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ABOUT US
A Brief History of Jews for Jesus
Our name tells who we are, who we stand for and what we do. Everything is right up front! While we might have chosen a less controversial name, Jews for Jesus is the one that most quickly, easily and accurately lets people know who we are and what we are about.
 Sometimes people ask us, "How long has Jews for Jesus been around?" We love that question because it gives us the chance to grin and say: "Since 32 A.D., give or take a year." The joke reminds people that a minority of Jewish people have always believed and proclaimed the gospel, and that we follow in that same tradition.
Actually, "Jews for Jesus" began as a slogan. In the late 1960s a moving of the Holy Spirit brought thousands of cause-oriented young people to faith in Jesus, many of whom were Jewish. As for our organisation, Moishe Rosen officially founded Jews for Jesus in September of 1973. Rosen, a veteran missionary to the Jewish people, was the executive director of the mission for 23 years. He revolutionised evangelistic methods and materials with his creative approach to communicating the gospel, and we believe he is the foremost strategist and tactician in the field of Jewish evangelism. He still works with Jews for Jesus full-time and serves on our board of directors.
For a more in-depth look at our early days, see A Personal Glimpse at Our Early History by Moishe Rosen.
If you view the timeline of the Jews for Jesus ministry, you'll notice that in the 1970s, Jews for Jesus opened several branches in the United States. We also began our first secular media outreach with a full-page ad in the New York Times in 1976, started publishing ISSUES as an evangelistic publication for Jewish people, and conducted exploratory witnessing expeditions to Israel and Northern Ireland.
In the 1980s, we grew with the establishment of international branches in cities such as Toronto and Johannesburg. In this decade we also instituted a Masters in Jewish Missions Program in conjunction with an evangelical seminary. Placing a value on missionary education, we required any of our missionary staff without a higher degree to go through this program.
The 1990s saw the founding of our work in the former Soviet Union, which within the space of seven years became fully indigenised, headed and staffed by Russian and Ukrainian Jewish believers in Jesus. Additional international branches established included London, Paris, Sydney, and Tel Aviv. In May of 1996, David Brickner - a fifth-generation Jewish believer in Jesus, was appointed executive director, having served in various leadership positions throughout his first 17 years with the ministry.
Now as a new millennium has begun, our Israel branch has received "amutah," or official status. We have developed a video department to produce new materials, opened branches in Rio de Janeiro and Essen, Germany, and begun our "Behold Your God" outreach to the 65 cities worldwide that have 25,000 or more Jewish people.
For a year-by-year detailed overview, view this timeline.
A detailed story of the Jews for Jesus ministry is contained in Not Ashamed: The Story of Jews for Jesus by Ruth Tucker (foreword by J. I. Packer), available for purchase at our Purple Pomegranate bookshop.
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