Several years ago, as I introduced myself and my ministry to a Christian leader, he asked sarcastically, “Are you one of those Romans 1:16 evangelists?” My reply was “Yes, I am in both senses.” Today, I still hold on to both premises stated in this verse: that the message of Jesus is power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, and that this message has to be proclaimed to the Jew first.

            Jewish evangelism has been part of my life since childhood. When I was born my father, the late Victor Sedaca, was missionary to the Jews. I grew up with the knowledge that sharing the message of Jesus with our unsaved Jewish relatives and our Jewish friends was my responsibility.  Later on, as I began my own ministry I always kept in mind our duty to reach out to the Jews with the message of JesusWhether I was pastor of a church or full time involved in Jewish missions, Jewish evangelism has been in the forefront of my ministry.

            For a quarter of a century I have dedicated my life to the advancement of Jewish missions and evangelism. In addition to having been pastor of six churches and two messianic Jewish congregations, I served as Latin American Director for the American Board of Missions to the Jews (now Chosen People Ministries), Canadian Director of Beth Sar Shalom Mission, and missionary with The Christi­an Jew Foundation in Argen­tina.  During the past 17 years, as Secretary for the Americas for the Internatio­nal Messianic Jewish Allian­ce, I have been involved in coordinating various messia­nic ministries in Latin Ameri­can. Now, as Executive Secretary of the same organization, I continue to be involved in reaching the Jews for the Messiah in Latin America.  It is therefore with deep personal convic­tion that I accepted to be the South American Coordinator for the Lausanne Consulta­tion of Jewish Evangelism.

            Although the two largest centers of Judaism are Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Sao Paulo, Brazil, there are other important Jewish communities in almost every Latin American nation. Presently, there are close to 20 missionary societies working among the Jewish people in Latin America, mainly in Argentina and Brazil. Having seen first hand the work that is being carried out, I see the need to share a common vision among all peoples involved in Jewish evangelism in South America.  It is my hope that as South American coordinator for the LCJE I will contribute to the task of finding ways to work together in reaching our common goals. While respecting the uniqueness of each ministry, we would agree to the fact that there are many things that can be done jointly. A case in point is the need to maintain the awareness among the new and vibrant Latin American churches of the fact that reaching the Jews is a mandate given to the church; that Jewish evangelism is the duty of all churches, regardless of denominational differences and different philosophical strategies exercised by the various Jewish ministries.  I will also try to use the LCJE in South America as a mean to know of each other’s work and ministry, so we can effectively uphold each other in prayer, thus being of encouragement to one another.

            I have the privilege of counting as personal friends, Peter Clarke, who was the first LCJE South American Coordinator, and Yosef Kohelner, who will continue coordinating the LCJE in Central America.  I look forward with enthusiasm to the opportunity of working with LCJE towards the common goal of reaching the Jewish people in South America with the saving knowledge of Y’shua, the Messiah.