4 September 2011
"In 1981 The Liberated Wailing Wall came to Johannesburg and visited the University of the Witwatersrand. The opposition was so strong—with musical cables and equipment ripped up and vandalized—that it seemed like the devil did not want us "Making the Messiahship of Jesus an unavoidable issue to the Jewish people of South Africa"! We returned and had a similar experience, prayed for direction in terms of future ministry, and opportunities opened up. Jews for Jesus South Africa was established in 1989, under the leadership of Andrew and Laura Barron, who moved there from the United States.
In 1996, with Jews for Jesus firmly established in South Africa, the Barrons moved on to Toronto to lead the work there. Eliyah Gould, from Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, took over leadership of the Johannesburg branch. In July, 2002, Eliyah was called to take on the leadership of Beit Y'shua, the local messianic congregation started by Jews for Jesus. Michael Sischy stepped up to lead the branch.
The Jewish population in South Africa has experienced major demographic shifts in the last 13 years—in 1989 there were approximately 150,000 Jewish people in the country. This has been whittled down to approximately 80,000. The shift is largely due to emigration of a highly professional Jewish population to the "greener pastures" of Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States of America.
The remaining Jewish population is mainly distributed between the cities of Cape Town and Johannesburg, with approximately 15,000 and 65,000 respectively. The numbers in Cape Town swell over the December vacation—as many flock to the beautiful white beaches over this period! This presents a unique evangelistic opportunity during the Christmas and Hanukkah season as our missionaries don sunblock, hats and bags of broadsides and head down to the beach!
In Johannesburg, street traffic patterns have changed dramatically over the last 10 years, so suitable street corners where one can hand out gospel literature and interact with interested people have dwindled. Evangelistic opportunities present themselves in the many large shopping malls where it is easy to "run into" and share the good news of Messiah with the lost sheep of the house of Israel!"
Sourced from the Jews for Jesus South Africa web site (2004)
Blessings,
The St Mark's Editorial team
What a beam of light in the darkness the Communion service proved to be today. Led by Jews for Jesus and Solomon St Mark's rang with a sense of love and optimism. We got down to the basics of worship and praise and I for one came away the wiser for this two hours.
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