Shalom Basket Deliveries 2010

August 27, 2010

Last night, we met at North Lanier, with all told, about 25 volunteers (give or take), to build our annual Rosh Hashana gift baskets. After several hours, and a great deal of sweating, we had constructed 96 gorgeous baskets with apples, honey, apple muffin mix, chocolate-caramel apple candies, and a beautiful apple scented candle tucked inside. All this in preparation for one of my favorite outreaches of the year….our Shalom Basket outreach. Each year, people order these gifts for their Jewish friends and family, and then our staff (usually) delivers them to Jewish households all over the city…..prayerfully we are able, in Spirit-led moments, to share our story and the gospel, if the giver has instructed us to. Over the years, we have been so blessed to witness Jewish people coming to faith during this outreach and holiday!!

So, this morning, early, I was out the door. Bob and I partnered up to deliver some baskets together. We met J. this morning. As we offered him and his family the lovely basket, conversation turned towards matters of the holiday and what it meant to him. Over coffee, tea and lemonade, we were able to share with J. I asked him, during the busy-ness of the High Holiday season, did he find he took time, himself, to really be introspective….looking at his heart…his sins and examining himself before God. He confessed that he didn’t actually. We were able to talk about the differences between the Biblical model of blood sacrifice and what Rabbinical Judaism teaches today of prayer, fasting and good deeds. It was a great dialogue and I truly believe it planted some seeds that will take root and sprout, with the Lord’s help. Pray for J. and his family and friends to know Messiah as their true salvation.

Later, we were blessed to meet with S. , a sweet , older lady who is a breast cancer survivor. While the conversation wasn’t as in depth, we were able to bless her with her gift, tell her we prayed that her name would in deed be written in the Book of Life….and hopefully, we will be able to meet with her again. She seemed open to that.

After S, there were a few other drop offs, which were fairly benign, but it is such an opportunity to build bridges between the Jewish community and the Christian community, and the opportunity to pray for the recipients when perhaps no one else is praying for their salvation. May God open their eyes, during this Holy time of year, to the truth of Messiah, their atonement for their sins….their Hope for eternity.

August 30, 2010

Yesterday, I had the great pleasure of taking about 6 baskets out. The first two were first timers for me, but I really enjoyed meeting them. They were both overwhelmed with their gifts. I was not necessarily able to segue into a full gospel presentation, but I have to say, a door was definitely opened for more interaction.

My next visit was to Yulia. I have mentioned this sweet, 87 year old Russian Jewish lady in the past, many times. She’s a feisty, stubborn, adorable, loving babushka (grandmother) who staunchly rejects the gospel every single time I share with her. However, that does not stop the sharing process!!! She’s growing more fragile in her health, each time I see her, but she’s still got lots of spunk in her personality. She loved her basket, and she was thrilled to have a visit. As usual, the gospel was put forth, in the visit,…..and as usual, she was not so interested in the gospel. Some days she will let me pray for her health, other days she will not. This was one of those days she wasn’t so much interested in prayer, either. But, God. I never grow tired of sharing the gospel and ministering to Yulia, because I know God loves her….and one day, I am convinced that she will recognize Him. I pray that you all will continue to pray for her as well. We’ve got to pray this one into the kingdom…..it’ll be a whole lot more fun with her there with us!!!!

Later that afternoon, I visited with Naum. He is a older Russian Jewish man, who has been suffering from a brain tumor. After years of ministering to Naum, and his wife Leeza, last December at our Hanukkah Tea, both Naum and Leeza received Jesus as their Messiah!! I learned yesterday, that God has also healed Naum’s brain tumor! It’s absolutely gone!!! He believes that God has worked a miracle for him and I have to agree!!!!

