Hello,
I only have a few days left till I head back to San Diego, so my internship has pretty much ended except for a few Chanukah parties this weekend that are connected to CPM and MetroMoses. Im packing up and getting ready to go back to San Diego which has me excited and sad because I have made some great Israeli friends since being here and reconnected with Chaya but I am excited because I miss home sweet home... until God sends me somewhere else. With my last post I will upload some pictures and even though that will be my last update on my internship I will still be praying for everyone, still continuing to be connected with CPM but in California and I will still be involved in Jewish ministry. These three months have been wonderful and a great learning experience which I will never regret. Thank you everyone for your prayers and financial support, its been a blessing and a wonderful gift. Stayed tuned for my last check in.
Blessings and shalom in Yeshua,
Rebekah
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Happy Chaunkah...
Shalom Everyone,
I want to say Happy Chanukah everyone since Chanukah starts tonight!!!! Its time to bless those around you, for you to be blessed, and to remember the Maccabees and Yeshua.
Rebekah
I want to say Happy Chanukah everyone since Chanukah starts tonight!!!! Its time to bless those around you, for you to be blessed, and to remember the Maccabees and Yeshua.
Rebekah
Friday, November 26, 2010
Thinking alot about this big city since my time here...
Shalom everyone,
"Life without thankfulness is devoid of love and passion. Hope without thankfulness is lacking in fine perception. Faith without thankfulness lacks strength and fortitude. Every virtue divorced from thankfulness is maimed and limps along the spiritual road" John Henry Jowett
I know I posted recently but I have been thinking over the three months I have been here and how my time here is coming to an end. Though my time here is ending the ministry and the seeds planted in peoples lives does not end but continues and grows. I have lived in a rural college town in PA, living in sunny San Diego , and now living in NYC I have learned so much and changed and matured in more ways I can count, and for that I am blessed and thankful. I only have a week and five days in Brooklyn before I head back to San Diego and I review all that is and has happened and I am over whelmed. I left San Diego to give three months of my life to God to teach me and mature me and use me in whatever way He wants to in Jewish ministry, and I can say with assurance God has done all that to me.
When I first moved here, I was excited, nervous, and unsure of myself in my ability to share Yeshua with those I have a passion, admiration and a deep love for. I also came here with a supposed agenda but I quickly learned that I was immature in obeying God's directions and immature in my ability to overcome myself. My agenda which I though was in sink with Gods was actually off course in that it was not necessarily the Russian community specifically He had me here for but specific individuals and the orthodox and Jewish community Russian and not in general. I saw this flaw of mine in how when I saw a door of opportunity to share in the Russian community God would shut it and lock me out . This frustrated me , but it frustrated me because my timing was right now , soon as possible involvement. I quickly found out that actually I had to learn the lesson of patience and calm in a city that is chaotic, fast pace, and success driven. My frustration was the beginning of me learning that Gods timing is the way to go and His agenda is actually much better. If that timing meant not having a job so I had to depend on financial support from individuals or very little ministry opportunity the first month n a half then so be it. This last month or so God has shown me that His plan for me being here was to learn that I needed to be bolder in sharing my faith with my friend Chaya and sharing and connecting with Israeli's my age through college outreach and the occasional Russian outreach. But more than all this I have had to learn to be dependent on God , not myself. I would not have learned these lessons had it not been for my supports praying for me to have strength, guidance, endurance, and wisdom. Maturing in understanding God's timing and guidance has stretched me and blessed me. Iv matured in not depending on myself ( as I have stated in the past) for provisions but in God's provision.
I want to say thank you so much for those who financially supported me for had it not been for your financial support I would have gone hungry at times and been unable to get to places where I was required to be for ministry outreach. There were times I was not sure when I would have another meal but then I got in the mail financial support and I saw the blessing and saw that people do see what God is doing through me and for that I am so thankful. There is so much I could and want to say but don't really know how to yet, but stay tuned I will know how to finish this .
I have come out of my nervous, shy shell and become bold and more understanding of God's guidance. I ask that everyone would be praying for me that I would not give up because it is getting hard for me to stay motivated and dedicated to what God has me doing here, also please be praying for me because about a month ago I slept wrong on my shoulder and I have been in allot of pain in my left shoulder. Of late I have been taking medicine more often to dull the pain which has been distracting me from staying focused. Thank you Denise, Stephen, Anna, family, and everyone else for supporting me and guiding me.
