A note from the Editor,
David Sedaca
Traveling is not unusual for me. As Secretary for the International
Messianic Jewish Alliance (IMJA) for the past 12 years I have traveled
to every continent and attended more meetings and conferences than I can
remember. But my recent trip to Ukraine was different. When I left
home I was carrying with me a bronchi-pneumonia that almost made me cancel
the trip. On the first leg of my trip I changed planes in Frankfurt,
Germany. After taking my antibiotics and other medicine to relieve the
fever, they called my flight, and in the rush, I left my medicines behind.
When I arrived in Ukraine it was quite a different picture from
what I had seen last summer. It was very cold; all was covered with
ice and snow. I stayed for over a week in a downtown apartment in
Kiev, the Ukrainian capital that my friends had rented for me. The days
were much shorter, and there wasn’t much to do in the long evenings after
I had finished with the daily schedule. There were just a few restaurants,
and all the menus were written in Cyrillic alphabet. Nobody spoke
English so I could not communicate. I could not travel to other cities
as I had done last year because the roads in the winter are not the best
for travel and public transportation is unreliable.
In addition to having the regular visa to visit a foreign country,
Ukrainian regulations require that you register with the local police once
you arrive where you are staying and all your movements outside of that
area from that moment on. I had to wait in line at different government
agencies and police stations in order to fulfill my registration.
My days usually started by lining up outside a government office in the
snow at 7 o’clock in the morning.
Why was I doing all this? I knew that I had to be there for two
important things that needed to be done, but was it worth the effort?
One of the reasons I went there was to bring into Ukraine a love offering
to relieve the difficult situation that many people are going through as
consequence of the financial crisis the former soviet countries.
Another reason for my trip was to visit Jewish believers in Ukraine to
encourage and assist them in forming a national alliance. After
a week all things began to fall in place. As I began to visit people
in need, especially the elderly, I saw that what had begun as a burden
was finally turning into a blessing. When I gave Alexandra a new
piece of equipment to monitor her medical condition, when I handed over
money to someone who needed medical treatment he could not afford to pay,
or when I purchase much needed medicine to someone else, then I realize
that my discomfort paled in comparison to their plight. I realized
then that it is as a privilege to be instrumental in bringing much needed
relief to many less fortunate than myself.
In addition, within a week, I was able to help them to approve
a constitution, put in place new officers, and formalize the establishing
a new Messianic Jewish Alliance in Ukraine. By the time I left I
had to repent for having questioned God’s purpose in taking me to Ukraine.
I also thanked the Lord for all those who have made possible to bring much
needed relief to our Ukrainian friends in need. This is the ministry
of the IMJA and I am grateful to be a part of God’s work.
In this issue you will read about the new Messianic Jewish Alliance
of Ukraine. In addition, we feature the Passover and its meaning
for us today. We also present the second of Dr. John Fischer’s articles
on the historicity and meaning of the resurrection of Yeshua, a topic related
to Passover. It is my hope that as you read meaningful articles on the
Bible and Passover events, and reports and news from our different ministries
you will finds them helpful for understanding biblical issues from a Messianic
Jewish perspective. We welcome your comments and questions, both
relating to this issue and the worldwide ministry of the IMJA.
David Sedaca,
Editor
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