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