The Raoul Wallenberg Centre

The Fishing and Transportation of New Jewish Immigrants

The Gypsy Revival and Israel

Outreach to Messianic Jewish Congregations

Tentative Programme of the Wallenberg Centre
Summer 2007

History of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre
in Budapest

The Ministry Team

How You Can Help

Outreach to Messianic Jewish Groups

Today in the nation of the Ukraine and also in neighbouring Moldova and Belarus, there are a number of Messianic Jewish congregations which have been established in the last ten years or so. It all began in Kiev where Jewish believers in Jesus were encouraged to establish their own congregation, rather than remain as a group within one of the larger churches that formed towards the end of the Communist era.

Although the Messianic congregations maintain close ties with other churches as an expression of being one body, they do have their own characteristics and emphasis in order to make Jewish people feel welcome and at home . Worship services are held on Shabbat instead of Sunday for example, and much of the worship is in Hebrew and Davidic in style and expression, with an Israeli type of joyful dancing part of it. All the major biblical Feasts are celebrated, and the fellowships are called “ congregations” rather than “churches” which has historical anti-semitic connotations. The Hebrew name for Jesus – Yeshua - is used.

Within a few short years Messianic congregations were established in a number of other cities in the Ukraine such as Zaparochie, Dnipropetrovsk, Odessa, Nicolaiev, Chernovtsi, Vinnitsa and Berdichev. A visit by Johann to the historic city of Yalta after visiting the congregation in Yefpatoria quickly led to messianic groups being established in a number of towns and cities in the Krim Peninsula.

In Yefpatoria there is not only a strong congregation but also a very effective drug rehabilitation centre for young Jewish addicts. The Messianic Rabbi Victor is a medical doctor also, and he oversees the Centre’s programmes where much of the emphasis is on the healing power of the Holy Spirit.

In the city of Berdichev there is also a thriving congregation. This city used to be known as the “Jerusalem of Central Europe”, since 90% of its population before the Second World War was Jewish. Today, Jewish citizens number less than 10% as first the Holocaust and then emigration to America, Israel and Australia took their toll. On the outskirts of the city monuments stand on the killing fields where many thousands of Jews were murdered in cold blood.

In fact virtually all of the Ukraine is “a valley of dry bones” (Ezekiel 37). Not only in Kiev, the site of Babi Yar, but outside all the big cities Jewish people were mowed down in their hundreds of thousands. Sadly enough, some ordinary Ukrainian citizens participated in these massacres and assisted the Nazis, either by betraying the whereabouts of Jews or by taking part as soldiers in the actual shootings.

This was one of the reasons why much information on what happened in the War was suppressed in the post-war Communist era. Today, repentance in the churches for what took place in their nation and cities is a major key to revival in the Ukraine.

The Wallenberg Centre has been co-operating with some of these churches, inviting pastors for a time of repentance and prayer at the monuments erected at the sites of the atrocities by the Jewish communities who survived, or by the Israeli Government. Many of the pastors of these churches break down before the Lord when they realise what happened. Educating them about this is also a strong tool in the battle against any renewed manifestation of anti-semitism.

The Wallenberg Centre and Johann its Director maintain close ties with some of the messianic congregations, who appreciate his many years of experience in Israel and his advice. Where possible financial help is also given to their pastors; like most people in the Ukraine, they and their families often have to make do on less than a hundred dollars a month.

Worship teams from some of these congregations participate in the various Gypsy Festivals and close bonds in the Lord are being established between the two groups. Very often Jewish believers are amazed to observe how Gypsy people are being saved and how they worship the Lord.

Not all the worshippers in these congregations are fully Jewish; many of them are part- Jewish or they are believers who want to identify and participate in a purer style of church life, one that is truly biblical without being legalistic. In this way, Messianic congregations also serve as an example or as a teaching influence to many churches and pastors who are searching for the right way in which to express their life as a church of Jesus Christ.