The next time I plan on updating this blog will be next Monday so check in then. Blessing during these wonderful Holidays everyone.
Rebekah
p.s. sorry this is not checked for grammar and what not , but this is just a quick reflection
"Life without thankfulness is devoid of love and passion. Hope without thankfulness is lacking in fine perception. Faith without thankfulness lacks strength and fortitude. Every virtue divorced from thankfulness is maimed and limps along the spiritual road" John Henry Jowett
I know I posted recently but I have been thinking over the three months I have been here and how my time here is coming to an end. Though my time here is ending the ministry and the seeds planted in peoples lives does not end but continues and grows. I have lived in a rural college town in PA, living in sunny San Diego , and now living in NYC I have learned so much and changed and matured in more ways I can count, and for that I am blessed and thankful. I only have a week and five days in Brooklyn before I head back to San Diego and I review all that is and has happened and I am over whelmed. I left San Diego to give three months of my life to God to teach me and mature me and use me in whatever way He wants to in Jewish ministry, and I can say with assurance God has done all that to me.
When I first moved here, I was excited, nervous, and unsure of myself in my ability to share Yeshua with those I have a passion, admiration and a deep love for. I also came here with a supposed agenda but I quickly learned that I was immature in obeying God's directions and immature in my ability to overcome myself. My agenda which I though was in sink with Gods was actually off course in that it was not necessarily the Russian community specifically He had me here for but specific individuals and the orthodox and Jewish community Russian and not in general. I saw this flaw of mine in how when I saw a door of opportunity to share in the Russian community God would shut it and lock me out . This frustrated me , but it frustrated me because my timing was right now , soon as possible involvement. I quickly found out that actually I had to learn the lesson of patience and calm in a city that is chaotic, fast pace, and success driven. My frustration was the beginning of me learning that Gods timing is the way to go and His agenda is actually much better. If that timing meant not having a job so I had to depend on financial support from individuals or very little ministry opportunity the first month n a half then so be it. This last month or so God has shown me that His plan for me being here was to learn that I needed to be bolder in sharing my faith with my friend Chaya and sharing and connecting with Israeli's my age through college outreach and the occasional Russian outreach. But more than all this I have had to learn to be dependent on God , not myself. I would not have learned these lessons had it not been for my supports praying for me to have strength, guidance, endurance, and wisdom. Maturing in understanding God's timing and guidance has stretched me and blessed me. Iv matured in not depending on myself ( as I have stated in the past) for provisions but in God's provision.
I want to say thank you so much for those who financially supported me for had it not been for your financial support I would have gone hungry at times and been unable to get to places where I was required to be for ministry outreach. There were times I was not sure when I would have another meal but then I got in the mail financial support and I saw the blessing and saw that people do see what God is doing through me and for that I am so thankful. There is so much I could and want to say but don't really know how to yet, but stay tuned I will know how to finish this .
I have come out of my nervous, shy shell and become bold and more understanding of God's guidance. I ask that everyone would be praying for me that I would not give up because it is getting hard for me to stay motivated and dedicated to what God has me doing here, also please be praying for me because about a month ago I slept wrong on my shoulder and I have been in allot of pain in my left shoulder. Of late I have been taking medicine more often to dull the pain which has been distracting me from staying focused. Thank you Denise, Stephen, Anna, family, and everyone else for supporting me and guiding me.
The next time I plan on updating this blog will be next Monday so check in then. Blessing during these wonderful Holidays everyone.
Rebekah
p.s. sorry this is not checked for grammar and what not , but this is just a quick reflection
I wanna share some pics of the city that I have come to love and respect
Near my office in Mid Manhattan
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone,
Well it is a peacefull Thanksgiving in NYC and it has me thinking.... Though it is a quiet Thanksgiving I am thankful. I look around the subway and I see a teenager homeless begging for food while curled up and asleep, I see a homeless man sitting on a mat and I think, that though my family and friends are back in California I am thankful that God has given me a roof over my head, clothes on my back, food in the fridge I am blessed. But more than the material blessing I have one blessing that outdoes all and that is that I have someone keeping me company on a day that is usually spent with family. I have Yeshua with me which reminds me that I have something that many in NYC and around the world dont have and that is faith in a Messiah that guides and loves and saves. So this Thanksgiving in NYC I am thankful for a saving faith that I want to share with everyone.
