some things to be thankful for
We're Still Out Here!
Greetings, dear brethren, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah of Israel & the Saviour of the Gentiles.
I trust all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Even in these dark and troublesome times for the United States of America, we still have much for which to be thankful. For the Living God “giveth us richly all things to enjoy” (I Timothy 6:17)—including a meal around the table with family and friends and fellowship. The best revenge against those who would strip us of our freedoms is to enjoy these blessings from God and to give Him thanks. This is a passage I like to reference when we host Israeli backpackers for dinner just before I pray and give thanks over the meal in the name of Yeshua HaMessiach: “Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 8:15).
I really do apologize that I haven’t posted lately and that news from the ministry front has been truant. Things have been a bit hectic on the administrative side of things here at the end of the year and after most of 2019 spent “out of town.” Notwithstanding, no news can mean good news, and there have been things happening for which we can rejoice. YES, WE'RE STILL OUT HERE :)
The Trents have been down in Bogotá, Colombia since the first week of November. There have been a few responses to the Hebrew invitations posted around the Candelária neighborhood, and a couple of Hebrew New Testaments have gone into the hands of lost sheep from the House of Israel. Anytime a Bible goes into someone’s hands, be it Jew or Gentile, that is cause for rejoicing. That is good fruit (Isaiah 55:11). There have also been opportunities to get the Word out amongst the locals and to a few Gentile travelers. The Lord has provided them with a solid local believing contact who loves Jesus, a local church where they can fellowship, and a suitable apartment for hosting. They moved in yesterday after the one-month airBnb stint at another location expired. That place got pretty loud on Friday and Saturday nights due to a bar across the street. So, this new living space will be better. All of this just confirms that they are where they need to be at this time. Thank you for praying for them and for us.
Eric had a real interesting encounter the other day, and I thought I would let him share in his own words:
I received a message from a Jewish man who had seen one of our Hebrew signs in an Israeli-themed restaurant in downtown Bogotá. Arik was born in Israel but lives in Toronto, Canada. He was in Bogotá on a business trip with his Colombian co-worker. Mindy and I are used to hearing from trekkers or rock climbers, so receiving a message from a businessman sent to town by his company was surprising. Excited to see what the Lord was up to, I responded and set up a meeting. When we met at a small cafe, Arik had a lot of questions: "Who are you?" and "Why would you put up Hebrew signs inviting Israelis over for dinner or to rock climb.?" He was surprised and happy to learn that my wife and I are nothing special, just Christians from the United States who are also friends of Israel and try to be a blessing to Israelis wherever we travel. We talked for hours in that cafe, and we covered a whole range of spiritual topics.
I corrected the false narrative that Jews are “Christ-killers” and explained to him that Jesus SURRENDERED His own life for the sins of the world (Matthew 26:52-54). We also talked about how God chose the nation of Israel out of His love for them, and to reveal His holiness to the other nations (Deuteronomy 4:5-8). I recapped the account of when God passed through the animals Abraham had cut asunder, signifying that the covenant to give the children of Israel the promised land was up to God to keep, NOT Abraham, as he was asleep during this action from the LORD. And, I shared how the future kingdom where all the promises to Israel are realized will be established by Yeshua Himself. He will rule and reign as King in His second coming to earth. This brought up an important point: If Jesus is not the Messiah, and the rabbis of today look for another who will set up a kingdom, then what are we to do with Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 which talk about this Messiah being forsaken by God, rejected of men, and dying a horrible death for our iniquities? These had to have been fulfilled by Jesus!
It was a great back-and-forth conversation. Arik engaged with me quite a bit and Nata, his Colombian co-worker, listened intently and asked several questions herself. Afterward, Arik wanted me to message him all of the prophecies I had mentioned concerning Jesus so that he could take them to his rabbi back home and challenge him with these passages of Scripture. I messaged him Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 in the Hebrew language for him to study. He responded to me later: ‘Eric, thank you for sending these! I will go through them in detail next time I have some down time.’ Before we parted ways that afternoon, Arik gladly received a Hebrew New Testament and his friend Nata took one of our Spanish trekker tracts. They were both grateful and open to the Truth. Mindy and I are still rejoicing over this unexpected and yet fruitful encounter! Please pray for Arik and Nata, a Jewish man and a Gentile woman that we met here in Colombia (Eric Trent).
