Jonathan Bernis is a Jewish Believer in Jesus who has been a leader in Messianic Jewish ministry for more than thirty years and who currently serves as President and CEO of Jewish Voice Ministries International (JVMI).
- JVMI’s mission is: Proclaim the Gospel, engage the church concerning Israel and the Jewish People, and grow the Messianic Jewish Community
- JVMI’s vision is: Transform lives and see all Israel saved
JVMI also conducts humanitarian/medical outreaches to some of the most impoverished Jewish communities on earth, including regular outreaches in Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, and other points of need around the world. Through these outreaches, JVMI has provided medical, dental, and eye care that has saved lives, restored eyesight, and shared the Gospel message of the Messiah with hundreds of thousands of Jewish people and their neighbors. As a result, dozens of Messianic congregations have formed, and through its Congregational and Leadership Development team, JVMI comes alongside new believers and emerging leaders with discipleship, training, and support.
JVMI also ministers through large-scale international Festivals of Jewish Music & Dance throughout Eastern Europe, India, Africa, and South America. Hundreds of thousands have attended these festivals, and millions more have participated through television broadcasts. Thousands have responded to the Gospel message, and more than a dozen new Messianic Jewish congregations arose in the former Soviet Union through these outreaches.
Jonathan is ordained as a Messianic Rabbi through the International Alliance of Messianic Congregations and Synagogues. He 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 1996. In 1998, Jonathan was called upon to take up the mantle of leadership for Jewish Voice Broadcasts, a ministry founded by Louis Kaplan, and the ministry merged with Jonathan’s Hear O’ Israel Ministries to become Jewish Voice Ministries International.
As a Jewish Believer, Jonathan is passionate about fulfilling the call of sharing the Gospel with Jewish people, knowing that there is salvation in no one else, and there is no other name under Heaven than the name of Jesus by which all men – Jew or Gentile – are saved (Acts 4:12).
Jonathan is the author of several books including A Rabbi Looks at the Supernatural, A Hope and A Future, A Rabbi Looks at the Afterlife, A Rabbi Looks at the Last Days, and A Rabbi Looks at Jesus of Nazareth.
Jonathan and his wife, Elisangela, reside in Phoenix, Arizona with their two daughters.
