Jonathan Bernis Interview (from 1998)

I was digging in the "archives" and found this fun interview with Jonathan Bernis!   This was when he was with "Hear O Israel Ministries," long before becoming the head of Jewish Voice Ministries.

Jewish Believer in Yeshua (Jesus), Jonathan Bernis is President & CEO of Jewish Voice Ministries International (JVMI). Jonathan has worked on the forefront of world evangelism since 1984, taking the Good News of Israel’s Messiah to the far reaches of the earth, to the Jewish People, and also to the Nations.

Today, as President & CEO of Jewish Voice Ministries International (JVMI), and our associated organizations in Canada and the United Kingdom, Jonathan directs all aspects of the ministry, including the weekly television program Jewish Voice with Jonathan Bernis, which airs throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia.

JVMI’s mission is two-fold: Proclaiming the Gospel to the Jew first, and also to the Nations (Romans 1:16), and equipping the Church—providing education about the Hebraic roots of Christianity, the Church’s responsibility to Israel and the Jewish People, and how to share Messiah with the Jewish People. The Good News is proclaimed through television, print media, humanitarian/medical outreaches, and large-scale international festivals.

More than 560,000 people have attended our vibrant Hear O’ Israel! Festivals of Jewish Music & Dance throughout Eastern Europe, India, and South America. Millions more have participated via television broadcasts. Thousands have responded to altar calls, and about one third of those who have responded have been Jewish. More than a dozen new Messianic Jewish congregations have been birthed in the former Soviet Union through these outreaches. JVMI also partners with several other Messianic ministries to establish and operate Messianic Jewish Bible Institutes around the world to train leaders for Jewish ministry.

The lost and scattered tribes of Israel are of particular interest to Jonathan and Jewish Voice. A prophetic sign of redemption, as God is revealing these enigmatic peoples from Ethiopia to Eastern India, Jewish Voice has mobilized to reach out with essential humanitarian and medical provision, as God’s arm extended in the love of their Messiah. This is a very exciting and rewarding area of ministry, particularly close to Jonathan’s heart as these are the poorest Jewish communities on the earth.

A sought-after speaker, Jonathan also teaches at seminars and in conferences worldwide. He is a prominent leader in the Messianic movement and is a passionate supporter of Israel. He is the author of A Rabbi Looks at Jesus of Nazareth.

Jonathan is the founding Rabbi of Congregation Shema Yisrael in Rochester, New York, where he served as Senior Messianic Rabbi from 1984 to 1993. He also founded and pastored the Messianic Center of St. Petersburg, Russia, where he lived and ministered from 1993 to 1997.
Jonathan and his wife, Elisangela, are the parents of two daughters, Liel and Hannah, and reside in Phoenix, Arizona.