What Are You Doing Here? Jews for Jesus SWC 2009

You know the old sayig... “If I've heard it once... I've heard it a thousand times.” Well, in this case that is a bit of an exaggeration, but this week I've heard it a lot. I've heard it from folks associated with Ariel Ministries and also from people with Jews for Jesus. “What are you doing here?”

Several years ago, I met David Brickner, the Executive Director of Jews for Jesus. A friendship has begun to emerge. I have discovered that David has a heart to see authentic collaboration between his organization and other Jewish mission agencies. I have thought for some time that God would accomplish much more through mission agencies like ours if we work together towards achieving common objectives while maintaining our own distinctive organizational cultures and strategies. We have had several conversations on this topic at the various meetings we have both attended.

As a result, David recently made a visit to the Ariel Ministries office while he was in San Antonio on a speaking tour. We had a good conversation just getting to know one another. Then we shared a get acquainted lunch with the rest of the staff. It was a delightful time of fellowship in the Lord. During his visit, I was invited to come to New York City to participate for a week in their summer witnessing campaign and experience first hand how they do ministry. So, here I am. It has been a remarkable week.

At Jews for Jesus, a “sortie” is the name for a team excursion out into the community to hand out their famous tracts called “broadsides” and prayerfully engage unsaved Jews (and Gentiles) in conversations about the Messiahship of Jesus. I was partnered with Susan Perlman for my first sortie. Susan is one of the founding members of the Jews for Jesus family. We were assigned a busy transit intersection of the New York subway system that the J4J staff calls Elmo's Tunnel. The location got its name from a previous sortie team as a memorial to a poor cockroach they observed attempting to cross from one side of the tunnel to the other during rush hour. Sadly, Elmo is no longer with us.

Thousands of people passed us during our two-hour assignment in Elmo's Tunnel. Like a salmon pushing upstream, we faced the oncoming rush of people and attempted to gain eye contact in an effort to hand them a broadside. Most people simply ignored us, refusing to look up. At the last minute, some would see us and quickly swerve into a new path or pull their arm away as if simply touching us would infect them with a deadly disease. Others took our broadside simply to be polite before quickly rushing out of sight down the tunnel.

During our sortie a Jewish man pushed by me mumbling just loud enough to catch my attention. “You should be ashamed of yourself.” At first, I wasn't sure I heard him correctly. Then I heard it again. Another man stopped long enough to look me in the eyes and forcefully say with as much disdain and disgust as he could muster… “You are an embarrassment! You should BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF!” I'm certain that because of the shirt I was wearing he thought I was Jewish. I'm not. He was still shouting at me as he turned and made his own way out of the tunnel. The power of his anger caught me off guard. I couldn't think of a thing to say. Susan quickly came to my aid with encouragement and gentle instruction. As my emotions began to settle, I asked myself… “Arlie, what are you doing here?”

The answer became apparent during our brief two-hour assignment. Together, my partner and I handed out 1,400 broadsides. But it is not the number of broadsides that tells the story of what was accomplished during that outing. Our respective ministries had worked together to reach out to the Jewish community of New York. On the way back to the branch office I silently prayed for the unknown Jewish people we had encountered in that tunnel. While I might not ever know what will happen in the lives of the Jews (and Gentiles) we met, maybe someday one of them will place their faith in the atoning work of Messiah on the cross. Together, Susan and I will have played an important role in their decision when that day comes.

It is exciting for me to be here and get exposed to the things Jews for Jesus does so well. But this is a two-way street. Many of the Jews for Jesus staff have a high regard for Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum's life work of teaching the Bible from a Jewish perspective. They are curious about how they might use Ariel Ministries' materials to bolster the Bible training of new missionaries who are joining their ministry. We are exploring a number of ways that Jews for Jesus can build our Bible study programs into their training. There are other ways that we may be able to partner as well.

And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart. Ecclesiastes 4:12

This has been a refreshing and stimulating week. I have thought a lot about how passionate I was as a young believer and how bold I once was in sharing the Gospel with anyone who would listen. I have re-experienced a measure of that energy once again. On my second sortie of the week, a young lady named Lauren led a young man in a prayer of salvation. While Lauren had the joy of reaping the harvest, what she experienced was the result of our joint labor. Take a few moments now and watch a brief video I recorded a couple of days ago in the Jews for Jesus New York office about what we are attempting to do.

I'm looking forward to the future in ways I could not have imagined just a few short years ago. I've also answered the question others have asked and which I've asked myself.

I know why I am here!

Follow Me, Mark 1:16-18

Arlie Francis
Executive Director, Ariel Ministries
July 17, 2009