So we have recently been redivided as a teams for a few days after all visiting in &*%$^$. It was so refreshing! Now we are  in @*&K%!

(Did you cringe a little Abe or Daniel?)

Anyhow, on our first night here we were looking around trying to see where the Israelis might be. It is very European here so I have been able to use my French un peu.

Finally we came to our last attempt for the night to enter into converstaion after a lot of prayer to begin the night and throughout when finally there was a large group of Israelis that came to the restaurant we were in. Talia and I prayed again that G-d would provide an in into their conversation, and about 3 minutes later, I was sitting with them and finding out where they were from and their names. I was then able to share my faith wih a girl named Metaar, which was really interesting because she had had an unfortunate experience with other Messianic Jews in Israel. Hopefully G-d allowed that situation to be redeemed through our interaction. Then after that wall was torn down, she allowed me to share my faith with her, and I was able to fully lay out the Gospel with her. G-d is not letting her walk away thats for sure.

So thank you so much for your prayers, they are so important and so helpful in the ministry we are doing. We can do nothing without G-d and I am gently reminded of that daily.

Please keep on praying for us all.

Specifically for me please pray that I canbe focused ,consistent, and humbled.

Thank you so very much again!!

so the recent update is that we arrived at our “drop” point where we met the other 3 teams and everyone is in one piece.

there has been so much that has happened since my last blog post I will just give recent news then I will check my journal and try to update the days of nothingness tomorrow or something.

pardon the spelling this keyboard is sticky… and I am tired…running on about 4 hours of mixed segements of sleep…

So our jeep ride was only 7 hours which was good, and last night we spent the whole night staying awake talking with a few israelis friends we have made over the past few days and growing closer with them.

then when we finallyi called it a night, we ended staying up the rest of the night which was only a couple more hours before our jeep was to arrive.

the jeep ride went much smoother then the bus ride originally Praise the L-RD.

please pray for those we had met in our last location and that the new groups who disperse in a day or 2 will encounter people who we’ve already met that we might be able to talk with them more about Y’sh’a.

my mind is running blank right now…

pray that we will take these next 2 days to recooperate and grow closer and be renewed through each other.

In his mercy,

~Jonathan

Yesterday was a very interesting day. After viewing a somewhat repetitive yet interesting Buddhist dancing ritual our group met up with some Napalies who were a part of a Moravian church in northern India. What was interesting about them is that they were blind. They invited us over to their house for dinner. It turned out that they were Christian teachers in a Buddhist school for the blind.  After our harrowing drive through city streets and winding mountain roads we reached an area quite remote  and untouched it was absolutely beautiful. As we got there the sun was setting behind the mountains, the pink and purple enveloped the clouds on all sides of us and the thin gold light outlined the snow covered peaks.  Yet the members of this school saw none of it, they were interested in singing to us and showing us their newly invented “noise-making” kickball.

As we were fed by them in their one room home for four I couldn’t help but think about the ways they were blessed that others were not. They had hope because of their faith in Christ. They had love and compassion and the values that Christ showed.

This is a blog that I started a few days ago and have not yet gotten a chance to finish, so let me catch you up on what has happened since.

Our small team had dinner with a group of people, one of them being  a Brahman (highest class in Hinduism). This Brahman had become a Sadhu (one who gives up all worldly possessions to follow a Guru). His Guru was Jesus. This Sadhu wore robes that were orange and lived a life dedicated to his Guru. His dedication was something that I feel is lacking in our generation. Our generation I believe, is becoming a generation of tolerance and pacifism. These characteristics have merit but often lack definitive truth and dedication. This Sadhu was a real example for me.

Today is our last day and we will be heading back to meet our team. Keep us in your prayers.

Hey everyone

So we just got back from a nice little jaunt all over northern India. Our group has had an amazing time here. There’s been some sickness but we’ve been able to pull through and some of the hikes have been pretty brutal but we all made it back in one piece.

In one village we stopped in we were invited to a Breslev house for dinner very similar to a Chabad house. At first we were hesitant to go, us being Messianic Jews and them being very religious Jews, but we felt God calling us to go. We arrived there not really knowing what to expect.

During dinner we were able to tell them who we were and what we were about. The religious Jews seemed very interested in how we could be Jewish and believe in Jesus. Isaac and I were able to talk to one man in particular and were able to lay out the Gospel for him.

We felt a real sense of accomplishment about our time there. Pray that God will water the seeds that we planted. We’ve had so many good conversations with Israelis here. Thanks to all you back home for your constant prayers and support.

God Bless,

Kevin

So I have had many conversations since being here, but one that I wanted to write about really quickly was one that I had with a guy and his mother a couple days ago. The funny thing about these two was that I randomly met him one day at the coffee shop that we hang out in all the time, and then the next day I met his mother, without knowing that it was her! How funny! So later on in the day, of meeting the mother, I saw him and his mother and with the prompting of Jon and REmy, I went to have coffee with them.

