On April 29 of this year I had the distinct honor and privilege of being the guest preacher at the Friday evening service of the United Jewish Center in Danbury. Several folks from Wellspring joined Debbie and me for that evening of worship and fellowship. It was so great to see the two congregations interacting with one another.

I also had the joy that evening of presenting Rabbi Cliff Librach a check for over $1500--a gift offering from the Wellspring congregation to bless UJC. That gift was received with gratitude and joy.

Now they are giving that gift away!

That's right. Rabbi Cliff informed me that the board of UJC has moved to donate the funds to a center for orphaned youth in Israel. They deemed our gift to be a holy offering and did not want to use it on their own budget. So on June 29 Rabbi Cliff and his wife Miriam will present the offering to the Yemin Orde Wingate Youth Village as a joint gift from Wellspring and UJC.

I am sharing this news with you by way of reporting and because I think it is a very exciting development. An offering, jointly given by an evangelical church and a Reformed synagogue to bless Israel makes a powerful statement. The Apostle Paul invested great effort during his ministry to raise an offering from the Gentile congregations he had planted to bless the needy in Jerusalem. (cf I Corinthians 16: 1-4; II Corinthians 8,9) He saw this as both practical outreach and as a prophetically symbolic act of God uniting Jew and Gentile believers in Messiah.

So where is this journey with Rabbi Cliff and his congregation going? Short answer--only God knows.

I don't say that facetiously. I do have a deep sense that God is up to something in this personal friendship being forged with Rabbi Cliff. And I believe he is up to something in building bridges between the two congregations. I can't begin to predict, however, how these relationships will proceed. But for the time being I am enjoying the journey and seeking to stay open to God's surprises.

And some orphaned children in Israel are being blessed. God be praised!

Pastor Rick