This Thanksgiving are you thankful for having a personal relationship with Yeshua? I am. Blessing and shalom on this Thanksgiving.
Rebekah
This Thanksgiving are you thankful for having a personal relationship with Yeshua? I am. Blessing and shalom on this Thanksgiving.
Rebekah
Friday, November 19, 2010
Blessings, missings, and new lessons..
Shalom and blessings from Brooklyn,
So it's three weeks till I am back in California and I have been thinking and learning allot this week. I have much to share. This week much has happened and it's been great. So much to experience and so much to learn.
Tuesday, I was in the office at CPM for chapel ( a requirement for the employees and students of CPM), and I got to hear Ted Peirce sing and that was wonderful but then CPM missionary Mark spoke and his message was a hit home for me. His message was that whether you are a missionary, volunteer, student, or just someone who loves God and loves Yeshua , we need to be not afraid to be proud that we have Yeshua in our life and that we should be joyful about the mission God has individually put in everyone life. I have come to see that I have been a mixed bag when I should be joyful and that was wonderful to hear. Later that evening, I was back at CPM office to part take in the young messianic and christian bible study MetroMoses where we are talking about being believers in Yeshua, the Jewish community, and living in NYC. Wednesday, my Ryan (my boss) and I got up early and drove up to my college Philadelphia Biblical University (PBU) in Langhorne, PA to learn how to talk to Christians about the importance of Jewish ministry and learn how to recruit students for internships with CPM and missions trips with CPM to India and New Zealand. While I was there I got to run a book table and see some very influential people in my life (professors and friends) and talk to a Jewish Christian student, who has Jewish family that are unsaved and gave him wisdom and some books that he could give his family to read (conn. with Isaiah 53). Then yesterday I went with Doug (another assoc. of CPM) to a new college we had not been at prior. We went to Hunter College in mid-Manhattan and set up a book table. Two police officers came to our table and took a book and several born-again Christians came up to us really amazed and happy that we were out there sharing Yeshua ,we also had several Jewish people come up and happily talk to me and learn to their amazement that Isaiah 53 was talking about Yeshua as the Messiah. Doug and I also learned a very valuable lesson yesterday..... Satan likes to disrupt the work of God when unbelievers especially Jewish people are being reached. Yesterday, about fours into our being their, the young man who was a mason came up to our table and started talking to Doug about being a Christian (ref. to himself) and distorting scripture. Then he started getting loud about being anti -Semitic and this was just at about the time this orthodox man came up to the table and was wanting to know what we were doing. I started telling him that we were wanting people to the Isaiah 53 passage and tell us who they think it is talking about, because we were wanting people to think critically for themselves. I told him that Rabbis tell people that they are not read this passage because it lead them astray and that it talks about Jesus. He said that he thought that was great and started reading it and then picked up a book that explained Jesus and the importance of Isaiah 53. Just at that moment the mason started yelling at the man anti-Semitic curses and made the Jewish man angry, so he walked off yelling curses at myself and our table. Because of that I was unable to share with him. We learned that if we encounter someone like the mason we take them away from the table and talk to them. After that point no one wanted to come to our table because that young man was chasing people off.
This week has been wonderful and an experience. I learned this week that I need to have more patience with people and that when Gods work change takes place but so does resistance from Satan and so I must be strong and fight. I have also learned that prayer is stronger than prayer is often given credit for. This whole time I have been in NYC finances have been tight, making friends have been hard, and ministry has been hard. I have been praying and now that I look back God has answered prayers in more ways than I could think. God has provided for me financially which floors me, he has brought people my way that I have gotten to know as friends and ministry has picked up so that I am involved and helping people in the Russian community and in the Jewish community in particular, but most of all with my friend Chaya. That's a big prayer that God answered recently. The week after Thanksgiving CPM is having a Thanksgiving party/study and I invited her and she said she would come!!!! THEN, I invited her to a shabbat dinner at my place the next week where there will also be a small bible study and she said YES! This is huge! She came to a shabbat dinner at my place before and heard a message and had no problem with it and she enjoyed it! This time she is willing to come again and so I hope and pray that I can introduce her to more Jewish believing friends so that when I leave she will be in touch and hanging out with Jewish believers and be involved. Please continue to pray for her. I really want Chaya to see Yeshua. Anyways sorry this update is all over the place. I have posted pictures below. Take a look. Blessings in Yeshua , REBEKAH
Rachel and Allyson helping me with F.R.E.E. at Brooklyn College, getting the awareness out about human trafficing in NYC.
