Sylvia’s Story

Part 1: Sylvia’s Salvation
January 26th, 2008
It’s with tears of sadness and joy that I write this report.

I got a late night summons to go to the hospital to come to the bedside of one of my dear Jewish contacts named Sylvia. A few of you may recall praying for Sylvia a year or so ago, when she broke her back. Sylvia had to have two emergency surgeries yesterday, and things did not go in her favor. The family, who all do not know Jesus yet miraculously asked for me to come to her bedside.

I spent about 35 minutes with Sylvia early this morning. I was left alone with her in ICU, the whole time I was visiting. I was able to communicate with her, through eye blinks and hand squeezes. I knew that this was likely to be the last time I would see her or have the chance to share Jesus with Sylvia one last time….I felt a great haste and urgency in my spirit.

I pulled out my Bible and read scriptures to Sylvia. I explained to her again why Jesus, her Messiah came to provide atonement for her sins and mine. A few times, Sylvia opened her eyes and I could look into them…..some of the time, her eyes were closed and tears would squeeze out and run down her cheeks. She would respond to me, and so, together we prayed for her sins to be forgiven….washed clean with the blood of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

Sylvia could not respond with a voice, because of all the tubes running down her nose and throat….but, she could respond with her eyes…and squeezing my hand. I came to a sense of peace that she was ready to go home and see Her Messiah face to face.

Please join us in rejoicing for her soul being saved for eternity, and join us in prayer for her family who do not know Jesus yet….that this tragedy will draw them to their Messiah. Pray actually that Sylvia could become healed and be with us for a little while longer, and be an example to her son and daugher-in-law. Pray that somehow, in all of this sadness, that the Lord could use me to minister to Sylvia’s family.

Sylvia has been one of our Shalom Basket contacts for about the last 4 years. The Lord used her Christian friend who sent her a basket faithfully year after year, to bring Jesus into Sylvia’s life, before the end.

It’s been an emotionally draining night and morning. But, I rejoice and thank God that Sylvia knows her Jesus, and that she will meet Him face to face with great joy.

Bless you all and thank you for loving us.

Part 2 – Sylvia’s Death
January 31, 2008
Sylvia was taken off life support early yesterday evening and died a short time after. Her funeral is tomorrow. Pray that I can be a comfort to her son and daughter-in-law, if they will let me. Everyone is quite distraught. Thanks.

Part 3 – Sylvia’s Funeral
February 4, 2008
Dear Prayer team,

On Thursday, Murray sent out a beautiful email letting everyone know that Sylvia had gone on to be with Jesus. I have heard from many of you wanting to know more and offering to pray for her son, Neil. I wanted to give you a glimpse inside Sylvia’s funeral, so you’d see what I saw….and know what we are up against.

Sylvia was taken off life support later Wednesday, and she died a short time afterwards.

Jewish tradition requires a burial within a very short time, so she was laid to rest on Friday in a brief graveside ceremony. Friday dawned gray and bleak. The funeral was equally gray and bleak. Inside, I knew and was rejoicing over Sylvia’s transition from her sick bed straight into the arms of Her Messiah…..but this news would not be welcome at her funeral….in fact…..it would make their grieving much worse in their mind’s eye.

I have to say that this was the most incredibly hopeless funeral I have ever attended. The outside weather was a picture perfect example of their inside despair. We were positioned on a slippery hill, made muddy and treacherous because of the rain…..literally some of the chairs were nearly horizontal. I decided to stand in the back ( knowing my penchant for mishaps, there was no way I was going to sit in one of the chairs!!!) in the cold drizzle with Sylvia’s Christian friend, who had faithfully sent her those Shalom Baskets over the years. We were the only two rejoicing.

It was definitely a proper Jewish burial. All the rituals were observed right down to the tearing of garments in grief. The rabbi mercifully provided little pre-bagged ribbons for those who did not wish to literally tear their nice garments. That seemed sad to me…..I know it’s practical and I’m sure very sensible and tradition as well….but it made the outward display of their grief seem equally pre-packaged in a way. I’m not saying that to sound judgmental…..just a quiet musing on the situation.

There was no talk of heaven. There were no comforting words on how Sylvia was better off in her new home or how we would one day join her in Glory. Instead we shoveled dirt onto her coffin in turn…..because that was all there was. That is all there is. We will go into the cold ground and be covered up with the dirt. From the rabbi’s message, Sylvia’s best deed was serving Shabbat dinner for her family….which is nice….but she was so much more than that.

