Eduard Sarukhanyan, rabbi of the Lviv Messianic Jewish community: “God is looking for those who say “yes” to Him…”

At KEMO’s spring prayer, we talked with Rabbi Eduard Sarukhanyan of the Lviv Messianic Jewish Community. We talked about how he came from professional football to faith in God, the beginning of the war and humanitarian aid, Jews and anti-Semitism, the language barrier and God’s miracles in messianic ministry.

Edik, share the story of how you came to believe in God

I think it all started when I was 7 or 8 years old. My grandmother’s neighbor was a Baptist, and he once brought a booklet with the Gospel of Matthew, “Jesus, the Children’s Friend”. I read this little book and I was very impressed with the personality of Yeshua, I was completely absorbed by it. I didn’t realize that it was the Lord, the Creator… but I was so impressed by His person! “What a cool man this Jesus is! If I had lived at that time and had such an opportunity, I would like to talk with Him… “. And so throughout my subsequent life, at certain moments of crisis, I remembered Yeshua.

I lived in Zaporizhia and from the age of 7 I was seriously involved in football. I had a lifelong dream – to get into the “Dynamo” club in Kyiv. But when that dream came true – I was 12 at the time – I felt a certain emptiness. And I believe it was from God. Here I was, a teenager, achieving that goal – now what? And nothing. For some reason, I felt it so acutely and thought about it … However, I soon threw all these feelings somewhere in the far corner of my soul and continued to play football.

Of course, it was a big dream to become a professional soccer player, but by the age of 19, everything fell apart. Because of the injury, my lifestyle and various other reasons. And now, at the beginning of 2008, there was a crisis not only in the world, but also in my life. I was depressed.

I moved to Lviv, tried to gain a foothold in the local football team, but the terrible crisis continued. The relationship with my girlfriend fell apart and here I was sitting alone in the apartment – and then for some reason the lights were turned off from time to time – it was generally dark, the depression was terrible … And so I just decided to go outside and pray. I was walking through a neighboring park and cried out to God internally: “If You exist, save me! Show me Your reality! I really need You!”

A month later, I returned to Kiev, started reading the Bible, but deeply doubted in everything: “Why Jesus? Why not Allah, why not Buddha? I remember the day I got down on my knees and said: “Lord, I really need You. And if there are people on earth who really know You, please, I have to meet those people.”

The next day I met a man in training, whose name was Grisha Sakhnyuk, and as it turned out later, he was from the Messianic Jewish community of Kiev. We started running together and he preached to me. I was very surprised, but did not consider it a coincidence.

He invited me to the service, to “church” as he said. Well, I went to the church and then I saw all this :) It took me 20 minutes and I said: “Grisha, thank you very much, I forgot to turn off my iron…”. And I ran away.

However, my search for God continued. I went to the Orthodox church, prayed, read the Bible and asked God questions.

I remember once asking Him this question: “Why must I live? What is my life’s mission?” And with this question I came to the Orthodox Church. At the end of the service, the Orthodox priest opened the Gospel and read Yeshua’s words about the fishers of men. And at that moment he looked at me. It was so powerful, just supernatural. I was an unbeliever, not a born-again person, and I understood that it was the Lord who was speaking to me now: “You will be a fisher of men.” I was very angry, I wanted to tear the censer from the priest’s hand. But then I talked to him again later and he asked me: “Don’t you think you need to serve God?” It totally blew me away. I was offended at God because I had a dream – to be a football player, an athlete and a star. What God? What people serving? What kind of people to catch?

See how God worked in your life.

Yes, it’s just amazing! But then I was very offended by the Lord, I did not communicate with Him for a few months.

And then again there was another crisis in my life, some health problems. And I thought, “Okay, I’m going back to those crazy people…”. Grisha didn’t even invite me anymore, he just said that services are held every Saturday at such and such an address.

And so I went to Shabbat… Dancing was too much for me, so I figured out the start time of the sermon and decided to come just to listen to the rabbi’s sermon. I understand that then God touched me.

