Kirill Polonskiy

Kirill was born and raised in Moscow by a nonreligious Jewish family. Because of persecution under Soviet rule, his parents tried to hide their Jewish identity. During Stalin’s rule, Kirill’s grandfather was shot and his father imprisoned. Despite this persecution, Kirill’s father still held to communist ideals, so there was no mention of God or celebration of the Jewish holidays in his home.

While studying to become a veterinarian, Kirill was given his first Bible by a fellow student who later invited him to a gospel presentation called “Toy Maker’s Dream.” This presentation made a strong impression on Kirill and after the show, his friend prayed with him to receive Jesus as his Messiah.

Kirill began attending a large church in Moscow which had 50 Jewish believing members. Together, they organized small outreaches to the Jewish people in their area, during the Jewish holy days, which made them aware of the strong spiritual hunger for God evident in that area.

With a heart towards evangelism, in 1992, he participated in a Jewish outreach campaign in New York City, where he received valuable training that would help him with his ministry in Moscow. He returned to Moscow with a passion for planting Messianic congregations in order to reach and disciple the Jewish believers of Russia as most were uncomfortable attending traditional churches. In the mid-1990’s there were only 5 such congregations in Russia. Currently, Moscow alone has eight, and another 40 are spread throughout Russia. This has led to the need for the training of new leaders. Kirill, in association with Chosen People Ministries, and our German and Australian representatives, has been conducting training seminars with leaders from as far as Far East Russia, a desolate location where Jewish people were sent into exile by the Russian government.

In addition to this work, Kirill currently continues to pastor a Messianic congregation, Kehilat Yeshua (Jesus’ Congregation) in the southern part of Moscow.