I wanted to shout from the rooftops that there is hope….there is more…..but it just wasn’t possible. Perhaps I should have thrown caution and respect for their grief to the wind and done it anyway…..but I did not. It would not have been appropriate. Instead I wept for them and prayed for them.

Neil, Sylvia’s son, was the only family member who was pleased to see me. I’ve been sort of a back-up for him when he has health needs….to take him to the doctor if no one else could. He was clinging to me with tears, telling me how glad he was I had come…..how much Sylvia talked about and loved me. He looked into my eyes….I could see and feel his desperation. I told him to not lose my number…..I would be there for him and his family…..I would be there. I pray for many more opportunities to minister to Sylvia…..through ministering to her son. I would like to be a part of seeing that they will meet again one day with Jesus.

It would be an amazing blessing and a wonderful legacy if a whole family could become saved because of the death of a beautiful woman like Sylvia…..join us in praying for that?

We see through a glass dimly…..our Sylvia now sees everything crystal clear….what we know in part….she knows in full….and for that, I am so thankful. I’m so very thankful.

A. Martin’s Story

I grew up in a Jewish home, attended religious school and lived in a predominantly Jewish world. But even with all of this attention to our faith, I didn’t feel close to God. I so yearned for this intimacy. There were rituals in our home but no relationship. So in my youth, the rituals, holidays, Hebrew School, going to services didn’t mean very much. God seemed to be missing. I started thinking more and more about God and talking to Him. Having these “conversations” helped me on my journey to search in alternative places desperately wanting to find Him. I knew something was missing from my faith but didn’t know what it was.

I first heard about Jesus from my childhood friends. I was not allowed to talk about Jesus Christ in my home, but yearned to know more about Him. My childhood travels included a couple of amazing trips to Europe and the Middle East and I can remember my fascination with the cathedrals and the beautiful stained glassed windows depicting a story I longed to know more about but dared not ask. Christmas always held a fascination for me, but again, I was not allowed to participate on any level. This is how it remained through my childhood and much of my teenage years.

The boy that I dated throughout high school and college became my husband. He wasn’t Jewish, which presented a challenge for us early on in our relationship. But he became accepted into my family and we married right after college. I was able to experience Christmas for the first time in my life with his family. But the experience was really more about the exchange of gifts and the magic of Santa than the birth of Jesus, so I still was not really experiencing Christmas. But it was a start.

We had some challenges in our marriage and divorced in my early 30’s with two small children. I began my search of faith again, now for my children as well as myself. Having studied World Religions in college as an elective, I found I was reading more and more about alternative religions and went down the New Age path. My experiences at that time still did not fill the spiritual void that I felt and seemed to encourage a self-centeredness which always bothered me. But what were my other options? While searching I returned to the synagogue for the sake of my children so they would have a foundation grounded in God.

Over the years, friends began inviting me to their churches and shared their faith. The seeds were planted. I remarried a wonderful man and he and I would occasionally join friends for Sunday services, not just services on holidays. My heart was touched and I began to feel something inside I had never experienced before, though I still didn’t understand it completely. I started asking more specific questions about Christianity and a very kind minister at one of my previous churches was instrumental in helping wrap my mind around the idea of Jesus as Messiah.

Early in 2007 a very dear friend of mine named Staci invited me to North Point Community Church. Over the following few months Staci also began to answer many of my challenging questions and backed it all up with Scripture ~ nobody had ever done that before. She explained the Old Testament prophesies of the Messiah and showed me in the New Testament that Jesus Christ had fulfilled them all nearly a thousand years later. It had been my understanding as a Jewish girl that we believed that there would be a messiah some day, but that he had not yet come. Since we didn’t read Scripture in my family, I never had the opportunity to see for myself that the Messiah had already come and was coming again ~ for me and for us all!

My husband and I started attending North Point on a regular basis. The highlight of this Jewish girl’s week was going to church every Sunday! Our minister, Andy Stanley, took off where my friend left off in his amazing messages that always reach out to Christians as well as non-believers. But I still had some challenging questions that included how a Jewish girl could accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Andy Stanley’s office put me in touch with Murray Tilles of Light of Messiah Ministries. A Jewish Minister! I had never heard those words together in my entire life!

