Last summer when Carissa’s health took a dive for the worse and we were beginning to question the wisdom of moving overseas in the midst of so many challenges, she asked me a thought-provoking hypothetical question: If God led us to minister in the U.S. for a time, what might that ministry look like? If we weren’t in a place that we could run a guesthouse for Israeli backpackers, what would we be doing? Right away, I answered her, “Mobilization.”

Since before our journey into Jewish ministry took off, our heart has been to work with young adults – whether through evangelism, discipleship, mentoring, or mobilization. But it wasn’t until a couple months later, after we decided to move to Lynchburg, that we realized the huge potential to do all these things at Liberty University.

Since landing in Lynchburg, we have been thrilled to host several ministry events through which we have connected with over sixty young adults and have continued to regularly connect and build deeper relationships with around twenty four of them. In December, because of the generosity of our financial partners, we had the privilege of sponsoring and hosting a Hanukkah party on campus with the Stand with Israel club. About fifty five people attended, experienced fun and deeper spiritual aspects of Jewish culture, and learned about God’s heart for the Jewish people and the work of Chosen People Ministries. We also connected with several students who have an interest in pursuing Jewish ministry. We are looking into starting a new program for Liberty students to fulfill their Christian Service hours through service to the local Jewish community. We would especially appreciate your prayer for direction and success as we explore specific service opportunities for this program.

This year we plan to continue regular outreach events for both Jewish and Gentile believers and Jewish unbelievers, personally mentor several younger believers, and finish raising financial support to fund our ministry. To be honest, we are struggling to be patient through the process of support raising, as it is time consuming and therefore limits the time we can invest in other ministry. Please pray that we will reach our support goals early this year so that we will be free to focus on other aspects of our ministry.

Thank you for your prayer for us and this important work. We appreciate you and are excited to continue partnering with you in this ministry throughout 2018.

B’shalom Yeshua,
BJ and Carissa Kerstetter