In October, Moody Bible Institute celebrated 100 years of their Jewish Studies program during their missions conference dedicated to Jewish evangelism! I was invited to join a group of 30 plus Chosen People Ministries Moody Bible Institute Jewish Studies graduates to participate in this conference entitled, “To the Jew First and Also to the Greek”. This was a wonderful week where thousands of Moody students crowded into the auditorium to hear about God’s heart for the Jewish people and the enormous need for Jewish evangelism. 

There were many great speakers and messages challenging students into ministry service to the Jewish people, but my favorite challenge was from Levi Hazen, director of Life in Messiah. He explained the significance of Romans 1:16 and the priority of the Gospel to the Jew first, then he asked, “if we are supposed to prioritize sharing the Gospel with Jewish people, then why are they still an unreached people group?” Wow, what a poignant question for us to all ask ourselves! There are a lot of excuses we can make, but it is our responsibility to obey God and share the love of Jesus with our Jewish friends.

Half of the keynote speakers for the conference were Chosen People Ministries staff and we had a prime location for our booth where we got to talk with a lot of interested students. I hosted a deep dish pizza night for interested students and got to share specifically about Israeli backpacker ministry, the work we are doing with the Host Israelis and Planet Zula apps, and how they can get involved in sharing the Gospel with Israeli travelers. 

Several of these students had already served in Israeli backpacker ministry and I gave them each a chance to share stories about sharing their experience. And one of these students is going to join Shmueli and Jenna Arnold, and Karis Hall (another of our recruits) in Brazil this winter to serve at their new guest house ministry, Zula Rio!

Please pray that God would raise up many more young adults into full time service to the Jewish people. Truly, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

As always, thank you for your prayers for us in reaching Jewish people for Messiah. Happy holidays to you and your family.

Love, 

BJ, Carissa, Ari, and Baby Girl