April 2013
From the heart of
Jonathan Bernis
Connections A publication of Jewish Voice Ministries International
Greetings and Hosanna in the Highest! During this blessed season, we should greet each other with the single celebratory word that can only be found in one place in the Old Testament, in Psalm 118:25. It’s the familiar Greek word “Hosanna,” or “Hoshiya na” in the Hebrew, a phrase that originally meant “Save please!” but gradually came to mean, “Hooray, I’m saved! Salvation!” It’s the same cry that the large crowd of Jewish People shouted when the Messiah rode into Jerusalem on a humble donkey. This year, we are just about to embark on a medical trip to “where no man has gone before”: to the 600-year-old Gefat Tribe of Hosanna, Ethiopia. The name given to this tribe of precious Jewish People—the Fuga—has also gone through an interesting metamorphosis. Originally the word “Fuga” meant “blowers”—so termed because they were blowers of the Shofar. Over the years, however, as persecution arose, the celebratory name “blowers of the Shofar” has come to mean, “dry up and blow away from us” or even more directly, “hated, un-liked people.” Imagine having those negative words spoken over you for hundreds of years! I want to reverse that curse. In 2013, I believe that the Lord is about to “blow” the devil away in Hosanna, Ethiopia, bringing much needed humanitarian care, miracle working power, and, most important, eternal salvation through their long-awaited Messiah, Yeshua HaMashiach! Please stand in agreement with me that the centuries-old cry of the Gefat people to “Please save!” will soon turn into “Hooray, I’m saved . . . Hosanna in the Highest!” With your much coveted prayers and financial support as well as volunteer efforts, I believe this can—and will—become a Kingdom reality! Your partner to reach the Jew first, and also the Nations,
Jonathan Bernis, President & CEO Jewish Voice Ministries
Connections Jewish Voice Ministries International P.O. Box 31998 | Phoenix, AZ 85046-1998 www.jewishvoice.org | 800-299-YESHUA Jewish Voice Ministries UK Admail 4224 | London W2 4UN www.jvmi.co.uk | 1-855-9-YESHUA
Jewish Voice Ministries Canada P.O. Box 476 | Maple Ridge, BC V2X 3P2 www.jewishvoice.ca | 1-855-7-YESHUA
A Sight to See! He was just a teenager, this young man who came to our medical outreach clinic in Manipur, India. I know little about him, but still I try to imagine my life altered to resemble his. Based on sights surrounding the location, I mentally take away ordinary elements of my western life: a sturdy and spacious home, air conditioning for summer, heating for winter. Taking away a modern kitchen, I also ponder the electricity I take for granted. Does his home have reliable electricity? Or any? What about hot and cold water on demand? They don’t have running water at all. I do not know such poverty. But there’s still more to this young man’s situation, still more I must remove from my own experience if I’m to imagine myself in his shoes. I must take away the strength of a fully capable mind so as to match his measure of mental handicap. And finally, I must take away the ability to see. His eyes clouded over white, it was obvious that 16-year-old Lemuri (not his real name) couldn’t see. He’d heard a medical clinic was coming to his area and he traveled five kilometers to reach us, daring to hope we could help him. Congenital cataracts robbed him of his sight when he was just a toddler. At one time in his life Lemuri used to help bring water to his family for their daily use. As a teenager he could only see faint traces of light. Added to the hardships of blindness— hardships for himself as well as his family—is a degree of mental handicap. Poverty only makes disabilities all the more difficult. But what could a traveling medical clinic do for a young blind man? With makeshift examination rooms, poor
Connections
Why Does Jewish Voice Do Medical Outreaches?
lighting, and electricity provided by generators, could we give Lemuri what he needed? You bet! The medical outreaches conducted by Jewish Voice Ministries for impoverished Jewish communities around the world are amazing feats of dedication and hard work. Physicians, dentists, pharmacists, nurses, and technicians make up our medical teams who arrive eagerly to do all they can for a needy people. Along with dispensing much needed—and often life saving—antibiotics, sewing up wounds, pulling dangerously infected teeth, and distributing eyeglasses, our physicians perform surgeries.
