Sandwiches in the Park
Your People My People have worked in partnership with Dugit
Messianic Outreach Centre in Tel Aviv for many years. As we have shared before, Dugit has had to
temporarily close the Coffee Outreach Centre and put their belongings in
storage. This unfortunate action was due to the unwillingness of their landlord
to continue their lease because he did not approve of their “activities” - in
plain language, he did not approve of his premises being used to share the
Gospel! Closing the doors on the
Outreach Centre could have been understood as a hopeless situation, but for the
staff, they saw it as an opportunity from God to strengthen and increase their street
outreaches.
During the recent conflicts, the staff have looked for
creative ways to continue their passion of sharing the love of Yeshua to the
citizens of Tel Aviv. Here is a recent
report of how they’ve been getting on:
“Dan, our outreach director, took initiative and began to
give food to those who are homeless, spending their daily lives on the streets
in the south of Tel Aviv. With the help of some faithful volunteers, fifty
sandwiches were lovingly made and prepared for distribution. Afterwards, Dan
took these sandwiches out to people who were drunk, high on drugs, or sleeping
on the curb side. The sandwiches were well received along with the message that
God is love, and Yeshua is the Saviour of Israel! Here is what Dan had to say:
“It was so good to see some
familiar faces, some of them even remember us from the Outreach Centre and were
very happy to see us. There were also several refugees from Sudan and Eritrea
who live in the park and it was a good opportunity to give them food and to share
the love of God with them. One man specifically from Eritrea was interested in
hearing the Gospel, and a few members from the visiting group were able to share
with him the Good News. We are praying that every seed that was planted will
bring much fruit into the Kingdom of God!”
“It is only by the grace of God that in the midst of both
our building dilemma and political crisis we have been able to continue our
mission to preach the Gospel to the people of Tel Aviv! We have had to get
creative, but some amazing new opportunities and partnerships have presented
themselves. One of which has included partnering with another local ministry to
reach out to the central bus station. Like many bus stations around the world,
it is an area of heavy drug activity and prostitution. We have also scheduled regular
witnessing outreaches along the beach area and the shopping district.
“Another interesting development is that our outreach team
has been invited to join with and train a youth camp to do outreach in the city
of Tel Aviv. What is so amazing about this outreach and camp is that the youth
will consist of Jewish, Arab, and other international children. Imagine, all of
these nations witnessing to the youth of Tel Aviv together! What an awesome
testimony to have both Jews and Arabs showing and sharing the love of Messiah
with their peers! Please be in prayer about this special event that hearts
would be opened to the Gospel, and the seeds planted. The Harvest is ready in
Tel Aviv!”