I began meeting with Murray in my office on Tuesdays. Although my husband is not Jewish, he sat in on some of our sessions just as interested as I was as we explored Scripture. In my “Tuesdays with Murray” he explained how a Jew can become a believer in Jesus Christ as Messiah without giving up being Jewish. He gave me a book list to add to my increasing number of previously recommended books. Two that were so helpful to me were Betrayed! by Stan Telchin and More Than a Carpenter by Josh MacDowell and Sean MacDowell. They confirmed what I was already starting to believe as truth of Jesus Christ as the Messiah.

Still there were some challenges that remained which delayed my accepting Christ as Messiah. Murray helped me with questions such as:

• What would God do to me if I gave up my Jewish faith?

• Would I be betraying God in some way?

• What about the Holocaust and other religious persecution throughout history?

• How could I “GIVE UP” my heritage?

My dear friend Staci, and then Murray, both helped me to realize that I wasn’t giving up anything ~ it was about completion ~ becoming a Completed Jew. This was the final hurdle and on August 30, 2007 at 12:55 pm I sealed the deal and accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior and was baptized at North Point on October 28 of that same year.

One may wonder how my life has changed since accepting Christ into my life. Actually not much remained the same. I have learned the true definition of joy and love and realize I am never alone. I realize I don’t have to have all the answers and that’s okay because my Heavenly Father already has them. I just need to continue to learn to rely on His grace, mercy and love. And I have learned that faith is not about obligation but about a joy that is celebrated in every cell of my body every moment of every day. I have so much love and gratitude to Jesus Christ that I find it hard to place into words. I finally realized what was missing from my faith was God’s one and only son, Jesus Christ.

I am so grateful to all my dear friends who have accompanied me on my spiritual journey and to Andy Stanley, my minister at NPCC who makes the Bible come alive every week and gives me lessons that are so relevant to my life today. And particularly to Staci, Murray and others that made it so clear to me by giving me such powerful and credible answers to my very challenging questions. They have all helped me to find what I had yearned for all my life ~ a personal relationship with my Heavenly Father. But I am mostly grateful to God for tugging at my heartstrings since I was a young girl. I am now a Completed Jew.

Rob’s Story

I was born into a Jewish family in Miami Beach Florida. Growing up, we lived in a mostly non-Jewish neighborhood. During Christmas time, my parents would celebrate Hanukkah on Christmas Day so that we would not feel out of sorts with all the other neighborhood kids, who were celebrating their holiday.

While growing up, we did not attend Synagogue on a regular basis, only on special events such as a Bar Mitzvah or Wedding. When I was 12, my parents hired a tutor to teach me how to become a Bar Mitzvah which was the same for my two older brothers. After that, I didn’t attend Synagogue until my two sons became the age to begin Hebrew School. The Synagogue we joined required a certain number of attendances for a Bar Mitzvah, so I decided to lead by example and get involved.

During the next dozen years, I became a leader in a Conservative Synagogue. I got involved in service work including Chevra Kaddisha (The Burial Society), I began assisting during services as Gabbai, and eventually began leading services at morning minyon, Shabbat Services, and then Yom Kippur and Rosh Hanshana Services. That was an amazing experience and a real honor to lead services in Hebrew for nearly 1000 services over the years.

There was something missing though during this time. I got to know the ‘insiders’ at the Synagogue, the regulars, and I noticed that they all knew how to behave in services, how to dress, when to stand and sit, all the rituals, but behind closed doors, there was a lot of inappropriate behavior going on with people. I too, was not behaving appropriately and knew that something was missing and needed change.

One of my dear friends told me about Isaiah 53 and a few other key chapters in the Old Testament and planted seeds with me. It took me another 8 years before I would understand, but after these seeds were planted, I left the Synagogue to figure out why there was all kinds of rituals and why there was a lack of spirituality and appropriate behavior. I wanted to find out why I was unfulfilled and having repeated fallen relationships as were the many ‘insiders’ I knew at the Synagogue.

February 3, 2005, I went to a bagel shop for breakfast and saw Sylvia for the first time. When she walked up to me, we met and talked throughout breakfast from adjoining tables. We met for dinner that evening and I expressed an interest in dating her but she told me that she would not date someone who is unequally yoked. I was so full of myself that I told her not to worry….she would catch up!!! Fortunately for me, she accepted a date but only to a bible study class. My background never took me to a bible study and I really wanted to date her, so I went to bible study.

