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Official Website
http://awakening.jforj.com
Facebook Fan Page
http://www.facebook.com/awakeningjfj
Have you ever seen a Jew for Jesus? These walking ox...
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Official Website
http://awakening.jforj.com
Facebook Fan Page
http://www.facebook.com/awakeningjfj
Have you ever seen a Jew for Jesus? These walking oxymorons have been rejected by their Jewish friends and families for their choice to follow Jesus. Directed by award winner Herb Kossover and narrated by actor Stephen Baldwin, Awakening captures their story and mission to convince other Jews that Jesus is the Messiah during the 2011 summer witnessing campaign on the streets of New York City.
The 30-minute DVD opens with beautiful nighttime panoramas of New York City landmarks and street life, accompanied by a rousing rendition of the song "Awakening" by Christian artist Casey Darnell. That is followed by spectacular footage of the city's Fourth of July fireworks, the event that kicked-off Jews for Jesus month-long evangelistic campaign. It provided the opportunity for their missionaries to hand out more than 40,000 gospel tracts, which they call broadsides, and a chance to tell New Yorkers about the most important freedom of all—freedom in the Messiah.
Jews for Jesus has been conducting summer campaigns in New York City every year since 1974. Although it is a tradition, the organization has not allowed it to stagnate, introducing new methods of reaching out to New Yorkers with the Good News. For example, social media played an important part in this campaign, with people following Jews for Jesus on Facebook (500,000 impressions during the campaign) and Twitter, and the missionaries staging a citywide flash mob. Some campaign T-shirts also have a QR code on the back, with the words "scan me." The code directs people to a welcome video on the Jews for Jesus website.
"I want people to know that evangelism is not passé," says Susan Perlman, associate executive director of Jews for Jesus. "It is vital."
The broadsides, which use humor to reflect contemporary themes, are the ministry's most tried-and-true method of evangelism. They contain short, punchy messages that can be read in less than a minute, designed to mirror this culture's even shorter attention span. Titles like "Beware of Religious Fanatics Handing Out Pamphlets" and "Leave it to Bieber" (about Justin Bieber) are hooks that get people thinking and talking about the gospel message. That's the ministry's mission statement: " . . . to make the messiahship of Jesus an unavoidable issue to our Jewish people worldwide."
The group also uses music and personal surveys on the street to draw people into conversations about spiritual issues and to obtain their contact information for follow up. One of the most common questions the campaigners ask is reflected by their T-shirts that read, in Hebrew, "Who is He?", the theme of the 2011 campaign. A question as simple as "Who do you think Jesus is?" elicits thoughtful responses from many New Yorkers on city sidewalks, subway stations, and in parks and other neighborhood gathering points.
Not all responses are positive, as the campaigners regularly experience rejection of their message. But, as Perlman notes, "If someone has something to say, positive or negative, it gives us an opportunity to respond. So I don't at all feel discouraged by that." The work is physically demanding, with campaigners hitting the streets four times a day, and emotionally draining. Yet, as campaigner Keilah Olberstein says, "What are sore feet? What is a sore heart? Pain is fuel for passion."
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God bless,
James
Your Brother in Christ
Aaron
Romans 5: 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.