Jonathan Bernis | A Rabbi Looks at Jesus of Nazareth, Part 2
Summary
Daniah Greenberg and Jonathan continue their engaging look into the Messiah’s life.
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Opening day of the Jewish Voice Ministries (JVMI) Enfranz, Ethiopia, Medical Clinic saw an estimated 3,000‒4,000 people in line. We opened for a half-day on Sunday after spending the morning finishing the Clinic set-up. We were able to treat about 500 people in the short, first day.
Some of the people receiving care at the Clinic have told us stories of persecution. Because they are Jewish or Jewish Believers in Yeshua (Jesus), they are rejected, beaten and distrusted. A common superstition is that people believe Jewish people have “the evil eye,” abilities to curse or cause bad things to happen. For this reason, many are considered to be liars and are shunned and disbelieved in whatever they say.
Please pray for the Jewish people in the Enfranz, Ethiopia area as well as those they live among. When Jewish Voice brings no-cost medical care to a location, the entire community benefits and the people see that they have received a blessing because of the Jewish people living among them. In this way, we see anti-Semitism in the region begin to dismantle.
Monday, May 28, 2018
The Line Management teams on JVMI Medical Outreaches work to ensure efficient lines. We had so many people in line on Monday that our team had to create an overflow area, shown below. If you look closely in the photo, you can see many people who found shade among the trees.
Tuesday, May 29, 2018
The nursing station was bustling today as they helped a large number patients. One woman was given fluids for dehydration. The nurses were so busy that our photographer couldn’t even find out about the others he saw there. Meanwhile, thousands of people waited outside the gates, eager for their turn to enter the Clinic and receive medical, dental or eye care.
This afternoon was the first rain the team had seen in Enfranz despite a forecast that had predicted rain every day during the Outreach. It was just a sprinkle at the end of the day, but when the team left the Clinic, a massive storm cloud came through behind the campsite.
Our Enfranz, Ethiopia, Medical Outreach is about to begin. There are a number of firsts associated with this trip. It’s our first time in Enfranz; we’ll be camping – which is unusual for our Ethiopia Outreaches; we’ll be housed in two separate campsites.
Creating two campsites will ensure that the needs of our very large group of Outreach staff and partners are met most efficiently. Also at the Enfranz Outreach, we’ll introduce the Zehra Kids Program in Ethiopia for the first time. It’s an exciting new way that we can serve the Jewish community there.
As always, we are aware that it is by God’s grace alone that we can minister effectively in the opportunities He provides. Please join us in prayer for our team, our partners and, most especially, for those we’ll minister to – the Jewish people and their neighbors – in Enfranz, Ethiopia.
Please pray for:
Let’s pray: Lord, even though, from our perspective, many of the aspects of our Enfranz, Ethiopia, Medical Outreach fall into the categories of “new” and “big,” nothing is too big or hard for You! We ask that we would see each day filled with miracles, healings and salvations bringing both deliverance to those receiving care and glory to You, the One we serve. In Yeshua’s name we pray, AMEN.
God gave us the Torah,
His Word and instruction,
on Shavuot in the wilderness.
God put His law in our hearts
when He gave us the Holy Spirit
on Shavuot after Yeshua’s death.
May you be filled with
the wonder of His Word and
the power of His presence
this Shavuot.
Chag Sameach! • Joyous Holiday!
Click here to learn the history and importance of Shavuot.
Think you know Shavuot? Take our fun quiz.
The U.S. embassy move – or its first stage – is successfully completed. It was so exciting to be here with our Jewish Voice 2018 Israel Tour as it happened!
But not everyone is pleased.
Ahead of Monday’s embassy opening, thousands of Gaza residents demonstrated against the move.
The activities at the Gaza border quickly turned violent, and demonstrators burned the border gate and nearby electrical and power stations. The results affected Gaza residents and, as a result, they now have no gas to cook with and no electricity for their homes.
Damage was estimated in the millions. As usual, the Palestinian Hamas blamed Israel for the power outage, which will now cause a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. And, as in the past, it will likely be Israel who will fix it.
The Times of Israel reported that 50,000 Gazans demonstrated in 12 locations along the border. Thousands more were gathered at points several hundred meters from the fence, it reported.
Demonstrations soon turned into full-blown riots as Gazans launched burning kites into Israel in hopes of destroying farmers’ crops. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) estimated that the violence caused $9 million in damage on the Gaza side of the Kerem Shalom Crossing.
At least 60 people were killed and nearly 1,200 injured during the rioting on Monday, according to the Jerusalem Post. On Tuesday, the border clashes were calmer with two deaths reported in the area.
Our tour group was in Jerusalem at the time experiencing the excitement of the Embassy opening.
The riots were part of weekly demonstrations billed as the “Great March of Return.” Encouraged by the terror group Hamas, the uprisings were originally slated to last from March 31 until May 15, the day known in Palestine as nakba (“catastrophe”) because it marks the 70th anniversary of Israel declaring itself a sovereign nation in 1948.
