Seeking lost Jewish sheep in Australia

Our outreach team hit the streets of Sydney, led by Mark and Rahel Landrum, and Melbourne, led by Daniel Zeunert, at the end of August. The team was made up of seven of our missionaries, four Hong Kong volunteers, and one local Tongan volunteer. Outreach events were held and door-to-door visits were carried out among an Australian Jewish community deeply affected by the huge spike in antisemitism.

Holocaust survivor meets Jesus

Aviel Sela and Misha Vayshengolts were door knocking in Sydney’s Russian-speaking Jewish neighbourhood. They were with Boris, a member of the local congregation we partnered with during the first week of the outreach, which reaches out to Jewish people from the former Soviet Union.

Boris and his wife visited their Jewish neighbour to introduce Aviel and Misha to her. When they invited her to a special meeting with guests from Israel, she asked who the speakers were.

Boris explained that the men in front of her were the speakers and would be sharing their experience of living in Israel since the war started in October.

Eva’s interest grew as she told them she had lived in Israel for 15 years. When the conversation came back to the meeting, Eva told them, ‘I’m 91. I’m tired and don’t think I’ll be able to come.’ Aviel told her that this was a shame as she’d be missing out, but was glad when Eva invited them in to tell her what they were going to say at the meeting.

Once indoors, Eva opened up about her life. Born in 1933 in Chernivtsi, Ukraine, she lost many family members in the Holocaust, before becoming a very observant Orthodox Jewish woman. In 1971, she, her husband and two children moved to Israel with the help of a well-known Moldovan rabbi.

Life was hard in Israel and they eventually moved to Australia, where Eva’s husband passed away and she now lives alone. All the wars and antisemitism have made her weary. She worries about the effect on her family and wanted to know when all the hatred will end.

This was Aviel’s cue to share the gospel. Referring to Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), they discussed how the scapegoat would carry the sins of Israel away, but only for a year. Aviel shared the Good News with Eva, explaining that peace with God is possible through the One he sent to be a once-and-for-all sacrifice for our sins - Jesus.

‘Jesus!?’ Eva replied, visibly surprised. Turning to Isaiah 53, Aviel read the description of the Suffering Servant who would pay the penalty for sin.

‘Wow!’ Eva responded, ‘My carer Sasha tells me things like this but he is a Gentile. I’ve never met a Jewish person who believes in Jesus before!’ At that very moment, the phone rang. It was Sasha calling to check on her. When Eva mentioned her visitors, he asked to speak to them to check they were genuine. By the end of the call, Sasha said he hoped to come to Aviel and Misha’s meeting.

After the call, the conversation continued. Aviel explained that to receive forgiveness of sin and true peace with God, Eva needed to repent and trust in Jesus – our scapegoat – and follow him. Aviel, Misha and Boris rejoiced as Eva said she understood this, bowed her head and received God’s forgiveness once and for all time!

Give thanks for Eva’s profession of faith and please pray for her as she is now discipled and settled into a local congregation.

Beni finds true Shalom

The day the team arrived in Melbourne, they headed to a Russian-speaking church for an outreach event focusing on praying for an end to the conflicts in Israel and Ukraine.

Aviel Sela spoke about ‘Shalom’ and used a breakdown of the Hebrew word to preach the gospel to those present. He also shared his testimony and, at the end of his message, encouraged the Jewish non-believers present to repent and put their faith in Jesus.

Praise God, one Jewish man named Beni responded by doing exactly that! The theme of peace and reconciliation with God touched him deeply, particularly as Aviel described the salvation process in Hebrew terms. Beni prayed to God at the end of the meeting, repenting and seeking forgiveness of his sins through Jesus.

As they spoke afterwards, Aviel found out that Beni is a Ukranian who lived

in Israel before moving to Australia two years ago. Russian is his primary language and he regularly attends synagogue. He told Aviel there is a lot of pressure on him there to wear Tefillin (a set of small black leather boxes with leather straps containing verses from the Torah) to be made right with God, but he realised that the church teaches something completely different.

Aviel explained how, according to the Bible, reconciliation with God is only possible through a sacrifice. There is no other way to be reconciled – not through wearing Tefillin or any other good work we can do – since God is holy and we are sinful. He explained to Beni that God provided us with a perfect sacrifice for sin – his own Son, Jesus. It was such an encouragement to the team to see Beni profess faith on the first day of the Melbourne outreach.