So for a while I just went to services. They tried to get to know me somehow, asked me something, but I found various excuses: “Yes, I’m going to Poland next week … I’m not here, don’t call.” Well, I continued to attend Shabbat.

In 2010, the rebbe announced at one of the services that the well-known evangelist Reinhard Bonnke was coming to Kiev and he advised everyone to go to this service, which was held in the People’s Friendship Park on the soccer field – very symbolic in my opinion. And there the Lord touched me very strongly and I decided to surrender to God.

I repented and from that day God began to work mightily and manifest His reality in my life. I started feeding the homeless, I had a special compassion for people. I wanted to preach to everyone, but the only ones who listened to me were the homeless. And then, while they were eating, I preached to them.

And here’s another funny story – I was staying with a friend at the time, and when no one was home, I sat at the table, set up chairs and preached to imaginary people :) No one told me to do it, I just had an inner conviction that I had to do it . Imaginary people repented and of course I was a very successful clergyman :)

For a while I was cautious about becoming a member of the church, but finally the Lord reached me through Shasha Ivanenko and I went to a home group. There I already understood what God’s family is, that it is important for me to belong to this family.

About a year after my repentance, I started leading a home group myself. Of course, there were ups and downs – the groups both grew and didn’t grow, but gradually I served God.

Later, KEMO changed to a new structural form, and I also led the “talmidim” group – it was quite successful, people were constantly registering there. And over time, I was appointed the coach responsible for the region of such groups. It all lasted for about half a year, and then the war started…

Now let’s talk about war. Please tell us what were your first thoughts on February 24, 2022?

We have a small child, so we turn off our phones at night. So we woke up and didn’t know anything was happening. Then everything became clear, although there was a feeling that right now, in a couple of hours, something would be decided. But nothing was decided, and in the evening we went to dinner with our friends – and there they decided that it was probably necessary to leave Kiev. We were very worried about our child – I remember that during the signals I grabbed him, ran with him to the entrance …

And so we went to Vinnitsa with the Medvedev family, stayed there for 4-5 days – we were well received, we prayed there with our brothers and sisters. And then we decided to take the children and women to the border. Yaroslava Vilko had already contacted us by then, said that she would receive them at the Polish border and help them there.

In general, we drove to the border, sent off our wives and children and prayed ourselves – it was already night – and went to sleep in the cars right there. In the morning, Andrei Lugovski called us and said that our Polish brothers are bringing humanitarian aid to Lviv and “it would be nice if we went there and unloaded a couple of buses.”

We found an empty warehouse in Lviv and that’s how we started our humanitarian mission. There were huge flows of humanitarian aid from Poland, Germany, England and Slovakia. We unloaded it all, packed it up, etc. Then volunteers from Lviv came to us, we put the goods on the car, went to the depot and loaded everything onto the train. Such humanitarian activities were carried out for two or three months.

At the end of May, Andrei Lugovski said that we should develop the messianic ministry in Lviv. Already in 2021, the messianic service began in Lviv, but by then most people had left. And so Andrei came to me and said that he would like me to take on this responsibility. Of course, I didn’t think about it at all, I didn’t think and I didn’t expect it. But the interesting thing is that many things in my life, regarding my relationship with God, have happened exactly like this: “Home group? No, no, no, no way… I can’t, I don’t want what do you mean…’ “Come on stage, talk about tzedakah…” – I always made all kinds of excuses – nothing worked…

And so I answered Andrei: “Honestly, I don’t see myself here. I don’t want, I can’t…” In general, I prayed and realized that if God really wants to see me here, I would like to please God in this. Thank God, my wife supported me – although we love our KEMO and Kyiv very much. This step was difficult for us, let’s say so… But by the grace of God, He helped us to accept this challenge.

In June, my wife and child returned from Germany, and so we began our ministry.

Did some people from these pre-war services still stay in Lviv?

