The Book of Acts Special Event

We invite you to hear Jhan Moskowitz speak at Bethel the weekend of April 27-29. Moskowitz is a director of Jews for Jesus. Times are: Friday, April 27 at 7 pm; Saturday, April 28 at 9 am and 7 pm; and Sunday, April 29 at the morning worship services 8:30 and 11:00 am, and then at 5 pm.

Jews for Jesus is an organization that proclaims that Jesus is the Messiah of Israel and Savior of the world. “What could be more Jewish than following the Messiah?” says Moskowitz, who considers himself 100% Jewish and 100% Christian.

Moskowitz was born and raised in the Bronx, New York. His parents were refugees from Nazi Germany and spent four and a half years in a concentration camp. “I learned at an early age what it means to be a Jew and to be loyal to my heritage and my people,” says Jhan. He was disenchanted with religion in his teens, but was committed to the survival of his people and became a short-term volunteer on a kibbutz (communal farm) in Israel.

“When I went to Israel I was an atheist,” said Moskowitz, “but by the time I left, I knew that God did exist. I became a seeker. I felt God had created the universe with a purpose, and I wanted to know his purpose for my life. I found my answer in 1971 when I came to terms with God through his Messiah, Jesus.”

Moskowitz, now a deputy commissioner with the organization, was one of the “original” Jews for Jesus volunteers, even before the organization’s incorporation in 1973. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Philosophy from Long Island University and received theological training from Simpson College in San Francisco. He also has a Master’s degree in Missiology with concentration in Jewish Evangelism/Judaic studies from the Fuller School of World Mission in Pasadena, California. He was ordained through The Christian and Missionary Alliance denomination.

Moskowitz co-founded Jews for Jesus’ mobile evangelistic drama team, the New Jerusalem Players, and toured the United States as leader of that team for several years. Moskowitz headed up the Jews for Jesus New York branch, where he also served as pastor of a Jewish Christian congregation in Manhattan, Kehilat Y’shua (Assembly of Jesus). He and his wife Melissa (also a Jews for Jesus) currently reside in New York. They have two daughters, Kayla and Jessie.

In the international evangelical arena, Moskowitz took part in the Lausanne Consultation on World Evangelization in Pattaya, Thailand in 1980. This meeting of world mission leaders had 17 mini-consultations, one of which was on “Reaching Jewish People” with the gospel. Moskowitz also participated in the first Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism (LCJE) in Newmarket, England, after leading a major street witnessing campaign in London that summer. Jhan has also been a platform speaker for Promise Keepers and has brought the message of Messiah to tens of thousands of men.

Jews for Jesus was founded by Moishe Rosen, a Jew who has believed in Jesus for over 35 years. The organization has permanent branches in eight North American cities (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, Toronto, New York City, Washington D.C. and Fort Lauderdale) as well as over 127 volunteer chapters spanning some 41 states and five countries. The group’s international branches are headquartered in Johannesburg, London, Paris, Odessa, Moscow, Essen, Rio de Janeiro, Kharkov, Dnepopretrovsk, and Tel Aviv.

Members of Jews for Jesus see themselves as a 21st century ministry that is 2,000 years old. “We began in 32 C.E., give or take a year. Jesus’ first followers were Jewish men and women and since then there have been some of us in every generation.” To Jhan and other Jews for Jesus, believing in Jesus makes sense in light of the Jewish Bible and in light of their experiences as “believers.”

For those who argue that Christianity contradicts the meaning of Judaism, Moskowitz says that there are answers, which he will be happy to discuss after the presentation. There will be no admission charge.