Give thanks for Beni’s salvation and please pray for him as he is now discipled by the local Russian-speaking congregation.

Light at the end of a challenging tunnel

Aviel Sela and Misha Vayshengolts spoke at an outreach meeting organised by Yuri, a member of the Melbourne Russian-speaking congregation we partnered with during the outreach. Although not Jewish himself, Yuri has been sharing about Jesus with the group for many years.

The meeting took place in a large residential complex, home to a large community of older Jewish people. Around 18 had gathered to hear about Aviel and Misha’s experience of Israel since the October attacks.

After being introduced, Misha began telling the group that despite the surrounding turmoil in Israel, his faith in Jesus has helped him through it all. At this early point in the meeting, some started getting angry, while others openly stated they would never ‘convert’ to Christianity.

When Aviel began speaking, things got even more heated. One woman interrupted to question whether he was even Jewish, telling him he didn’t look Jewish. As he began his message, another interrupted again, asking him to prove he was Jewish! Once he had satisfied the group that he was, in fact, Jewish, he carried on.

However, as Aviel began preaching the gospel, the attacks continued. One man shouted out, ‘You’re a liar and not Jewish! We have always kept our faith within our people. You want to pull us into a foreign faith. Even worse, you are a missionary and Judaism does not allow for missionaries!’

In response, Aviel asked the man if he had ever read the book of Jonah – essentially the story of a Jewish missionary taking the message of repentance to a Gentile nation. The man had read it, so had no reply and left the conversation.

Once he had left, Aviel finished sharing the gospel and took questions from the residents.

Many left unchanged in their beliefs, but one woman, Malka, stayed to talk to Aviel. Despite the challenging nature of the meeting, she told Aviel that she had understood all he had said and that it made sense to her.

Aviel opened up his Bible to Isaiah 53 and read it to Malka, explaining it was a prophecy about the Suffering Servant who would pay the penalty for the sins of his people.

Malka was astounded that she had never come across the chapter. Before she left, she promised Aviel she would read the chapter again when she got home and would look into all Aviel had shared during the meeting.

Please pray for all who attended the meeting and for Malka as she investigates the Messiah’s identity and has further conversations about Jesus.

A long distance gospel visit

Tim is one of our volunteers who travelled from Hong Kong to volunteer at the Australia Outreach. Here he reports on a moving encounter with a Jewish woman in Sydney.

Alongside a local volunteer, I visited a three-storey building containing six flats. I rang the doorbells one after another, but there was no response. I finally rang the bell for the sixth flat and was pleased when a woman replied over the intercom.

I introduced myself, saying I was from Hong Kong and, in view of the rising antisemitism in many places, I was there to share a message of love and peace with her. She buzzed us into the building, and we went up to her flat.

Shayna, a middle-aged Jewish woman opened the door and told us she was busy packing for an overseas trip. When I explained I had flown over nine hours from Hong Kong specifically to see her, she invited us in for ‘five minutes’.

When I asked Shayna if she had peace in her heart, she started crying and told us her story. Over the past thirty years all her family members had died, with the last one passing away just a few years ago. We explained that true peace was possible through Jesus and offered to pray for her. She was so touched by this that she couldn’t stop crying.

We asked Shayna whether there was anything else we could pray for and she explained she was packing for a trip to Greece where she would be teaching English for two months before returning to Australia.

After we prayed for Shayna’s protection on the trip, she told us that she now felt peace. I told her that the nine-hour journey had been well worth it. We exchanged contact details, and she said she was happy to be contacted by someone when she was back from Greece. Our five-minute limit had passed long ago and she gave us a big hug before we said goodbye and she got back on with her packing.

Give thanks for Shayna’s engagement with the team. Please pray for her salvation as she is is followed up on her return to Australia.

A huge thank you to all who prayed for and supported the Australia Outreach.

Now the team have returned home, Mark and Rahel Landrum in Sydney and Daniel Zeunert in Melbourne are following up all their new Jewish contacts. Please pray for them as the work there continues, and for the salvation of the Jewish people they are meeting with – who all want to hear more about Jesus.