Shalom Dear Friends,
During the entire year of 2018 we have been sharing about various projects that our congregation and ministry have implemented. We are grateful to the Lord for our team, co-workers and servants with whom He has surrounded us (some of whom are pictured in the accompanying photos).
We have sought to fill the empty niches in the surrounding Israeli society through deeds done in the name of Yeshua the Messiah.
In our ministry, we have never felt led to carry out “aggressive” evangelism. However, Yeshua’s commandment, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations” is always relevant and on our minds, with the understanding that we follow it according to our gifts. Our projects at “Return to Zion” Ministry include a lot of humanitarian activities. We are reaching out to old people, to those who are ill and to those who have suffered greatly in their lives. Some of those whom we serve went through World War II, including the Holocaust and the concentration camps. We are also ministering to those who are very weak, who have just arrived in the Promised Land and have not yet been able to “wipe off their tears.” In some ways it would be very easy to manipulate these people since they are weak. (We ourselves were in that same position of being brand new, vulnerable immigrants 25 years ago.) However, we decided to fulfill the commandments of the Torah and Yeshua to “help the needy” as an independent commandment, honoring the freedom and free choice of each person, obeying the Scripture that says, “Let your right hand not know what your left hand is doing.”
When we began doing this, we suddenly saw that people are not blind; they see who we are and the Name in which we do the work of ministry. The old people and the new immigrants—including parents whose children study at our Music and Art School—have participated with joy in many “Return to Zion” initiatives. Many of them have heard the Good News—not from “professionals,” but from ordinary members of the “Return to Zion” congregation. These members have testified of how Yeshua revealed Himself, and shared about their beliefs, telling what the Almighty and His Son Yeshua have done in their lives.
The truth is that most often it is the good testimony of a person living for the glory of God, at least during the initial stage, that brings life to the Gospel much more strongly than any professional presentation and exegesis. And then each one must make his or her own choice. Those who know the truth and enter the new covenant find peace with God. I am sure this is what the commandment of the Lord “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations” means.
You, our readers and intercessors who partner with us and are interested in knowing about our ministry and projects, are an indispensable part of our every success. We are praying for you, your needs and your families, and we are asking you to continue partnering with “Return to Zion” Ministry.
The past year has been an interesting time of sowing and reaping. We are grateful to God for those who received HIS Shalom—HIS peace, and who dedicated their lives to the Heavenly Father. We believe and pray that we will see even more in the coming year.
“Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you.”
Hosea 10:12
