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Living in Fear
(July 2000)
Living in fear. Deportation. Ethnic hatred. Political
instability. Refugee status. These are words we encounter when we
get to know some of our immigrant friends really well. We are House
of the Risen Son, a Messianic ministry reaching out to the Russian
Jewish immigrant community of the Philadelphia area with the love
of Jesus.
Under what conditions do Russian Jews come to this
country? For some, it is a story that occurred ten, twenty, or twenty-five
years ago, back in the USSR. Those were times of unofficial anti-semitism
by the Communist government. A Jewish person trying to launch a
career would suddenly find the most important doors closed to them.
You could hear whisperings all around that Jews were an undesirable
element, and should leave for the US or Israel. Fortunately, many
found their way through the terrible Soviet bureaucracy and got
to this country. Today they are American citizens, and the specter
of fear is now but a memory.
What about in the post-Soviet Union? In Russia,
Azerbaijan, Georgia, and other places, life can be very uncertain
for Jews and part Jews. Recently we got to know some immigrants
from these areas. Some have just escaped from ethnic hatred generated
by the wars in Chechnia and Armenia-Azerbaijan. Other are escaping
from the long arm of the mafia and its government stooges in the
different post-Soviet countries.
But just getting to the US is not a permanent solution,
because now they must find their way through the terrible American
bureaucracy to achieve regular immigration status here. And at the
same time, they are worried sick about their relatives who are still
in physical danger back home.
What can we do to help these people? At times we
feel weak to do anything to help, because to us who were born in
this country, American immigration law is even more mysterious than
it is to the immigrants themselves. We are sending out this newsletter
to ask you to pray for God to raise up an immigration lawyer, to
help us help those living in fear.
Though we are weak, God is strong! (2 Corinthians
12:9). What we can offer our new friends is the peace with God that
comes through a personal relationship with Messiah. By his victory
over death, Jesus has paid for our sins. He has paved the way to
eternal life in a new heaven and a new earth for all who put their
trust in him. This message of the gospel stands out as a beacon
of hope! Everyone, Jew or Gentile, can know the calm of Jesus in
the midst of the storm that we live in.
With Glory to Our Risen Messiah!
Marko Malyj
Congregational Planter, New Life Northeast Presbyterian Church (PCA)
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