I'm following Jesus, am I still Jewish?

Misha talking to a woman on an evangelistic bus tour.

As part of Misha Vayshengolt’s ministry, he organises evangelistic bus tours for Jewish people in Israel. These give an opportunity to share the gospel with many Jewish people at one time while establishing new contacts. It was on one of these tours that Misha met Lily, as he reports.

Lily was born in 1945 in a Stalinist camp in Siberia. There were many Jewish people there and their only crime was being Jewish. Thankfully, Lily survived the camp and was raised in Uzbekistan, where she later worked as a school teacher before moving to Israel.

PUSHED FROM A BOMB

Once there, Lily avoided two separate terrorist attacks. She told me that she had felt something strange on one occasion, as if ‘someone’ was pushing her in the back. As a result, she left the area. Fifteen minutes later a bomb exploded there.

In her search for spiritual truth, Lily had even previously visited a church but didn’t continue attending. Then, at the end of a recent tour, I asked whether there was anyone who wanted to visit my church with me. Lily was the only person who responded so I took her along. Amazingly, my church was the very same one Lily had attended many years before!

Lily listened attentively to the sermon and at the end of the service told me, ‘I’m so glad to have returned to this church!’ Not long after Lily began attending church, she fell ill. She was confined to her bed and could no longer attend so I started studying the Bible with her over the phone.

After studying the Scriptures together on foundational topics such as God’s holiness and the problem of sin, we began to speak about how reconciliation with God is possible through Jesus. At this point, Lily expressed how much she wanted this for herself.

AM I STILL JEWISH?

Lily told me that previously she thought she had ‘a wonderful relationship with God’ but now knew she needed God’s grace in order to be saved. That is exactly what she went on to pray for. After she had prayed, seeking God’s forgiveness through Jesus, she turned to me and asked: ‘Am I still Jewish?’ I gladly told her that she was now a Jewish person who knows Jesus as Messiah and not to listen to anyone who told her otherwise.

Please pray for Lily as she grows in the grace and knowledge of Jesus, and pray for Misha as he continues to disciple her.