A Letter from Poland
Bob with the team in Warsaw
May, 2022
Shalom from Sydney,
I wish you could have been with us. Maybe this report will help you feel what we felt. I spent the last three weeks away from the Sydney branch getting to, working in, and returning from Poland. The team of veteran missionaries from Israel, Ukraine, Budapest and Germany along with me was phenomenal. They were tireless in serving the refugees from across the border. At the first our team set up in Krakow, then we set up for another month in Warsaw. That operation is ending as this report is coming into your inbox.
It's almost winter here in Oz and light is decreasing, at least daytime light is diminishing. But we are testimony to the reality of the True Light which “lightens every person.” (John 1.9) Bringing the light of Yeshua to the refugees took a massive effort.
We had many questions. What could we accomplish? Where would we find the Jewish refugees? How could we love and serve them? Those questions were answered in a flood in the first few weeks of what everyone called “The First Wave.”
“One brother who is a medical service driver testified, “I’ve tried to share about Jesus and salvation with our medical personnel many times, and no one has responded. But today three doctors prayed to receive Jesus as their Lord and Saviour”. Hallelujah!” - Leonid Vasserman (who has stayed in Odessa)
We had to go. We had to serve. And God opened hearts one by one. Now the reality seems to be that many of the refugees are returning to Ukraine. They love their country and their homes. They want ‘normalcy’ again, whatever that might look like. I don’t know what the future holds for Ukraine, but I do know the power of the gospel is the only power that can truly transform this broken world and the people in it. Our intention as a mission is that we must continue to proclaim that message to those who desperately need to hear it.
“I’ve spent this whole day with young Christian ministers from Kiev near the Polish border feeding Ukrainian refugees, praying for them and our soldiers, and handing out New Testaments. Shalom and blessings to you!” - Anatoli Emma (who has stayed in Kyiv
Alex Adelson and Anatoly Emma
We are not only working in Ukraine and Poland just now, but global focus seems to be there. I was so encouraged especially by my teammates from Kyiv who didn’t just leave the country but turned and faced fellow refugees and brought to them the Good News of Yeshua. They told people, again and again, and with reasonable results, that Jesus could help them. These teammates and I brought groceries and health products, New Testaments and hope to a people who were simply running for their lives. The Lord is so good to give us strength to help those in desperation.
“I have talked with people who hid under bridges, who crossed cold rivers holding their kids in their arms, or traveled for 10 days on four different trains, all to come to the border with Poland.” - Alex Adelson, missionary in Israel, but with Bob in Warsaw
In 2021, we had 19 missionaries serving in Ukraine. Now we have only 3. Some of our team here in Poland will trickle back across the border by May’s end. What will their land look like? What will their home look like? What will ministry look like? Big questions and we will continue to support them in many ways.
Let me highlight a couple of stories. There are dozens, if not hundreds, more.
One fellow believer that we were able to help, thanks to your partnership, is a woman named Nina*, who fled the war with her young daughter. They were tightly squeezed into a car with many other people and spent several days at the border while living out of that car with no access to a bathroom or other basic necessities. Nina told our team that she saw Christians spread out along the Ukrainian border for 15 miles, providing food for people living in cars. It was an unbelievable kindness, mercy, and witness. Our team was able to love and serve Nina and her daughter and also connect them with permanent refugee housing. Please pray that Nina and her daughter will be able to get settled and heal from their traumatic experience.
Another woman in Warsaw gave her life to Jesus with Svetlana, missionary from Ukraine, who now lives in Israel. It was encouraging for me to meet with them both that morning.
Lilyana is from Kyiv and living in a Jewish-provided hotel in the middle of the CBD of Warsaw. She rang us and was looking for some health care and some travelling products. We were able to get those to her with pleasure on that same day and she’s the beneficiary of much more than she requested.
And now here we are in Sydney. And our resources are depleting. I don’t quite understand what is happening, but we have lost significant funding in the last 18 months. Maybe it’s all the supply chain. Maybe it’s that everyone is stretched thin, and we are further down the list of organizations of interest. I get it. My capacity to give has been weakened as my own kids and grandsons seem to require more. (That’s not a bad thing at all—I’m not complaining!) So, I understand if you are at a tipping point regarding giving. That said, though, we need you to pray with us, and we need you to support evangelism during this critical time. We honestly can’t do this without you. The situation is urgent - please consider responding now with a generous gift.
If you are already a regular donor, would you consider increasing your support during this winter period when we are stretching further than ever? That would be wonderful.
This is a useful and self-pacing method of supporting us. No matter how you decide to give, you’ll help to share the Messiah’s love with thousands of Jewish people here in Australia, as well as in Ukraine, Poland, and across the globe.
We will continue to serve the Lord here in the Great Southland of the Holy Spirit. Each week at our shop, and in our lives, on the phones and on the internet, we meet with Jewish men and women who are curious. For instance, could you please pray just now for Marty? He’s just past 30 years old and lives a long distance from the Orthodox Jewish world of Sydney with which he identifies. He’s seriously seeking God and in our last conversation, he told me he had begun to read the Newer Testament and was finding it very rewarding. He said he’s “92% there.” I don’t know what the other 8% represents, but by the time you read this pre-written letter, perhaps he will be closer yet! I remember my own story and that it was in the reading of the biographies by the apostles and especially the Book of the Revelation that I was overwhelmed with the person of Yeshua. May Marty find him now, amen? And as his candle is lit, he will no doubt be lighting others.
Thank you for your commitment to being a light for Jesus. May the Lord bless you and keep you.
Yours faithfully,
Bob Mendelsohn
Regional Director, Jews for Jesus Australia