Much to my amazement, the study revealed a reverence for The Old Testament and for the Jewish Heritage. I went to another study and then another. Sylvia invited me to a church service, which was very uncomfortable as I have never been to one. During the sermon, my amazement continued as the Pastor shared his reverence for The Old Testament and for the Jewish Heritage. I was astounded…..why was this not shared in the Synagogue?!!

I became a regular at this church and bible study and took on another men’s group bible study. Everywhere at this church service and bible study was reverence for Judaism, the Jewish Heritage, and The Old Testament. We were approaching Spring and there was an Easter Production at the church. The opening scene was Isaiah sharing prophecy and the 50 foot backdrop of the stage was writings in Hebrew. I told Sylvia that I could read all of the Hebrew….she replied, this presentation is for you!! I was incredibly moved by the Easter Story.

A short time later, Sylvia invited me to a presentation of Christ in The Passover, presented by Murray Tilles of Light of Messiah. Before the end of the presentation, I told Sylvia that I needed to talk with Murray before we left. We read Isaiah 53 together, had a discussion about eternal salvation, and that night, I took Murray’s hand and Sylvia’s hand and we prayed together to accept Jesus, The Messiah, into my life.

My life has not looked the same since that moment. My Jewish family stopped speaking with me over this decision, yet none of them ever studied the bible. They were essentially persecuting me based upon stories handed down from one generation to another by their rabbis and ancestors, but not based upon facts. Hard to believe that family love can be so conditional!!

Sylvia and I were married, by Murray Tilles, 7 months and 7 days after the day we met. My two sons attended the wedding but my family did not. We continued to attend services, study the bible, and participate in Home Study Groups. By the end of our first year of marriage, we received a great gift from The Lord. That gift was that I was diagnosed with Lymphoma. Yes, it was a great gift, in retrospect. What was the gift? I got the opportunity to see The Love of Christ and the receiving of miracles. We had hundreds of faithful servants praying for me….people I knew and people I did not know. I got the blessing of receiving hands on prayers and being anointed with oil from my Home Study Group, numerous times according to James 5. Within less than a year, my diagnosis was changed to Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, a more manageable and treatable illness. I’m firmly convinced that the prayers changed my diagnosis.

Another great miracle was that my family, who stopped talking with me, began a loving relationship again with me due to this illness. The Lord knew what He was doing when He blessed me with such a serious illness. My Jewish family need to be shaken out of their conditional love for me. Also, many faithful believers grew spiritually as they watched Sylvia and me behave with great belief and calmness during this illness. We demonstrated that it didn’t matter if I lived or died, we were content with our outcome because we had a relationship with The Lord.

I am grateful that I was chosen to be saved and selected by The Lord to be used for His Will to be done through me. What a great honor. During my chemo treatments, I studied the bible and when anyone approached me to talk, I witnessed to them. I never once got the usual illnesses during chemo treatments. I was able to eat, drink, and study the bible throughout treatments while others around me in the chemo room were very ill. Praise The Lord, for He is our Great Healer!! Six months later, I was completely free of cancer and discharged from treatments.

My activities include attending services every Sunday, weekly bible study Sunday mornings, co-facilitate Home Study Group Sunday nights twice a month, attend men’s bible study weekly on Tuesday mornings, lead a men’s weekly bible study group Friday mornings, attend weekly Wednesday night rehearsals for Praise and Worship Band, and play the piano in the Praise and Worship Band on Sunday mornings. In addition, the Christ in The Passover Presentation was so meaningful to me from a Jewish perspective that I now present this to church groups and share my testimony through this presentation, giving historical references, biblical references, and discussing The Last Supper as a Passover Seder, the birth of the church, and the marriage proposal to the church during that Supper as it relates to the Ketubah, the Jewish marriage contract.

If there was one thing specific I would ask of any reader, I would say to learn the chapters and verses in the Old Testament that have Messianic Prophecy and share these with your Jewish friends, engage in conversations about them, and ask them to explain the meaning of those verses. Knowing the Old Testament verses and their meanings is of paramount importance in planting seeds for salvation to our Jewish brothers and sisters.