What We Do and Why We Need You

“What do you do on a daily basis?” We are asked this question quite often. The answer is pretty simple. We work, every day, to 1) help Jewish people understand Jesus and 2) to help Christians connect with the Jewish Jesus and communicate him to the Jewish world.

 Our duties are multifaceted. We answer emails, return calls from those who have questions (we get daily calls and emails from those needing help), visit with pastors, speak in churches, and encourage others to pray for Israel and the Jewish community. Educating believers in Jesus on the Jewish roots of our faith is a part of the job description. How can we communicate a Jewish Jesus to Jewish people if we don’t understand our Jewish roots and his Jewish culture?

Over the years we have expanded our ministry into the Jewish community through deeper relationship development. We have initiated benevolence and humanitarian strategies such as Your Jewish Neighbor and Dear Jewish Friend. These two outreaches are designed to help local Jewish people in need and to connect Christians to the Jewish community.

 The Lord has blessed our creative bridge-building strategies. In the fall and winter months we implement our Shalom Basket and Hanukkah #ShareTheLight outreach events, providing Christians the opportunity to send gifts to their Jewish friends to wish them happy holidays. Jewish people are hearing the message of Jesus in a way they can understand from their friends and associates. They are engaging with the message of Jesus being brought to them in a culturally relevant way.

I recently spent the better part of an hour talking to someone who has a Jewish friend of 57 years. He sent me a text in which he said, “I could use your help with a long time Jewish friend (57 years!) who is ready to surrender his life to Jesus.”

During our conversation I found out that his Jewish friend had already accepted Jesus but has never been “schooled.” He is having a difficult time communicating his faith to others. He is Jewish and embraces his Jewish identity, yet needs help understanding how his Jewish identity connects to his Jesus identity. We’re here to help disciple both Jewish and gentile believers.

We recently spent a day at Samford University and had the honor of addressing over 1000 students in chapel. After sharing our stories and our heart, we engaged in an hour-long, campus-wide discussion on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. That evening we had a Passover Seder with about 100 students and faculty. We challenged them to read the scriptures through a Jewish lens and to approach the current war in Israel with more critical thinking.

Passover season is upon us. It is one of our most significant seasons of ministry.  We will be conducting educational Passover Seders for thousands of people. We will demonstrate how Jewish people celebrate the Passover, how Jesus celebrated it, and how he is central to the message of redemption.

Believers will be encouraged in their faith and those who are not yet of faith will hear the message of Jesus. Many Jewish people who do not yet know the Lord attend our events with their Christian friends. We are here to help, encourage, and educate. We are fighting ignorance in the church and growing antisemitism around the world.

While working with the Jewish community, we always have you in mind. We are sent out by those of you who support our efforts and love the Jewish people. But your prayers and financial support are only a part of what we need. As much as we need your prayers and financial support, we need your relationships with the Jewish people in your lives...or in the lives of others you might know.

Here’s why you are so important in this process…

Most Jewish People Come To The Lord Through The Witness Of Their Non-Jewish Christian Friends

This statistic (85-90%) is a function of both numbers and biblical truth. There are just more of you than us. Sheer numbers put gentiles in more contact with Jewish people on a daily basis. Jewish people are, for the most part, not religious. They are secular and out doing life...with you!

The biblical foundation is laid out in Romans 11:11 which states that “salvation has come to the gentiles to provoke Israel to jealousy.” God wants to use you in their lives to help them to see Jesus. Our most lasting and fruitful relationships are those that begin with introductions by their Christian friends. We meet neighbors, business associates, even family members, who are Jewish and connected to Christians.

The introduction doesn’t necessarily come immediately, and may not at all. Only God knows. Our initial job is to help you discern where the Jewish person is spiritually. We give you questions to ask to open up conversations...a book or two to read. Maybe the Lord will lead them to question and engage. Perhaps they will go to church, begin to seek, attend a Bible study. It could be they are married to a Christian. They might ask questions and begin to explore.

That’s the time for them to meet another Jewish person who has accepted Jesus as Messiah! In their mind they may be thinking, “This Jesus thing...looks good, sounds good, feels good....but I am Jewish and Jewish people don’t believe in Jesus.” I can then step in and help them to understand that one can be a Jewish believer in Jesus, because I am one!  In the meantime, you are their connection to Jesus.

The Time Is Short

As we watch events escalate geopolitically and become more tenuous economically, those of us who know Jesus have great opportunity. Jesus came into a world which, at the time, was ripe for his message. Rome was in control politically. The Jewish elite of his day were in control of Judaism. The Jewish community was under persecution and desired to be freed from Roman oppression. Their world was in turmoil. Jesus came to set them free, not from Rome, but from individual bondage that held them captive.

Israel is at war again. October 7th changed Israel and changed the world. Antisemitism is at an alarming high. Many Jewish people are living in fear and being hated merely because they are Jewish. My cousin in Germany recently told me that his high school kids cannot talk about being Jewish. Another friend (a Jewish believer in the UK) just told us that he and his wife cannot wear anything identifying themselves as being Jewish for fear of attack. Your Jewish friend overtly, or covertly, is feeling those fears. Now is a good time to ask them how they are doing in light of the war in Israel and rising antisemitism.

The world is in search of peace. Those of us who know Jesus know that peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence of God. We will all continue to struggle through the devastating results of the Fall and sin. Jesus told us that in this world we would have trouble...but he has overcome the world! Today’s current events give us opportunity to share the hope and comfort of Jesus. The time is short. We need to take advantage of the time we have left. 

We would love to hear from you and connect with your church, small group, Sunday school class, or bible study. The issues facing our world, the church, Israel, and the Jewish people are vitally important.

Let us know how we can help.

by Murray Tilles

Founder and Executive Director