israeli encounters in leh

Witnessing to Israeli Travelers on the Streets of Leh Town

Yesterday, we had 13 encounters with Israeli backpackers here in Leh. Liam and Shay, a young couple the team stumbled upon in a coffee shop, were very appreciative of the kindness shown toward them and for the Hebrew New Testament. Liam was wiping away tears as he received it. Another young man, Dan, also gladly received a New Testament. Today, we enjoyed another 7 encounters. Carter preached to a group of six or seven outside the Airtel Office (where everyone goes to get a cellular SIM card that works in Ladakh). He took them through the Law and the Prophets and declared Christ. All took Hebrew Gospel tracts. We helped a young man, Yonathan, get a SIM card after he heard Carter’s preaching. He was open. At the new Japanese coffee shop in town, it seems Israelis are always there. Josiah preached to a group of four young men on leave from the IDF, and the girls shared with two young ladies. A lot of Hebrew tracts have gone out.

Josiah helped this Israeli young man get a SIM card after he heard Carter’s preaching on Messiah from the Law and the Prophets

Street Fishing in Leh with Gospel Material in at least 5 Different Language

Josiah speaks of the Messiah to a group of Israeli young man at a local coffee shop.

There have also been plenty of encounters with Gentiles. We carry material in various languages. Today, a Nepali man remembered me from 9 years ago. I’m sure I gave him a Nepali Gospel of John back then. Today, I offered him a tract I wrote entitled, “Haven’t You Heard?” It has been translated into Nepali, and I found a few copies in the stash Brother Eric left behind back in 2017.

Some Nepali-speaking men read from a Nepali Gospel of John down by the Indus River.

The team is doing great, and everyone is taking initiative out on the streets. We are battling a little sickness, undoubtedly exacerbated by the altitude, but all are adjusting well. It’s nice to be based in a quiet area down below Leh, though it’s a bit of a distance and a challenge to get up to the main market. The elevation at our base is 10,500ft, about a thousand feet lower than our previous Team Yeshua bases. Out our window, you can see the Stok Range with some of its peaks eclipsing 20,000 feet. Back in 2006, I had the privilege of climbing the highest peak in that range. It’s as high as Mt. McKinley in Alaska.

We’ve had some good fellowship here with local believers who have shown us great kindness and gave us quite the welcome. I’m very grateful for an old Enfield motorcycle that is being lent to me. Josiah and I took a ride this evening and caught a nice sunset looking back toward Leh.

The Stok Range from our Team Yeshua Base

A Sunset Cruise on the Old Enfield

With the help of a dear sister in Jerusalem, we finally got some Hebrew signs made, and we started putting them up around town today. We’ll see if they get any bites. It roughly translates:

“A WARM HOME FOR ISRAELI TRAVELERS: Hello travelers! Welcome to Leh. We are an American family living down the hill in a quiet area near the airport. We love and appreciate Israelis and would like to invite you to our place for a meal or just a cup of coffee. It won't cost you a dime! In the wake of the horror of 7/10, and in light of the wave of anti-Semitism in the world today, we simply want to welcome you while you are here in Ladakh. Interested?” … I then provide my contact information.

The local Airtel office is a good place to find Israelis, hence the posting of an invitation from Americans who love and appreciate Israel :)

In years past, it’s been a blessing to host folks who respond to these signs and to get copies of God’s Word into their hands. Back in 2015, we had 27 Israelis show up to our place for dinner one Friday night. With people seated in the floor and overflowing into the hallway, I shared my testimony of how the God of Israel and the Messiah of Israel changed my life. I spoke of Messianic prophecy, Jewish eyewitnesses who wrote down the New Testament, and the Gospel message. Many Hebrew NTs went out that Friday night.

I gotta get some sleep. Thanks for holding the ropes in prayer. Truly, the Word is going out here at an uttermost corner of the earth. Our prayer is simply that God would establish the work of our hands, the same prayer Moses prayed at the end of Psalm 90. Nothing more, nothing less.

Jesse Boyd
Full Proof