Heidi, a leader in our NYC team, recently wrote Rabbi Steve of the Messianic Jewish Sha'ar Adonai in NYC to work with his congregation at our table outreach locations in Manhattan. I worked with Doug Pyle in missions, who is a missionary with Chosen People in NYC, so LTW already has a close relationship with Chosen People. We look forward to working with both Heritage Baptist and this Sha'ar Adonai in outreach to Jews in NYC.
Hello Pastor Recker and Rabbi Steve:
As I had indicated in my email of yesterday, I want to now formally introduce you to each other. Pastor Recker, Rabbi Steve Fenchel is the Rabbi/Pastor/Teacher and Leader of Messianic Congregation Sha'ar Adonai (Gate of the Lord or The Lord's Gate) located in New York City at 2 West 64th Street, comprised of both born-again Jews and Gentiles. I have known Rabbi Steve since about 2005, when I was a fairly recent born-again Christian who had a burden on her heart for evangelism and the need for both Jews and Gentiles to receive the Gospel of Salvation, in addition to my desire to have a better understanding of our rich heritage and spiritual faith, the roots, so to speak.
By divine appointment, I was directed to Sha'ar Adonai, which is a ministry partner of Chosen People Ministries headed up by Mitch Glaser, which organization has been in existence since about 1890, and was founded by a Jewish believer who desired to spread the Gospel to the Orthodox Jews living on the lower east side of Manhattan at first, and eventually to those in New York and at large.
Rabbi Steve was saved by, in part, through reading a gospel tract he was given while coming out of a buddhist temple in the 1970s and, subsequently, by personal eyewitnesses and hearing of the Word and the Holy Spirit conviction. He was saved in the 1970s and was subsequently edified in the Baptist organization. He later became an ordained Pastor in the same organization. The Lord laid upon his heart a desire to reach the Jewish people in his community, as well as provide better understanding to the gentiles of their faith and origins, in order to better equip them to be evangelists in reaching said communities. With this in mind, he started messianic studies at the church he was attending at that time, but when the meetings grew beyond capacity, in order to avoid a conflict in ministries, as well as submitting to the Lord's calling, he was compelled to establish a Messianic ministry in New York City, as he was a native from Brooklyn and felt a great need for the Gospel to be brought to the Orthodox as well as other Jewish communities.
Rabbi Steve has been a great influence in my life as a Christian and lover of the Jewish people, and has built upon a solid foundation with teaching full of wisdom and scriptural knowledge, as well as having increased my desire to reach Jewish people and having a love for our heritage. I usually try to attend, when possible, the High Holy Days services and an occasional Shabbat service on Saturday mornings at his congregation.
Rabbi Steve has always encouraged me to use my spiritual gifts to reach the unsaved, both Jew and Gentile, and encourages this in all his sermons to his congregants. Recently, he has started a new endeavor in going into Central Park on Sundays and doing evangelism outreach to the people there.
As you know, myself, Christine and Suzy also have an evangelistic outreach wherein we contend earnestly for the faith on the grounds of apologetics, discernment and prophecy, and provide various materials concerning different topics on the emergent church, contemplative spirituality, spiritual disciplines and formation movements, ecumenism, new age, purpose driven and other false movements, as was as Bibles and other materials of interest.
This past Sunday, in lieu of setting up our table at the subway location, we decided to meet up at Central Park as Suzi indicated that there were some ministry teams that had invited us to come join with them in proclaiming the Gospel. Now... this is the best part.... and I also believe it was divinely appointed. I was aware that Sha'ar Adonai was starting outreach as a result of their weekly emails and in my heart I was hoping and wondering if some day, one of the messianic ministries would be willing to partner and co-labor with me and the girls in our ministry, especially to reach the Jewish people in addition to gentiles. I had no clue how this would come about but it was something that had crossed my mind occasionally.