Yes, there were still people. Gradually they left. By the way, even in the first months of the war, the services continued – they were conducted by Andrei Vasilievich, there were many people – both refugees and migrants. Up to a hundred people gathered.

But by the end of spring, people began to leave, residents of Kiev and other cities returned to their homes. But 10-12 clergy remained and it was a very good foundation for creating a community.

We held a meeting of leaders, we found out who can lead which workshop (small group, aimed at new people) – cooking, sports, English. We then discussed how we invite people. Thank God we had passed the ministry school in Kiev: “Let’s make the street Erev Shabbat?” – “Let’s do that!”

One of the faithful volunteers from Lviv who came and helped us with his bus also volunteered to help in the ministry. And he, as it turned out, was also a musician, but the important thing was that he was local. I remember him telling us: “What to talk about, what not to talk about, how to talk.” This is also an important point – the language barrier. Words like “зупинівка”, “Серіжа”, “самолит” and that’s all. To this day, people come to me after the service and say: “Thank you for the sermon, but that word is pronounced like this…”.

In general, we held two street Shabbos and made a hundred contacts. Of these, 30-40 people started attending our workshops constantly.

Wonderful! Are they mostly local, residents of Lviv?

No, somewhere between 60-70% are refugees. Another special feature is that refugees are open. The locals, on the other hand, are basically fine. But people who lost everything came to Lviv – they are looking for a way out, help and comfort. Someone was really looking for God. They are more open. Now residents of Lviv have also started to come to us, but 60% are new arrivals.

At first we had four workshops, but now we have six. To date, 82 people have participated in our workshops – including clergy. These are not just those who came once, but those who come regularly. Some people have started participating in the ministry, consciously serving the Lord. The School of Foundations of Faith, the first level, is already coming to an end. After school, twilas – a water baptism – are expected.

You already talked a little about the language barrier. Share more — is serving in Ukrainian-speaking Lviv a problem for you and a Russian-speaking person?

I will say that for the first few months I preached in Russian.

Did the people condemn you?

There were few cases. First, we also had a lot of immigrants. But even the locals understand. Basically, there were no complaints. I just immediately warned everyone that I will gradually switch to the Ukrainian language. People understood that I needed some time. I even started reading literature in Ukrainian, I bought and read “Tevye the Milkman” (by Sholom Aleichem) in Ukrainian.

But does language play a role in your experience?

Yes, it is important. We understood that this is important for people, so all the clergy made such a decision. In our country, most people are Russian-speaking Kievans. Slowly, they began to translate the songs into Ukrainian. We understood that it was important to people and we wanted to reach them, but it would have been very difficult in Russian. And today we actually have the entire service in Ukrainian.

You held Shabbats on the street, but it is widely believed that there are difficulties with the attitude towards Jews in Lviv… Have you experienced manifestations of anti-Semitism?

Yes, there were such precedents, but again, these are isolated cases.

When we planned our street action, there was such a struggle internally – whether to do the usual Jewish circle dances or not… But I realized that we have to break through it. Because we were so limited, shy and fearful. And so we realized that we had to do this to blow the lid off. With God’s help we got over it and surprisingly many people reacted normally and joined the circle dances.

I remember a grandfather came out here twice – after all, we organized this Shabbat twice on the street – and shouted terrible and horrible things. We gathered in the alley by the opera house and there is a place where senior citizens play chess. And so one of these chess players ran after us and shouted that he saw Hitler and that Hitler gave him a chocolate bar and that we were Jews and so on. But people came to him and calmed him down. In other words, there have been and continue to be isolated manifestations of anti-Semitism, but perhaps we are not yet active enough to make any kind of objective assessment of it.

Have you interacted with the local Jewish community? Various Jewish organizations, synagogues operate in Lviv…

We serve some Chesed people, but so far there hasn’t been much interaction. To be honest, we just recently finished all this humanitarian work – of course, the volumes were not as big as in the first months, but we had something to do. We still have a chaplain service, in April we organized a concert for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and human resources are limited and we simply cannot physically cover everything at once.

