As you have prayed and walked with us in this unexpected, bittersweet season, God has been overwhelming us with blessings! Not all of the blessings are the ones we have asked for or the way we have imagined them, but they are bountiful and beautiful and oh-so-graciously bestowed from the hand of God.

Though we don’t know how long we will be in Lynchburg, Virginia, God has gifted us with a beautiful home to call our own. Maybe it will only be “home” for a short time, but it is a beautiful place to grow our family and ministry for as long as He has us here. To honor and dedicate this home to serve the Lord and blessing of others, we have named our little house Beit Chesed, meaning house of lovingkindness. Because God has poured out his grace on us and promised grace and loving kindness to his people, Israel forever. And wherever we are, in the United States, Israel or Brazil, we will be praising His name and pouring out His love and blessing on Israel. (Jeremiah 31:3-‬4)

Over the past couple months in Beit Chesed, we have hosted several successful ministry events proclaiming God’s love for Israel, the work He is doing in Jewish ministry around the world, and how others can be a part of it. One of these events was a hummus night attended by about twenty Liberty students. During this event, we highlighted a short term trip called Shalom Brooklyn. Shalom Brooklyn is an week long outreach in July focused on proclaiming the gospel to the Jewish people of New York. Over the course of the week, the team will receive training from experienced Chosen People missionary staff, share the Gospel through street evangelism and outreach events, engage in follow-up with those they meet, and much more! Praise God, because of our hummus night presentation, several Liberty students plan to join me, BJ, this summer for Shalom Brooklyn! If you are interested in practical ways to learn and be more involved in Jewish evangelism, this may be a great trip for you, too.

Through these events and other forums, it has been our privilege to present Jewish ministry to hundreds of students. Please pray that God continues to grow the seeds that were planted and add many workers to the field of Jewish ministry.

You might be wondering what buying a house means for our plan to start the ministry in Brazil.  We are still prayerfully working towards being a part of the ministry in Brazil, but we honestly don’t know what God has in mind. With Carissa’s current health condition, moving to Brazil seems impossible right now, but it’s clear that God has not closed that door yet. We look forward to sharing more details with you in an upcoming letter. As always, we are so grateful for your prayers and your support of God’s work through us wherever we go.

B’shalom Yeshua,

BJ and Carissa Kerstetter