Introducing THE barbanelS
Igor Barbanel grew up in a well-educated family of Jewish atheists in Ukraine. They observed various Jewish festivals but didn’t believe in God. Having joined the Soviet army as part of his national service, Igor met soldiers who were believers in Jesus and openly talked about God. He noticed that their behaviour was different from the other soldiers and Igor came to admire their strong faith in Jesus.
After his time in the army, Igor found an unexpected outreach invitation from a missionary organisation in his postbox – he never found out who put it there but firmly believes it was part of God’s plan for his salvation. He attended an outreach event with his wife Galyna and was profoundly affected by hearing the gospel. It was then that he realised Jesus had died on the cross for his sins and Igor repented of them.
Igor quickly developed a great desire to share the same gospel message with Jewish people and went on to do this through street evangelism and one-to-one contact. After becoming a full-time missionary in 1998, he later relocated to Moscow, where he organised and led major evangelistic outreaches.
Today, Igor and his wife Galyna – also a missionary – live and work in the Ukrainian city of Odessa.