Sharing the Gospel at Biblical Sites
We are always looking for new strategies to share the Gospel in a way that lowers the barriers to the Gospel and indirectly addresses the common misconceptions. One of the biggest common misconception is that the Bible is just a dusty old book of Jewish mythology. Most secular Israelis respect the Bible, because it is an important Jewish work, but they don't necessarily see the contents as historical, relevant or significant. In fact, most have never read it. We want to find ways to bring the Bible to Life!
It might sound strange, but in the land where most of the Biblical events occurred, the majority of native Israelis rarely visit Biblical sites and don't know much about them. Not long ago, a colleague brought his Jewish family to Israel and took them on a tour of the country. At the end, one of his family members said that she has never read the Bible, but after this trip she is eager to read the Bible. His family is predominately atheists, but every evening on their tour they were discussing God. Isn't that amazing! That is a natural outcome of visiting Biblical sites.
For a number of years, we have been planning to overcome some of the obstacles to the Gospel by bringing a mixed group of Israelis, including both believers and non-believers, to locations where Biblical events occurred. Using these sites as a spring board for discussions about the relevance of the Bible, the nature of the Messiah, and the importance of reading the Bible.
It is for this reason that Jason enrolled in a two-year program to become a licensed tour guide. The program included about 600 hours in the classroom and close to 1,000 hours in the field. There were many exams along the way and the last two were the most stressful and challenging. But on August 1st, Jason took the last exam. A few days later, he received confirmation that he passed! We are still waiting for the license to come in the mail, but we can officially inform you that Jason is now a Licensed Tour Guide!
Thank you from Jason the Tour Guide!
We would like to thank you for your prayers for our family, especially over the last two years, while Jason pursued this Tour Guide Licensing Program. The time and dedication required to complete the program was very challenging for our family, considering how much time Jason was away. We are so grateful for God's grace, the amazing support of our family, friends and colleagues at Chosen People Ministries! Thank you for your prayers and support!
So what's next? OUTREACH. We are now asking you to prayerfully consider partnering in our NEWEST outreach program. We will be inviting believers and non-believers to visit the sites of Biblical events to bring the Bible to life! We would like to start our first trip in late October or early November. Our goal is to eventually do this about 12 times a year. One of our Russian-speaking staff has been leading a similar program for the last few years. He has been very successful in using this kind of outreach to lead people to faith and now has a small congregation that was built almost entirely through this outreach. So we know that this strategy can work, but we need your help to make it successful.
What kind of help do we need We need your prayers. We need prayer for Israeli believers to sign up and invite their unsaved friends. We need wisdom in how to advertise. We need prayer for safety and that the anti-missionaries would be kept away from this program. We need prayer for logistics, timing, and also the financing of this new outreach.
We also need your financial support for this new outreach. In an effort to keep these day trips affordable, participants will be asked to pay their entrance fee to the sites, but we would like to subsidize the cost of renting the bus, about $1,000 per trip. Would you prayerfully consider supporting one or part of these outreach trips? If you want to give to this project, you can give in the same way as you normally do. Just send in your donation designated to our ministry fund ROSEJ, and leave a special note "Biblical Sites Outreach." You can easily donate online from our Chosen People Ministries Staff Page. Just click on the link that says, "Join my support team." Please let us know if you are giving to this project, so that we can start planning our first trip right away. You can let us know by sending us a brief email to: jrose@chosenpeople.com.
But don't you guys raise enough to support this from our current donations? Sadly, we don't yet have enough support to fund this project. We are stepping out in faith. In fact, over the last year, we have seen a slight drop in our financial support. Even if you are not particularly excited by this new program, would you consider giving an extra donation or even increasing your regular financial support? The Israeli shekel is very strong right now, which means that the US Dollar just doesn't go as far as it used to. This is great for Israel, but challenging for those of us raising most of our support in the USA. We are so grateful for your prayers and support! Thank you for being a part of our ministry!
