“Odessa Jewish Community Mulls
Emergency Evacuation”
I found the above headline in The Jerusalem Post both shocking and chilling. That’s why I am compelled to write today to make you aware of a very special situation in Ukraine.
Although that news report appeared about a year ago, the situation for the Jews of Ukraine in general — and for those in historic Odessa in particular — remains deeply worrying.
Last year, Jewish families in Odessa watched in fear as Russian special forces took control of nearby Crimea; Russian separatist rebels killed hundreds in cities to their east; and a surge of anti-Semitic incidents swept the nation.
In response, Jewish parents in Odessa were forced to make contingency plans to evacuate their children should the security situation there deteriorate further.
Think about how that must have felt. Those plans remain in place for those who have not already made aliyah to Israel.
Find out two distinct ways that you can help the Jewish People of Odessa.
Thus, I’m writing to you and a few other of the very best friends of this ministry because I’ve learned I can count on you to both hear my heart, and follow God’s leading.
Odessa is a port city on the Black Sea rich in Jewish history. The great Jewish writer Isaac Babel once called the city “The Star of Exile” because it was such a welcoming, hospitable place for Jewish People to dwell.
In Babel’s day — around the turn of the last century — Jews made up more than a third of Odessa’s population. There was a measure of safety in those numbers.
That was then. This is now.
Today, Odessa’s 30,000 Jewish residents represent only 3% of the population — even so it is still home to one of the largest Jewish communities in Ukraine.
The combination of war, refugees, and financial collapse in Ukraine has made this year one of the most difficult in recent memory for Jewish People there.
There are segments of Ukrainian society that are deeply anti-Semitic . . . indeed there is a neo-Nazi political faction. And amid the chaos and fragmentation, these forces are beginning to come out of the shadows.
As I said, we feel compelled by the Spirit of God to do something to support and encourage the Jewish People of Odessa. And we want to reach as many of these precious people with the Gospel of Yeshua as we can while their hearts are most receptive.
I’m convinced the best way we can accomplish this is by conducting one of our beloved “Hear O’ Israel! Festival of Jewish Music & Dance” events in Odessa in a few months (September 4–14 to coincide with Rosh Hashanah).
We’ve discovered that in the midst of all this chaos and uncertainty, there is a unique window of opportunity for the Gospel. Indeed, when we staged a similar festival in Kiev last year, we found Jewish People there incredibly open to our message.
The 4,000-seat hall was overcrowded each night and hundreds had to be turned away. Hundreds responded to our message of hope in Messiah Yeshua! The level of openness reminded me of the revival I witnessed there in 1995!
Of course, it takes a tremendous expenditure of planning, effort, human resources, and finances to stage one of these efforts. But we know from experience that the impact — both spiritual and emotional — will be tremendous!
It’s been 20 years since we conducted such an outreach in Odessa. Find out two distinct ways that you can help the Jewish People of Odessa.
I Want to Help!