So as we sit down and start having drinks, the conversation is really not going anywhere. SO after about 5 mins, I pray and ask the Lord that He would open up the discussion we were having in order that I coud present Y’shua to them. Well a couple mins later, the conversation turns toward spiritual things and for about a 1/2 hour I discuss with them spiritual things. They got to share what they believed and I got to share the Gospel and what I believe. It was a very good conversation that I had. At first I was a bit apprehensive to go and have coffee, but at the urging/dumping off by Remy and Jon, I guess the Lord had other plans! Be praying for them!

Until next time,

Josh

So I though I’d tell you all about a funny interaction I had not too long ago. I was talking to and Israeli guy and I had just finished explaining to him what it is we believe, and I asked him if he’d ever heard it before. He was funny he said that he’d actually seen these people in Tel Aviv who go around and hand out fliers in shirts that say Yeshua. I nodded my head and asked him what he thought. He said he thought they were kinda weird but then as if to asure me that he didn’t think I was weird too he told me that is was nothing like “them”. It was amusing! And to leave you on a good note the guy who’s name is Yonni was very open to hearing about Jesus and is willing to read the new testament! So please keep him in prayer!

So God is basically not letting me get by this summer without this experience drastically changing my life.  I just want to share a little bit of what that looks like from my perspective…

Every day I get to wake up without having to worry about school or a “job” and get to focus on serving God in the full aspect of the idea. My day is completely open to figuring out what God wants me to do, whether that be worship Him, be in prayer for others, share His gospel, or wait patiently for whatever opportunity comes next. Or all of the above. It’s incredible what that can do to a person, seeking God through the whole day, reflecting on Him before you go to bed, and getting to wake up and do it all over again. Each day brings new opportunities and each day I’m learning how much more I want and need more of God.

When we wake up we have time to worship, and since none on our team happen to have a guitar we sing along to ipod speakers.   we improvise! Anyway, one of the songs we sing has the lyrics “we are hungry for more of You” and I have found that to be a theme for me. Just in the past couple years God has drawn me so close to Him. He’s shown me I can’t live on my own, that I need Him more everday, and anything I try to replace Him with is insufficient. It’s pretty cool to know this about God, but India assures me of it.

I love that God chose everyone on my team and me to be exactly where we are right now. I was just thinking about it – I’m in a foreign country, took a crazy bus ride to a mountain village where I only know the people I came here with and the ones I’ve met while I’ve been here. If I didn’t KNOW that God was here with me it would be so terrifying. But he goes with and before us every single day, and it’s just incredible to see what He is doing here. If there’s something I am constantly reminding myself of it’s that God is in control, He is the one changing people’s hearts and it is just my privelege to serve Him in whatever way I can.

I know this isn’t the most specific of blogs, but know that God is providing in specific ways. My brain just happens to be functioning in very broad terms right now. I hope you are all doing incredibly well – both other Massah-ers and those elsewhere that have been praying for us. We can’t thank you enough, your prayers are truly effecting so many lives. And my life.

 Things you can be praying for:

• That God would continue to water the seeds planted here, and for even more opportunities to share His love
• For the health of all teams
• Encouragement for our last days in current locations
• Safe travels for all teams

I love you and am praying for you! Only a couple weeks left, but I know God can move mountains in that time. Pray that He does!!!

Lizzy

Shalom blog readers/prayer partners!

Our team has spent the better part of the last week hiking in a near-complete circle through valleys, over rivers, and up and down mountians from (teeny- tiny) town to (teeny-tiny) town.  This region of Northern Inida is BEAUTIFUL, green and lush, with streams and rivers everywhere.  Perhaps this is all more striking for its contrast to the desert we left behind in Israel.  Best analogy is some combination of Lord of the Rings, Jurrasic Park, and the Island from LOST.

This kind of natural beauty attracts backpackers like crazy. and the opportunities for sharing the gospel have been amazing!  The area is also something of an Israeli secret.

God has blessed our team abundantly with interactions and it has been a joy to hike to a new village, head to the cafe, and watch Him to provide.   On our first night in the smaller villages, before we even ordered food Rachelle and Tamar were in conversation with a father and his dauther and a mother and her daughter who had met traveling, Isaac was talking to a young guy, and Kevin and I were chatting with a girl 1 1/2 months into a 4 month trip.  Within 15 minutes, as I sneaked a listen around,  ALL of us were explaining the gospel to these people, full and in depth with 2-way dialogue!  We were excstatic that night.  So encouraging!  We got to bolster our relationship and maybe leave a stronger impression with the “family” again the next day when we met them at the next village.

