Report of the Work Among the Jews by Frederick C. Gilbert

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 25, 1907

Report of the Work Among the Jews

By Frederick C. Gilbert

We are glad to state that since our last report to the Review concerning the work among the Jews, the blessing of the Lord has been attending us, and we have had many things to encourage us, despite the many difficulties and perplexities. We have wished a great many times that our dear people could spend a few days among these people in practical Christian work. Then they could better understand why the work is so difficult, and why there are so many things about it that are of such a discouraging nature.

To the Jew everything that is not Jewish or Mohammedan is Christian. All drunkards, gamblers, profane people, and all who claim in any way to believe the Bible are Christians. The reason for this is apparent, when we remember that during the last eighteen hundred years all the sorrows, persecutions, and miseries that have come to the Jews in their wanderings have been done in the name of Christ and Christianity.

Many of the persecutions in Russia are planned by the priests of the church, and ofttimes the mobs are led by the priest holding a crucifix in his hand. When the Jews are massacred, these mobs chant some kind of hymn, giving thanks to God that more of these wicked people who crucified the Saviour are put out of the world.

A short time ago while calling at the home of a Jewish family, the woman of the house told me that the Jews ought not to believe in a God. I asked her how she could make such a statement. She said, “You would, too, if you could have seen what I have. I have seen them take women and men and children, and hurl them to the ground from three and four stories high. Then the mobs would exult that God got such a victory.”

When our workers go to the homes of the people to visit them and to help them, nearly always they are shy of the workers. “What do you want?” is one of the first questions they ask. When the worker says he has come to help them, and to do them good, they can scarcely believe it, and it takes a long while to convince many of them that we are really trying to help them. Often when they have received benefit, they will inquire, “What are you? What do you believe?” When they are told that we are Christians, they can scarcely believe it. Ofttimes they will say, “You are no kind of Christian. That is not the way the Christians do in Russia.”

But despite all the bitter opposition and the many perplexities, we can see the wall of prejudice breaking down. We can see that many of the Jews who have been so bitter in the past are feeling more friendly toward us, and many are coming to believe that we really are their friends.

There have been quite a number who have come to us and confessed that they believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. There are many who today in their hearts believe the truth, but the next thing is for them to take their stand. It is so hard! A number have come to me and said, “What an awful thing it is to think of the terrible persecution one must encounter to believe in Jesus!” They feel it is so hard to be ostracized, persecuted, cast out, and lose position and friends to be a follower of the meek and lowly Nazarene. But we tell them that is the only way the Lord has of giving us eternal life, and we must be willing to take the stand and obey.

We are finding many open doors among them in the different branches of the work, and the influence of the work is being felt at quite a distance. Some time ago we went a number of miles to give out literature in a Jewish colony. While engaged in conversation with some young men, a man across the street wanted to know what was going on. The person to whom I was speaking replied, “It is some of the people from Staniford Street Mission.” The other day while riding on the train, I was in conversation with two Jews. One of them I had met a number of times, but the other I had never seen before. Finally he wanted to know what I was doing, and I replied that I was connected with the mission in Boston. He asked, “The one on Staniford Street?” I said, “Yes. Do you know anything about it?” He replied, “O, yes!”

We have felt much burdened for the work, and it has been a great problem to know what to do in order to reach them with the gospel. Some will come to the mission, but not many. Sometimes the same ones will continue to come for a while, and then are not seen there again for a long time. We have been circulating a great deal of literature among them, and have tried many ways to bring the truth to their attention.

We felt that we ought to do all we could, so we undertook to have outdoor meetings, and to enter into the very strongholds of Judaism, right into the heart of the ghettos. It seemed like a dangerous proposition, but we felt that we must take the gospel to them. We have had a number of such meetings, and as a result hundreds of Jews have heard the truth. The accompanying illustrations will give the reader some idea of an outdoor meeting, but one needs to see it in order to appreciate what it means. Sometimes they begin to yell, and keep it up for five minutes. They will mob the speaker, and once or twice the writer has had narrow escapes, but thank the Lord, the angels of God have preserved us thus far.

We feel that these people have long been neglected, and they have erroneous views of the gospel. They must be enlightened; they must know the Lord Jesus. So by the grace of God we are endeavoring to carry it to them, and we feel sure every reader will want to do his part in carrying it to the Jews also. You, my brother and my sister, owe it to the Jew to give him the truth. Through him to you has come everything you have of this precious message, including the Saviour himself. You are a debtor; you ought to give him, then, that which he once had, but now has lost, and which is so precious to you. In the next article we will tell you how you can do this in your vicinity. There are Jews everywhere, and they all must hear this truth.

We shall be glad to send a sample copy of the paper that is being published in the interests of this work among the Jews to any one who desires it. The price of the paper is only twenty-five cents a year. We hope you will all pray for this work, that the Lord may give us grace and strength to do his will, and that we may see many of these people in the kingdom at last.

F. C. GILBERT. 107 Staniford St., Boston, Mass.

A STREET MEETING IN THE JEWISH SECTION OF BOSTON