Russian Believers
Boris
I was born almost 45 years ago in Kiev. My atheistic upbringing would allow me to have nothing to do with God. There was no place for Him in my world. Yet life in my world was very difficult: anger, injustice, family problems, disappointments - all of these things I had to carry on my shoulders.
One day, when I was already in the U.S., my wife Irina came home with a shining face: "I found what I have been looking for all my life!" she said. "I found God, I found the way of salvation, and Jesus is that way." I was glad to see my wife so happy, but I felt a wall growing between us - Jesus Christ. As a Jew, I could not accept him (so I thought). I remembered from history that crusaders killed Jews in the name of Christ, that Russian nationalists, who called themselves Christians, organized pogroms in the beginning of our century. I also remembered that "Christian" Germany killed six million Jews during World War II, and finally, I remembered the anti-Semitism of my neighbors in Kiev. Certainly Christ was not for me.
A struggle began in my life, which continued for two years, but eventually, God overcame me... with love. My resistance was broken when I first understood the verse in the Bible, which says: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." I am a father myself, and I know the meaning of fatherly love. I was amazed at the power of this love, which gives the dearest and the best - the only son. This was a decisive blow to my pride, unbelief and ego.
Finally a day came when I felt, very quietly at first, but then louder and louder, a knock on the door of my heart. It was Jesus. He was standing at the door of my heart and knocking, and calling on me. He called me with love and compassion: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hears my voice and opens the door, I will come to him and will eat with him and he with Me" (Rev. 3:20). I knew this voice - it was the voice of my Messiah, my Lord, the Messiah of my people. I wanted Him to come into my life and change it. And so I received Him into my heart.
The Lord miraculously changed me, and continues to change my life. I am ashamed of things I used to be proud of. I learned to love people and love God. I gave Him all of my life. I want to be like Him, and Him to be in me. I believe Him, His eternal promises, and I know that this faith I have saves me, and that my death will not mean the end, but the beginning, the threshold into eternity. I am completely confident in my God, in my Messiah, in His eternal and faithful love.
Ella
I cannot surprise you with a dramatic testimony, but I myself cannot stop wondering at how I came to know the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This God became my friend, my savior and my comforter.
I have been aware of my Jewishness since childhood, because my grandmother spoke Yiddish, my internal passport read "Jewess" and also because for Jewish holidays we always bought matzos in our synagogue. This was about as far as my Jewishness went.
I met believers for the very first time at my friend's house, in my hometown of Tbilisi. It was a sad event: my friend's mother died, and she was a member of the Baptist church. Her brothers and sisters came and sang quiet songs of hope next to her casket. It seemed strange to me. I felt respect for those people and their faith, but nothing more.
In Italy, during our emigration, I received my first Bible and began to read it. It was difficult to understand and the book seemed chaotic. However, as I met other believers, what they were telling me about God touched my heart. I gradually came to feel an amazing harmony between what they told me and my soul's deepest longings.
What was difficult for me was the fact that Jesus Christ in my mind was for those "other" people - Christians - and I, as a Jewish person, ought to have nothing to do with this name. But I was attracted to the meetings these believers were holding.
I was confused about a lot of things, but I already understood that Jesus Christ wasn't just for other Russians, but for the Jews as well. We moved to New York, and I continued to learn more about God, the Bible, and Yeshua, the Jewish Messiah. As a believer, I have the privilege of being called a child of God. I can pray to Him and talk to Him as my Father. He gives me strength to endure the temptations and trials of this life, so that those very temptations serve the good purpose of strengthening my spirit and my faith.
Greg
I grew up as an atheist. In fact, I wasn't just a nominal Soviet atheist - I really believed the stuff! I read all kinds of atheistic books which criticized the Bible. Trouble was... I never actually read the Bible!
My family had emigrated out of the Soviet Union because of anti Semitism. I knew that many anti-Semitic Russians and Ukrainians called themselves "Christians," and I knew I did not want to be a Christian. When we left the (former) Soviet Union, we spent four months in Italy waiting for permission to enter the United States. During that time we had very little to do but learn English and twiddle our thumbs. My mother and I went to the synagogue every Saturday, but we soon became disillusioned. The rabbi told me that I was asking too many questions. That struck me as odd, because this was what I was always told in the USSR! I stopped going to synagogue, but I didn't give up being Jewish.
One day, my friend and I were stranded 20 miles from home. It was getting late, and the buses were not running. We tried hitchhiking, but no one would take us. After a couple of hours of trying I did the only thing that a sensible atheist could do in trouble - I prayed. I asked God to help me. Immediately after I prayed, a car stopped. It so happened that the car was going to our town, and it took us directly home. I was dumbfounded. It forced me to think about a God who is there.
The next day, a friend invited me to see the movie, "Jesus." That same night, I got my first Bible. You can imagine that I asked millions of questions. There were good people there who cared enough to answer those questions. I came to believe that Jesus was my Messiah, and as a Jew I am proud to be called by His name.
Olga
My name is Olga Likhttsinder, and I was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. My family and I moved to the United States about four years ago when I was 22. When my parents and I moved to America, our lives changed completely. We left behind everything we had, and we had to start a whole new life in a new country. It was quite difficult (and still is), for we often felt very lonely and helpless. So like many other people, we started to look for help from God.
I began reading the Bible. My favorite book from the Bible was Ecclesiastes. Those words, "Vanity of vanities; all is vanity," sounded so true to me. I thought this book just confirmed what I had already discovered - life has no meaning, and "all is vanity." No matter what you do, or what you experience, "there is nothing new under the sun."
We began attending the Hope of Israel, a Messianic Jewish congregation in Brooklyn. First, it was hard to associate myself with believers in Jesus. I thought I would have to refuse my Jewish identity (for some reason I thought that once you become a Christian, you stop being Jewish). But the people at Hope of Israel , with their love and patience, were breaking down all my stereotypes about the "ancient feud" between Christians and Jews.
They told me about the One Living God who loves all people, who sent the Messiah to die for all of us so we can have life everlasting. And I started reading the Scriptures, going to services, and listening to what these people had to say. I realized how much I didn't know, how much of what I thought about Christianity was based on what people say, not on what God says in the Bible.
These are just my first steps, but God is happy with our little steps, and I know He loves me and He is always there to help. Now I understand what the Book of Ecclesiastes really says: life has no meaning if there is no God in it. He is the One who never changes, and His love is always with us. I found that meaning by accepting Jesus, the Jewish Messiah.
