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Celebrating the Jewish Holidays and God's Plan of Salvation!
(January 2000)

Hello from House of the Risen Son! We are a Russian Christian Jewish Fellowship reaching out to former Soviet immigrants in the Philadelphia area with the Good News of Messiah Jesus!

One thing that unites Jewish people around the world, whether they are religious or secular, are the Jewish holidays. But many do not realize that these holidays were mandated by God Himself in the Old Testament, or that they commemorate God's workings in history. For instance, in early fall comes Rosh Hashana, or Feast of Trumpets (see Leviticus 23:23, Numbers 29:1-6), and Yom Kippur, or Day of Atonement (Lev.16). And late in the fall comes Hanukkah, or Feast of Dedication, which celebrates what God did to protect the Jewish people 165 years before Christ when their faith was threatened with annihilation by the Syrian-Greek king Antiochus -- a holiday which Jesus Himself celebrated (see John 10:22).

This past fall our fellowship had two special get-togethers with our Russian Jewish and American friends, to celebrate Rosh Hashana/Yom Kippur, and later Hanukkah. Fred Klett, the director of CHAIM (Christians Announcing Israel's Messiah), was our host and teacher. About 40 people just fit into Fred's house - half and half between Russian and English speakers! We were blessed having some American Christians who've spent time in Russia or Ukraine. Our guests were amazed with Americans speaking a bit of Russian! So we had a wonderful time of food, music, fellowship, and praises to our Father God and Jesus His Son.

On both occasions, Fred gave a presentation on the significance of these Jewish holidays in God's plan of salvation for His people, both Jew and Gentile. He taught from both Old and New Testament. Yours truly helped translate into Russian. Another person who helped translate was N., a Jewish man whom I recently met at the Babi Yar holocaust memorial (mentioned in our last newsletter). N. kept saying over and over how amazing it was that the Jewish religion and Christianity had so much in common. He could not keep his enthusiasm to himself! We see that N. has a new-found desire to seek the true God.

Pray that N. and others will come to know our wonderful savior Jesus! Please also pray that our fellowship will find a regular meeting place in the Russian neighborhood that could accomodate dozens of friends, like N., who want to fellowship with us and learn about Jesus.

With Glory to Our Risen Messiah!
Marko Malyj
Congregational Planter, New Life Northeast Presbyterian Church