Feature Stories
Volumne 16 Number 3
January/February 2000
Tevet/Shevat/Adar 5760
Reaching Out To Russia
By Messianic Rabbi Barney Kasdan
I had a feeling that this ministry trip would not be easy. It was a blessing to be invited to teach at two different Messianic Jewish Institutes in the Ukraine and Russia last October. However, my suspicions were quickly confirmed even before I got to JFK airport in New York. Weeks previous, I had sent the required paperwork and passport to the Russian and Ukrainian Consulates for the proper visa. Russia came through fine but even as the day of my flight approached, word came that my passport would not be released from the Ukraine Consulate until the very day of my flight! After much prayer and, I admit, no small amount of worry, we hoped that a courier would carry my passport to meet me at JFK just 2 hours before the international flight. Of course, no passport meant no flight...which in turn meant possibly scrubbing the entire trip! Guess what? The courier arrived 20 minutes after the flight. Now I was really getting depressed. But G-d worked out a way (doesn’t He usually). In a frenzy of last second activity, the airlines re-scheduled my whole itinerary and squeezed me onto a flight that was already boarding for Geneva. B”H, I finally made it to Odessa chuckling on how G-d is always teaching us lessons in everyday life.
In Odessa, I was blessed to see the fruit of some recent Messianic Jewish outreaches. Literally thousands of our Jewish people in that part of the world have recently come to Yeshua as their Messiah and King. But that is just the start. Now, what do you do with all these new believers who need discipleship and training in the New Covenant life as Jews? The Jewish ministries working in the Ukraine have seen the vital need for a Messianic Jewish Institute to train some leadership. Here is where Kehilat Ariel could be a blessing. I was sent as a shaliach/emissary from our synagogue to help teach the group of 60 students. Of course, they gave me a light subject to teach; Daniel and Revelation in 12 easy hours! It was such a blessing to see these students eating up the Word as it was so new to them. I was also blessed by being able to worship with the new congregation in Odessa and to share the Word. Some 300 people gathered for a joyous Shabbat service. After so much tragic history in that land, how incredible to hear the praises of Yeshua in Russian and Hebrew.
The irony was especially strong as I then traveled north to Moscow. In the place of such heartache and past oppression, how wonderful it was to teach the light of the Scriptures to the Jewish believers. At the even newer Moscow Messianic Jewish Institute, I was blessed to share indepth with about 20 students. Likewise, it was a great joy to share shabbat with these newer believers at the 300+ congregation in Moscow.
A special highlight was a dinner which we had in Odessa for some interesting people. Besides the local Messianic leaders, there were in attendance a local representative from the Holocaust association as well as a pastor and his wife visiting from Austria. All of us were totally amazed to hear the story of the pastor and his church. A few years ago, G-d started putting on their heart that they needed to seek forgiveness from the Jewish community for their city’s part in the events of Nazi Europe. Only problem was, there are no Jews left in their town! The church people were not even sure if any had survived those tragic events, but they felt it important to publicly invite any Jewish survivors back to their town for a time of reconciliation. They put ads in German, Israeli, even USA papers asking for any survivors of this town to contact them. To their pleasant surprise, over 40 Jewish people from around the world responded and even came to the town once again! This diverse group of Christians and Jews had a wonderful week together in Austria of celebrating forgiveness, life and love for one another. All of us at the dinner table were truly touched by this true story, especially the local holocaust association representative! I couldn’t help but think that this truly is in the spirit of what Yeshua taught us. The events of the trip to Russia and the Ukraine showed me much about what G-d is doing worldwide with our people. No doubt the ministry trip taught me much about my own heart as well.
Note: Want an unusual blessing? Be looking for information at Kehilat Ariel on some upcoming international events in Argentina, Russia and India that you can be a part of!
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