South Florida in winter perfect hunting ground to missionize Jews, says messianic group

Those who participate in the “outreach” trip will enjoy “a week of planting and harvesting the Gospel seed,” Chosen People Ministries promises.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

A missionary group has called upon its followers to travel to Florida to target Jews from New York on winter vacation in the Sunshine State, with the goal of aggressively proselytizing and attempting to convert them to Christianity.

Chosen People Ministries, whose website states that they aim to bring the “good news of Yeshua [Jesus]” to the Jewish people, announced a family-friendly group trip to Florida for its followers.

The missionary group explains on its site that the trip, dubbed “Fun in the Sun,” was timed intentionally to coincide with the peak of the Jewish tourist season in order to facilitate “outreach” to as many Jews as possible.

“You can share the Messiah with your Jewish friend!” the campaign’s text reads, along with instructions on how best to speak with Jews about Jesus.

Those who participate in the “outreach” trip will enjoy “a week of planting and harvesting the Gospel seed,” the site promises.

Beyneynu, an anti-missionary watchdog NGO, brought attention to the trip, which was previously covered by Jewish Hebrew-language news sites.

“These aggressive campaigns targeting the Jewish people are offensive and show a clear disrespect and trampling of religious freedoms, namely our right to be Jews and not be preyed upon,” said Shannon Nuszen, founder and director of Beyneynu.

Nuszen said that a concerted effort to reach out to other religious minorities would spark widespread outrage.

“In any other situation, the targeting of a certain ethnic group would not be tolerated. The intentional targeting of Jewish people by Christians is offensive and has been going on for centuries,” she said.

“The church has long been making fantastic claims and leveling serious charges against the Jewish faith. We are going to respond. The free speech of the Jewish people will no longer be stifled.”

Notably, as of Wednesday at press time, Chosen People Ministries’ website was abruptly changed to state that Fun in the Sun has been postponed until 2023.

It’s unclear if media attention and backlash around the campaign caused the group to take a step back or if the outreach will happen as originally planned – albeit under the radar.

(Below: Missionary outreach flyer promoting trip to Florida. Courtesy: Beyneynu)