A special thanks to Pastor Igor Bagirov of Beth-El Messianic Ministries & Congregation of Cleveland, Ohio for being our guest speaker today. He was born in the former Soviet Georgia as the son of a Jewish mother and a Muslim father. He is married to Tatiana Bagirov and they have four children. They immigrated to Israel from the Soviet Union, where they lived for three years before moving to Quebec, Canada. While in Canada, they met some Christian friends who shared with them the Good News, and both Igor and Tatiana accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior. Twelve years ago they came to Cleveland. Their ministry is among the Russian Jewish people on the East side of Cleveland. There is a large population of Russian immigrants in Cleveland (about 30,000), of whom mostly are Jews. Pastor Igor and Tatiana are working to reach this Russian-speaking Jewish community. The mission is to reach the lost and share with them the Good News, glorifying God’s name, sharing with them through a healthy fellowship. The focus is to build a part of God’s Kingdom on this earth through fellowship, worship and praise with the preaching of God’s Word. The mission and the vision of this ministry recognizes and understands the Jewish roots of Christianity (Joshua 24:14-15). All of the apostles were Jewish, and so was the first church. We believe that we live in the time of salvation of the Hebrew remnants (Jeremiah 23:3; Romans 9:27). “So that you will not be conceited, brothers, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery: a partial hardening has come to Israel until the full number of Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written: The Liberator will come from Zion; He will turn away godlessness from Jacob. And this will be My covenant with them, when I take away their sins” (Romans 11:25-27). While the mission was established to reach the Jewish community, it has evolved to reach all Russian speaking people, Jewish, Muslim and others. The Beth-El Messianic Congregation has a goal to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ among the Russian speaking community. His ministry took the name “Beth-El,” which means “The House of God.” It represents one more place of worship, a house of God, in Cleveland, a place of refuge where people can hear the Good News, and find rest for their souls. It is a bold mission that faces a great amount of opposition and hardship, but Pastor Igor realizes that it is the very souls of people that are at stake here. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16). For more information about Beth-El Messianic Ministries & Congregation, call 440.238.7216, or write to PO Box 360165, Cleveland OH 44136-0003. The website address is http://www.bethelmessianic.org.
Akron Alliance Fellowship 