James & Shani Ferguson

May, 2006

Shalom and Greetings from the Ferguson family to our new friends!

This letter gives our background, what we are doing, and a couple of endorsements.

A little basic background about us:

My (Jim’s) parents were living in Dallas, studying at Dallas Theological Seminary when I was born. I loved the Lord as a young child, but rebelled heavily at an early age. After studying music in college I began to play in ungodly bands for years before I finally returned to the Lord at the age of 24. When I finally returned, it was full force. Later, I began to visit the Brownsville Assembly of God, which was experience a mighty revival in the mid-90s. Later I began to attend their school, “BRSM.” During this time my heart was being drawn to see souls come into the Kingdom. After seeing Shani for the first time, my heart was also drawn towards my future bride.

Shani was born and raised in Israel with parents who are pioneers in reaching Israelis with the Gospel of Yeshua (Jesus Christ). Having grown up with stories of her Grandfather, Gordon Lindsay (founder of Christ for the Nations), it was just a matter of time before she became interested in being like her parents and grandparents. At the age of 15, she began a consistent walk with the Lord. Upon graduating high school, she was drafted to the Israeli army (everyone in Israel is drafted). However, somehow she was not required to serve – and so decided to join Gods’ army and went to the Brownsville Revival School of Ministry in Pensacola, FL. Her two years at “BRSM” resulted in a realization that she wanted to spend the rest of her life bringing her Jewish people to Yeshua (Jesus).

After our graduation, we married and moved to Israel where we began working with a congregation in Tel Aviv as well as several other ministries throughout the land. We have been strongly emphasizing revival and repentance, living a life of holiness, living a life of faith and victory over sickness in order to set others free - and we have been doing this through preaching, teaching, worship, Gospel materials, and a lot of one-on-one discipleship.

At the end of our first year together in Israel, we returned to the U.S. for a few years of further training and ministry experience. We studied at Christ for the Nations in Dallas, and then worked with a bible school (Fire School of Ministry), doing Jewish ministry and outreach in New York City. Knowing our heart was to be in Israel, we have traveled back and forth to Israel from America over the years, working with new believers in Israel and serving the body however we could.

We have currently been living in Israel for the past 2 years working with congregation "Tiferet Yeshua" (which means "The Glory of Jesus"). The longer we are here; the more we see the fields are extremely ripe for harvest. In our congregation, we see Israelis come to the faith in Yeshua every week, which is a dramatic shift as opposed to years ago.

What we are doing:

For the past two years we have been focusing on two main areas of ministry in Israel:

1. Building up the Body of Messiah in our local congregation

2. Spreading the Gospel, Winning Souls and Making Disciples

How we are doing it:

In order build the body of believers here in Israel, specifically in Congregation Tiferet Yeshua we have:

• Started a worship team (translated new songs as there is a dearth of powerful songs in Hebrew that communicates adoration of God and the authority of the believer)
• Started a healing team which prays constantly for the sick, diseased, and injured. We are also making "house calls" to those in need of healing and are seeing proven, documented results.

In order to win the lost and disciple young believers, we have:

• Working to spread the Gospel and win more souls by going to Israeli festivals, Holy day events, through street evangelism, and through the distribution of materials, and by everyday conversations with friends, store owners, neighbors and random encounters!

• One-on-one discipleship and small group ministry: We are working to disciple a team of dedicated young men and women and are hopeful that God will raise them up to be a new generation of warriors in the land of Israel.

• Producing various Gospel related projects such as a Hebrew version of the New Testament on CD with music soundtrack, and powerful DVD Hebrew Gospel messages which are handed out as tracks to the unsaved.

• We are working closely to disciple Israelis of all ages, and are emphasizing training in evangelism, study and knowledge of the scriptures, and worship.

*We have been expanding the ministry recently, going into areas along the Gaza strip which have received hundreds of rocket attacks, and have also been venturing into disputed areas in the Golan Heights, working with Israelis to evangelize these areas with the goal of making disciples and planting congregations.

Operation “Light to the Nations”

Last year our ministry, YeshuaIsrael, took a young Israeli to Tanzania to share with Africans the Gospel of Yeshua and tell about his life as an Israeli believer - fulfilling his destiny as a “light to the nations.” The goal of this trip was to incite a fire in the Africans for God’s plans for Israel and the nations, and to stir up this young man to ministry when he returned to Israel. We also went to areas in Africa virtually unreached with the Gospel, and were able to see God move supernaturally; saving, healing and delivering people. As a result, hundreds of Africans have caught God’s heart for Israel, and after hearing the testimonies, many Israelis are hungry to go on the mission field to be “lights to the nations” - they are being stirred to see God do the same mighty things in their own nation, Israel.

Giving to those in need

The economic situation for most Israelis is difficult, as we have also experienced ourselves because of high costs of living in Israel, low wages and because of enormous taxes. Gasoline is over $6 a gallon in Israel, rent averages $800-1000 for a small apartment in Tel Aviv, and taxes are often over 50% of one's income.

Because of these reasons, we have helped many Israelis in our congregation with all kinds of basic needs of living such as:

• Providing money for food • Helping pay their rent

• Sponsoring a young couple to get married who could not afford it

• Buying clothes for the children of congregants.

As we our monthly donations increase, our ability to give towards these causes and more have been possible.

Our Heart and Accountability

Shani and I have been ministering to Israelis together since 1998, and for the past 8 years, our hearts have been burning more and more to see Israelis come to the kingdom of God, established in local congregations, being discipled and mentored to be more like Yeshua, their Jewish Messiah, and to take this message to “Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

We are in close accountability spiritually and financially with MaozIsrael Ministries, who is a member of the ECFA, and all funds we receive come through Maoz who functions as our sending organization.

YeshuaIsrael Ministries is responsible fully to raise support for our life and entire ministry in Israel. Although we do work with other ministries and congregations in the land, we raise our own support, and in this sense we are independent.

We welcome your prayers and financial support!

In Yeshua’s love, Jim and Shani (& Illit, our 1 year old!)

Ministry Endorsements:

I wholeheartedly recommend the ministry of Jim and Shani Ferguson. They are people of integrity, living out the message that they preach. Having been touched in the fires of revival, they bring a powerful message of holiness and devotion to Jesus, and they will challenge your young people as well as your whole congregation to pursue a deeper encounter with the Lord. And as Israeli citizens, they have a deep understanding of God's eternal purposes for the Jewish people, bringing a timely and relevant word to the Church. Most of all, they are people of prayer, and the Spirit's presence is often on their meetings. I encourage you to invite them to come and minister to your flock.

Dr. Michael L. Brown, President, FIRE School of Ministry Concord, North Carolina

I first became acquainted with Jim Ferguson when he was attending the Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola, Florida, where a mighty revival was taking place that attracted young and old from far and near. While in Dallas one year, I heard Jim speak publicly for the first time and was amazed at his anointing. In his delivery, he spoke flawlessly without hesitation or repetition. What I am saying is that he is an excellent speaker. His wife is a help to him as well. As with so many of today's youth, there was a period of time when he lived a shallow life, but since his call into the ministry some years ago, he now is an outstanding example of an anointed, changed life. I recommend Jim Ferguson as a fine minister. He is a young man of integrity, a firm constitution and a willingness to serve. I know he will be a blessing to young and old alike.

Freda Lindsay, Co-founder Christ For The Nations