Rock of Israel Marketplace Evangelism
For the past seventeen years, we have found a great way to reach out to Jewish people with the gospel. Marketplace evangelism! After all, who doesn’t love to shop?
We have been renting out booths in vendor halls at large State and County Fairs across America and it has produced some excellent conversations with both Jewish people and Gentiles who are curious about how we can be Jewish and believe in Jesus. Our large selection of Judaica includes shofars, Israeli coins, bracelets, necklaces, and even Ark of the Covenant replicas.
Most Jewish people are shocked to see a booth with Judaica at the Fair. Israelis as well love to see everything and comment about our “beautiful things”. We explain to the Jewish people that we are “Messianic Jews”, and we believe that Yeshua (Jesus) is the Messiah. Some have heard of that before, “Yeah, my uncle is one of those” and others are completely secular and have no idea what a Messiah even is. But we offer to all who stop our “card” which also has on it a “Jesus Made Me Kosher” explanation of the gospel.
Here are just a few of the hundreds of encounters that we have had:
** A Jewish woman in her late 40s came up and said she's dating a Christian man, and she finds being a Messianic Jew to be the most appealing choice to her. She said she's still on the fence, and she asked several questions about baptism (mikvah) and similar. I was able to answer all her questions, and I also gave her two books for free. She was so thankful. I gave her our card in case she had any questions.
** One of the young men from the Israeli facial cream booth nearby came over. I had spoken with him before. He was looking at things and said he wanted to buy the "I stand with Israel" bumper sticker for his suitcase. As he took out his wallet, I motioned for him to put it away. I said, "Here, it's our gift to you... from Yeshua," and he said, "Really?" And then he gave me a hug. I said, "Am Yisrael Chai.” (A famous Jewish saying meaning, “The people of Israel live.”)
** A girl was taking photos of our booth (most probably Jewish) and when I caught her eye, she said “disgusting!”
** A Russian Jew stopped to look at the mezuzahs. I asked him if he was Jewish, and he said, “Yes, but not religious. I am a realist!”
** A senior citizen Jewish woman stopped, and I explained that I'm Jewish and a believer in Jesus. She smiled, handed my gospel bookmark back to me, and said, “Just like Ben-Hur.”
** A Muslim man walked by and said, “Jesus was a Muslim brother.”
To read more, you can visit our website link here: https://www.rockofisrael.org/Jewish-Encounters-We-Have-Had