What does Chosen People Ministries do IN ISRAEL?
It occurred to me, following some recent conversations, that many don't really know the extent of the ministry that Chosen People Ministries does in Israel. So, I would like to provide you with a brief explanation.
The ministry activities we do in Israel fall into one of three categories: Humanitarian Aid, Discipleship and Outreach. Some activities fall into more than one category. For example, our camps. In addition, we do have ministry to Israeli's outside of Israel.
Outreach actives take on many forms, from our Isaiah 53 Explained book distribution to person relationship building. Each staff member has a unique ministry field and works within that ministry field. For example, one staff member offers local archeological tours for new immigrants and on these trips, he is able to share stories from the Gospels with non-beleivers which create opportunities to share. Another staff member, who leads a Messianic congregation, also leads a weekly Bible Study at the local rehabilitation center, in which many (roughly 70%) come to faith in Jesus (Yeshua).
At other times, our staff combine forces to work together on larger outreach projects, like the coffee shop outreach and many of the activities that we are planning for our new Greater Tel Aviv Messianic Center. We have partnered with another ministry to create a Hebrew version of our iFoundShalom.com video outreach. Our camps are another area where our staff come together along with many volunteers to accomplish a great mission. All of our camps have an outreach element to them, though the focus is usually discipleship.
Discipleship actives like our congregations, children and youth camps, Bible Studies, Seminars and many other events are designed to strengthen the body of Messiah spiritually and enrich the depth of knowledge among Israel's leaders. We operate camps for kids and youth at least twice a year in addition to special events that are camp-like for soldiers and even holocaust survivors. Some of the camps are local and others are overseas. By God's grace we have been blessed with special partnerships that enable us to take youth overseas for camps every year for a long time. Through another partnership we offer regular seminars for upcoming ministry leaders.
Humanitarian Aid activities generally center around our distribution center network. We operate five distribution centers, each located in a different city. These provide dried food to needy families. The majority of those we help are retired immigrants who barely make enough on their government pensions, but we also help, single parents and new immigrants. Additionally, when visiting tour groups come, we are able to hold special events for holocaust survivors in various cities. Although not all of the holocaust survivors need a hot meal, they certainly need the love and affection that comes with the interaction and that is also a kind of humanitarian aid.
Outside of Israel our ministry has been blessed with great staff who have been able to reach Israelis outside of Israel. Our New Zealand staff has opened a youth hostel that caters to backpackers touring the beautiful trails of New Zealand. In addition to the hostel, we also send outreach teams to hike alongside backpackers. What is really amazing is how this vision for reaching Israelis outside of Israel is expanding soon to Argentina, where we hope to open another hostel soon. As I write this update, we have multiple teams in New Zealand and the Argentina team is there too.
To summarize, we have a lot more activity than I can put in an update like this, but it will at least show you the scope of the ministry that we are doing, and hopefully encourage you to pray for our tireless staff that are working so hard to bring the Gospel to Israelis. If you are interested in doing more than praying, like helping physically, we can use the help. If you want to bring a ministry team to Israel to serve, we would be honored to help you make the necessary arrangements. We can provide you with a pretty exciting ministry schedule which can include much of the ministry I've mentioned above and maybe even more.
I probably shouldn't say this, but it's on my heart. I sometimes read ministry updates from other ministries in which they have to stretch to make a monthly update, but our staff in Israel is so engaged and so active, it amazes me. After writing this brief update, I realized that there are still many activities I haven't mentioned, like our campus outreach, our staff worker who ministries in a woman's rehab center, our staff member that helps single moms with repairs and our regular special events for single moms. I'm just so blessed to work alongside such great staff in a great ministry with excellent leadership that helps guide us and direct us.
I hope this provides you with some insight into the activities of Chosen People Ministries in Israel and I would be very grateful for your continued prayer and support!
The ministry activities we do in Israel fall into one of three categories: Humanitarian Aid, Discipleship and Outreach. Some activities fall into more than one category. For example, our camps. In addition, we do have ministry to Israeli's outside of Israel.
Outreach actives take on many forms, from our Isaiah 53 Explained book distribution to person relationship building. Each staff member has a unique ministry field and works within that ministry field. For example, one staff member offers local archeological tours for new immigrants and on these trips, he is able to share stories from the Gospels with non-beleivers which create opportunities to share. Another staff member, who leads a Messianic congregation, also leads a weekly Bible Study at the local rehabilitation center, in which many (roughly 70%) come to faith in Jesus (Yeshua).
At other times, our staff combine forces to work together on larger outreach projects, like the coffee shop outreach and many of the activities that we are planning for our new Greater Tel Aviv Messianic Center. We have partnered with another ministry to create a Hebrew version of our iFoundShalom.com video outreach. Our camps are another area where our staff come together along with many volunteers to accomplish a great mission. All of our camps have an outreach element to them, though the focus is usually discipleship.
Discipleship actives like our congregations, children and youth camps, Bible Studies, Seminars and many other events are designed to strengthen the body of Messiah spiritually and enrich the depth of knowledge among Israel's leaders. We operate camps for kids and youth at least twice a year in addition to special events that are camp-like for soldiers and even holocaust survivors. Some of the camps are local and others are overseas. By God's grace we have been blessed with special partnerships that enable us to take youth overseas for camps every year for a long time. Through another partnership we offer regular seminars for upcoming ministry leaders.
Humanitarian Aid activities generally center around our distribution center network. We operate five distribution centers, each located in a different city. These provide dried food to needy families. The majority of those we help are retired immigrants who barely make enough on their government pensions, but we also help, single parents and new immigrants. Additionally, when visiting tour groups come, we are able to hold special events for holocaust survivors in various cities. Although not all of the holocaust survivors need a hot meal, they certainly need the love and affection that comes with the interaction and that is also a kind of humanitarian aid.
Outside of Israel our ministry has been blessed with great staff who have been able to reach Israelis outside of Israel. Our New Zealand staff has opened a youth hostel that caters to backpackers touring the beautiful trails of New Zealand. In addition to the hostel, we also send outreach teams to hike alongside backpackers. What is really amazing is how this vision for reaching Israelis outside of Israel is expanding soon to Argentina, where we hope to open another hostel soon. As I write this update, we have multiple teams in New Zealand and the Argentina team is there too.
To summarize, we have a lot more activity than I can put in an update like this, but it will at least show you the scope of the ministry that we are doing, and hopefully encourage you to pray for our tireless staff that are working so hard to bring the Gospel to Israelis. If you are interested in doing more than praying, like helping physically, we can use the help. If you want to bring a ministry team to Israel to serve, we would be honored to help you make the necessary arrangements. We can provide you with a pretty exciting ministry schedule which can include much of the ministry I've mentioned above and maybe even more.
I probably shouldn't say this, but it's on my heart. I sometimes read ministry updates from other ministries in which they have to stretch to make a monthly update, but our staff in Israel is so engaged and so active, it amazes me. After writing this brief update, I realized that there are still many activities I haven't mentioned, like our campus outreach, our staff worker who ministries in a woman's rehab center, our staff member that helps single moms with repairs and our regular special events for single moms. I'm just so blessed to work alongside such great staff in a great ministry with excellent leadership that helps guide us and direct us.
I hope this provides you with some insight into the activities of Chosen People Ministries in Israel and I would be very grateful for your continued prayer and support!
