Many of you received a letter, two months back, about our continued hope for our future ministry in Brazil. On the day that we typed up that letter, I had an anaphylactic reaction that spiraled into a month long “flare,” which made us re-evaluate everything we had just written. It is clear that my health is not stable enough to move or travel outside the country, but the letter had already been sent. Once again, we have set that dream aside, and refocused our attention – more fully this time – on the growing ministry God has given us here in Virginia. We are so thankful to begin seeing the fruit of our work here, as God moves hearts and sends more workers to minister to the Jewish people.
You have been an important part of sending several truly godly young believers into short term work already this year. Bible school graduate, Karis, spent several months ministering to Israeli backpackers at the Zula Lodge in New Zealand. She was part of a team that served hundreds of young Israelis, showed them the love of Jesus, and shared the Gospel through individual conversations, weekly Hummus Nights and Shabbat (Sabbath) dinners. Karis is currently planning to go into full time ministry to unreached tribal groups with Ethnos 360, and continues to pray for the salvation of the Jewish people.
Geoff, graduate of Liberty University, learned about Chosen People Ministries through our table at Liberty’s Global Focus Week. There he was challenged to go on our Outreach Israel trip to spend six weeks of his summer serving and sharing the Gospel with Jewish people in Israel. He is still seeking God’s direction for him as he prepares for full time ministry.
Wes, current student at Liberty University, has been praying about ministering to the Russian Jewish community for some time now, and began coming to our Shabbat dinners last fall. He is serious about pursuing this work long term, and was excited to learn that Chosen People Ministries offers individualized internship opportunities. He has spent this summer serving alongside Chosen People’s incredible New York staff through accounting and Russian Jewish outreach. He will be spending this fall studying abroad in Russia, and we look forward to having him back at our Shabbat dinners in the spring.
It blesses us immensely to see how God has orchestrated these and other meetings and impressed a love for His chosen people onto their hearts before we met. We are honored to be one small part of their journey, and want you to know that you too have been a powerful piece of forwarding the Gospel by sending godly men and women to the fields of ministry, which are ripe for harvest. Please pray with us that God will increase the reach of this ministry and send many more workers to take the truth of Jesus back to the original messengers. We thank God always for you!
B’shalom Yeshua,
BJ and Carissa
*Featured Picture: Liberty students, Wes and Shelby, serve alongside BJ at a food distribution center on Chosen People’s Shalom Brooklyn missions trip