The IDF later closed the crossing, issuing a statement that read in part, “The Hamas terror organization has been carrying out terrorist attacks in the guise of riots. (They are) harming the well-being of Gazans and paralyzing their ability to go about their daily lives. Israel and many countries around the world work to deliver goods such as food, equipment, and fuel to Gaza's citizens, initiatives that are prevented by the Hamas terror organization’s actions.”
According to YNetnews.com, a Palestinian source said; “Hamas was encouraging rioters to damage crossings.” As crossings run by the Palestinian Authority (PA) are closed, the PA loses revenue from customs and other taxes. Closings also re-route goods to the Hamas-run Rafah Crossing, giving Hamas the income it needs to continue its actions against Israel.
In short, the riots provide cover for Hamas’ terror activities, which have as their sole purpose the destruction of Israel. Hamas used publicity surrounding the U.S. embassy inauguration in Jerusalem to convince tens of thousands of its own people to risk their lives and livelihoods by attacking Israel.
Middle East nations are among those that condemned Monday’s violence, and the UN Security Council met Tuesday in response. During that session, U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Nikki Haley, defended Israel, saying, “No country in this chamber would act with more restraint than Israel has.”
Pray for the safety of Israeli and Gaza citizens in the crosshairs of Hamas terrorism.
During our recent Medical Clinic in Woliso, Ethiopia, a man brought his teenage daughter for care. She had suffered from seizures throughout her young life.
Unfortunately, the medicine that might have helped her is not something we have on hand at our Clinics. So she and her father turned to our prayer tent, where we prayed for them and shared Yeshua (Jesus).
Both responded by giving their lives to the Lord!
Afterward, they started the long, 28-mile walk back home. But surprisingly, two days later, the man and his daughter returned to the Clinic – and this time they brought all 12 of their family members with them!
The entire family had walked the 28 miles back to the Clinic because, after being prayed for, the young girl had not had another seizure! It was the first time she’d ever gone even one day without a seizure. The whole family was so convinced of the power of prayer that they all wanted to come and profess their new faith in Yeshua as Lord!
Perhaps most amazing of all – this is the sort of miracle we’ve come to expect at our Clinics.
Last year, of the more than 60,000 patients we served at our Medical Clinics, over 12,000 requested prayer, with more than 1,600 then professing new faith in Jesus.
And we also witnessed 300 events that we could only describe as healing miracles or deliverances – clear evidence God was present and active in our midst!
It feels like an especially appropriate time to be sharing this exciting report about the many miraculous blessings God has poured out through your support.
You see, this email arrived in your inbox within a few days of the Jewish festival of Shavuot – also known as the “Feast of Weeks” or (especially for Christians) as Pentecost, because it falls on the 50th day after Passover.
In ancient Israel, Shavuot was a joyous time of giving thanks to God for the blessings of the spring harvest. The celebration was also tied to Moses receiving the Law on Mount Sinai – which is why it’s called Matan Torah, or “giving of the Law.”
In biblical times, Shavuot was one of three pilgrimage festivals. It was called this because Scripture commanded the Israelites to travel to the Temple in Jerusalem at this holy time. The New Testament book of Acts describes a large crowd gathering for the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came upon the people, and 3,000 came to faith in Yeshua following Peter’s preaching.
At Mount Sinai, God spoke to His people through the Law, assuring them of their special role as His people.
On the Day of Pentecost, God’s Spirit came upon the followers of Yeshua, giving miraculous evidence of His presence – and bringing about the first great harvest of souls into the Kingdom of God.
Both these events show God’s desire to communicate with His people, to be in relationship with them, to make His will known and to bring them to salvation.
And today God continues to show His love by inviting all people – Jews and Gentiles – to come back into relationship with Him through His Son, Jesus.
While Jewish Voice has many important ways we serve Jewish people around the world, as a Jewish Believer, I’m always most excited about the ways God reveals Himself to bring people to hear and accept the Good News of Yeshua.
In many ways, all our ministry efforts point to this most important result of all – the assurance of eternal life in a person who once was lost.
That’s why Jewish Voice Ministries is absolutely committed to sharing the Good News with Jewish people … to helping them understand all God has done for them, how much He loves them and the joy of a relationship with Him.
And we have a long history of success in sharing Jesus with Jewish people. As Jewish Believers, we understand the questions, challenges and hurdles a Jewish person must overcome to accept Yeshua – perhaps in a way no non-Jewish person ever could.
But while we understand the need, and the way to effectively present the message to Jewish people, we can’t make it happen without your help.
To share Yeshua with people in faraway places means we must send our team there to talk with and minister to those in need. To share the Gospel and provide ongoing discipleship requires Bibles in local languages, evangelistic materials and follow-up support for local Messianic congregations that welcome these new Believers.
We need your help with expenses for travel, medical equipment and medicines. All of this can get expensive. But you can’t make a better investment!
Your gift in support of this unique evangelism effort will quite literallymake an eternal difference for a man, woman or child who desperately needs to hear about Yeshua.
And so we need your help.
This Shavuot/Pentecost season, please give generously to share both the deep meaning of this special tradition of Shavuot AND the Good News – to bring God’s people back to Him.
So, as you are able to give, please accept these gifts with my deepest thanks for helping to share Yeshua with Jewish people who need to meet their Messiah.