We’ve had so many of these wonderful interactions, and I’m sure other members of my team (Rachelle, Tamar, Isaac, and Kevin) will blog about the others.

Our team morale has been incredibly strong, which is by God’s grace because I have been incredibly sick.  I’m nearly fully recoverd, but definitely had a lot of time to join all  of you in intercessory prayer!

Please continue to keep us in prayer, we’ve got a long time to go here in India.

God Bless!       -Jesse

Scrabble.  Scrabble as in the game that people love to hate?! The game that is every dyslexics nightmare? The game that makes you think waay to hard for offering up your free time to a board game?

Yes. I did say Scrabble.

My team (Isaac, Jesse, Tamar, Kevin, and Myself) were the fortunate team to have Scrabble accompanying us as we traveled about in valleys and peaks of India these past 8 days.

Scrabble only got to us by way of Jesse; upon my request. You see last year in India I day dreamed about being able to use this amazing game to fill time and meet people. And what a wonderful reality this year has been to see Scrabble build relationships and be purposed as an evangelistic tool. Seriously. It Rocks.

Night #1 we are in a small town. Its raining. We go to a cafe and meet several Israeli’s there. We talk about our faith and share the gospel. Perfect. What’s next? a Rousing game of Scrabble to solidify our new found friendships.

Night #2 we are at the top of a very tall mountain (which took us 4.5 hours to get to). We are tired. We are hungry. We meet our friends from night #1, new people join us. The conversation lulls. What’s next? Scrabble of course. Israelis pair up with English speakers. I am paired with Maayan. We start talking, she ends up being better at scrabble than me, faith is brought up, I share the gospel.  We discuss it for the entire game. I have made a new friend that I will keep up with on facebook. I pray that she think about who Yeshua is to her. Thank you Scrabble.

Night #6 We are in another small mountain town. We got to a cafe. We meet 2 Israelis. We talk to them and explain who we are where we are from yadda yadda. We get the same info from them. We like them. They like us. Conversation lulls. The night is young, we have already eatten. What’s next? Why a game of Scrabble of course! We invite our Israeli friends to join us. They do. Round #4 the question is brought up…”So, you are a Jew who believes in Jesus… explain how that works.” We do, we talk for 2 hours. We open Isaiah 53. They admit it looks like Yeshua but want to read it in Hebrew. We had an amazing converstaion. We never got to Round #5…who cares. I was loosing and Scrabble wasn’t really the point anyway. Pray for them they were very interested in talking about it.

I love Scrabble. My friends think I am crazy. Especially because most of my friends can’t spell. But neither can I for that matter. I just love that it brings people together. You bond over all the terrible attempts at spelling words that don’t exsist. You get to spend time with people you love, like, and are wanting to get to know. And now….it is also an awesome way to share with people the love of Yeshua!

Like I said, Thank you Milton Bradley!

On another note. Our team has had an amazing week of evangelism in the far corners of India where most people don’t really even want to go. Thats why we couldn’t keep you all updated, no phones, no internet. Jesse got sick and is still recovering. But as a group we were an awesome team in sharing our faith. I believe that God really met us and annointed each and every conversation that we had. Thank you guys for your prayers they worked, and we needed them.

Blessings, RACHELLE

So here is a story about what we did recently…

We were sitting in a restaurant atop our guest house waiting for ur food to come. We had just made a decision after praying over a decision about whether or not to return to a Jewish home in the town we were in for Shabbot dinner. We decided not to go for various reasons, and continued our journey to the next town.

So, after getting settled in, we went to dinner, and the place was pretty slow exept for us. Then as we began discussing our next move,  a group of Israelis walked into our restaurant and sat opposite us. After a little while we found out where they were from and continued on to tell them who we were. After that the small talk continued until our food came.After the plates had been cleared, we opened the scrabble board and finally Omer decided to come join us. Eventually is girlfriend Karen came over as well to help him, as we were playing scrabble in english.

Around this point Isaac, Jesse and myself started praying silently- and lo and behold, G-d heard our prayers and Omer asked us entirely out of the blue: So… you are Jews who believe in Jesus… What do you believe? And from that we were able to completely lay out the Gospel for them, discuss it, show them the prophecies and why we needed a Messiah . We continued in discussion until the restaurant closed.

They had so many valid questions and at the end of it Omer sa” Hm, that makes a lot of sense, I just don’t believe it”

We were able to offer him a Brit HaChadasha, but he already had one.  He said that he would read it more, and after showing him Isaiah 53 he and Karen both agreed it was Yeshua and said that they needed to see it in Hebrew to be sure.

Please continue to pray for them: Omer and Karen.

Also, I want to thank you all so much for your continuous prayer. It is because of you interceding for us that we are able to have these divine appointments.

Thanks again and keep on praying!