9/10/09

Dear friends of the Friedman family and Jacob’s Hope,

Grace and shalom in the wonderful name of Messiah Y’shua! We hope and pray this finds you well and enjoying the blessings of the Lord. As usual the last 3 months have been very busy and rewarding. Let me try to catch you up.

Our Jacob’s Hope team is growing. We welcome to the team Jeff & Tammy Coose. Jeff & Tammy are AG missionaries with a great deal of experience. They have lived both in Russia and Israel. Their expertise will help us better minister to Russian speaking Jewish people in the former Soviet Union and Israel.

Another couple has joined the team as well. They recently made “aliyah” to Israel. They have moved to Israel and are citizens of the land. Due to the sensitive nature of things in Israel, they must go unnamed. They will be locating facilities and setting up distribution centers around the country. We are looking to begin outreaches in three cities around Israel, one in the North and two in the South. We are initially planning on bringing help to 150 families this Fall.

I spent almost a month in Israel this Summer and I am pleased to tell you that Jacob’s Hope has received official Israeli government status as a non profit organization for the public good. It took a long time, but this is a major step in being able to help many needy Jewish people in the land of Israel. I will be returning to Israel this Fall to look into the possibility of warehouse space for the aid which will be coming.

After returning from Israel I represented Jacob’s Hope at the General Council of the Assemblies of God in Orlando. I made many contacts with Pastors and believers who are excited that the Assemblies of God now has a ministry like Jacob’s Hope for them to get behind. We have already had a number of offers of support because of this exposure.

After Florida I spent a week in St. Louis at the “Compassion Forum”. This seminar offered invaluable training in establishing self sustaining humanitarian aid projects. This training will make us more effective in bringing real hope to Jacob’s children around the world.

I will be traveling to Germany this Fall to work with our dear friends in the Messianic community in Bonn. We are working to equip and train these dear Jewish believers to better reach their community for Messiah.

After Germany it will be off to Ukraine. We have been working with the local Messianic community to feed every Jewish family in Simferopol, Ukraine. In November we will be inviting all those we reached to an evangelistic conference. Please pray for much fruit.

The chicken farm in Ethiopia is providing employment for 23 families in that Jewish community. We are still working on the job training center which will impact the lives of countless Jewish people. I am still trying to raise funds for dairy cattle for this community which will provide many more jobs and much needed income.

We have received our Jacob’s Hope promotional DVD. This 4 minute presentation will be distributed to many Assembly of God churches. If you would like one for your church or friends please let us know. As more people find out about this ministry we hear one thing over and over, “It is about time!” We could not agree more. Please pray that this DVD will touch the hearts of many people with the need of the Jewish people around the world.

We are now ready to begin our email updates. The only problem is we only have about half of your email addresses. Please send us your email address so we can include you in these more frequent updates.

On the home front, Matt & Sara will soon be leaving for three weeks of outreach with Jews for Jesus in Israel. Please pray for their safety and for much fruit. I spent three days on board Jesse’s aircraft carrier the, D. D. Eisenhower (Ike). What an amazing experience! Jesse is now out of the Navy and enrolled in Temple University in Philadelphia. Bethany is now a senior at the University of the Arts. She also dances 5 hours a day with Philadanco. Adam is now living with Bethany in Philadelphia and is beginning automotive tech school. Anyone need a mechanic? Elisa has begun dancing again at a local dance studio. Jed did a fantastic job on his Bar Mitzvah. We were all very proud. It was so wonderful to be together with all of our dear children and to see so many of our old friends. Vixie continues to keep us all going in the right direction. She has had to begin a part time nursing job. She is also teaching one day a week at the Classical Conversation home school. I don’t know how she does it.

As you can see things are moving forward rapidly. God is opening doors and bringing together a team. I could never have dreamed we could have come so far so fast. This my friends is what is known as a “God thing”. He wants this to happen and He is in charge of Jacob‘s Hope. Our job is to pray and believe that He will allow us to make a difference in the lives of countless Jewish people around the world. Thank you for being a part of this ministry that is so close to our Savior’s heart and thank you for being a part of our lives.

May God richly bless you.

For Jacob’s children,

The Friedmans

Jeff, Vixie, Matt, Sara, Jesse, Bethany, Adam, Elisa and Jed