PBU, on Tuesday. The book table and recruiting table.
Ryan and Prof. Krewson whose class I sat in to hear my boss present... Great prof.
So it's three weeks till I am back in California and I have been thinking and learning allot this week. I have much to share. This week much has happened and it's been great. So much to experience and so much to learn.
Tuesday, I was in the office at CPM for chapel ( a requirement for the employees and students of CPM), and I got to hear Ted Peirce sing and that was wonderful but then CPM missionary Mark spoke and his message was a hit home for me. His message was that whether you are a missionary, volunteer, student, or just someone who loves God and loves Yeshua , we need to be not afraid to be proud that we have Yeshua in our life and that we should be joyful about the mission God has individually put in everyone life. I have come to see that I have been a mixed bag when I should be joyful and that was wonderful to hear. Later that evening, I was back at CPM office to part take in the young messianic and christian bible study MetroMoses where we are talking about being believers in Yeshua, the Jewish community, and living in NYC. Wednesday, my Ryan (my boss) and I got up early and drove up to my college Philadelphia Biblical University (PBU) in Langhorne, PA to learn how to talk to Christians about the importance of Jewish ministry and learn how to recruit students for internships with CPM and missions trips with CPM to India and New Zealand. While I was there I got to run a book table and see some very influential people in my life (professors and friends) and talk to a Jewish Christian student, who has Jewish family that are unsaved and gave him wisdom and some books that he could give his family to read (conn. with Isaiah 53). Then yesterday I went with Doug (another assoc. of CPM) to a new college we had not been at prior. We went to Hunter College in mid-Manhattan and set up a book table. Two police officers came to our table and took a book and several born-again Christians came up to us really amazed and happy that we were out there sharing Yeshua ,we also had several Jewish people come up and happily talk to me and learn to their amazement that Isaiah 53 was talking about Yeshua as the Messiah. Doug and I also learned a very valuable lesson yesterday..... Satan likes to disrupt the work of God when unbelievers especially Jewish people are being reached. Yesterday, about fours into our being their, the young man who was a mason came up to our table and started talking to Doug about being a Christian (ref. to himself) and distorting scripture. Then he started getting loud about being anti -Semitic and this was just at about the time this orthodox man came up to the table and was wanting to know what we were doing. I started telling him that we were wanting people to the Isaiah 53 passage and tell us who they think it is talking about, because we were wanting people to think critically for themselves. I told him that Rabbis tell people that they are not read this passage because it lead them astray and that it talks about Jesus. He said that he thought that was great and started reading it and then picked up a book that explained Jesus and the importance of Isaiah 53. Just at that moment the mason started yelling at the man anti-Semitic curses and made the Jewish man angry, so he walked off yelling curses at myself and our table. Because of that I was unable to share with him. We learned that if we encounter someone like the mason we take them away from the table and talk to them. After that point no one wanted to come to our table because that young man was chasing people off.
