Missionaries are increasingly trying to take advantage of the difficult plight faced by Ukrainian refugees and convert them to Christianity, according to the Yad L'Achim organization.
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According to the Orthodox Jewish group, the missionary organizations have an opportunity to convince Jews to leave their religion as they wait exhausted and in need of assistance on Ukraine's borders.
In a statement, Yad L'Achim said, "This is a difficult struggle because the missionaries feel at home there because these are countries with Christian orientations. These missionaries invest great efforts to identify Jewish refugees. At the border crossings, the missionaries offer them heated tents, food, and travel assistance without disclosing this is in fact the activity of missionary organizations."
In Israel, efforts to convince someone to convert in return for money or goods are punishable by up to five years in prison.
Israeli delegations of international missionary groups, such as the US Christian group the Voice of Judah Israel, meanwhile, operate among Jewish Ukrainian refugees who arrive in Israel through the distribution of food baskets and the organization of religious conferences.
This is not the first time missionaries have operated among Jews from Ukraine. In 2017, Jehovah's Witnesses took in several Jewish families from Ukraine and even held a mass baptism ceremony for them.
To contend with missionary activity on Ukraine's borders, Yad L'Achim hired a Jewish refugee from Odesa to locate Jews and warn them of the missionaries' activities. The anti-missionary activist, who is active on the Ukraine-Moldova border, has so far identified dozens of Jews and relayed their information to members of the Jewish community in Moldova and directed them to Chabad centers in the country to receive food and shelter.
"The motivation behind the missionaries' activity in Israel and abroad is ideological," Yad L'Achim said in a statement. "According to the missionaries' belief, the more Jews convert to Christianity, the sooner Jesus will be revealed as the messiah, and they see the conversion of as many new people as possible as their life's work. Any assistance from a missionary group, innocent as it may be, ultimately leads to one thing – joining Christianity."
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