I LOVE AND LIVE TO SHARE WITH JEWISH PEOPLE!

I love and live to share Jesus with Jewish people!  What a glorious Bible study we enjoyed at one of the retirement communities yesterday…along with a more personalized “come to Jesus” visit with one of our Jewish friends who has been inquiring about the “afterlife.”

I KNOW God has called me to this ministry!  From past blogs that I’ve penned, which you may have read, you know that our transition to the Southwest from NYC/NJ was directed at sharing Jesus with Navajo and Hopi Native Americans.  Fast forward…upon moving to Phoenix, God burdened my heart for Mormons who continued to knock on our door.  After several years of sharing Jesus with those in the LDS church, I must admit that I became tired of reading the sermons of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young for the purpose of refuting their teaching.  I cried out, “Lord, I want to spend more time understanding your precious word!”  Soon thereafter God placed me in the Scottsdale Bible Church drama troupe where I portrayed Jewish people in many drama sketches.  And, He began dropping Jewish non-believers into my life.  And so it continues!

God has given me a strong burden for Chasidic Jewish people.  A Jewish Website has noted that “Chasidic Judaism is an Orthodox spiritual revivalist movement that emerged in Eastern Europe, beginning in the Ukraine, in the 18th century.  Followers of Chasidic Judaism (known as Chasidim, or “pious ones”) draw heavily on the Jewish mystical tradition in seeking a direct experience of God through ecstatic prayer and other rituals conducted under the spiritual direction of a Rebbe, a charismatic leader.”

Backtracking…I was born in the Bronx, NYC.  I am 50% Ukrainian on my mother’s side.  How “interesting” to have been born again in New City, NY which is considered a suburb of NYC.  Why is it “interesting”?  Read on.  I had attended a Billy Graham Crusade at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan the spring of 1969 and went forward at the “altar call.”   I “yes’d” the counsellor to death and went home unsaved – focusing on my good works.  The counsellor lost my contact information.  As God would have it, after several months, my phone number and address surfaced.  I was contacted and invited to a Bible study for high school students.  I was so excited to attend such a class.  You see, since age five I had been intrigued with Jesus.  At the age of seven I began telling my family and friends that I wanted to “be a missionary” – to tell children in Africa about Jesus!  During the first Bible study that I attended in 1969 through the Evangelical organization, “Hi-BA/High School Born Againers,” a boy my age approached me with his Bible open and asked, “Do you know this verse?”  His Bible was open to Romans 3:23.  Of course I never before read, saw, or heard of  “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”  I never read beyond Genesis 1:1!!  The verse hit me like a ton of bricks.  “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” - ???  I’m a sinner????    It was in October of 1969, at a Hi-BA Youth Rally in New City, NY, that I was born again!

Approximately 10 years ago I was told that the Chasidic community in New City, NY, was growing substantially!  Nine years ago during a trip back East to speak at a church, my husband, our son, and I traveled to Monsey, NY, 3 minutes from New City.  My heart was stirred – burdened for the Chasidic people who were walking en masse to “shul” – to synagogue.  I’ve been praying for these folks in Monsey, NY while praying toward outreach to the Chasidic Jewish people in the Phoenix metropolitan area…and God has been opening doors in AZ.  Because it’s a sensitive outreach, I cannot get into detail.  Please pray for the moving of the Holy Spirit among those with whom we’re connecting.

There’s more to the Monsey/New City story….  In October of 2017, while speaking at a church in Lincoln Park, NJ regarding sharing with Jewish people, I spoke with a man who appeared most interested in the subject matter.  I asked him, “What is your burden?”  His answer, “Monsey”.  I really didn’t need to say, “That’s my burden too,” as my facial expression revealed my heart.  Since meeting “Manuel” last October, I’ve been Googling and contacting churches in that area in an attempt to uncover or stir up a desire for outreach to the Chasidim in their area.  “Manuel” and I have been conversing via Email.  Two weeks ago I left a message for a Pastor at a church in New City.  He returned my call and in his voice mail to me he shared the name of a man in the New City area who has been waiting on God to reach out to the Chasidic Jewish population.  “Manuel” called the New City Pastor, received the contact information for the other burdened man, called him, and discovered that “Ronald” was stirred by God 35 years ago to reach out to the Chasidim in the Monsey/New City area.  The doors were not opened…until now! 

More connections to my ministry adventures - perhaps….  My father, Charles Conklin, lived in Ramapo, NY during part of his childhood.  The Ramapough Lenape Nation, Native Americans, lived in this area.  Ramapo is 9 miles from Monsey.  The Munsee band of Lenape Native Americans inhabited this area as well.  Monsey derived its name from Munsee, a Lenape chief!  I read a Website regarding a Conklin whose heritage has been traced to the Lenape Nation!

The Conklin family cemetery is 9 miles from Monsey.

My maternal grandmother traveled from Austria Hungary to New York City in 1910, during the Russian Pogroms.  My grandmother’s Uncle had arranged for her to work for a Jewish family in Queens (???).

And, in two of the retirement centers each with a large Jewish population, Mormons are attending the Bible studies!

OK – you may think I’m NUTS!  I’m not stating that I’m Jewish or Native American.  But, there is something rather fascinating regarding the links!  You most likely have similar stories concerning your background.  God prepares us in ways that we may never be fully aware for ministry into which He calls us.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, please pray with me for the outreach to the Chasidic Jewish people in the Monsey/New City, NY neighborhoods and in the Phoenix metropolitan area.  All in all, to GOD be the glory!

Cathy Wilson
cathylouwilson@live.com