GATES OF ZION NEWSLETTER
JUNE 2000
Sometimes Janet and myself ask one another, “What are we doing here?”
You can understand – a guy from Brooklyn and a lass from Northern England
living in the steppe of Central Asia! It is crazy! At least to the human
mind! It reminds me of the proverb: A man's heart plans his way, But
the LORD directs his steps. (Proverbs 16:9)
It has become increasingly evident why the Lord led us to Almaty, Kazakhstan to establish our home base. This obscure city is by far the most open in all of Central Asia and is truly a gateway to Jewish population centers scattered throughout this part of the world. We have been able to operate here unhindered for almost 2 years.
Other areas in Central Asia are much more closed. With Almaty as our
base we can easily travel to any city in Central Asia and by the Lord’s
grace are we seeing wonderful advances for the gospel among Jewish people
all along the Silk Road.
THE JEWS OF UZBEKISTAN*
It may be that The Jews of Uzbekistan make up the largest percentage of all Jews who now live in Central Asia. The Lord has put this region strongly on our hearts. We have just returned to Almaty from our second trip to this fascinating, ancient and remote part of the earth.
There are two categories of Jewish people living in this Islamic Nation:
The Ashkenazim (Jews of Eastern Europe) came to this region from other
parts of the Soviet Union during Soviet times and earlier. During World
War II many Jews from European Russia were evacuated to Uzbekistan. Many
have remained there to this day.
There is also an indigenous Bukharan community, which has its own Tajik-Jewish dialect. Bukharan Jews trace their roots back many centuries.
Isaac who is my assistant congregational leader here in Almaty is a Bukharan Jew. It was an unforgettable experience when we visited his father’s grave in a hidden but large Jewish cemetery in the ancient Uzbek city of Samarakand this past April.
There were 30 synagogues in Samarakand in 1917. There is now only one, which we also had an opportunity to visit in April.
Bukharan Jewry is an ancient community that claims descent from the 5th-century exiles from Persia. Many Bukharan Jews believe that Bukhara is actually Habor (II Kings 17:6), to which the ten tribes were exiled. I will have further reports concerning this ancient, endearing and enduring Jewish community in my next newsletter. We had a fascinating, fruitful and memorable visit to Bukhara during our recently completed voyage.
Jewish quarters, which are traditionally called mahalla, still exist in Samarakand, Bukhara, and the smaller cities of what is known as the Ferghana Valley. We walked through these historic mahalla and visited Jewish families who were greatly moved as the Holy Spirit came with power as we ministered to them.
Since 1989, 66,100 Uzbek Jews have immigrated to Israel. There is also a very large Bukharan Jewish community in Queens NY, not far from where I grew up in NYC.
(* Information comes from an abridged version of Jewish Communities
of the World, published in 1998 by the World Jewish Congress and Lerner
Publications Company.)
SILK ROAD 2000
The attention of missiologists and church leaders throughout the world is becoming focused on a newly designated window targeted for a major evangelistic thrust. This area is called the 40/70 window. Below these latitudes lies the 10/40 window which contains most of the remaining unreached people groups of the earth. It is becoming more and more evident that the strategic sending nation within these strategically designated windows is the Republic of Kazakhstan. As I stated at the beginning of the newsletter, we are now realizing more than ever why the Lord has sent us to this sprawling yet almost unknown part of the earth. Many prayer teams, church leaders and large missions organizations have lately been descending upon our city, Almaty. In July there will be 3,000 intercessors from all over the world coming right to our doorstep.
Our Messianic Jewish Congregation is becoming more and more connected with churches all throughout this region. Many pastors and leaders are, for the first time, connecting with their Jewish heritage as followers of Messiah. A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of leading 250 pastors from all over this nation in a Passover Seder. It was a powerful experience!
PASSOVER 2000
Passover (now a distant memory) was a wonderfully fruitful time for us here in Almaty. We enjoyed two congregational Seders – one especially for unbelieving Jewish people, and another for our congregational members. There were 120 Jewish people who did not yet know Messiah at our first Seder, which we held for the second straight year at the Jewish restaurant, “The Star of David” in the center of Almaty. It was a wonderful evening of opportunity as we proclaimed Yeshua as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. During every festival Jewish people come out of the darkness into the kingdom of light by joining themselves to Yeshua – the true light of Israel.
Churches from all over the city asked if they could participate in this
ancient Feast of Unleavened Bread. We led no less than six Passover
Seders! It was a great opportunity to communicate the church’s mandate
to bless Israel and to challenge our brothers to appreciate and embrace
their Jewish heritage. I never ate so much Matzo in my life!
TRAVEL IN CENTRAL ASIA
*ABSURDITIES COLUMN*
The major challenges, stressful circumstances and our outright unexplainable and unbelievable experiences in the former USSR could one day be made into a movie! Doubtless, it would be a comedy! Here is a small part of what might be the screenplay:
At first, I wanted to take a train to Uzbekistan. Upon investigation
I discovered that I might have to deal with what are known as “train bandits”
– to which I replied, “No thank-you!” To further add to the traveling
amenities upon the rails – in the midst of mercuric temperatures - as you
travel along the dry hot Kazak steppe - there is no known way to open the
window in your car! Of course there is no AC! (AC is unheard
of in trains!)
You are left to bake!
“Okay”, I thought. “I’ll take a bus.”
My bus investigation came as less of a surprise. I discovered that:
1) Buses break down more often than not and you must be ready to “serve
time” in a hot broken down overcrowded one in the steaming desert, countless
miles from anywhere and anything.
2) You must cross the Kazak/Uzbek border by foot for
one and a half kilometers carrying your own luggage.
