Bob Mendelsohn served as the director of Jews for Jesus in Australia and New Zealand for 25 years. He now spends half the year in Nashville and half in Sydney. He grew up as an Orthodox Jew in Kansas City, became a university drop out, and looked for the meaning of life in the counterculture of the 1960s. He found meaning and relevance in Jesus, which caused him much trouble in his local community, but he says, “It was worth the cost.” Bob pastored a church he planted, then taught high school mathematics before he began working with Jews for Jesus in 1979.

In his Jews for Jesus career (45 years) he has served as the leader of our ministry work in Washington, DC and New York City before moving to found our work in Sydney in 1998. Bob and his wife, Patty, both graduated from the University of Kansas and Fuller Seminary. They have three adult children and seven grandchildren.
Read Bob’s story here.

Rebekah Bronn grew up in a Messianic Jewish home in New Zealand. Her Father is Jewish and came to faith in Jesus when he was eighteen, along with his parents and brother. Rebekah is grateful to have grown up in a family where being Jewish and believing in Jesus was seen as normal and she placed her faith in Jesus at a young age. Some of her favorite childhood memories are celebrating Shabbat and Passover with her family.

In recent years, Rebekah has spent time traveling and living and working in London, which is where her Father is originally from. She has also spent time in Israel and volunteered with a Messianic Jewish organization in New Zealand that reaches out to Israeli travelers. It was while she was working with this organization, that she began to feel called into Jewish ministry. In July 2019 she began a one year internship with Jews for Jesus in Sydney and upon completion, joined staff.

Rebekah loves working among the Jewish community in Sydney and is excited to see the new things God is doing in her life and the lives of the Jewish people she meets.

Alexander Adelson has been a missionary with Jews for Jesus since 2011. In 2017, he was appointed to lead the Tel Aviv Hebrew-speakers missionary branch. He now serves in Australia.

He was born in Russia in a secular Jewish home and, in 1999, at a young age, immigrated to Israel with his family. Alexander came to know Yeshua (Jesus) while completing his mandatory military service in the Israel Defense Forces. After five years in the Air Force, he was honorably discharged with the rank of staff sergeant. During the service, he led various projects and also a platoon.

Alexander accomplished criminology certificate studies and worked as a private investigator. Later, while serving as a security officer, he was introduced to Jews for Jesus and was challenged to share the gospel with the people of Israel. In 2019, he graduated from Israel College of the Bible with BA, and in 2022, he got a diploma in biblical counseling.

Alexander is married to Svetlana, who also serves with Jews for Jesus, and they have two children: Daniel and Eliana. He is fluent in three languages: Hebrew, Russian, and English.

Svetlana is serving as a missionary in Jews for Jesus with Russian-speaking Jews. She was born in Ukraine in a secular home. In 2002, she graduated from medical college and began working as a neonatal intensive care unit nurse. Being a nurse, she was invited to be a volunteer-medical worker in a children’s Christian camp, which is where she first met God. After a while, all her family accepted Yeshua into their hearts.

She continued to work as a nurse and began BA studies at the Ukrainian National University. Svetlana constantly attended church, but was continuously interested in everything related to Judaism. One day, Eduard, a minister from Jews for Jesus, came to the church to conduct a seder on Pesach. Through him, she learned about a meeting of Messianic Jews. Svetlana started attending the Messianic congregation and actively participated in all the retreats and also volunteered with Jews for Jesus.

After a while, she met her husband, Alexander. They both had the same aspirations to serve God. Alex had already been serving with Jews for Jesus in Israel, and Svetlana volunteered with them in Ukraine. Then in 2011, Svetlana moved to Israel to be with Alexander. In 2024, they moved to Australia. They have two children: Daniel and Eliana. Svetlana thanks God for His blessing to their family and her journey with Him in love and service.