Berlin Branch Staff

Aaron was born in Israel but spent the majority of his life in England. He grew up in a family that had already accepted Yeshua as the Messiah. However, during his early teenage years, he went his own way and got involved in the punk movement for a short period of time. Eventually, through an encounter with the Holy Spirit, the Lord convicted him of his sin and showed him that he was wasting his life if he wasn’t living for Him. After spending four and a half years working with Jews for Jesus in Hungary, he moved with his family to start a new branch in Berlin. Here, they share the life-giving message of the Messiah Yeshua with Israeli, German, and Russian Jews along with the thousands of tourists who travel there. Every prayer is so much appreciated!

Natasha was born in Kazan, Russia in 1971. In 1993, she became a believer and connected with Jews for Jesus, where she met her husband, Leonid.

Since 2019, their family moved to Germany to serve with our team in Berlin. Leonid and Natasha serve as leaders of the Russian-speaking ministry. They founded and continue to develop the “Alef” community. Their Shabbats are not just services; they are a time of family fellowship and unity, and an opportunity to meet new people. For those who seek connection in a more informal setting, they host the “Alef Club.” Here they enjoy creative art and cooking workshops, play board games, and explore the city through excursions.

Each year, they organize trips for family camp, held just outside Berlin. Many young people and teenagers come to the camp and become connected to community life. In the near future, they will be launching an initiative for Youth Shabbat.

Carolina Flores grew up in a Messianic Jewish home in Israel. However, after a painful separation of her parents, the family simply abandoned their belief in Yeshua and Carolina grew up completely secular. As a young woman, after her time in the army, she worked in Israel in a facility where volunteers from Germany served. One day, some of these volunteers invited Carolina to church. This first visit was the beginning of a change in her life and there she met a member of the Jewish staff for Jesus who would take care of Carolina in the near future. After a few meetings, Carolina came to believe and was baptized.

God’s ways are unique and they led Carolina to Germany to study and later to Berlin for an internship with Jews for Jesus in Berlin. Now she is taking the big step to work full-time for Jews for Jesus in Berlin.

Leonid is a Jew who believes in Jesus as the Messiah. He was born in Odessa, Ukraine and grew up there in a secular Jewish family. He first heard the gospel and believed in Yeshua in 1991. In 1996, he became part of Jews for Jesus and then moved to Kyiv to open a branch there. During his time in Kyiv, he studied at the Theological Seminary and earned a doctorate in Theology.

He is currently living in Berlin with his wife, Natasha, and their three children, preaching the Good News among Russian-speaking Jews. Together, they founded the “Alef” community, where their Shabbats are not just services, but are a time of family fellowship and unity, and an opportunity to meet new people. For those who seek connection in a more informal setting, they host the “Alef Club.” Here they enjoy art and cooking workshops, play board games, and explore the city through excursions.

Each year, they organize trips for family camp, held just outside Berlin. Many young people and teenagers come to the camp and become connected to community life. In the near future, they will be launching an initiative for Youth Shabbat.

In 1996, when I got a new job as a salesman, I met a young couple that worked next to me, Yury and Natasha. Once, I learned that they never work on Sundays. I got very surprised at this because in sales one could earn a lot of money on a weekend. I asked them some questions, and Natasha began to tell me about Jesus. In about six months, they invited me to attend a church service with them. To be completely honest, I did not really like it in church. But when I looked at my new friends, I could not help noticing how everything seems to work out for them and how happy they are.
Seven or eight months later, I reconciled with God and invited Jesus into my life. This happened in 1996.
Soon, Yura was invited to join the Jews for Jesus ministry as an administrator, and he invited me to take part in the ministry as well. Periodically, I took part in outreaches of Jews for Jesus. Some more missionaries of Jews for Jesus were part of my church and shared a lot about this ministry with us. So, you could say that I grew up spiritually with Jews for Jesus.
In 2003, leader of the Odessa branch invited me to participate in the Behold Your God campaign in Odessa, Ukraine. I agreed. For a month, we all went out to the streets of Odessa, gave out tracts and shared the gospel message with people. After this campaign, I felt a fire in my heart towards the Jews for Jesus ministry. So, in March 2004, I joined Jews for Jesus in Odessa as an outreach worker.
I have a wonderful wife named Lina and two sons Alexander & Mark.

Vlad knew little about what it meant to be Jewish. His first “aha” moment came when he saw a video about Moses and realized he was related to this man and his people. He then went to a synagogue but found no answers.

After university, he was hired as a cameraman for a film project that involved filming Christian services in prison, he saw lives changed and eventually joined in a prayer of repentance, experiencing God’s transforming power.

Vlad and his wife Stacie moved to Berlin to become part of the Jews for Jesus missionary team there. He produces Christian video content in German and English, and is preparing to launch Russian-language programs as well. Vlad and Stacie do personal outreach to Jews in Berlin and across Germany, meeting mainly with Russian-speaking creatives and visiting synagogues to meet new people. His goal is to reach the city’s 50,000 Russian-speaking Jews with the gospel.

Stanislava was born into a secular family in Kharkiv, Ukraine. While studying at the art academy, she had to do an assignment on the four Gospels. The text impressed her, but there was much she did not understand. At 18, she moved to Germany and reluctantly went to church regularly with her mother. Over time, she understood more and more about faith in Yeshua, and many of her questions were answered and she finally found new life in Yeshua.

Today she lives in Berlin along with her husband Vlad and their two children. She connects with other Russian-speaking Jewish artists in the city and shares the gospel with them. She also creates evangelistic social media content and does graphic design work to reach people online with the Berlin branch.