Gena Gelman

Gena Gelman Odessa

Missionary

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.

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