New missionary in Israel: from 'communist pharisee' to jewish missionary

AT THE BEGINNING OF MAY, IT WAS A JOY TO WELCOME EXPERIENCED JEWISH MISSIONARY MISHA VAYSHENGOLTS TO THE FAMILY. HERE IS MISHA'S STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS…

I was born into a family of Jewish atheists in Ukraine. My parents and my grandparents were all Jewish atheists. As a result, I grew up embracing atheism, following communist ideology and believing that there was no God. Being Jewish, I thought that any Jewish person who believed in Jesus was a traitor to our people, even though I hadn’t explicitly been taught this. Our family didn’t celebrate Jewish holidays but we held to a strong Jewish identity based on intellectual and moral pride. If I had to describe myself back then, I would say I was ‘a Communist Pharisee’.

As I grew up I had questions about life such as ‘Why are evil people more powerful than good ones?’ and ‘Why is there anti-Semitism in the world?’ But the beliefs I held provided me with no answers. Then, at the age of 27, I visited a Baptist church purely out of curiosity. I liked the people there very much and eventually began reading the New Testament. Something inside told me that the New Testament in its entirety was true. I felt that all the words of Jesus were true and I had no doubt that he fulfilled all the Messianic prophecies. I sincerely wanted to believe in God and that Jesus was the Messiah but the atheism I had grown up with held me back.

I continued reading the New Testament and attending church services. One day, I was at home reflecting on my life and came to realise that things were not headed in the right direction. As I thought more about this, something that the pastor of the church had said about the importance of repentance came to mind. So, I got down on my knees and asked God to forgive me for one sin in particular which had been troubling me. Over the following months, I realised that my problem extended further than this one sin, so I again turned to God. Confessing that I was a sinner, I prayed and asked God to forgive me of all my sin.

I had a strong desire to follow Jesus and went on to be baptised but I still struggled with my old atheistic beliefs. Sometimes my faith was strong, sometimes it was weak; sometimes I would even remember my old atheism and, again, would question the very existence of God…

Three years after God saved me, I was invited to join an outreach to Jewish people in Moscow where many aggressive anti-Semitic groups operated. The groups threatened us and were sometimes violent but, as I saw God consistently answering my prayers for protection, my atheistic ideas vanished. I continued reading the Bible every day and my faith became stronger. After I became a believer, my atheistic doubts were replaced by peace with God and assurance of my salvation. Today, my life and my faith are based solely on God and the Bible. These days, my time is invested in sharing the gospel with unsaved Jewish people here in Israel and discipling new Jewish believers as we study God’s Word together.