While at the park, I realized that several members of Sha'ar Adonai were present and I was able to speak with Rabbi Steve, along with Suzi and Christine in company. We explained to him our ministry and our hearts' desires, and while speaking, he told us that he felt led to ask us if we could use his help in co-laboring with both people and materials, to which we responded "YES". I also expressed that it would be wonderful if we could have additional messianic materials for the Jewish unsaved, which he said he would gladly contribute to our table ministry!!!
Rabbi Steve noticed that I had a peace about me now as a couple of years ago, I was going through a spiritual crisis while attending another church and was trying to decide where I should go as I was about to leave said church. As the Lord would have it, and by many orchestrations, and divine appointments and encounters, I ended up attending Heritage Baptist Church during Resurrection Sunday in 2008, and have been attending ever since. He asked if I was content there and I said "Yes", as God has blessed me with a true Pastor and sound teaching and has given me a time of rest.... I then went on to explain to Rabbi Steve that you also were a man of the people, had a true heart for evangelism, also to the Jews, and that you also had interest in the roots of our faith and had collaborated in times past with messianic ministries in their explanation and presentations on certain holy days, among them Passover. I also indicated that you were a great supporter and encourager of our ministry.
Rabbi Steve, at this point, indicated that he would be honored to meet with you and would like to discuss possibly doing a presentation in our church, among other activities, in additional to also helping out our table ministry. I was ecstatic to hear this and told him that I would connect you both.
...Rabbi Steve, you had also indicated to me that you desired that I forward to you some wonderful teaching and discernment ministries' links. Please see below.
Jan Markell of Olive Tree Ministries http://www.olivetreeviews.org/ - she is a born-again Jewish believer who contends earnestly for the faith and also has a radio ministry, wherein she interviews different experts on various topics concerning apostasy and signs of the times. You can hear some of her audio archives here: http://www.olivetreeviews.org/radio/mp3/ She also has a periodical e-newsletter and print newsletter addressing the signs of the times called Understanding the Times.
Arnold Fruchtenbaum of Ariel Ministries www.ariel.org - he is a born-again Jew with a teaching ministry from a Judeo-Christian perspective and evangelistic outreach. He has some wonderful materials for Jewish evangelism called "Messiah Comes" located here: http://www.messiah.com.es/basic_main/
Dwayna Litz of Lighting the Way Worldwide Ministries www.lightingthewayworldwide.org - she is a born-again Christian and we are partnered with her in evangelism, as she is the founder of Lighting the Way Worldwide outreach tables throughout the United States, Mexico, Phillipines, Israel, and Ireland. For our latest update on our ministry table here in New York City called The Good News Friends, see here http://lightingtheway.blogspot.com/2010/04/ltw-update-nyc.html and previous ones here:
http://lightingtheway.blogspot.com/2010/04/ltw-update-last-sunday-in-nyc.html
http://lightingtheway.blogspot.com/2010/04/great-easter-sunday-morning.html
http://lightingtheway.blogspot.com/2010/04/nyc-outreach-today.html
http://lightingtheway.blogspot.com/2010/03/ltw-update-nyc-last-weekend.html
http://lightingtheway.blogspot.com/2010/03/testimonial-from-team-member-in-nyc.html
There are more updates from earlier on, but I am sending these as there are many...
For the general blog of all entries, go here http://www.lightingtheway.blogspot.com
Dwayna happens to know Doug, the Jewish believer and occasional Bible teacher and evangelist, who is part of Chosen People, from having met and worked in the same location as him when she was ministering in Venice Beach, California, where this ministry started.
I hope and pray, according to God's will, that we will be able to collaborate and join forces in this endeavor and I and the girls look forward to hearing from both of you on your thoughts and desires.
May the Name of Jesus, Yeshua HaMashiach, be praised forever more!!
Amen!!
Shalom and Blessings,
Heidi
Your sister and co-laborer,
On behalf of The Good News Friends
(a/k/a The Gospel Girls)
