The "Good Lunch" project
of the Berdychiv Jewish Messianic Congregation began in the spring of 2020, with more than 30 children from low-income families receiving hot lunches. Now the project has expanded and provides hot lunches to more than 300 people every day, as well as delivers them to the disabled and people with reduced mobility. Volunteers and ministers of the project also conduct Bible lessons and pray for the visitors of the Good Lunch.
The Kyiv Jewish Messianic Congregation has been serving the homeless every week for more than five years - ministers and volunteers feed hot lunches, distribute warm things and share a word of hope and prayer with the needy.
Chaplaincy
for our congregations began back in 2009 with prison ministry. Since 2014, chaplains have traveled to front-line cities and served the military. With the war in full swing, the ministry of chaplains expanded significantly. Thus, the chaplains made many trips to the front and near-front areas where they provided assistance to the military and civilian population and shared the Word. Some of the soldiers who were ministered by the chaplains accepted Yeshua and received water baptism.
In addition to military chaplains, our Union also has police and prison chaplains.An important part of chaplain ministry is service in hospitals. A team of medical chaplains visit the wounded in hospitals and clinics every week, providing them with food, clothes, medicines, bedsore mattresses, wheelchairs, crutches, etc. For the social adaptation and psychological rehabilitation of wounded soldiers, they organized celebrations of Jewish and Biblical autumn holidays, outing cultural events, etc.
Starting from December 2022, the Kyiv Jewish Messianic Congregation, with the participation of representatives of other churches, held several Armed Forces Thanksgiving Evenings, where chaplains invite military personnel and their families, war veterans, volunteers, their relatives and friends. Such events also help the social adaptation of the military.
Medical ministry
has been in place since June 2022 and has two main directions - mobile medical dentistry and the project with medication assistance "First Aid Kit". Mobile medical charitable dentistry - away dental care for those in need. Professional dentists provide free dental care to needy residents of de-occupied towns and villages of the Kyiv region, as well as to military personnel. During this time, more than 700 people were helped. The "First Aid Kit" project is aimed at providing medicines to those who need them. During this time, they helped more than 1,800 people from Kyiv, the region and other cities of Ukraine.
Psychological support projects
"Overcoming adversity" and "Lessons of faith" for internally displaced persons and persons experiencing the horrors of war have been taking place in various congregations of our Union for more than a year and a half. This project not only helps people, many of whom have lost homes, friends and family, but also introduces them to faith and God. Many of the people were able to find new meaning, faith, felt support and found new friends, and some of them became part of our congregations.
Shabbat school and youth ministry
In the Jewish tradition, it is important to pass on your faith to the younger generation, so we pay a lot of attention to our children and teenagers. There are ministries for children in the congregations - Shabbat school and youth ministry. We hold camps for teenagers and children several times a year. Our Union also has the Gut Fruit platform, which unites teenagers and young people of the Union by holding youth conferences in Ukraine and Europe, as well as various events.
The Vinnytsia congregation also helps and conducts various activities for IDP children, the community from Zaporizhya helps in a boarding school for children with developmental disabilities. The "Ekhad" center, which helps children and teenagers who find themselves in difficult life circumstances, is located in the Kyiv congregation. These are children whose parents neglect them due to addictions or serious illnesses. Currently, 20 teenagers live in the congregation’s care. The Kyiv congregation fully provides for about 50 children from crisis families.
The Jewish festival Jewish Open Space
has been held in Kyiv for more than 10 years, and since 2022 it has become international. At the festival, we talk about the work of our congregations, how they live, and also talk about our charitable projects and how to become a part of them. In addition, we get people acquainted with Jewish culture. In 2023, such festivals were held in 10 cities (Kyiv, Lviv, Berdychiv, Vinnytsia, Odesa, Kamianets-Podilskyi, Porvoo, Cologne, Dresden, Portland) and 4 countries - Ukraine, Germany, Finland, USA.