3) You will be checked and searched by border police at least 4 times.
“Not me! I’ll find another way!” I immediately thought.
BABYFLOT
Now I admit that I am never thoroughly thrilled to fly the “Babyflots” (offshoot airline companies created after the breakup of the national Soviet airline, Aeroflot) but flying to Uzbekistan was looking better and better! I also heard that Uzbekistan Airlines was a far superior company than all the other babyflots. I have flown on Kazakhstan Airlines but it is vital to find a seat as far from the rest rooms as possible. You can guess why.
As I boarded the Uzbek plane I noticed it was rather old much like it’s Kazak cousins. There were three of us and we were ushered to the front of the aircraft, only to find there were not three empty seats available near one another. After complaining, (the skills I acquired growing up in NYC are invaluable here!) we were allowed to slip into the rear. I sat down next to a Jewish man whom we actually knew – a surprise co-traveler named Igor.
If you have flown on board passenger planes in most of the civilized world you are familiar with the tray that is attached and latched to the seat in front of you and conveniently folds down when you decide to unlatch it for your dining needs. There was no such latch securing the tray on the seat in front of me. As I thought about this I decided that I would not give this tray the slightest chance of slapping down on my face during takeoff, so I encouraged Igor to move with me to another row of seats. We found three comfortable seats in another row – but one of them was surely too comfortable! Igor’s seat automatically went into a full recline at almost 180 degrees and would not go back up! Did Igor complain? No way! He fell fast asleep! So Igor, as at home as I ever saw a man, slept away on his “lazy boy” chair as the plane took off and climbed into the sky. At least his seat belt was fastened!
You just don’t get newsletter or screenplay material like this in America!
UZBEKISTAN 2000
Oy! The challenges of getting monthly newsletters out! I left
off the writing of this issue to depart for Uzbekistan for the second time
and now we have just now returned home. I will have a full report
of our latest trip in my next newsletter. I hope to get it in your hands
in only a few weeks. Janet and myself were joined by our teammates
from “Out of Zion”, Eitan Shishkoff and David Silver who flew to Almaty
from Israel. Together with Isaac and Janet we experienced what it must
have been like to be living in the days of the book of Acts! I am not kidding!
For now I will share a few photographs. There will be more photos
and a complete update in the next issue.
MAKING YESHUA KNOWN TO
JEWISH PEOPLE - LESSON TWO
I began to talk in my last newsletter about how valuable it is to have a Jewish mindset when you communicate to Jewish people. Here is an important fact to remember:
Most Jewish people have never seriously read their own scriptures. For the most part only Orthodox Jews are familiar with the writings of Moses and the Prophets - and they almost always study the rabbinic commentaries rather than the biblical text.
It was not until I was 24 years old that I first read the Hebrew Scriptures in my native English tongue. Previous to then I had no clue of what they were all about. I knew the story of the Exodus from Egypt from childhood but that was all. Therefore it is important to realize that you are in a unique position as a Christian if you are familiar with the Bible.
You might very well be the first individual in a Jewish person’s life to share with him his own scriptures! Make sure your Jewish friend can perceive your own heartfelt sense of debt to the Jewish people for their part in both writing and preserving these ancient texts. Explain what the word of God has meant to you and how you have benefited from it. Make sure your Jewish friend senses your gratitude toward the Jewish people. Help him to see that the scriptures first and foremost were written for him and his people.
Begin to familiarize yourself with Messianic Prophecies. They are a powerful tool to use in communicating truth to Jewish people. We will touch on this in our next issue.
Luke 24:27 And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
PRAYER POINTS
Please pray for:
1 Grace for our growing role as overseers of three Messianic Jewish
congregations in Central Asia.
2 Finances to buy a ministry vehicle for Congregation Chaim Chadashim
in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
3 Continued health, protection and favor for the Bernstein family.
(Jeff, Janet, Yaron, Eliya and Ariana.
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
*If you are willing to relocate for a season to Central Asia and serve the English speaking missionary community here in Almaty - There is a great need for an elementary school teacher (especially third grade) who can volunteer beginning September 2000. Any inquiries please contact me via e-mail or phone. Living and serving Yeshua in this part of the world might be the change the Lord has for your life!
*There is always a need for personal notebook computers here among the believers in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The prices here are way out of reach for the majority. If you are upgrading and want to make a tax deductible donation of your older notebook computer please e-mail or phone us.
*Messianic Jewish believers who are gifted in teaching! Your gift can be greatly used here among the Messianic Jews in Central Asia. If you are interested in a short term but life-changing trip to the other side of the world, let me hear from you! Many hungry hearts await you.
May the Lord continue to bless and strengthen you as we work side by side for His purposes on the earth. Thank-you for your prayers and gracious flow of support. We are truly partners in the Lord’s great harvest!
Your fellow workers serving Yeshua –A light to bring revelation to the nations, And the glory of Your people Israel." (Luke 2:32)
Jeff and Janet Bernstein
Almaty, Kazakhstan
________________________________________________
If you are inspired to financially support our work in Central Asia,
please send your gift in the enclosed return envelope. Please make
all checks payable to “Gates of Zion”. All gifts are tax deductible
and received with thanksgiving!
The Gates of Zion is registered as a non-profit corporation in compliance with IRS standards in the USA and is under the oversight of a USA based board of directors and the eldership board of Congregation Ohalei Rachamim, Beit Yam, Israel.
Our mailing address is:
Gates of Zion
PO Box 55123
Phoenix, Arizona 85078-5123
EMAIL
Phone/ Fax: 7 – 3272 – 25 – 68 - 28
