Sam Rotman, considered one of the world's top 25 experts
in the music of Beethoven, has memorised more than 1,000
pieces of music. "Music makes me happy," he says, "but Jesus
changed my life."
When people in Madrid tuned in to popular radio host Cesar Vidal one evening in May, they heard an astonishing thing: the guest speaker, Sam Rotman, was a Jewish person who followed Jesus! "You are here to play a concert and you are Jewish," said Cesar Vidal, whose daily broadcast (with some 8 million listeners) gives a Christian perspective on politics, the arts and current events. “Yet you are going to talk about Jesus. How do you reconcile that?”
Sam loves nothing better than to tell his story. Born in San Antonio, Texas, to Jewish parents, he grew up going to Hebrew school and praying every morning in Hebrew. His parents had fled Eastern Europe in 1940, but everybody who stayed behind – aunts and uncles, grandparents and cousins, all died in the Holocaust. So naturally, Sam had no interest in Christianity.
But Sam was a gifted musician and went to the prestigious Juilliard School of Music, where he met three Christians who spoke to him of Jesus, the Jewish Messiah. The young man began reading the Scriptures and eventually accepted Jesus as his Messiah. Sam went on to become one of the world's foremost Beethoven specialists, yet a deep love for Jesus permeated everything he did.
The Sam Rotman team and the Madrid team worked together
in reaching Current Leaders and Influencers.
As Sam spoke to Cesar Vidal of his love for Jesus, listeners were amazed – not only at his comments that Jesus and the apostles were Jewish, but also that such a world-class musician would be presenting a concert in Cobeña, a small town on the north side of Madrid.
The Madrid Team Working Together
His concert in Cobeña – and further concerts in Madrid – served as an opportunity for the Agape team in Madrid to work together in outreach. A couple with FamilyLife in Spain, Daniel and Vanina Demai, moved here two years ago in order to plant a church and to serve the community. Cobeña, it turns out, was a centre of Jewish artisans under the Moors, so Gabino Fernández and the CER organized an exhibition on the Jewish roots of the area, while members of Sam's team made contacts with Madrid synagogues. Miguel Angel Cano of Mezzo and Alba Miller of the university ministry also helped out.
More than 200 people—including the mayor and several city leaders—packed out the auditorium to hear Sam's concert and his story. God touched many hearts. "As I looked into people's eyes," says Rubén Fernández, a leader in the Spanish ministry, "I could see a spiritual response. You don't always see that."
The second night of Sam's visit saw the Madrid team work together to help Miguel Angel Cano launch a ministry with artists. A leading businessman hosted a garden party at his home. Sam's performance on the patio drew some 40 Christians involved in dance, theatre and music. Afterward, Miguel Angel led a discussion of how to begin reaching people in the arts with the gospel. “Sam’s event will be a model for these artists and musicians to create new platforms for evangelism,” he says.
The final concert was in the Fine Arts Centre of Madrid. That day Gabino arranged a luncheon for Sam with influential people in the city, who could invite friends to future concerts.
Sam’s Team
"Classical music softens hearts," says Raoul Garcia, a Filipino/American businessman who coordinated the Sam Rotman tour, "for it is timeless music." Raoul believes that in order to build movements in cities, Agape needs to reach both the student world and the people currently in leadership. But he knows that staff members often have no way to reach those in higher levels of influence.
Gabino Fernandez presents Karen Faith of the Sam Rotman
team with a copy of the first Hebrew Scriptures translated into
Spanish, printed in the year 1553. Both Karen Faith and
Sam Rotman are Messianic Jews.
"The local staff team has a strategy," Raoul points out, "and we have an event that appeals to the high-level, influential person.” Together with his wife Karen Faith (a Messianic Jew like Sam), Raoul invites local teams to integrate such events into their city strategies. The couple also encourages local teams to reach out to the Jewish community.
The Sam Rotman concerts in Madrid helped the team work together in new ways, they opened doors to a higher level of society, and they helped people better understand the need for Jew and Gentile alike to follow Jesus. "These events gave momentum to everything we are doing," said Miguel Angel Cano, coordinator of the overall Agape ministry in Madrid.