This week has been wonderful and an experience. I learned this week that I need to have more patience with people and that when Gods work change takes place but so does resistance from Satan and so I must be strong and fight. I have also learned that prayer is stronger than prayer is often given credit for. This whole time I have been in NYC finances have been tight, making friends have been hard, and ministry has been hard. I have been praying and now that I look back God has answered prayers in more ways than I could think. God has provided for me financially which floors me, he has brought people my way that I have gotten to know as friends and ministry has picked up so that I am involved and helping people in the Russian community and in the Jewish community in particular, but most of all with my friend Chaya. That's a big prayer that God answered recently. The week after Thanksgiving CPM is having a Thanksgiving party/study and I invited her and she said she would come!!!! THEN, I invited her to a shabbat dinner at my place the next week where there will also be a small bible study and she said YES! This is huge! She came to a shabbat dinner at my place before and heard a message and had no problem with it and she enjoyed it! This time she is willing to come again and so I hope and pray that I can introduce her to more Jewish believing friends so that when I leave she will be in touch and hanging out with Jewish believers and be involved. Please continue to pray for her. I really want Chaya to see Yeshua. Anyways sorry this update is all over the place. I have posted pictures below. Take a look. Blessings in Yeshua , REBEKAH
Ryan talking on Romans and the need for Jewish mininstry.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Ecclesiastes 9:12-18
" If you are wise for yourself, and if you scoff, you alone willbear it The woman of folly is naive and knows nothing. She sits at the dorrway of her house, on a seat by the high places of the city, calling to those who pass by, who are making their paths straight: "whoever is naive, let him turn here," and to him who lacks understanding she says "stolen waer is sweet; and bread eatten in secret is pleasent", but he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of shaul." Ecc. 9:11-18
On Tuesday, at MetroMoses, Ryan (my boss) asked everyone three personal questions. First, by living in New York City (NYC), has the desires of this city hardend my heart or changed my God centerd desires in any way? Second, how does living in this city effect my faith and walk in God? Lastly, does this city in anyways affect my witness or compromise my walk in any way? Those questions and that passage filled my head with thoughs and realizations that I had not had prior to that night. I was amazed and a bit convicted and so I would like to share a few of those thoughts with you.
Since I am not a native New Yorker, I came to NYC determined to God's will, share Yeshua with every Jewish person I ran into, quickly find a job , and experience the dream of living in the Big Apple. But now that I have been here for almost three months I have noticed a change. I look around me and I see people rushing past me, people doing there own thing, people struggling, people succeeding, people oblivious to the woman of folly sitting on her doorstep. Everyone seems to be caught up chasing a dream or trying to chase that dream that is slipping from there fingers, including mine. When Ryan asked that first question I wanted to say no, I am not caught up in the desires and motivations of this city, as a believer in Yeshua, but actually I have to say yes. For the first two months I was job hunting I was determind to make it on my own terms nad I had plans to make it in this city, to reach out to every Jewish person I met. But my plans were not working and my desires were letting me down. I though Gods desires were in line with my own, but actualy they were not. I see now that as I was looking around me and comparing myself to those around me and their success, not God's. I was also telling myself that I am failing becuase I wasn't making it or not good enough for the Big Apple.
Secondly, my faith and walk with/in God has grown stronger and weaker due to living here and being apart of ministry. This amazing and wonderful city God has/is used to show me that thought people around me are relying on themselves and seeking there own wisdom and guidance, that is not acceptable for me according to God. I am learning that if I am to mature and stay strong in Yeshua and be a blessing to those around me, my faith needs to be based on God and strong in Him, I need full reliance. I've learned this through dealing with finances, friendships, work everything. When I lived in San Diego and other places, I was alright, I had plans working out relativly well, but then God brought me here and I quickly discovered that wasnt going to happen here without full reliance on Him. My faith has pushed me to be strong in many areas, but it has also caused weakness. I have spent so little time in Gods word which in the past has fed me spiritually and guided me and would continue to do so if I chose to do so. I find the city drains the energy out of me so my attitude has been less than gracious from time to time, their are more distractions, and more time is needed for everything (transportation, friends, finances, etc. ). My faith is stretching and God is helping me mature in areas I would not have matured in had it not been for God bring me here to do His work. This city and the people in it are one of a kind and so because of this I am learning the wisdom of God is more powerful and longer lasting than the woman of fully and fake wisdom.
Lastly, I wish I could say that my witness has been only strengthend but in reality it has gone both ways. Since being an intern with CPM, I have learned that I am always under the telescope. Bt also as a believer in Yeshua living in NYC, it has also been challeneged and checked, s for all this I am thankful. I'v discovered how much more temptation in stolen water and hidden bread is more attractive meaning that temptation to cut corners and complain is has become more attractive and so must fight harder aginst it. This city brings pressure and an energy that is exhausting and so I find myself worn out, my attituted less than gracous, my responsibilities lacking, and my dealing with situations needing work. But at the same time God has brought me boldness, wisdom, energy I didn't think I had and understanding.