We have people leading workshops and prayers, serving in the military and doing humanitarian work – it’s still not easy. But I believe that the number of clergy will gradually increase and we will increase our communication in different areas.

What about relations with other Christian churches in Lviv?

One of the wishes expressed by our KEMO elder Konstantin Gerdov was to participate in the pastoral council of the city. I met the bishop of Dzherelo Zhittya church in Lviv and through him I entered the pastoral fellowship. This is very important to me. We meet with the pastors once a month, communicate and pray. With some, you could say that friendship has already been established.

Sometimes there may be some misunderstanding about the Jewish question – they say, well, what about you, you are messianic jews where these jews are… Thank God, there is no hostility, but it is still felt that for some pastors and clergy, this topic is distant and not very clear. “Here is something common, Christian and right… but there is something yours and separate…”.

Have you had any thoughts about what you will do when the war is over?

We are determined to continue the ministry. God has already done a lot in our community, we see the real hand of God in the construction of the community. The Jewish community is very important to God.

For example, we rented a room, but there was no kitchen. But the kitchen is needed because the workshops had to be held there. “We pray!” And suddenly a man came to Shabbat and asked me what we need for our community. I told him about the kitchen, the tools needed for it. And after a few days he came and said: “Here is the necessary amount, God put it in my heart to help you. Such an opportunity opened up.”

 

A woman, the manager of a large store, also repented with us. “What do you need? I really want to help you somehow!”. I’m already somewhat uncomfortable … In general, she bought us an oven and a refrigerator … God arranges everything in this way, there are no words.

What has the Lord taught you during this time? Perhaps some special insight, some lesson has come from Him?

First, the salvation of the Jewish people is a very important issue for God. I have been in the community for many years, but here I already see, as if from the inside, how much God’s heart is concerned for His people. And God supports this ministry in every possible way.

And secondly, God is working in our church despite the fact that we are all simple guys and do not have any prominent stars. We are all some sort of firstfruit, somewhere in the bud. But we see that God is simply looking for those who say “yes” to Him. And even through us He works, providing for the community and saving Jews and people from other nations.

God is looking for the faithful – those who agree, accept a challenge from Him. And it is not only about me, many of our clergy also thought: “Well, here, Kiev and Lviv … In Kiev, the community is big and expensive, everything is clear and established – life, work … But there in Lviv, there are not so many of us, all is new, there are many different responsibilities…”. But most people answered the call and God began to act.

God taught us and me personally to hope and trust Him in a new way. It’s all brand new to me. I have never been in charge of organizing Shabbat before. And the sermon… If they had told me two years ago that I had to preach… No, guys, that must be some kind of a mistake…

So, what do I do? I hope in God. When preparing for a sermon, I pray: “Lord, help me, please! I don’t have superpowers, I need You to act, I’m asking You…” Do you need a kitchen? Let’s pray: “Lord, we trust in You!”. There was little money in society, although of course KEMO helped us a lot in paying the rent, but we had to manage all other expenses ourselves.

Therefore, God has taught and continues to teach to trust in Him. Although, of course, I cannot say that we have already passed this exam. My prayer life has definitely changed during that time. Because wherever I go, I can’t do anything, I don’t know how, but: “Lord, I need You very much!” Experience is zero. But the prayer life has grown and God is teaching us to trust Him.

And finally, if we truly trust Him, there has never been a time when He has let us down. We were going to evangelize on the street, rain was predicted. “God, we want to do this so badly, help!” It did not rain. On the day of the festival, it rained all day, the weather was terrible. And we had to start at 17:00 and it was not at all clear whether it would make sense to start the festival at all. At 16:40 the rain stopped. The party ends, we pack up the equipment and it starts raining again.

So the main lesson is hope in God.

Interviewer – Alex Fishman

Source: https://ieshua.org/eduard-saruhanyan-ravvin-evrejskoj-messianskoj-obshhiny-vo-lvove-bog-prosto-ishhet-teh-kto-skazhet-emu-da.htm