W
The lenses of Lemuri’s eyes were so clouded from his cataracts that without new lenses he would never see. Our eye clinic is staffed with excellent ophthalmologists devoted to using their skills to serve and bless Lost Tribes of Jews around the world. Eye surgeries, including cataract surgery and cornea transplants, are a regular part of JVMI’s extensive medical ministry. Lemuri came to the clinic with a hope our team was ready to meet! Lemuri underwent two eye surgeries, each on a different day. He never showed any fear but instead was full of smiles. As soon as he sat up from his first surgery, he smiled. Our medical team replaced his cloudy, unseeing lenses with clear, new ones, giving him sight for the first time in over a decade. What a thrill that this young man can literally say, “Once I was blind, but now I see!” We at Jewish Voice Ministries are grateful to have brought such dramatic blessing to him. Your support helped make it happen not only for Lemuri, but also for so many others. You bless us with your gifts to pass on, and we are grateful for you. — Judi Clarke, wife of Volunteer Outreach Photographer Rusty Clarke All photos taken by Rusty Clarke, Manipur Outreach 2012
Be God’s Love Letter to the World!
M
inister to the Bnei Menashe, the Children of Manasseh, in their remote mountain homeland in northeastern India.
For more information, visit www.jewishvoice.org/outreach or call 800-299-YESHUA.
Jewish Voice Connections
April 2013
hen Jonathan Bernis began meeting the physical needs of desperate Jewish communities around the world through medical outreaches, it was not a radical departure from the missional strategy the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) had birthed in his heart years prior. It is the same passion that the Lord Yeshua displayed in Luke 19 as He entered Jericho. The Brit Chadasha (New Testament) tells us that Yeshua was so compelled to reach His people that He unreservedly crossed social and religious barriers to minister life to those in need. On one particular occasion, He was drawn to an accomplished yet corrupt business leader named Zacchaeus. As a tax collector, Zacchaeus earned his living filling Roman coffers with hardearned Jewish shekels. According to his own testimony, he carried out his job duties corruptly and exacted a highpercentage surcharge for himself from his own people. Tax collectors were traitors and Roman collaborators. They were categorically reprehensible to all Israelites. While enforcing Roman tax codes, they grew rich at the expense of their brothers. To make matters worse, Zacchaeus was a “chief tax collector,” meaning that his culpability was exponentially worse than other low-level tax collectors. He embodied the worst possible vices of any son of Abraham. But, no doubt, while his net worth soared, his soul sunk with the hollowness of his spiritual condition.
When news of Yeshua’s visit reached him, Zacchaeus broke from routine and decided to investigate this cult religious celebrity by climbing a tree to spy on Yeshua above the tsunami of people surrounding the rabbi. While throngs of people surrounded Him, Yeshua, sensitive to the spiritual hunger and shameless curiosity of this corrupt and influential chief tax collector, looked up into the tree and invited Himself to dinner. It was during this meal that Yeshua uttered the famous and powerful words, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:9-10 ESV). This encounter between Yeshua and Zacchaeus stands as an eternal reminder of God’s passion to reach people in critical moments and in life-changing ways. Jewish Voice Ministries International strives to personify the same passion, sensitivity, and love that Yeshua demonstrated by meeting Zacchaeus at his place of need. At this moment, and around the world, there are thousands of Zacchaeuses in desperate need of a life-changing encounter with Yeshua. Their souls are corrupted by sin and their bodies corrupted through sickness and disease. They are separated from God through ignorance, and are suffering from dire circumstances. JVMI orchestrates medical outreaches to build a platform upon which we are able to declare the hope and love of God through Yeshua. In 2012, Jewish Voice treated 41,033 patients and prayed with more than 15,000 to receive Yeshua as Messiah and Lord. Jewish Voice Connections
www.jewishvoicetoday.org
Connections
Why Does Jewish Voice Do Medical Outreaches?
lighting, and electricity provided by generators, could we give Lemuri what he needed? You bet! The medical outreaches conducted by Jewish Voice Ministries for impoverished Jewish communities around the world are amazing feats of dedication and hard work. Physicians, dentists, pharmacists, nurses, and technicians make up our medical teams who arrive eagerly to do all they can for a needy people. Along with dispensing much needed—and often life saving—antibiotics, sewing up wounds, pulling dangerously infected teeth, and distributing eyeglasses, our physicians perform surgeries.
