Viki is a dear lady who hails from Kharkiv in Ukraine. Soon after the outbreak of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, their home in Kharkiv was completely destroyed by a Russian missile, while they were thankfully hiding in a bomb shelter at the time. Viki and her husband Vova decided to pack up their things and make aliyah to Israel in search of a new beginning. Her daughter Polly had already been living in Israel, as she had made aliyah years before, but her parents had stayed behind because they felt they were already well settled in their lives, and couldn’t restart afresh in a foreign land.
When Viki and Vova arrived in Israel, they were already struggling with depression from having lost everything in Ukraine, and having to start a new life in Israel, learning a new language, working menial jobs, and literally having to begin from scratch. Their daughter Polly, who lives in Ashdod, knew about Beit Hallel and the work we did in supporting olim chadashim (new Jewish immigrants) in whatever way they can, and so reached out to us in the hope of finding spiritual help for her parents.
Polly came to see us at Beit Hallel, wanting to find out if we could perhaps spend some time with her parents, to pray with them and to share our faith with them to help them deal with their deep depression and hopelessness. Our team members, Orna and Moshe, said that they would be happy to spend time with them, and invited her and her parents to our Shabbat meeting the following Friday.
On Friday evening Orna and Moshe received Polly and her parents warmly, and shared more with them about who we are as a congregation and what our faith stands for. They shared their personal testimonies of salvation with them, and prayed over them before the service began, that God would meet them and grant them the peace that passes all understanding, and the knowledge that they have a Father in heaven who is ready to respond to their needs.
During the service Viki was overwhelmed by the Word that went out, which spoke of Yeshua as the Good Shepherd that watches over His sheep, and she knew that she was hearing the truth of God—the truth that sets one free. At the conclusion of the service the altar call went out, and the invitation to receive Yeshua as their personal Lord and Savior. Viki immediately responded and joined in the prayer of repentance, receiving the Messiah of Israel—Yeshua—as her Lord and Savior. Praise the Lord!
When our team met with Viki afterwards, she happily exclaimed that her life had changed that night, and that she felt an overwhelming joy and peace in her heart. She told us that she had met the Lord, and that she knew everything would be fine, as she was now a child of the King! Orna and Moshe prayed again for Viki, Vova and Polly, and promised to stay in regular touch with them. We are believing that Vova and Polly will also soon follow in Viki’s footsteps with a decision to answer the call of Yeshua—the call unto Salvation and life everlasting. Amen!
