Messianic believers in the land also have inspiring and even miraculous stories to tell about moving here. Hence we are delighted to present a new feature in Kehila News, “Why I Chose to Make Israel My Home.”
I was born into a very large Hungarian family. My father was first to come to faith at age 26. He was a man who searched for the meaning of life for a long time, reading philosophy, history while, at the same time, carousing with friends and living for the moment. One day, someone invited him to a small, local congregation where he first heard the gospel. That was the event which completely changed his life.
Prior to that time, WWII had already erupted, and he and his father were forced to escape into the forests at the time the Nazis came to round up the Jews of the city. Most of his extended family – uncles and aunts – were taken to Auschwitz, never to return.
Coming to faith in the Messiah caused my father to delve into the scriptures, and that is what caused him to have a great understanding for the significance of Israel. It impacted him so much that, in his youthful exuberance, he simply made up his mind to walk in the direction of Israel. Amazingly, he made it all the way to the Romanian border of the Black Sea, where he requested entrance on a boat, but they arrested him and he was sent back to Hungary. Nonetheless, he received the promise in his heart that, one day, he and his family would make it to Israel. He took that seriously and put his future into the hands of the Lord.
At age 30, my father attended a prayer group, and, during that meeting, as a particular young woman was praying, the Lord showed him that this was the woman that he would marry. He was somewhat skeptical as he didn’t know her at all, and she was only 21, but he could tell, from her prayer, that she was a true and earnest believer, and so the revelation was there.
After much prayer and the passage of time, the Lord confirmed to him that this was the time for him to marry, letting this young woman know that God had revealed this to him. Her response was that if they were to marry, it would only be on the condition that they would go to Israel. My father was in shock, because he wondered how she could have known that this was also on his heart and the promise he had previously received. In the end, they married and soon began their very large family of 16 children. We all were raised in the faith, and my parents were two good examples to us of what it means to be true believers. They also instilled in each one of us a love for Israel and the importance of living there, letting us know that, one day, we would do so.
We didn’t know how it would happen and sometimes thought it was just a fantasy, but it was, nonetheless, deep inside of us. When I was 16, I really began to internalize this, and my older brother became the first in the family to immigrate to Israel along with his wife. A year later, my parents also immigrated with five of the younger children. I, at the time, decided to volunteer on two kibbutzim.
This was followed by my own immigration a year later. In retrospect, I can really see the hand of God helping those He wanted to return home to their land – each having a different and exciting story. These things give us pause and reason to praise the Lord for keeping His Word and doing what He promised. He moves people and governments like chess pieces, and the victory is His. He knows what He’s planning and the timing.
My particular family has many different stories since it involves so many children, but God faithfully brought us to Israel to be a light to the nations. One example is not just to come, settle ourselves in and find a good career, but to show us a full picture of why we’re here, why it was important to immigrate and what we’re supposed to be doing – not to mention why both our parents became believers at such young ages. These were the things which made me understand that God intended for me to serve him. Our lives are not our own, and with that kind of heart, I knew that God would be able to use me here in Israel.
I married here in Israel to an Israeli believer, half Hungarian and half Moroccan. Today we have three children, and we both know that we are exactly in the place where God wanted us to be.