Emmanuel, born in Tehran Iran, is a 5th generation Jewish Believe in Jesus. He also likes to say he is a descendant of Queen Esther… but he can’t back that up. He grew up attending an Iranian congregation in Los Angeles. The congregation was made up of Iranian Jewish believers in Jesus and former Iranian Muslims who now follow Jesus. Congregations like these are a true testament of the peace and unity that Jesus the Messiah brings when we surrender our hearts to Him.
At the age of 17 Emmanuel began to ask, “How can I really know and understand God if I don’t ask hard questions about Him and the Bible and know for myself what is true?” He wanted to know that God was real and what He wanted from him. He began to ask people who seemed to have genuine relationships with God how I could hear from Him myself. This search affirmed his faith in Jesus and the Bible. Moving into adulthood, the more Emmanuel aligned his dreams and desires for his life with the teachings of Jesus, the more his path became clear to him… that his purpose in life is sharing God’s love and good news about the messiah Jesus through his actions and words.
He wrote, “The faith of my forefathers, and even in my grandfather choosing our last name Mebasser, meaning ‘bearer of Good News’ has become a legacy proudly embrace.”
When Emmanuel was in college, he met Annette Sofaer who was doing evangelism on his campus and he began to help with evangelism and other branch activities in LA. He took part in several other mission trips with Jews for Jesus including in Israel, Florida and New York. He also did two internships at the San Francisco headquarters in the Web and Multimedia departments.
Emmanuel first met his wife Sarah on an outreach in Florida. They became instant friends and found a lot of fulfillment in knowing others who were Jewish and cared about the salvation of the Jewish people. They got married after graduating college and served with Jews for Jesus in different capacities until Emmanuel accepted a full time position in 2007 to lead the web department of Jews for Jesus at the San Francisco headquarters. Emmanuel has been innovating online evangelism utilizing website strategies, videos, animations, social media and live chat on the JewsforJesus.org website over that time.
Emmanuel’s work with Jews for Jesus was always focused on how to use the web and social media to make the Good News of Jesus available and accessible to Jewish people worldwide. Having been accepted as a missionary on staff, enables him to train as a specialized missionary, where he can further develop online evangelism ministry. He looks forward to being able to further coordinate and train other missionaries and volunteer teams to connect with Jewish people online.
He likes to tell people, “We harness anonymity of the web to allow those who might not otherwise be reached with the Gospel to explore the truth of Jesus and get personally connected directly with a missionary!”
