King's Business - 1922-02

153 before making any decision in regard to so important a matter, he must con­ sult a Jewish Rabbi in order to be more familiar with the other side of the ques­ tion. ' That evening when he went home he wrapped the Bible, which had been given him, in a newspaper and quietly slipped into the house. The next day at breakfast, the father turned to the mother, saying, “ Something is going on here.. I feel it, but I do not know what it is.” He added, “ Last night, I had a dream that our boy M.— had become a Christian.” He was not far from the mark, though a little pre­ mature, for the boy, although he had considered becoming a Christian, had not as yet taken the decisive step. The next day this young man visited several synagogues, and sought interviews with Jewish rabbis, in order to hear the other side of the question and to com­ pare the Bible which had been given him with the regular Yiddish transla­ tion of the original Hebrew. This com­ parison only served to deepen convic­ tion that the description given in the Old Testament of the Jewish Messiah fitted that of Jesus Christ. The next day he came to the office again and said he had settled the question and had accepted Jesus Christ as his Saviour. He was dealt with on the matter of assurance of salvation, and after prayer, left for home to confess his faith in Jesus Christ. When we saw him again he said they had a regu­ lar earthquake at his home when he made known the fact that he had be­ come a Christian. Both his father and mother roundly abused him for. what they termed his being a traitor to them and denying the religion in which he had been brought up. He was ordered to leave home and never come back. He said that the things they had said to him were unspeakable. How hard these things were for this young con­ vert can better be imagined than de­ scribed. He asked that his home might be visited, the way of life explained to the father, and an attempt be made to disabuse his mind of many wrong ideas concerning Christianity^ When asked what he intended doing about it now, he said that he was determined to go on with Jesus Christ, regardless of conse­ quences. He added that he thought his brother, who at the first had been so bitter, was slowly coming to see the truth. May we uphold in prayer these young converts who are undergoing

THE K I N G ’ S BUS I NE S S ing a great deal of publicity of late be­ cause of the many Jewish meetings held, both on the street and indoors. The most recent movement on the part of the Jewish authorities is the plan to secure the names and addresses of our Jewish converts and publish them in the papers in which they would be held up to the ridicule and scorn of all Los Angeles Jewry. The whole Jewish pop­ ulation of the city is stirred up and be­ coming more and more opposed to us as time goes on. Side by side with such opposition is the unusual develop­ ment of the work. Sixteen Jewish con­ versions have been reported within the last nine weeks. We hesitate to use such figures for fear God’s books and ours will not always correspond, but we are perfectly safe in saying that, with the exception of four or five of these cases, all are giving marked evi­ dence of a definite Christian experience. Among these converts are four or five who are undergoing the severest perse­ cution possible at the hands of their own people. Last Monday three young Jewish men were baptized and have since joined the church of their choice. Next Wednesday evening we expect to bap­ tize eight Jewish people, seven of them men. Several of these have already made known their intention to join the church. In the fourteen years’ history of this Jewish Department we must con­ fess that we have never seen so much interest in Christianity displayed on the part of the Jews, as there is today. In fact a real Jewish revival is on here. Let us pray that it may spread until it becomes a real “ conversion epidemic.” A Personal Work Center. Our Jewish office at the Institute is becoming a regular Jewish Mission and from five to fifteen or more Jews are dealt with there weekly. Recently one of our young Jewish converts came to the office, bringing with him two other Jewish men whom he was anxious to have reached with the Gospel. Con­ versation developed the fact that one of these young men was a radical Socialist and bitterly opposed to Christianity. The other was more open to conviction, and as the conversation proceeded, became quite interested, but could not be per­ suaded that the English translation of the Hebrew Scriptures was the same as that in the Yiddish. Rabbi Isaac Less­ ors’ translation was shown him, and after some further talk with him, we gave him an English Bible. He said,

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