Update from the Schneiers June 2012

Dear Friends of the Schneiers,

   So good to be able to write you of all of the wonderful things the Lord has done this past Spring in Europe. But first, please pray for Leslye who had to return to the US to help take care of her Mom who had a heart attack one week ago. Her mother is back home now. Recently she had to return to the ER so she needs prayer to sustain and heal her. Leslye also needs prayer as many decisions will need to be made in the days ahead.

   We returned to Paris in March (1) to prepare for sharing in Dallas at a Passover celebration led by Chuck Pierce, (2) to help lead an IAMCS Regional Leadership Conference in Nikolaiv, Ukraine, (3) to join a prayer team led by Roger & Charlotte Merschbrock to places in the south of France that blessed the Jewish people, (4) to travel to Spain to meet with the only Messianic congregation there, (5) to help lead an IAMCS leadership conference for western Europe in Belgium and finally (6) to be part of a conference team in Lyon, France led by Chuck Pierce with Paul Wilbur in concert. We made a lot of new friends during this process in the Messianic movement and in churches. God gave us many opportunities to share His love for the Jewish people and His plan for reaching them through relationships and Messianic Jewish congregations.

   First, David was asked to share at the Passover service at Glory of Zion in its new center in Corinth, Texas. The title of his message was "Passing Over Into Unity. A Time for Reflection and Action on the Part of the Body of Messiah." It can be ordered at Glory of Zion's web site at https://gloryofzion.org/webstore/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=1190. David connected the unity of Jewish and Gentile believers in reaching the Jewish people with end time revival in the body of Messiah. He shared that the Lord is saying that is it time for the Church to do something to help the Jewish people see their Messiah, Yeshua. And it is time to publicly defend the Jewish people which will be costly to those brave enough to do it. It was Dietrich Bonhoeffer who said, "Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act."  Here are some photos from the conference which Jonathan Cahn also shared his prophetic vision for the US from his book "The Harbinger."

David sharing at the Passover conference

                               

Jonathan Cahn receiving prayer

  Returning again to Paris, David prepared for the semi-annual IAMCS leadership retreat in Ukraine, this time in Nikolaiv. The IAMCS host congregation there is led by Yura Korshun. David's topic during the three day conference was . We had 230 leaders and congregants attend from 22 cities. There was such desire to worship, to receive teaching and to fellowship. Our next Ukrainian conference is during the last week of October and we are hoping to have Maurice Sklar come and give two concerts in the famous Stolyarsky music school, one for survivors of the Holocaust and one for the city. We need to raise $4,000 for Maurice's expenses to come so if anyone wants to help with that special need please let me know because the Ukrainian congregations do not have the resources for such a venture. Here are some photos from the Nikolaiv conference:

Men dancing in unity

A child sounds the shofar

New art emerges

           

New IAMCS congregation

Torah Procession

Former Muslim who now loves the Jewish people

      

     Leslye and I then joined up with a prayer team from Louisiana led by Roger and Charlotte Merschbrock. We will be joining the Merschbrock's in Baton Rouge on July 20-22, 2012 for a time of sharing at a statewide conference and a church about the one new man from a Jewish perspective. Before setting out on our journey we had a miraculous time participating in an exclusive remembrance in Paris of France's deportation of tens of thousands of Jews during WWII.  Ever where we turned their were French dignitaries, Holocaust survivors, politicians, rabbis and priests and military officers. And we and the team (who we introduced as our "entourage") were permitted to be part of all of this because of Leslye's listening to the Lord and our press passes from the IPA (International Press Association). Here are some photos from the day of remembrance:

A Schneier deported from France

A survivor/deportee in his uniform

Military presence

Private government ceremony

  

       

Rabbi's prayer of remembrance

Laying the wreaths

                                                                 

   Our journey to the south of France began in La Rochelle. In all we visited La Rochelle, Valence and Le Chambon-sur-Lignon and nearby towns where the Huguenots through their ancestors hid and saved thousands of Jews before and during. In one town, false ration and identity cards were prepared in the city hall! Here's a photo description of our time there:

Shabbat in La Rochelle

Young girl's family saved this young boy

The two friends today

This home protected Jewish refugees

Synagogue in Valence

     

    

    

      Our next stop with little rest was a trip to Spain to visit in Madrid the only Messianic congregation in the whole country. Rabbis Mijael Sofer leads a congregation of about 12-15 people. They are officially recognized as a Jewish community. In order to achieve that status they have to have a cemetery and access to a place of running water for a mikvah. I don't know of another messianic congregation that has its own cemetery!. Upon our arrival in Madrid Rabbi Sofer took us to Segovia where the document was signed to expel the Jews from Spain in 1492. It was also the home of Spain's chief Rabbi, Avraham Seneor who our Schneier family may be related to. More on that in the future. We visited Rabbi Avraham's home which is now a museum. After Madrid we had a chance to visit with friends in Toledo, a seat of Jewish culture and learning and ironically the Spanish Inquisition. We had a chance to visit the museum of El Greco (who was from Greece). One of my favorite paintings, "The View of Toledo," was not there since it seems to reside in NYC. Spain ordered 1.200,000 Jews to leave and we were told that 400,000 did and 800,000 "converted " meaning that almost everyone in Spain has distant Jewish relative. Here are some photos from our trip there:

Roman aqueduct in Segovia

Sefarad seal marking Jewish quarter

Great Synagogue of Toledo

Shabbat with congregation in Madrid

Bridge of Tears where Jews left Segovia

  

       

    

     We had one other trip in Europe to La Louviere, Belgium outside of Brussels from June 1-3. We were joined there by Messianic Rabbis David Chernoff and Joel Liberman from the USA and Messianic leaders from Belgium, England, The Netherlands, Italy, Czech Republic, Ukraine and France for an IAMCS leadership conference. The conference theme dealt with issues facing the Messianic movement in Europe. The worship was awesome and we were excellently hosted by Lorenzo Greco and his congregation Beth Yeshoua. This was really a turning point for unity in the Messianic movement in western Europe and we expect great things to come from this gathering. Here are some final photos from Belgium:

Lorenzo Greco (Belgium)

David Chernoff (Phila.)

Joel Liberman (San Diego)

David Schneier (Paris)

Alexander (Sasha) Popazov (Odessa)

 

   

     

     So now you have joined us on some of our travels in the last three months. God is doing many things in Europe and we thank you for your prayers and financial support for our vision to strengthen the Messianic Jewish movement there and to see revival amongst our Jewish people and the whole body of Messiah.

   If you would like to financially partner with us you can do so as follows below.

Please send your check, made payable to Glory of Zion Int’l Ministries, to:

The Schneiers

c/o Glory of Zion Int’l Ministries

PO Box 1601

Denton, TX 76202-1601 

(Please include a note with your check that it is “For the Schneiers.” (Your gifts are tax deductible).

    If you would like to make a credit card donation, go to www.glory-of-zion.org, click on "Donate" on the left side of the home page, fill in your credit card info on the "Send a Donation" page, in the "Put Toward" section click on "Designated Gift" and in the "Enter Recipient" section fill in "The Schneiers." This last step will insure that  your gift goes to our ministry. You can indicate in the comment section if your gift is one-time or to be charged monthly on the date you provide.

   Blessings, Love and Shalom,

       David & Leslye