A lady called Nina recently came to visit us at Beit Hallel, along with her 13-year-old daughter, Vika. She had wanted to connect with one of our follow-up team members, Shoshana, to share her heart and her burdens with someone who would be willing to listen and offer her consolation. Nina, along with her husband Dima and daughter Vika, had made aliyah to Israel a few months ago from Ukraine. They had made the decision due to the war that is raging there and because life had become extremely hard in all its facets.
Being olim chadashim, they were busy finding their feet in Israel, which involved learning Hebrew, working menial jobs, and integrating into an unfamiliar and unforgiving Israeli culture. As such they had reached out to Beit Hallel on many occasions to receive life-changing humanitarian aid like food baskets, clothing, furniture and appliances.
Through our service to them as believers, Nina noticed the difference in the way we loved and cared for people, and learned that we were Jewish believers in Yeshua, the Savior of the world. Shoshana was also one of the first people they met at our humanitarian center, and she made a huge impression on Nina with her motherly love and genuine compassion. It was therefore that Nina contacted Shoshana to arrange a meeting where she could unburden her heart.
When Nina and little Vika showed up at Beit Hallel for their meeting with Shoshana, she immediately saw that Vika looked very sad, withdrawn and did not talk to anyone. Shoshana tried to communicate with her, but she wouldn’t even look in her direction. Shoshana started chatting with Nina then, and heard about the heaviness weighing on her heart due to her 19-year old son, Alex, not being able to make aliyah with them due to circumstances back in Ukraine, and that he was there all alone.
Young men were forbidden to leave Ukraine during this time, as they had to be available to serve where needed during time of war. Nina also shared that her and her family were struggling adapting to life in Israel, as everything was so different and unfamiliar.
Shoshana then began to share her own testimony of going through a very similar Aliyah back in the day, and how God had carried her through it all. Shoshana shared about the financials and logistical miracles that God had done in her life and how important it was for her to wholly put her trust in God, and to seek His face everyday.
Nina listened very attentively as Shoshana continued talking about faith in God, and about what the Bible says about salvation in Yeshua. During this whole time, Nina’s daughter Vika was nearby and listened in on the conversation. She pretended that it did not concern her, but she gradually began to thaw and even began to look at Shoshana. In the end, Shoshana prayed for Irina, for her family, for her eldest son, and that while going through these trials, they would see Yeshua and accept Him as their Lord and Savior.
Shoshana offered Nina a brand-new Bible that she gladly accepted. After Shoshana had prayed for Nina, Shoshana looked across at Vika and saw that the little girl was smiling, that her eyes had become alive, and that her face had become radiant. She even allowed Shoshana to hug her!
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.