The Chosen People | JULY 2019 19
minister to other members of the Body of Messiah.”
Ukraine is in many ways a shell of its former self. Since the fall
of communism, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian Jews have
left the country. Poverty is now a way of life for many who have
remained, and of these, a considerable number are elderly.
Chosen People Ministries has been active in Ukraine since
the early 1990s when a Messianic congregation sprang up
in Kiev and God began to raise up Jewish leaders to carry
the work forward. The Mission expanded its presence to the
city of Kharkov in 1994 when Alexander Sereda, a Christian
minister with a vast love for Jewish people, helped to start
our Messianic congregation there. We have a very successful
small group ministry as well as a variety of evangelistic outreaches.
We also provide humanitarian aid for sick, elderly,
and disabled Jewish people.
8 FINLAND
Our work in Finland is lead by Toivo Maaki and assisted
by Fiona S. Congregation Beit Sar Shalom is a place where
Jewish people can encounter Jesus in a Jewish way and where
Jewish believers grow in their faith. Finland also hosts healing
retreats and vacations for Holocaust survivors, which is a
joint effort among Chosen People Ministries Global partners.
9 UNITED KINGDOM
Chosen People Ministries has been present in the United
Kingdom since shortly before World War II. In addition
to being a witness for Messiah, its first activities focused
on delivering and coordinating relief to persecuted Jewish
communities in Europe and Russia. As the horrors of World
War II unfolded, the work included outreach and assistance
to the growing number of Jewish refugees who had made it
to London.
Chosen People Ministries in the United Kingdom has a
Messianic Centre in Golders Green, which has the highest
concentration of Jewish people in London, many of whom
are Orthodox. The Center offers Messianic worship services,
outreach, Bible studies, and special events designed to help
Jewish seekers and others encounter the life-giving message
of the gospel. With a growing ministry to Jewish people
from eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, the
addition of Fiona S. with more than fifteen years of ministry
experience among Jewish people in the former Soviet Union
is a tremendous asset. In addition to the Messianic Center in
London, there is a volunteer branch in the north of England.
Today the ministry in the United Kingdom is in an exciting
phase of growth and is reaching out to London’s Jewish people.
Looking ahead, we hope that the ministry will increasingly
reach the Jewish people of the United Kingdom as effectively as
it has elsewhere around the world until Messiah comes again.
1 0 AUSTRALIA
The history of the Jewish people in Australia, initially a
British penal colony, began with eight Jewish convicts from
England, who arrived at Sydney Cove with the First Fleet
in 1788. In the years that followed, the British transported a
total of 800 Jews to the Australian colonies from the United
Kingdom. Australia now has a growing population of Jewish
people, which is estimated to be about 120,000 people out of
a total population of almost 20 million.
In 1999, Chosen People Ministries partnered with Celebrate
Messiah Australia, which was established in 1995 and
operates under the direction of founder Lawrence Hirsch.
Celebrate Messiah has been involved in various forms of
Jewish evangelism, such as street evangelism and personal
ministry. Two Messianic congregations have been planted
in Melbourne, one for English speakers and one for Russian
speakers, to meet the needs of the Jewish people who have
come to faith through their ministry. A third congregation
has been planted in Sydney. Our vision is to help Celebrate
Messiah expand their ministry to reach Jewish people living
in all of Australia’s major cities.
Celebrate Messiah’s Russian Jewish work began in 1997
when Hirsch started a Bible study with two Russian Jewish
believers. The group grew, and a total of twenty-seven
Russian Jews came to faith that year. This encouraging start
set the stage for more to come.
Most recently, Celebrate Messiah has also pioneered a new
work amongst the Jews of Far East Russia in the region of
Birobidzhan, also known as the Jewish Autonomous Region.
Dom Missi’ee, Celebrate Messiah’s outreach to Russian-