Spring 2010

Dear Friends,

For those of you who don’t already know, I’d like to share my personal testimony of how I came to faith in the Messiah of Israel. My stepmother who raised me was Jewish, and I followed my dad’s lead and married a nice Jewish girl. I also grew up in the very Jewish neighborhood of Forest Hills in New York City.

During my youth, almost all of my friends were Jewish and I went to Jewish summer camps where we kept Shabbat (the Sabbath) and ate kosher food. In 1968, I even went on a teen tour to Israel when I was 14, and spent the entire summer on a kibbutz. You’ve heard of the French connection? Well, this is the Jewish connection!

The next summer, I attended the Woodstock Festival and began getting high every day. I grew up with highly altruistic values in a self-serving society. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., once said, “If a man hasn’t found something for which he is willing to die, he isn’t fit to live.” I had sought a higher purpose and meaning in life more important than myself, but I couldn’t find anything or anyone worth dying for. The world had failed to provide me with the answers. I now know why—it didn’t have the goods; it didn’t have Jesus.

I don’t remember anyone telling me telling me about the Gospel; I probably wouldn’t have listened anyway. In 1984, I had been a drug addict for 15 years, living homeless on the streets of New York, and I found myself barefoot and in dire need of a pair of shoes. I went to a church that gave out clothing, got some proper footwear, and then asked the minister for a Bible. I thought this was a way of showing my gratitude to the minister for what he had done. But God knew better; He had a plan!

I soon began reading my new Gideon pocket Bible, New Testament—starting with the Book of Matthew. I entered a world that I had never realized existed. I met characters like John the Baptist. He preached a gutsy message in the wilderness while wearing a rough camel skin coat with a leather belt, and only eating locusts and honey! I really liked John, and pictured him full of chutzpah (boldness) with fiery eyes, long hair, and a beard. Now you’ve got to understand, I had never so much as heard of John the Baptist—and being homeless I met a lot of strange characters. So, even though John seemed a little weird, he was very much like the people I was used to hanging out with! I then read that, “foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” (Matt. 8:20). I realized, “Hey, Jesus was homeless too!”

I continued reading and got to the parables of Matthew in Chapter 13. I began to be seriously intrigued by the Person, work, and words of this Jesus. In the parable of the sower, I saw how I had been like, “he which received seed by the wayside.” I couldn’t remember ever hearing the Word of the kingdom until now. But I feared that although hearing this Word for the first time, I would be as “he that received the seed into stony places” because I didn’t have roots and could therefore not grow in commitment. I kept reading.

I soon came to the parable of the tares. If you know anything about Jewish culture, you know that an argument is not necessarily considered bad manners or distasteful. And it was here that I began to argue—argue with God. I couldn’t believe that I was actually talking to God; some people call it prayer, but at that time it was arguing for me.

You see, Jesus said there were only two kinds of people—wheat and tares, with nothing in the middle. I felt it was my duty to convince God that I was not a tare, but indeed wheat. I knew I was a mensch (a good man), and all I had to do was ensure God knew this too. Now if I, a homeless, filthy drug addict had trouble admitting to God that I was a sinner, how much more difficult is it for the average, “normal” everyday person to admit it? “The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God” (1 Cor. 2:14).

I couldn’t tell you how long the arguing lasted. But every time I tried to justify myself before God, I would realize how fruitless and barren my life had truly been. As if that wasn’t bad enough, I began to realize that my sin did not take place in a vacuum. My drug addiction had wreaked havoc in other people’s lives—including my own family. This was more than I could bear. I was a broken man. I realized that I was depraved and lost, but I clung to hope. Jesus wouldn’t have bothered to say this if there wasn’t hope. And He certainly wouldn’t have gotten this Bible into my hands and shown me all this only to abandon me in my hour of need. I knew I was a tare and nothing short of a miracle could transform me into wheat.

I heard about a Christian rehabilitation program at the Bowery Mission on the Lower Eastside within a few months. I had been in many programs, but I thought perhaps I would try a Christian program. I figured, “they’re probably nicer to you.” An interview was set up, and I was introduced to staff member Michael Cohen. I noted that Mike was Jewish and I looked forward to what I thought would be an interesting meeting.

For the first time that I could remember, I actually heard the Gospel. I understood that I could have a fresh start in life with Jesus because He paid for my sins with His blood. And as if that wasn’t enough, Mike shared with me that according to the Scriptures Jesus rose from the dead, and that upon inviting Jesus into my heart, I would be raised to a new life with a new nature. Well, that was just what I was waiting for; it was so simple yet so profound. Michael told me, “If any man be in Messiah, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). This was just what the doctor ordered! It was the miracle that would change me from a weed to wheat. My life was in shambles and I had nothing to lose. I promptly prayed with Michael to receive Jesus as my personal Savior and had my sins washed away. I was a homeless drug addict one day, and the next day I was a new creation serving the Lord at the mission. It was just that simple.

God has ordained that the ongoing work of advancing His Kingdom be financially supported by believers. I therefore ask you to seriously consider supporting our ministry regularly through your finances.

Yours for the salvation of Israel,

Peter and Diann Parkas