Serving Russian-speaking congregations in Israel has been a blessing for SGA since the late 1940s, when we placed our first missionary there. Today, through the generosity of friends like you, we serve several pastors in Israel who are shining the Light of the true Messiah, Jesus Christ, in their communities.

Christian leaders and the flocks they shepherd are living in so much uncertainty as Israel’s very existence continues to be threatened by Hamas, Iran, and Hezbollah. They are trusting the Keeper of Israel for His protection and provision, and we continue to support and pray for these faithful servants and their congregations as they reach their communities with humanitarian aid and the hope of the Gospel.

We recently asked three pastors to share their testimonies and reveal how God—in His providence—has led them to serve where they are today . . .

Pastor Dmitri

My name is Dmitri. I was born in 1974 in Kazakhstan. I grew up in a Soviet family where they didn’t talk about God. But already in my youth I began to be interested in questions related to faith and the meaning of life. When I turned 19, I converted to Christ, in which communication with Christians played an important role. In a difficult time for me, I heard the Good News of Christ and began to attend a Baptist community in the city of Abay.

My conversion occurred in the summer of 1994, and in May 1995 I was baptized and began to actively work in Abay.This lasted for 10 years. In 1998, I got married. My wife’s name is Antonina and we now have five children. In 2006, we went to another area to plant a new church, where we actively worked for 13 years. Then in 2019 we repatriated to Israel. We arrived in the city of Haifa, and I began to work in a local church. After some time, our church blessed me and my family to start a new church in Haifa, and now we have been working in the new church for more than a year.

Pastor Maxim

I am Maxim. I am 39 years old. I want to share with you how the Lord revealed himself to me, entered my heart, and changed my life. I was born into an unbelieving family, but despite this, the topic of God has always been interesting to me, although I did not know Him personally.

The first time the Lord touched me was when I was 17 years old. My friend invited me to a meeting of believers, where I received a Bible and began to read. This was in the summer of 2002. At some point, the Lord began to reveal His Word to me. Within one week, I quit smoking, stopped swearing. All that interested me was only what was connected with God! But the devil rose up very strongly through my relatives, and I stopped going to meetings and reading the Bible. Fifteen years passed, and my life began to fall apart. I was fired from work, financial problems began; friends turned away from me. Only my mother supported me as best she could. I was under a lot of stress, although I tried not to show it to others, but every day it became more obvious. I met my old friend again, with whom I once went to the ministry. We started communicating and, like 15 years ago, we started going to church.

I received the Bible again, started reading, and this time, cardinal changes began to happen in my thinking and values ​​in life. My meeting with Jesus Christ happened in the fall of 2017. He entered my heart, changed my life, and continues to work in my heart and in my life. Jesus gave me a ministry. A year after I believed, I began to preach God’s Word and I am very grateful to God for this ministry! In 2021, the Lord prompted me to move to the city of Carmel, and a year later he gave me a place and people to whom I preach.

Two years ago, we started with four members our congregation. Today, there are already 15 of us. There are young people. Also, two more believing families have started visiting us. In our community, we conduct a number of services: study of the Word, prayer, general service, youth service, and also courses for preachers. May the Lord bless you. Glory to Jesus Christ!

Pastor Pavel

My name is Pavel. I am 43 years old. My wife’s name is Natalia. We have three children, two sons Anatoly and Yan, and daughter Mila. I lived in Siberia in Krasnoyarsk, but got married in Ukraine in the Odessa region in 2007. I have two higher educations: electrical engineer and physical education teacher. I graduated from the Krasnoyarsk Bible College of the Evangelical Christians-Baptists together with my wife. I studied for several sessions at the Novosibirsk Biblical Theological Seminary. I am also a winner and prize-winner of regional and international martial arts tournaments, and for several years I was a coach with Bible study. I was engaged in the development of sports ministry in Siberia, in Krasnoyarsk for four years before leaving for Israel. I was a deputy pastor in a Baptist church, coordinated the work of the ministers of the Gospel, organized church missionary trips, and was responsible for implementing projects related to evangelism. With my wife and two small children, I repatriated to Israel from Krasnoyarsk in 2015. A couple of years later, a son was born in Israel. I am one of the founders of the church where I serve as a pastor in the city of Bat Yam.My name is Pavel. I am 43 years old. My wife’s name is Natalia. We have three children, two sons Anatoly and Yan, and daughter Mila. I lived in Siberia in Krasnoyarsk, but got married in Ukraine in the Odessa region in 2007. I have two higher degrees: electrical engineer and physical education teacher. I graduated from the Krasnoyarsk Bible College of the Evangelical Christians-Baptists together with my wife. I studied for several sessions at the Novosibirsk Biblical-Theological Seminary. I am also a winner and prize-winner of regional and international martial arts tournaments, and for several years I was a coach with Bible study. I was engaged in the development of sports ministry in Krasnoyarsk for four years before leaving for Israel. I was an associate pastor in a Baptist church, coordinated the work of the ministers of the Gospel, organized church missionary trips, and was responsible for implementing projects related to evangelism. With my wife and two small children, I repatriated to Israel from Krasnoyarsk in 2015. A couple of years later, a son was born in Israel. I am one of the founders of the church where I serve as a pastor in the city of Bat Yam.

In 1991, I was 10 years old. The USSR ceased to exist, and we began to live in a new state—Russia. We made a sharp transition from socialism to capitalism. Coca-Cola, which we had only heard about in movies before, appeared in stores and cost as much as a worker’s monthly salary. Financial pyramids appeared. Each yard of an apartment building had its own criminal group. The news showed that someone was being blown up or shot at, every day, and this no longer surprised anyone. I had just begun to realize who I was, and began to think about God. No one had told me anything about Him in detail. I heard something on TV, read something in the newspaper, my grandmother said that He exists.

At the age of 24, I first met real Christian believers. They were my colleagues. I was a sales manager, and they were storekeepers and loaders. They were former drug addicts and had been to prison several times before repenting. Their lives changed. They began to live honestly. They gave up bad habits. They got married. They tried to live as it is written in the Bible. I argued with them for several months. Pride did not allow me to admit that I wanted to repent. In the end, I prayed the prayer of repentance alone at home without outside help, but this time consciously. With the desire to dedicate my life to God. And I began to go to church sometimes. Then more and more often. In the end, I was born again. I became confident that I was forgiven by God and my soul became light. In a short time, I got rid of foul language, which surprised me very much. I stopped cheating, and when I did it sometimes, I was very ashamed, and I repented and tried to make sure it didn’t happen again.

God brought me to Himself, didn’t leave me even when I was wrong, brought order to my life, gave me a wonderful family. A few years later, my sister repented, my parents became more interested in Christianity. Some of my friends repented.

I want to note one interesting point. I knew that my grandfather was Jewish. The documents proving his Jewishness were always in the closet. I asked my mother if we could move to Israel. She said no because her brother said that we did not have the right to repatriation. I lived with this information for several years. At 29, I double-checked and it turned out that we had the right. My wife and I prayed about whether it was God’s will for us to move to Israel, and we spent four years collecting the missing documents. At that time, I had already repented and graduated from Bible college, had experience in ministry, and came to Israel with the goal of developing the church here.

If I had come to Israel very young, before repentance, then with my spiritual zeal, I could have easily become a Jew and not experienced a meeting with Christ. But God had another plan, and He directed me to Himself with His loving hand. Now we live and serve in Israel. The state is not simple, but interesting. There is a great need for ministers. I hope that God will use us here for His glory