Alan Butterworth, missionary with the Apple of His Eye Mission Society, St. Louis, Mo. will be leading a Messianic Passover Seder Meal at Peace Lutheran Church, 800 S. Donaghey Ave., Conway, at 6 p.m. Thursday.

During this meal he will explain the symbolism of the Passover meal, showing how Jesus Christ has fulfilled the Passover as our Messiah. This event is open to the public. For more information or to RSVP, call the church at 329-3854.

The Apple of His Eye Mission Society was founded in 1996 to boldly proclaim the Gospel of Jesus (Yeshua) to Jewish people. Steve Cohen, its founder, came to faith as a result of the intentional and prayerful witness of one Lutheran man. Cohen served as a missionary with Jews for Jesus for 20 years before coming to St. Louis to found the Apple of His Eye.

Beginning with just a handful of supporters, the Lord has truly blessed this ministry so that the mailing list is now well over 40,000.

Although the Apple of His Eye has a close working relationship with Jews for Jesus, there are two important differences. First, Jews for Jesus is not affiliated with a denomination, and hence does not seek to start Messianic congregations. Apple of His Eye is a mission society of The Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod (LCMS) and actively seeks to plant Messianic congregations. Secondly, in order to be a missionary with Jews for Jesus, a person must be Jewish. Apple of His Eye has both Jewish and gentile missionaries. Experience has shown that almost 80 percent of Jewish believers in Jesus initially heard the Gospel from a gentile friend.

Butterworth is not Jewish, but he grew up in a Jewish neighborhood in New York City knowing little about Jesus or the church. Through grade school, high school and college, almost all of Butterworth’s friends were Jewish. He attended more services in synagogues than in churches. Many of his friends invited him to their Bar Mitzvah, but he had never heard of confirmation in a church

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In 1970, while in Oregon, Butterworth was with a Jewish friend, Mike, when the two of them heard the Gospel fromgentiles. Butterworth watched his friend Mike come to faith in Jesus. Mike boldly shared his faith with Butterworth, but Butterworth was afraid and refused to listen.

Some time later Butterworth experienced more stress than he could handle while in Law School and trying to provide for his family. After many sleepless nights Butterworth got down on his knees and prayed a simple prayer: "Jesus, I really don’t know if you are there. But if you are, I need your help. I’m not going to make it on my own." His life changed dramatically and 15 years after first hearing the Gospel, Butterworth was baptized at Christ the King Lutheran Church in Orlando, Fla.

In its short existence, the Apple of His Eye has grown dramatically. Butterworth Butterworth is its seventh missionary. Messianic congregations have been started in St. Louis and New York City, Houston, Los Angeles, and Moscow, Russia. Apple of His Eye has a partnership with Caspari Center in Israel. This past January saw their first mission trip to Israel, and continues to pray about those who will be led to be trained and serve as missionaries in Israel.

Butterworth began part-time service with the Apple of His Eye in February 2002 while continuing part-time at the LCMS Foundation. By January 2003, his support level had increased to the point where he could begin full-time with Apple of His Eye. Your prayers and support are critical in allowing Butterworth to continue to share the Gospel of Jesus with the Jewish people.

Butterworth can be reached at The Apple of His Eye Mission Society, P.O. Box 6977, St. Louis, MO 63123. The phone number is toll free: 888-512-775.