Home is where your heart is. For Neriyah, a Russian-born Jewish man, it took a move from Russia to Israel for him to feel at home in his heart. He found a sense of peace in the patriotism he felt for Israel. He felt love for the people who were just like him. He felt a brotherhood with the men and women he served with in the military.
Being at home in Israel was not enough though. God wanted to be “home” in Neriyah’s heart. It was in Israel where Neriyah heard the Gospel for the first time and believed. After hearing, Neriyah became an ambassador of Christ. His “home” was no longer on this Earth, but in Christ instead. His “brotherhood” was now the family of God. His “patriotism” was in the future hope of heaven. But while still here on Earth, he has become “a candle of God,” which is what his name means. Neriyah shares, “In the beginning I rejected it (the Gospel), because I thought being faithful to my culture was more important than to be the follower of the Messiah.”
Today though, nothing is more important to him than building the body of Christ. Please continue to pray for he and his family as they faithfully serve in their homeland of Israel. Also pray for Neriyah as he teaches at the SGA-supported Israel College of the Bible. He writes . . .
Shalom. My name is Neriyah, and I am a pastor at a congregation in Bat yam. I was born into a Jewish religious home in the former Soviet Union. In 1990 my parents and I immigrated to Israel, and I believe that moving to Israel was my first step in coming to know God. Growing up in a religious Soviet home, I did not know God, did not believe in God, nor did I worship Him.
In Israel, I began my first steps toward developing in my heart a sense of patriotism that was absent in the former Soviet Union. I fell in love with Israel and its people, and I understood that Israel is my home, for I am a lookalike of many Israelis. My Hebrew name fits me in this new country too, which means the “candle of God.” My second step to know God, I believe, was when I became a soldier in the IDF [Israel Defense Forces]. During that time, I learned a lot about the history and tradition of my culture and the brotherhood of the IDF.
The third step in knowing God was when I heard for the first time in my life the message of the Gospel. In the beginning I rejected it, because I thought being faithful to my culture was more important than to be the follower of the Messiah. However, the change came when I encountered God. He was so real, and He was not a fruit of my imagination. Immediately, after that encounter, I joined the local congregation and now I am a pastor of that congregation. In 1995, I also started to study in the King of Kings Bible College, which is now called The Israel College of the Bible, where I have been teaching since 2014. God is too good to me and to my family. Anna and I got married in 2002, and we have seven kids. Thank you so much for your faithful support of our ministry and building the body of the Messiah in the Land of Israel.