W
The lenses of Lemuri’s eyes were so clouded from his cataracts that without new lenses he would never see. Our eye clinic is staffed with excellent ophthalmologists devoted to using their skills to serve and bless Lost Tribes of Jews around the world. Eye surgeries, including cataract surgery and cornea transplants, are a regular part of JVMI’s extensive medical ministry. Lemuri came to the clinic with a hope our team was ready to meet! Lemuri underwent two eye surgeries, each on a different day. He never showed any fear but instead was full of smiles. As soon as he sat up from his first surgery, he smiled. Our medical team replaced his cloudy, unseeing lenses with clear, new ones, giving him sight for the first time in over a decade. What a thrill that this young man can literally say, “Once I was blind, but now I see!” We at Jewish Voice Ministries are grateful to have brought such dramatic blessing to him. Your support helped make it happen not only for Lemuri, but also for so many others. You bless us with your gifts to pass on, and we are grateful for you. — Judi Clarke, wife of Volunteer Outreach Photographer Rusty Clarke All photos taken by Rusty Clarke, Manipur Outreach 2012
Be God’s Love Letter to the World!
M
inister to the Bnei Menashe, the Children of Manasseh, in their remote mountain homeland in northeastern India.
For more information, visit www.jewishvoice.org/outreach or call 800-299-YESHUA.
Jewish Voice Connections
April 2013
hen Jonathan Bernis began meeting the physical needs of desperate Jewish communities around the world through medical outreaches, it was not a radical departure from the missional strategy the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) had birthed in his heart years prior. It is the same passion that the Lord Yeshua displayed in Luke 19 as He entered Jericho. The Brit Chadasha (New Testament) tells us that Yeshua was so compelled to reach His people that He unreservedly crossed social and religious barriers to minister life to those in need. On one particular occasion, He was drawn to an accomplished yet corrupt business leader named Zacchaeus. As a tax collector, Zacchaeus earned his living filling Roman coffers with hardearned Jewish shekels. According to his own testimony, he carried out his job duties corruptly and exacted a highpercentage surcharge for himself from his own people. Tax collectors were traitors and Roman collaborators. They were categorically reprehensible to all Israelites. While enforcing Roman tax codes, they grew rich at the expense of their brothers. To make matters worse, Zacchaeus was a “chief tax collector,” meaning that his culpability was exponentially worse than other low-level tax collectors. He embodied the worst possible vices of any son of Abraham. But, no doubt, while his net worth soared, his soul sunk with the hollowness of his spiritual condition.
When news of Yeshua’s visit reached him, Zacchaeus broke from routine and decided to investigate this cult religious celebrity by climbing a tree to spy on Yeshua above the tsunami of people surrounding the rabbi. While throngs of people surrounded Him, Yeshua, sensitive to the spiritual hunger and shameless curiosity of this corrupt and influential chief tax collector, looked up into the tree and invited Himself to dinner. It was during this meal that Yeshua uttered the famous and powerful words, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:9-10 ESV). This encounter between Yeshua and Zacchaeus stands as an eternal reminder of God’s passion to reach people in critical moments and in life-changing ways. Jewish Voice Ministries International strives to personify the same passion, sensitivity, and love that Yeshua demonstrated by meeting Zacchaeus at his place of need. At this moment, and around the world, there are thousands of Zacchaeuses in desperate need of a life-changing encounter with Yeshua. Their souls are corrupted by sin and their bodies corrupted through sickness and disease. They are separated from God through ignorance, and are suffering from dire circumstances. JVMI orchestrates medical outreaches to build a platform upon which we are able to declare the hope and love of God through Yeshua. In 2012, Jewish Voice treated 41,033 patients and prayed with more than 15,000 to receive Yeshua as Messiah and Lord. Jewish Voice Connections
www.jewishvoicetoday.org
April 2013
From the heart of
Jonathan Bernis
Connections A publication of Jewish Voice Ministries International
