Dear Friend,

          Grace to you and Shalom from God our Father and the Lord Jesus the Messiah! Thank you very much for your sacrificial faithful

     support by prayers and giving. We greet you with the upcoming holiday Shavuot. Shavuot means weeks in Hebrew. It is celebrated on

     the  49^th day after the Passover (Total 50 days). According to tradition- this is the day of giving the Torah to Moses on Mt. Sinai. In the   

    NT this day is called the Pentecost, meaning from the Greek word 50.

          A great miracle happened on that day. Before his ascension, Jesus promised his disciples that the Holy Spirit will come upon them.

     Pentecost is the miracle described in the Book of Acts 2:1. In the Bible this feast is known as the feast of harvest, and the first sheaf

     had to be dedicated to the Lord. When Yeshua was in the desert 40 days and 40 nights and was tempted by Satan, Yeshua told him,

     “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). He is quoting

     Deuteronomy 8:3, pointing to the main gift of God- His Holy Word. In fact this is the essence of the Jewish celebration Pentecost.

          Liberation from slavery wasn’t enough to make Israel “kingdom of priests and holy nations.” Without God’s word, Israel would just

     be a group of freed slaves, assimilated in other nations and eventually wiped out from the sagas of history.

           It would not be exaggerated to say that the people of Israel were born as a nation in Sinai. Pentecost is the celebration of the Birthday

     of God’s covenant nation.  In the same way we can say that salvation, which Yeshua made available to us through cross wouldn’t be

     enough to build the church on Earth. Of course, He saved us from darkness and slavery of sin by his atonement. But if he didn’t say what

     to do next, his disciples would go back to being fisherman. But Lord needed “fisherman of men” (Mt 4:19). He needed people that would

     listen to his Word and spread it throughout the World. It becomes possible through outpouring at the Holy Spirit, on the day of Pentecost

     in Jerusalem. That’s what Yeshua told his disciples in Luke 24:48-49 and in Acts 1:8. Before receiving mighty power of the Holy Spirit,

    disciples were weak and lost. Now they had power, wisdom and force, needed for them to become apostles. Without receiving Ruah Ha

    Kodesh (in Hebrew), Holy Spirit, there would be no church ( kehila), no gathering of believers, united under apostles, who spread all over

    the Earth, among all nations Good News about Messiah Lord Jesus. Pentecost is birthday of the church. This year Shavuot begins on May

    18 at sunset.

            In April, with God’s help I witnessed to more than 600 people. More than 500 people are from Philadelphia where I had a missionary

     trip. 250,000 Russian speaking people live in the Philadelphia area. 200,000 from this number are Russian speaking Jews.

           I met elder Jew who asked me a lot of questions. After I answered him and shared about Jesus, he told me that I gave him fresh air.

     He said that I am the second Jew he met in his life who believes in Jesus. The man was so happy. Another older Jewish family told me

     that I am a liar because they said that Jesus is not the Messiah. One Jew K. who has health problem told me that he had very bad

     examples from the Christians who called him bad words because he is a Jew, and even beat him. I tried to explain to him that the true

     Christians love others, especially the Jews who gave to them Jesus the Messiah. K. gladly heard the Good News.

          Alot of other Jews told me that they have their own God and they don’t need Jesus. A lot of them said that they have a perfect life

     and they don’t need God. They said that they do good work, and they automatically go to Heaven. They said that I don’t have to worry

     for their life. But I said that without Jesus there is no hope. To all of them I witnessed and shared the Gospel of the Messiah.

     One religious Russian woman told me, after I witnessed to her, that if her husband finds out that she is speaking with me, he will kill her.

     I offered her a Holy Scriptures but she denied. I also met a scientist who screamed at me, and tried to tell that Jesus cannot be the

     Messiah. I witnessed to him, but he became very angry and left. Another handicapped Jew told me that he doesn’t have any hope

     because most of his life he is sick. I told him that in the Kingdom of the Lord, nobody is sick, and nobody cries, and there is no death.

     I told him about the hope we have in Jesus. Another Jewish woman who noticed the Bible in my hands started to scream:” Not this, not

     this”. She also said that Jesus is not for the Jews. An American religious Jew who received witnesses from me told me that Jesus is

    good for the Gentiles, but not for the Jews. He told me to go to witness only to the Gentiles. I answered that I witness to everyone, but

    first to the Jews. This man got the witness from me, and left without taking any literature.

          We also met a lot of Russian-speaking Muslims whom we gave the Holy Scriptures, and the Jesus DVD movie. In the same area I

      met young woman S. who used to live in Israel for 10 years. She opened her heart and was so interested to hear and learn about Jesus.

      S.accepted from me a Bible. Another Israeli woman S. whose husband is a religious Jew was shocked when I told her about Jesus as

     the Messiah. She told me that she feels bad about me. But after my witness she said that maybe I’m right that Jesus is the Messiah. She

     accepted from me the Holy Scriptures. Another older Israeli man told me that he is thinking a lot about the Messiah. The man said that

     everything what I told him is in his heart. He said that he doesn’t believe in Jesus as the Messiah, but he took from me the Hebrew NT.

     More witnesses about Philadelphia missionary trip I’m going to write God willing in the next letter including our witnesses at the Neshami

     and Franklin malls.

          In the Cleveland area, I met one Jewish woman who told me that she is pure Jewish, and she doesn’t want to hear anything about

     Jesus. Another Russian woman told me that she doesn’t want to read the Bible because she doesn’t feel that it is necessary.

     A Jewish man who I started to see more in the streets told me that he respects me as a person, but he hates that I believe in Jesus as

     a Jew. But he asked me to pray for him and I prayed.

          Thank you so much for your faithfulness and partnership with us. Thank you for your prayers for our congregation and my family. We

      all send you Shalom in Yeshua.

           If God leads you to start or continue to help us financially, please send your donation to Beth-El Messianic Congregation and Ministries,

     P.O. Box 360165, Cleveland, OH, 44136.

          May the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel richly bless you. Happy Pentecost holiday. Shalom!

          In the Messiah YESHUA,

                    Beth-El Russian Messianic Ministries and Brother Igor.