On Thanksgiving Day, I received an unexpected message myself. Back in September, we hosted three young men from Orthodox Jewish families in Brooklyn, New York. We spent some good time with them over a coffee, a couple of meals, and on a hike. All three took Hebrew New Testaments. They eventually made it back home, as did we. Weeks and weeks later, I got this voicemail: “We just wanted to reach out on the auspicious occasion of Thanksgiving and say how very thankful we are to have met you and your family down in Peru. You all really added a spark into our experience, and we do hope to meet again.” The last sentence was muffled, and I could only understand one word. It was the Hebrew word for Messiah. So, you never know what the LORD will do. Please pray for Shmuel (Samuel), Sholom, and Menachem. This voicemail truly made our Thanksgiving special.
Thank you to those who support this ministry with your prayers and finances. I trust we are found faithful stewards and that these newsletters are a source of encouragement, even in dark times. Lord willing, I will be joining the Trents in Colombia for a few weeks in January. We are hoping to go back to Israel in the Spring. And, our prayer is that the LORD will raise up another Team Yeshua for next summer in Colombia and Peru. Some neat things have been going on with Brother Bishnu in Nepal recently, and I hope to share more about this soon. I’m praying that the Lord will work it out for him to travel with me in Israel next year. Please keep praying for him and his faithful work. Persecution against believers is rising in Nepal and many of the open doors we once enjoyed there have closed.I’ll leave you all with something I was thinking about the other day: I don't know about the rest of the country but it seems the Christmas lights here in North Carolina go up earlier and earlier each year and they get more and more GAUDY. If there are three things that illustrate America's out-of-whack priorities, its spiritual blindness, and its confusion of face more than anything else, I would have to say the Halloween decorations, the gaudy Christian lights in October, and the Black Friday sales the day after Thanksgiving. I saw this house driving through Murphy, NC the other day. Uhh?
Notwithstanding, the ostentatious lights this year in early November, for whatever reason, reminded me of a great old song by Scott Wesley Brown (a great song found on an awesome album):
You see, two thousand years ago, while the faithful Remnant waited for the coming of the Messiah as promised in the Prophets, the days were dark and confused (just like today in the United States). The vilest of men were exalted in places of power, in both Israel and the Roman Empire, and the wicked walked on every side (Psalm 12:8). Yet, God kept and preserved His Word (Psalm 12:6-7), every jot and every tittle. Suddenly, springing up in the darkness, the Messiah was born, just like the Prophets had said, every detail fulfilled LITERALLY in and through His birth, life, ministry, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. And because the LORD kept and preserved His Word at the Messiah's First Advent, we can be certain He will do the same at His Second . . . every detail fulfilled literally and springing out of dark, dark times.
You know, the Chronicles, unlike I-2 Kings, were written AFTER God's judgment upon Israel in and through the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple and the Babylonian Captivity. In dark times when it seemed God had forgotten His covenant and His promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and King David, the Chronicler recorded the events of the past looking back on that Judgment (as opposed to I-II Kings looking forward), not just the what but the WHY, specifically focusing upon the instances where the God of Israel had kept and preserved His Word, even in dark times and when all seemed lost. This Chronicler (probably Ezra), under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote down headline news from the past to give Messianic hope for the future in despairing days. For the headline news of the past guaranteed joyous headline news for the future.
May our reflections upon the birth of Christ and those headlines from the past be the same for us as our nation falls apart all around us--a source of Messianic hope for what is sure to come, and that right quickly. God will keep His Word and His promises to both Israel and the Church. The headline news of Messiah's Birth guarantees the future headline news of His glorious worldwide reign springing suddenly out of darkness. Remember that, not just in November and December, but every day of every month of every year . . . until He comes. He may not be at the door, but He is surely coming down the hallway.
Here at the end of 2019, your financial support would be much appreciated and prove a true blessing. We didn’t wait until the Trents deputized or “raised” a certain “percentage” of support before we put them on a plane. God directed, and they stepped out in faith FIRST trusting Him to provide. That has been our custom going all the way back to 2003 and that very first coast-to-coast missionary journey on a bicycle. If the LORD should lay it upon your heart to help toward our needs, please visit fpgm.org/donate for more information.
It's also real easy to give directly online: PayPal.me/zerayim
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Again, thank you to those who already make those financial sacrifices and have been faithful to do so regularly. You know who you are, and know moreover that you are appreciated and prayed for.
Hallelujah, Messiah is born! Hallelujah, He is coming again!
Jesse Boyd, Full Proof Gospel Ministries
P.S. I also had the great privilege of being interviewed for this article recently concerning Hindu animal sacrifice in Nepal and India: Hindu Worshippers Sacrifice Thousands of Buffalo During Nepali Festival