NYC, whether a native or outsider believer chasing a dream, seeking God's guidance and will you arnt immune to society and the culture around you. Though not immune you can be one of the few who does what they can by Gods way in making your path straight so that you walk past the lady of folly. God is good and He is faithful. His wisdom outshines lady folly and so by my following Him I am able to shine and stand out to those around me who are being drawn into the woman of follys doorstep.
This is long but I wanted to share this with you. God is good and He is using me in great ways that I never expected.
Blessings, Rebekah
On Tuesday, at MetroMoses, Ryan (my boss) asked everyone three personal questions. First, by living in New York City (NYC), has the desires of this city hardend my heart or changed my God centerd desires in any way? Second, how does living in this city effect my faith and walk in God? Lastly, does this city in anyways affect my witness or compromise my walk in any way? Those questions and that passage filled my head with thoughs and realizations that I had not had prior to that night. I was amazed and a bit convicted and so I would like to share a few of those thoughts with you.
Since I am not a native New Yorker, I came to NYC determined to God's will, share Yeshua with every Jewish person I ran into, quickly find a job , and experience the dream of living in the Big Apple. But now that I have been here for almost three months I have noticed a change. I look around me and I see people rushing past me, people doing there own thing, people struggling, people succeeding, people oblivious to the woman of folly sitting on her doorstep. Everyone seems to be caught up chasing a dream or trying to chase that dream that is slipping from there fingers, including mine. When Ryan asked that first question I wanted to say no, I am not caught up in the desires and motivations of this city, as a believer in Yeshua, but actually I have to say yes. For the first two months I was job hunting I was determind to make it on my own terms nad I had plans to make it in this city, to reach out to every Jewish person I met. But my plans were not working and my desires were letting me down. I though Gods desires were in line with my own, but actualy they were not. I see now that as I was looking around me and comparing myself to those around me and their success, not God's. I was also telling myself that I am failing becuase I wasn't making it or not good enough for the Big Apple.
Secondly, my faith and walk with/in God has grown stronger and weaker due to living here and being apart of ministry. This amazing and wonderful city God has/is used to show me that thought people around me are relying on themselves and seeking there own wisdom and guidance, that is not acceptable for me according to God. I am learning that if I am to mature and stay strong in Yeshua and be a blessing to those around me, my faith needs to be based on God and strong in Him, I need full reliance. I've learned this through dealing with finances, friendships, work everything. When I lived in San Diego and other places, I was alright, I had plans working out relativly well, but then God brought me here and I quickly discovered that wasnt going to happen here without full reliance on Him. My faith has pushed me to be strong in many areas, but it has also caused weakness. I have spent so little time in Gods word which in the past has fed me spiritually and guided me and would continue to do so if I chose to do so. I find the city drains the energy out of me so my attitude has been less than gracious from time to time, their are more distractions, and more time is needed for everything (transportation, friends, finances, etc. ). My faith is stretching and God is helping me mature in areas I would not have matured in had it not been for God bring me here to do His work. This city and the people in it are one of a kind and so because of this I am learning the wisdom of God is more powerful and longer lasting than the woman of fully and fake wisdom.
Lastly, I wish I could say that my witness has been only strengthend but in reality it has gone both ways. Since being an intern with CPM, I have learned that I am always under the telescope. Bt also as a believer in Yeshua living in NYC, it has also been challeneged and checked, s for all this I am thankful. I'v discovered how much more temptation in stolen water and hidden bread is more attractive meaning that temptation to cut corners and complain is has become more attractive and so must fight harder aginst it. This city brings pressure and an energy that is exhausting and so I find myself worn out, my attituted less than gracous, my responsibilities lacking, and my dealing with situations needing work. But at the same time God has brought me boldness, wisdom, energy I didn't think I had and understanding.
NYC, whether a native or outsider believer chasing a dream, seeking God's guidance and will you arnt immune to society and the culture around you. Though not immune you can be one of the few who does what they can by Gods way in making your path straight so that you walk past the lady of folly. God is good and He is faithful. His wisdom outshines lady folly and so by my following Him I am able to shine and stand out to those around me who are being drawn into the woman of follys doorstep.
This is long but I wanted to share this with you. God is good and He is using me in great ways that I never expected.
Blessings, Rebekah
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