UK Hanukkah/Christmas Season 2022

Latest updates from Simon Lissak, Missionary, Chosen People Ministries UK:

The Christmas juggernaut is here again. We watch as the people of the world celebrate the Messiah they all need, but do not know. Seeking joy in good things like being together, eating together and giving gifts can only provide a temporary distraction from the cost of living crisis, record inflation, a war in Europe and global recession!

So, I am delighted to open the Gospel of Matthew and immediately see five fulfilled prophesies of Jesus’ birth and young life which give me the truths I need identify the Messiah, face the tough realities of life and still celebrate Christmas, (Matt 1:22-23,2:5-6,15,17-18, 23).

This Jesus is the Messiah that the Jewish people need to encounter. More recently we have been asking more questions about Jewish identity to start conversations. Questions like, ‘What does it mean to be Chosen’? ‘What was God’s purpose’?, and ‘Who did He choose and Why’?

In one conversation with Moishe he actually stopped and asked, “How is it you know these texts better than me?” This gave me an excellent opportunity to explain my hope in Messiah, and I pray my knowledge made him jealous (Rom 11:14).

We have also had a great deal of fruit in talking to Orthodox men about their role as Priests to the Nations. Many have never thought about this in practical terms and have been challenged to think about it. Please pray for a young man called Simcha who was listening to a talk on his headphones about giving strangers time when I approached him!

He is a teacher and very knowledgeable in the Scriptures. I asked him how he imagined God had appeared to Abraham in Genesis 18:1 which sparked a thoughtful discussion of God’s appearance in the Garden of Eden and beyond. He sensed God’s hand in our meeting, and we hope to meet again soon. As a family we can thank God for His favour to us.

Maxime has taken a full-time job back at Monsoon and is enjoying her work. Felix has found that working as a trainee chef suits him far better than being at school and Jacob continues to improve his grades and may turn out to be the academic “dark horse” in the family! God has made our Christmas merry!

With love & prayers
Simon and the Lissak Family
Maxime, Felix, and Jacob

Latest updates from Fiona Sorbala, Co-Director, Chosen People Ministries UK:

For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. Pro 2:6 Today as I write I am profoundly aware that we all need wisdom from the Lord as we serve Him. As I take on my new role, while I count this a privilege, I am conscious that I need the Lord more than ever if I am to do this role justice and honour the Lord. So please pray that I will bring HIM glory.

I will be in Latvia from the 15th–19th December to celebrate Hanukkah with our Jewish friends. It will be an opportunity for me to preach the Gospel. Join us as we pray that more of our elderly Jewish friends will come to accept Yeshua (Jesus) as their personal Saviour.

I will be back in time to celebrate Hanukkah with the Messianic Congregation here and although some of my key helpers are away; I will as usual be frying plenty of latkes (fried grated potato bound with egg and Matzah flour—very yummy!). We will also be having a Shabbat service on both Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.

As we plan for events in 2023, please mark your calendars for Sat 18th March for a Day Conference that we are organising in London with great speakers—our theme is ‘Shalom.’ We still have much to arrange and plan and so we would value your prayers for Natalie and myself.

We are also hoping to have a smaller event in Manchester on Sunday 19th March. I am currently online five nights a week and often teaching most nights. Our Tuesday Night Bible study is open to everyone, you are welcome to join us and invite your friends. Simon Lissak and I teach the studies. We send out regular email invites.

If we don’t have your email and you would like to join, you get more info from our office, by contacting NatalieC@chosenpeople.org.uk. During these difficult times we are deeply grateful for your prayerful and financial support that allows us as missionaries and as a mission to make the Gospel know to Jewish People. May the Lord watch over and bless you in all you do.

Shalom,
Fiona Sorbala

Latest updates from Oliver Sims, Chosen People Ministries UK:

Shalom dear friend. It is great to write to you. I trust you are well?

It’s funny how things can change so quickly. Today I was supposed to be visiting the Jewish couple whom I have been befriending in Manchester. The plan was to meet them this morning, perhaps pray with them and drop some shopping off for them but the thick fog has made that difficult! I do hope that in the next week or so I can do that. Please join me in prayer for them. Can I ask for your prayers that they would, in time, be open to Gospel conversations? We do serve a God who answers prayer!

I recently had the opportunity to speak with some Jewish people caught up in spiritism and New Age teaching and shared the Lord with them. I prayed and shared Jesus with one lady who also mentioned that she had a lump that was restricting the flow in her kidney and so a stent had to be fitted which was causing her much discomfort. We had talked about how Jesus is also the Healer, so I prayed and pointed out that He is the ‘Water of Life’, the ‘Light of the world’ and the One who heals us. Amazingly, a few days ago, I got a message from her saying that when she had her follow up operation, the lump had gone and so she no longer needs the stent! She truly believes that prayer has been a part of this as she is totally pain free now. What a great God we serve! Let us pray for Lily (not her real name) that she may truly encounter Yeshua. It is all part of God’s plan to make her humbly open to his wonderful grace. May our eyes be ever on the Lord!

On another day, I was returning from a speaking engagement and getting onto a busy train when I was mistaken for an apparently famous youtuber which led to an interesting conversation! It was cold so I was wearing my Yorkshire flat cap and a gentleman of a Zimbabwean origin confused me with this person which helped to strike up a conversation. He had only ever had the experience of Christian religion imposed on him by white supremacists back in his own country. Now, here working in the UK, he didn’t give God much thought. I was able to gently lead him in a conversation pointing him to the Saviour and the love that he has for him. In God’s Kingdom there is a place for all people regardless of creed, colour or nationality. Only a couple of minutes after parting with him he sent me a friendly text asking to meet up again. By God’s grace I hope to do so.

Up and coming is a Hanukkah outreach so please also keep that in your prayers. The idea is to go door to door in a Jewish suburb of Manchester and freely distribute chanukiahs and Chanukah candles. I will be doing this with CH who you read about in the last glossy magazine. We have had good conversations in that area before and so I’m trusting the Lord for openness, freedom to share about the Lord and for more contacts to be made.

And also, as you pray for me, I will be praying for you too! I trust you will keep warm and safe this winter and that you would especially be captured again by the beauty of Yeshua who is the true Light of the World.

In gratitude, your brother, Oliver.