Evgeny had made it out of Ukraine during the war. He and his mother had reached Israel and were now living in Jerusalem—something he still describes as a miracle. From the outside, it might have looked as though the hardest part of his journey was over. They were safe. They had arrived. But for Evgeny, reaching Israel brought another question he had not expected: Why did I come here?
For Jewish people like Evgeny, aliyah—the return of Jewish people to Israel—is much more than getting on a plane and beginning life in another country. There is a new language to learn, unfamiliar systems to navigate, work and housing to figure out, and relationships that have to be built from the beginning. For those arriving because war has disrupted the life they once knew, there is also everything they are carrying with them.
Through the work of Beit Hallel Congregation in Israel, Evgeny began attending gatherings where new Jewish immigrants could meet people, receive encouragement, and find practical and spiritual support as they adjusted to life in Israel. During one of those gatherings, he heard the team speak about the Jewish people returning to Israel and about God’s faithfulness to those beginning again. Evgeny later said that he took those words personally. Maybe his life had not simply been pushed from one country into another by war. Perhaps there was purpose ahead of him, even if he could not yet see very far down the road.
Then his mother suffered a stroke.
Suddenly, questions about adapting to Israel and building a future were overshadowed by something much more immediate. Doctors were fighting to save his mother’s life, and during those frightening days Evgeny reached for a Bible the ministry team had given him. He began reading it and praying, and he called the team and asked them to pray for his mother too.
The doctors saved her life, and there is something beautiful about the way Evgeny speaks about what happened. He does not talk as though he has to choose between thanking the doctors and thanking God. He is deeply grateful for the medical care his mother received, and he thanks God that she is still here. He also thanks God that they made it to Israel. For a man who arrived carrying so many questions, gratitude has slowly begun taking up more room.
There has been another quieter change. Evgeny keeps coming back. He listens to the Word, asks for prayer, talks with people, and says the gatherings help him continue moving forward. But one of the things he mentions most is something very simple: he feels accepted.
That may not sound dramatic, but imagine beginning again in a country where almost everything feels unfamiliar and then walking into a place where someone knows your name. People remember what you told them the last time they saw you. They ask how your mother is doing. There is somewhere you can return without having to explain your whole story again. None of that instantly solves the enormous questions of life, but sometimes belonging begins in very ordinary ways.
Then recently, while on his way into the city, Evgeny gave the team another prayer request: “Pray for my future wife.” That made everyone smile. He also asked for prayer that adapting to life in Israel would become easier, so his story has not suddenly become perfect. The challenges are still real. But there is something important hidden inside that prayer: the man who once wondered why he had come to Israel is now praying about a life he hopes to build there. His prayers are beginning to face forward.
Perhaps that is what makes Evgeny’s story so meaningful. There was no single moment when every question disappeared. His mother went through a frightening medical crisis, adjusting to Israel is still difficult, and his future is not mapped out neatly in front of him. But Why did I come here? is no longer the only question.
There is a Bible he opens now. There are people he can call when he needs prayer. There is gratitude for his mother’s life and for the country that has become their home. And somewhere in those prayers, there is even a future wife.
Through Voice of Judah Israel and our partnership with Beit Hallel Congregation, this is one of the reasons we believe it is so important to stand beside new Jewish immigrants as they build their lives in Israel. Practical help matters, but so do friendship, belonging, prayer, and the opportunity to discover the hope we have in Jesus. For Evgeny, arriving in Israel was not the end of the journey. In many ways, it was the beginning.
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
— Jeremiah 29:11