My last visit of the day was with M. She is an American Jewish lady, that I have known now for maybe two years. I met her, by taking baskets to her. My very first visit with M, she wouldn’t really even let me in the door. And, because I’m a stranger, I could understand that. In subsequent visits, M began to let me in to visit….and ultimately, she would let me pray for/over her. During this visit, this time, God just really opened the door for the gospel to go forth. M doesn’t know where she would go when she dies. She knows she doesn’t have forgiveness for her sins. She didn’t understand how anyone could know this for sure. She got out her old Tenach….a beautiful, bound in silver and stones, Hebrew scriptures. Together, we read aloud Isaiah 53….and Leviticus 17:11. We discussed how this sounded like Jesus, and how she needed blood atonement. As we talked, she said it even sounded a lot like what happened at Passover, with the blood of the lamb….she wasn’t ready to make a heart commitment to the Lord, but God truly worked in that visit. M joined in prayer to God that He would reveal the truth to her. It was such a sweet visit. I’m so thankful to see how God has brought us from talking through a cracked open door, to the point where we could sit together, at the foot of her bed, and read scripture together. This is a perfect example of how the Shalom Basket outreach is supposed to work. It’s a relationship builder…..and a process, by which the Holy Spirit begins to open hearts to Him….and it all begins with a basket.

Today, I had two really sweet visits early. The first visit was with S. S. spent a bit of time and it was great to be able to have spiritual discussion with him. I would not say that he was open to Jesus. But, he was willing to talk about it. He more believes in good deeds, making the world a better place. He doesn’t think the temple should be rebuilt….he seems very liberal in his politics and world view. But…..he was interested in my beliefs (in an all roads are valid kind of way). There were seeds planted that I pray God will water and nourish. The visit ended very pleasantly with a hug and big thank you.

The second visit was with A. and E. They are both Modern Orthodox. Boy, this was a great visit!! I had a ball on this one! Since there seemed to be no rush, I got to ask some really searching questions. The first one was one I used the other day….with all the busy-ness around the holidays, where was the time for truly deep personal introspection? Again, it seemed to floor A. just as it did with the visit from the other day. I think it was the first time he really took a moment to recognize how, during the Holiest time of the year, he wasn’t taking the time to really consider his own sins and forgiveness. I got to ask him who he expected the Messiah to be….what were his thoughts on it. He didn’t have a good answer, as religious as he is. He could really only say there were so many theories…..but he never did pin down his own theory. It was a really eye opener for him. Now, I know this is not a profession of faith, which we all would rejoice in, but what it is, is an opening. A beginning. It is such a victory to just get someone considering these things and not just doing them….to thoughtfully ponder what they are doing and why.

I’m off in a few moments to teach one of my ESOL classes. I am able this year to give each of my students a basket, and that is such a blessing!

This is hours later. I’m going to attach some pictures of my ESOL students with their baskets. In this particular group, there are only two Jewish believers. The rest are just pre-believers!!! They were so thrilled, and blessed by their gift baskets. To hear their sweet attempts at expressing how touched they were nearly had me in tears. Next week, we will be basing our entire ESOL lesson on the message of Rosh Hashanah….the goal of repentance, and the hope of forgiveness of sin and having their name written in the book of life for eternity. I’m very prayerful that some of these “pre-believers” will become believers in fact….next week. Please join me in prayer for that.

One last thought from this day. One of my former ESOL students, Vera, came up to me before I was leaving. She wanted to apologize to me that she hasn’t been to class for a while. She told me through tears, that she had lost her son to cancer, and she has just not even be able to think or do anything normal since that happened. She told me that her heart is completely broken. Vera is normally a very self contained lady….she rarely ever shared much personally in class….so it is very very obvious to me that she is barely surviving her grief. Vera allowed me to comfort her and she even allowed me to pray for her. I don’t have her picture with a basket, as I had already packed everything away when she came to me….but I gave her a Shalom Basket, and it made her smile and weep. She promised me that she will come to me after class and we can talk things through each week. She can’t handle class right now….but one on one….she thinks she can do that. And perhaps the Lord will bring her some comfort and she will find her hope and joy again in Him.

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