Israel has been in the news these last couple days. Having returned from Israel not that long ago I cannot help but watch the news through the lens of people that became dear to me during the two day intensive that I got to teach there. Well and it all becomes that much more personal when one thinks that if we were to travel to Israel now, merely couple weeks after we returned, we either would not be able to fly there or we would not be able to return not to mention that our time in Israel would be that much more perilous.
Speaking of Israel, do you think about Russians when you think about Israel? Well, maybe you should! It has been estimated that about 25-30% of Israel are Russian-speaking Jews who have immigrated to Israel in the last 30 years or so. Now, not all of them came from Russia. A lot have moved to Israel from various republics of the former Soviet Union, but the fact remains that one can easily get around Israel if he or she speaks Russian. Which is why I, along with my good friend Andrey Slyusar, was invited by Ben Morrison, who oversees City-to-City Europe’s educational endeavors, to co-teach with him in the Preaching Lab for Russian-speaking Jews in Tel-Aviv. Prior to our arrival, Ben had already taught this intensive for the Israeli Jews in English.
I was really impressed with this group of over 20 local ministers. I have not seen such hunger and eagerness to learn in a long time, and through teaching them I found out what an important part they play in the Christian outreach in Israel. This country has only about 300 protestant churches. Well over 150 of them are Russian-speaking, and there are also a lot of Russian-speaking Jews in the English-speaking churches. During the last 5 years, there was not one Hebrew-speaking protestant church planted. Maybe a couple of English-speaking churches were planted, but there were dozens of Russian-speaking churches that appeared during this time. Eli, who works with Jews for Jesus in Tel-Aviv, mentioned that it is quite possible that revival will come to Israel through these Russian-speaking Jews. It appears that where others see obstacles, these men and women see opportunities for the Gospel. At times these opportunities come at a great cost to them personally. One of the men who went through the training shared that he was having difficulty obtaining an Israeli passport because of him sharing the Gospel, even though he has lived in Israel for the last seven years. Therefore, co-teaching in this preaching lab was that much more important. Many of the participants lamented the state of preaching in their churches. Thank you so much for your prayers and for making this trip possible!
Yours in praying and hastening the day of revival in Moscow and Russia,
Constantin and Alexandra
P.S. This trip was special for another reason, as I got to meet a couple of men from the deaf church that was planted in Israel by Moscow Bible Church’s deaf ministry. I know how intriguing that sounds, so I will share about it in my next newsletter.
THREE PRAYER REQUESTS:
Please join us in praying for God:
- To stregthen Russian-speaking churches in Israel and to bring revival to this land.
- To bless our summer camps with new teenagers and kids that would put their trust in God and would stat in church afterwards. We are getting ready for the youth and the kids camps right now. Please pray for God to use these camps mightily.
- To bring peace to Israel and Iran, to Russia and Ukraine. Moreover, ask God to use this conflict by bringing reconciliation and revival to these countries.