Greetings and Hosanna in the Highest! During this blessed season, we should greet each other with the single celebratory word that can only be found in one place in the Old Testament, in Psalm 118:25. It’s the familiar Greek word “Hosanna,” or “Hoshiya na” in the Hebrew, a phrase that originally meant “Save please!” but gradually came to mean, “Hooray, I’m saved! Salvation!” It’s the same cry that the large crowd of Jewish People shouted when the Messiah rode into Jerusalem on a humble donkey. This year, we are just about to embark on a medical trip to “where no man has gone before”: to the 600-year-old Gefat Tribe of Hosanna, Ethiopia. The name given to this tribe of precious Jewish People—the Fuga—has also gone through an interesting metamorphosis. Originally the word “Fuga” meant “blowers”—so termed because they were blowers of the Shofar. Over the years, however, as persecution arose, the celebratory name “blowers of the Shofar” has come to mean, “dry up and blow away from us” or even more directly, “hated, un-liked people.” Imagine having those negative words spoken over you for hundreds of years! I want to reverse that curse. In 2013, I believe that the Lord is about to “blow” the devil away in Hosanna, Ethiopia, bringing much needed humanitarian care, miracle working power, and, most important, eternal salvation through their long-awaited Messiah, Yeshua HaMashiach! Please stand in agreement with me that the centuries-old cry of the Gefat people to “Please save!” will soon turn into “Hooray, I’m saved . . . Hosanna in the Highest!” With your much coveted prayers and financial support as well as volunteer efforts, I believe this can—and will—become a Kingdom reality! Your partner to reach the Jew first, and also the Nations,
Jonathan Bernis, President & CEO Jewish Voice Ministries
Connections Jewish Voice Ministries International P.O. Box 31998 | Phoenix, AZ 85046-1998 www.jewishvoice.org | 800-299-YESHUA Jewish Voice Ministries UK Admail 4224 | London W2 4UN www.jvmi.co.uk | 1-855-9-YESHUA
Jewish Voice Ministries Canada P.O. Box 476 | Maple Ridge, BC V2X 3P2 www.jewishvoice.ca | 1-855-7-YESHUA
A Sight to See! He was just a teenager, this young man who came to our medical outreach clinic in Manipur, India. I know little about him, but still I try to imagine my life altered to resemble his. Based on sights surrounding the location, I mentally take away ordinary elements of my western life: a sturdy and spacious home, air conditioning for summer, heating for winter. Taking away a modern kitchen, I also ponder the electricity I take for granted. Does his home have reliable electricity? Or any? What about hot and cold water on demand? They don’t have running water at all. I do not know such poverty. But there’s still more to this young man’s situation, still more I must remove from my own experience if I’m to imagine myself in his shoes. I must take away the strength of a fully capable mind so as to match his measure of mental handicap. And finally, I must take away the ability to see. His eyes clouded over white, it was obvious that 16-year-old Lemuri (not his real name) couldn’t see. He’d heard a medical clinic was coming to his area and he traveled five kilometers to reach us, daring to hope we could help him. Congenital cataracts robbed him of his sight when he was just a toddler. At one time in his life Lemuri used to help bring water to his family for their daily use. As a teenager he could only see faint traces of light. Added to the hardships of blindness— hardships for himself as well as his family—is a degree of mental handicap. Poverty only makes disabilities all the more difficult. But what could a traveling medical clinic do for a young blind man? With makeshift examination rooms, poor
Yes! Jonathan, I want to share in the Genesis 12:3 blessing and help transform lives around the world! Enclosed is my special gift of: $_____________ I have enclosed $50 or more. PleasePlease send me the me Jewish andWall Traditions Set. 1495 1404 I have enclosed $75 or more. send theHistory Map and Hanging. I want to help withwith my gift, but but don’t want to receive the the offered items. DS DS I want to help my gift, don’t want to receive offered items.
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Lost Tribes Map & Ethiopian Wall Hanging (#1495) Discover where Jewish Lost Tribes have been located and where JVMI has ministered around the world with the Lost Tribes of Israel Map. The Ethiopian Wall Hanging is handmade by members of the Jewish Community of Addis Ababa, using locally spun cotton thread. Colors vary. Size: approximately 17 in. x 17 in.
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Jewish Voice Ministries International P.O. Box 31998 | Phoenix, AZ 85046-1998 www.jewishvoice.org | 800-299-YESHUA Jewish Voice Ministries Canada P.O. Box 476 | Maple Ridge, BC V2X 3P2 www.jewishvoice.ca | 1-855-7-YESHUA Jewish Voice Ministries UK Admail 4224 | London W2 4UN www.jvmi.co.uk | 1-855-9-YESHUA In the event this project becomes fully funded, the Board of Directors reserves the right to use all excess funds toward other ministry purposes. US: The Internal Revenue Code permits you to deduct the amount of your gift that exceeds the value of materials received.