February 2025

The Chosen People Newsletter

Steve* happened to be outside our Chosen People Ministries headquarters in Manhattan as one of our staff left the office at about 9:30 p.m. on a weekday. Our eye-catching electronic billboard, visible from the street through our window, featured images of the Israeli hostages being held in Gaza by Hamas.

While locking the gate to our office, our staff member asked Steve, “What do you think about our message?” Steve answered by asking, “Who are you people?” Our staff member replied, “We are Messianic Jews, and 
I am a Jew who believes in Jesus.” Steve responded, “I am a regular Jew.” They spoke on the quiet street for more than thirty minutes about faith, Jewish life, and the war in Israel.

Steve listened to our staff member’s testimony of how he came to believe in Yeshua (Jesus).

It turns out that, over the years, Steve has had a lot of positive conversations with Christians in his life as a professional musician. He has heard the gospel message and has interacted with people about Yeshua. Our staff member challenged Steve to look deeper into Yeshua’s claims of Messiahship.

Our staff member said he had not experienced such an open and honest conversation about Yeshua and the gospel in a long time. We hope that Steve will return to our office if he has more questions. It was an unexpected interaction and well worth the time. Please pray for Steve to take Yeshua’s message to heart.

God often provides divine encounters as our staff travel to various places. On a plane recently, one of our staff sat next to Mendy,* an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man. They talked about the Torah and Talmud (rabbinic texts), and then the conversation turned to faith in Jesus and how Jewish people can believe He is the Messiah. The conversation went so well that the flight attendant asked how long they knew each other. She was surprised to find out they had just met on the plane.

Mendy said he was on his way to visit family in Florida. When Mendy told our staff member he would take an Uber, our staff member offered him a ride as they were heading to the same city. Mendy accepted, and the conversation continued for another forty-five minutes in the car. They exchanged contact information and plan on meeting again in Brooklyn for breakfast. Please pray for their future discussions and that Mendy will recognize Jesus as the Jewish Messiah.

Amos,* a young Israeli who had just completed his mandatory military service, visited our Chosen People Ministries-Japan evangelical center for a Welcoming the Sabbath event. Amos opened up about his spiritual journey. He grew up in a religious family in Israel, but after his military service, he said he stepped away from Jewish religious life. He said observing Jewish laws and traditions became more of a routine obligation than a genuine expression of faith in God.

The conversation deepened as our staff presented Yeshua as the Jewish Messiah and how He fulfills the prophecies of the Bible. Amos listened attentively, and it was evident that the message touched his heart. At the end of the discussion, our staff invited Amos to attend services at our Messianic congregation the following day. They explained that, at the congregation, Jewish people and some Japanese friends glorify the God of Israel together and study both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. He accepted the invitation with enthusiasm.

The following morning during the prayer service, the mother of one of our Japanese staff members prayed for Jewish people and the peace of Jerusalem. Her sincere prayer, stemming from a deep personal relationship with the Lord, deeply moved Amos. After the service, he expressed admiration with shining eyes and his desire to learn how to communicate with God in the same intimate manner. Our staff said that a relationship like this is possible through faith in the Messiah, Yeshua.

Although Amos departed on Sunday morning to continue his journey across Japan, the seed of the gospel was sown in his heart. Please keep Amos in your prayers. Our staff in Japan continue to stay in touch with him, and when he returns to Israel after traveling across Japan, they plan to connect him with our staff in Israel for follow-up. They pray that the gospel he first heard in Japan bears fruit, leading to his salvation.