Ariel Magazine Purim Edition Cover copy - Ariel Ministries

testimony
Olivier Melnick
I always believed
that there was
something bigger
than me in the
universe that
controlled all
things, but I just
did not care what
it was.
I was born in Paris, France from a secular
Jewish family. My parents had
survived the Second World
War and were still healing
from the horrors of the
Holocaust. My upbringing
took place in a very
protected Jewish
environment, even though
our family was not
attending synagogue or
keeping any strict Jewish
lifestyle.
As a result of losing her
dad in Auschwitz at age
15, my mother had
developed a complex
about being Jewish. It had
become our secret in the
community as she
constantly reminded me
that we should keep our
Jewish identity to our
own family. Until her
recent step of faith in 2011,
my mother believed that
God died during the
Holocaust. She has now
put her trust in her
Messiah Yeshua. As for my
father, he also claimed to
be an atheist until two weeks prior to his death in 2011,
when I was able to also lead him to the Lord.
I was not raised to believe in anything, and I never felt the
need to have a connection with God. I always believed that
there was something bigger than me in the universe that
controlled all things, but I just did not care what it was.
During my early 20's, I met a young Californian girl while on
a trip to the USA. She would later become my wife and
mother of our two children. My spiritual journey had
started.
This young girl (Ellen) challenged me to search the
scriptures for answers about God and His Messiah. At first I
kindly rejected her proposal and told her that we should be
who we were, that we should accept our differences and
enjoy life.
I had never really opened a Bible before, so when she started
to challenge me with a study of Messianic Prophecies in the
Tanakh (the Jewish Scriptures), I felt lost in an ocean of text.
Additionally, since I was not looking for God, I was not too
impressed with His word. But Ellen did not lose faith. She
07
patiently continued to pray and direct me to the Word.
One day, she took a slightly different approach and handed me
a book on prophecy. As I read, I was immediately impressed
by the same prophecies about the Messiah that she had tried
to get me to read in the Bible.
As I read the book, I began to discover the incredible truths
about the Jewish Messiah and all the events of His first
coming for the sins of the world. I was amazed at how
accurate and literal these prophecies were. God was drawing
me to Him.
As the book continued, the author delved into the yet
unfulfilled prophecies regarding the Second Coming of Yeshua
and His establishment of the Kingdom on earth. I realized
that if all the predictions about His first advent had been
fulfilled literally, there was no reason for the rest of His
redemptive program to not be literal.
One day, I became very intrigued as I read about the Rapture
of the believers (the future time when all followers of Messiah
Yeshua will be caught up in the air with Him, to go to Heaven
before we all return to establish the Kingdom on earth with
Him). Was this event to also be literal? Did that mean that, as
a non-believer, I would end up being separated from Ellen?
Maybe she could stay behind with me?
Ellen kindly explained to me that she could not stay behind,
but that I could join her in this event. She proceeded one more
time in explaining to me that Messiah Yeshua was the Jewish
Messiah, God in the flesh who had come to die for all of us,
including me. She also told me that His atoning death was
followed by His powerful resurrection. He was waiting for me
to make a move. So in 1983, I made my step of faith and invited
Yeshua into my heart. A few months later, Ellen and I got
married, and two years later we moved back to the United
States.
One event led to another as we started attending a
congregation in Southern California for a few years. Later, we
moved to Washington State where both our children were
born. It is there that I started getting involved with the
Messianic Jewish movement and discovered more about my
Jewish roots.
After serving with Ariel Ministries as the Northwest
volunteer director for six years, I
was offered an opportunity to
attend Moody Bible Institute in
Chicago and pursue a degree in
Jewish Studies. I graduated in
the Spring of 2001, a few years
after our family had joined
Chosen People Ministries.
Romans 10:1
www.chosenpeople.com
www.oliviermelnick.com
twitter: @artistique59
Our family is currently serving
the Lord in Southern California
in the midst of one million
Jewish people.