It’s almost one year ago to the day that Natalia and her entire family made Aliyah to Israel from their native Russia. Her husband Alex, who has a Ph.D. in Science, taught at a prestigious university in Moscow, while Natalya was also a teacher there with extensive experience in her field.
After having arrived in Israel, the family faced many problems, including the challenge of finding work in their respective fields. Natalia and her husband decide not to give up though, and endeavored to learn the Hebrew language and to try different ways of making ends meet. Natalia and her husband connected with us a few months back and attended a number of our projects and evangelistic outreaches.
They have been so touched by what they saw at our events that they decided to sign up as regular volunteers at Beit Hallel Congregation. This past week Natalia and Alex came to visit us at our distribution warehouse, to spend some time with our team and to receive encouragement.
They were finding life in Israel quite challenging, but they had an earnest desire to make it work. They also understood that they needed God more than ever, to make sense of life, and move forward with the right mindset.
As we sat down with them, we started sharing more about our individual testimonies, and how each of us had come to salvation in Yeshua. We shared in depth what it meant to be born again, and what a life of faith looked like.
We encouraged them from the Word, prayed for them and their family, and also prayed into their life situations. They listened very attentively and said that they could feel the presence of God and that a hunger was being awoken inside of them to know more about Yeshua and the way unto salvation.
We continued sharing about what is written in the Bible about sin and righteousness, and that just as Adam once made his choice in favor of sin, so now each of us has a free choice to be reconciled with God through the sacrifice of Yeshua. Natalia and Alex admitted that whenever they went through difficult times, they would think about God, and if He was able to help them in any way.
After we had ministered unto the couple, they sat silent and contemplative for a while, after which they both looked at us and declared that they were ready to receive Yeshua as their Lord and Savior. At that point the Holy Spirit was present and peace flooded all of our hearts.
We led the couple in the prayer of salvation, after which they both just radiated peace and happiness. Natalia and Alex had been born again, and have become citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem. Their lives would never be the same again, and the Lord would now be the one to lead them beside still waters. Hallelujah!
Beit Hallel is a Messianic Jewish congregation in Ashdod, led by pastor Israel Pochtar, serving holocaust survivors and the poor and needy locally and throughout the nation of Israel, while building up the body of Messiah in the promised land of Israel.