Greetings Dwayna!! Shalom and Peace!
After attending Church service and enjoying a pre-Thanksgiving dinner, we headed out to our winter location, which is located in the subway beneath Times Square, near the 7th Avenue side of what we call the "Christian corridor". Before arriving at our location, while walking to the church office to procure our gear, we were surprised to run into Curtis Sliwa of Guardian Angels fame. He is a local radio commentator here in New York City as well as the head of the organization of Guardian Angels, a para-law enforcement group of concerned citizens who assist law enforcement with police patrol and other protection of citizens and watchgroups. We were able to converse with him and his son and state that we were glad he was still heading up this organization and the work they do. Before saying goodbye, Suzi was able to hand him the Gospel of John, which he gladly received. We hope and pray that he will read it and share it with his son and that he would come to know Messiah Yeshua, Jesus Christ the Messiah. For more information on Curtis Sliwa and the Guardian Angels, click here:
After attending Church service and enjoying a pre-Thanksgiving dinner, we headed out to our winter location, which is located in the subway beneath Times Square, near the 7th Avenue side of what we call the "Christian corridor". Before arriving at our location, while walking to the church office to procure our gear, we were surprised to run into Curtis Sliwa of Guardian Angels fame. He is a local radio commentator here in New York City as well as the head of the organization of Guardian Angels, a para-law enforcement group of concerned citizens who assist law enforcement with police patrol and other protection of citizens and watchgroups. We were able to converse with him and his son and state that we were glad he was still heading up this organization and the work they do. Before saying goodbye, Suzi was able to hand him the Gospel of John, which he gladly received. We hope and pray that he will read it and share it with his son and that he would come to know Messiah Yeshua, Jesus Christ the Messiah. For more information on Curtis Sliwa and the Guardian Angels, click here:
We ask that you keep him and his son and relatives in prayer.
As of late, our location is now occupied by various ministries propagating their versions of the "gospel", among whom are the date-setters -- or Harold Camping disciples -- and the King James onlyists. It can be a difficult situation, as we are not only battling secular beliefs and pagan religions, but now have to contend with these false ministries and their teachings within nominal Christianity. We all agreed that in spite of this new occurrence, we feel that the Lord wants us to stay put in this location to be a counterpoint to the heresies being perpetrated and to point people to the true, biblical Gospel and proper endtimes eschatology.
Bill joined us at the table from Heritage Baptist and helped us set up and gave out tracts and spoke with a few people for awhile. We set up our table and had many visitors. We were able to provide Bibles, which Christine was gracious enough to procure, as well as all the other usual materials concerning apologetics and discernment, the Gospel and the new birth, CDs on false religions and false belief systems including cults and the occult, numerous books concerning science vs. the Bible or creation vs. evolution, various apologetics materials concerning Roman Catholicism and some Hebrew/English Tanachs (Old Testaments). Unfortunately, we have run out of the Brit Chadashahs (New Testaments) as well as Tanachs. We were able to provide one of the Gospels in Arabic for Muslims, but I am not sure if any were taken. We also had a few worship CDs and cassettes.
I was able to share the Gospel with various Latinos who came to the table and explain the importance of repentance for salvation and the need for the new birth by means of the Holy Spirit, as well as the difference between Catholicism and man made religions vs. Biblical faith. Many people took many of the various Spanish materials concerning these topics, so we need to resupply, especially with the materials provided by Mike Gendron of Proclaiming the Gospel. Others took copies of the books concerning the New Age infiltration into Christendom with the books by Warren Smith and Ray Yungen and various CDs by Caryl Matrisciana and others, including Jan Markell. As we have run out of Roger Oakland's books such as Faith Undone, Another Jesus, and others, we could use a new supply of these.
A couple of young men approached the table and took several items. I was able to engage with one of them over the veracity of the misnomer "Palestian People" vs. the land of Palestine and the history of that name. He said that he supported the Palestinians but could also support Israel. I explained that as Christians, we support the Land of Israel (Eretz Yisrael) and her people, not necessarily the government. We are to recognize that it is through Jesus, the Jew!, that we are partakers of the Vine--we have been grafted into Messiah as branches among the original branches. We explained that because of Biblcial prophecy and God's covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the land of Israel was deeded to the Jews and it is God's land, and while the United Nations may have decided to apportion the land to the Jews, ultimately, it was God's doing to bring them back into the land, to never again be removed. It was unfortunate that a lot of what the man believed is what he hears on the liberal media TV news networks and possibly in school. That is why it is imperative that one knows the history of the Jewish people in Scripture and of the land, known as Judea in the Bible, after the Northern Kingdom was broken up (Israel) and the 10 tribes were exiled and carried away into captivity.
One gentleman who approached the table claimed to believe in Jesus, but upon more in-depth questions, we were told that he did not believe Jesus was God or was of deity, and he did not consider salvation by a biblical definition; he said he believed salvation comes on "different levels". I was engaged with him and refuted these beliefs as erroneous and not biblical, and I said that if one does not have the correct Jesus, one has not the true salvation (1 Corinthians 11:4). After awhile, he decided that he wanted to come visit our church, and we provided the information to him. Suzi was able to engage with him further as Christine and I attended to the other visitors coming to the table.
One Jewish man who appeared to be in a hurry rushed past our table. As he walked by, he turned his head back to look at the table as I believe he glanced over the Hebrew Bibles we had. I then yelled out to him the question, "Would you like a free Tanach?" to which he replied gladly "Yes," and he rushed over and took it. I was able to also hand him "Behind the Curtain," a testimony of an Orthodox Jew who discovers that Yeshua (Jesus) is in found and described as Messiah throughout the Jewish Old Testament Scriptures and rabbinic writings. This is especially true concerning Rosh Hashannah and also the Trinity, or what is referred to as the "Unity." We hope that he reads this tract and also reads the Word and will come to a better understanding of his Messiah and come to salvation. I was extremely happy to be able to give to a Jewish person the Word of Life, as many of them do not want to approach the table due to either pride or embarrassment or cultural stigma.
After a little while, the "date-setter Christians" left our area, and we were able to minister to many more people. Many had questions concerning what the Bible truly says about the end of days and others concerning the occult. We were able to give out materials concerning both topics. Many were interested in the science tracts as well.
We were later joined by Christian who helped us pack up our ministry ensemble. We finished up around 6 p.m. and closed in prayer for all the people with whom we had opportunity to speak, as well as those who came by the table to take materials. We desire that all the materials would be beneficial and encourage people to seek out God's Truth and salvation in the Messiah alone, by grace alone through faith alone.
Christine and Suzi took photos, which they will supply.
Again, we want to thank all those ministries who support and donate to Lighting the Way and the The Good News Friends. We are so thankful that we can be the light in the tunnel, so to speak, and the salt of the earth as the watchmen on the wall. We are truly blessed to be able to have this ministry table replete with apologetics and discernment materials as well as gospels and Bibles and salvation information. We only lack in laborers. We continue to hope and pray that many more people would join with us in our endeavors by either participating at the table or praying while we minister.
May God be glorified!!
Maranatha!
Heidi, on behalf of
The Good News Friends
E-Mail: thegoodnewsfriends@yahoo.com
