pray that the Lord will overcome two logistical challenges that I’ve been facing. I know that He will get me there if it is in His plan.
Thanks for caring enough to read this and to pray. Our love flows to you in the joy of the Lord.
TOUR UPDATE:
Ellen and I were on a tour in Israel during the first ten days of February with twenty friends and spiritual pilgrims. ...
On our tour we spent several days in Jerusalem. While there, Chris Mitchell, a reporter for the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) called me. Chris was doing a story about how safe tourists feel about coming to Israel. Chris interviewed five of our group on camera during our last day just outside of Jaffa Gate in the Old City.
The program aired on CBN 2/26/16 within the show titled, “Jerusalem Dateline: A Dramatic Shift in Mid-East Bodes Well for Israel.” You can find it on the CBN website at www1.cbn.com, click on “CBN News,” then the “ISRAEL” link and finally click on “Watch More Episodes” under Jerusalem Dateline. Or you can just click here.