Chosen People Ministries - Australia and New Zealand

Ministry News

Shalom. God's hand is at work - all over the world! This glorious truth was brought home to me yet again as I spent a week visiting our partner ministry in Australia, which goes by the delightful name of Celebrate Messiah. Lawrence and Louise Hirsch, dear friends of mine, began this ministry more than two decades ago to serve the Lord among the Jewish people in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and many other cities in this fascinating country with almost 100,000 Jewish people!

Lawrence and Louise are both immigrants to Australia from South Africa. Lawrence is from a very strong Jewish home, and Louise is from a non-Christian Gentile family. They fell in love as teenagers and both became believers soon after high school. After they were married, they immigrated to Australia. After receiving further Bible training back in Johannesburg, Lawrence and Louise initiated the work of Celebrate Messiah - which coined the wonderful phrase, "bringing the message to the original messengers."

Celebrate Messiah is part of Chosen People Global Ministries, which now encompasses sixteen countries containing 96% of the world’s Jewish population. We have established ministries - or been joined by established ministries - in this partnership everywhere from England to South Africa, Australia, Argentina, Germany, France and many more places.

Transformation - One Life at a Time

While in Australia, I had the privilege of getting together with our leaders to pray and strategize about ways to coordinate our efforts to reach Jewish people around the world for the Messiah. One of the most encouraging conversations I had was with a brand-new Jewish believer who was raised in a traditional Jewish home and is now in his early twenties. May I share his testimony with you?

While attending university, he met a "real" Christian for the first time. This first-time encounter with authentic Christian faith is not unusual for many Jewish people growing up in strong Jewish communities; we simply do not get to know born-again believers until we enter the workplace or attend university. This believer began sharing the Gospel with this young Jewish man, and eventually they began studying the Bible together - particularly the Sermon on the Mount. (By the way, this is a great place to introduce Jewish people to the New Testament, as the statements of Jesus in these chapters are so attractive and powerful.)

Eventually, the young man became more interested in Jesus and visited a few local churches. He enjoyed them, but did not feel quite at home. So his non-Jewish Christian friend suggested that he visit Beit Hamashiach (House of the Messiah), the Messianic congregation in Caulfield, which was planted by Celebrate Messiah in the heart of one of the most Jewish communities in Melbourne.

This young man visited the congregation. Though uncomfortable at first about attending a service, he was met in the hallway by a very friendly Jewish believer who encouraged him to sit down and listen to the sermon. He did, and according to this young man's testimony, tears filled his eyes as he heard the message of the Gospel in a Jewish way. As a result, he felt more compelled than ever before to consider whether Jesus is the Messiah - for both Jews and Gentiles.

It was not long afterwards that this young Jewish man received Yeshua (Jesus) as his Messiah. Since then, he has been growing steadily in his faith. But he is not the only one! I met dozens of young people at this retreat who were in one way or another involved in the growing Messianic movement in Australia.

There is also a growing movement of Russian Jewish immigrants to Australia who are coming to faith in Jesus - just as we have seen in Brooklyn, Germany, Israel and many other places. Hundreds of Russian Jewish people in Australia have come to faith in Jesus - and many attend the congregation planted by Celebrate Messiah in the heart of Jewish Melbourne. The Lord is doing great things!

The Rise of Ministry to Israeli Backpackers in New Zealand

I know that you will enjoy the remainder of this newsletter as you learn more about the Jewish people of Australia... but I don't want to leave out New Zealand!

Scott Brown, one of our most effective and respected veteran missionaries, moved his family to New Zealand a few years ago. His goal was to establish a ministry on the Southern Island to work with the thousands of Israelis who backpack through the mountains. Many travel there looking for the meaning of life after spending their required years in the Israeli army.

Scott and his wife, Margie, base their ministry out of a campground, offering Sabbath dinners and free barbecues, engaging in literature distribution, and often going hiking with the Israelis through the gorgeous scenery. With the help of teams we send from the United States to help reach these wandering Israelis for the Messiah, Scott and Margie spend their time sharing the Good News. They distribute Hebrew New Testaments and find other ways to touch the lives of these young Israelis who are eager to talk about the deeper things of life.

We have already recruited a young Israeli couple to be part of the team to serve along with the Browns' many volunteers. In fact, Scott has been providing training in Jewish evangelism to a network of Christians in New Zealand who open their homes to wandering Israeli travelers. The strategy works beautifully, as young Israelis get to see how Jesus-loving believers and authentic Christian families live. This network has doubled over the last few years! We hope to bring this wonderful tool of evangelistic hosting to other countries, and have already trained volunteers in both Scandinavia and Germany.

My heart is filled with the incredible experiences of my recent trip down under. I wish I had more time to share with you what the Lord is doing. I pray that His powerful presence will continue to fill your life and home. May 2014 be a wonderful year of faithfulness and fruitfulness for you as you serve our risen Jewish Savior.

Your brother in the Messiah,

Mitch

P.S. While in Australia, I gave two sermons at Simcha (the Hebrew word for "Joy"), our Messianic retreat there. This year, we had about 450 people and it was incredibly exciting. If you want to hear these sermons, please go to www.chosenpeople.com/audio, where you can listen to my messages and those of other Chosen People Ministries staff.