Testimonies

My wife Rivka and I live in Langley, BC, Canada.

I was privileged to have met my wife - who as a Pastor’s daughter, introduced me to more than just mere “religion”, but to the living, indwelling presence of Yeshua.

That profound experience truly made me a “new creation” with a completely new focus of placing Him first in life and how to serve Him. This led us to attend the Eston Bible College (Eston, SK) in 1983 from which I graduated. We went on into fulltime Christian service and ministry which largely involved evangelism abroad for which we were privileged to have ministered in over 40 countries.

It was during our last overseas service among the nations in the 10/40 window that we realized more clearly and profoundly the implications of Israel’s place in God’s plan of redemption. This understanding and desire led us to start learning Hebrew on-line which at the time – we thought was also going to lead to the next step of our possibly relocating to Israel. That was until covid “hit” which along with some other recent developments, has been delayed indefinitely.

I’m semi-retired at present but also do some independent “tent-making” contracting. We love and enjoy God’s creation in His great outdoors.

We learned of HLI from a dear friend with whom we are encouraged and share many things in common, which led to our applying to the “Tribe” to find other like-minded believers.

Regarding prayer support, we just want to know the leadership of Yeshua’s will for us in these incredibly profound, prophetic times.

God bless you,

Anthony

Greetings! My name is Nicolas BAJIWABO, and Rwanda is my home country. I don’t have a deep background but I have much to say about my faith in Yeshua.

The whole story began in late 2012 when I was in Sunday school. Everyone in my family was a Christian, but I was a very unhappy person at a young age. I would try to imagine the existence of God as our Creator, but I couldn’t comprehend it. I thought that Christianity and all my family believed in, was very wrong.

I used to spend many days listening to teachings and feeling that what they taught us was not real; it was just a way to manipulate our minds. I was even baptized, but my skepticism continued. When I was 14, I had a dream about the Rapture, where I saw judgment being passed on people. In my dream, I was in the hands of the Holy Angel of God, who was about to cast me into the fire. While I woke up frightened, the fear didn’t last long.

My sister was a prayerful person. Later, when she was in a prayer meeting, a woman prophesied that I was about to die in an accident. I still refused to believe the things of God until I was hit in a motorbike accident and went into a comma. The announcement was made in my School that I was going to die.

When I awoke, I thought that maybe God was real, but I still could not surrender my life to Yeshua. Three years later, I was in another serious accident.

After I attended University in 2017, I met a missionary couple from Chicago named Daniel Yang and Deborah Yen. They invited me to their home, where I started a journey of Bible reading and Prayer.

One day in 2020, God visited me in a dream where I had a vision of speaking Hebrew. I saw Hebrew-speaking Israelis in my dream. I spoke Hebrew to them, but they couldn’t understand what I was saying. I awoke and asked my friend what he knew about Hebrew. He said he had no idea. That very night, we searched for a speech by Benjamin Netanyahu on YouTube and I heard Hebrew for the first time.

I knew then that God was opening a way for me to go to Israel. I started learning Hebrew with the single purpose of understanding the scriptures in Hebrew.

After 2 years, God graciously allowed me to fly to Israel for studies in my profession as an Agronomist. I was able to begin my professional internship in Israel. I was blessed to worship in Israel as I visited many churches in Tiberia, Afula, and Jerusalem. There, I began ministering and learning the word of God as I came to learn Hebrew on my own, even before I traveled to Israel. Now, I can read Hebrew and speak some basics. I don't know what it is yet, but I believe there is a call on my life. I believe that one day, God is going to use it. 

I returned home last year on 21 September 2023, just before the terror strike of 7 October. I believe God has a mission to bring the Jewish community closer to Yeshua. Although I am not Jewish, I feel like I have a strong connection to the Jewish community due to divine inspiration brought to me by Yeshua when He saved me. 

That is my testimony.

Thank you very much.

My name is William, a retired Army physician living on a nice lake with my wife Diane in Pine Mountain, GA. My retirement phase involves knowing Yeshua, owning and running a restaurant, becoming a better musician, and much travel. I love solo board sports, especially surfing and snowboarding - and occasionally SUP and windsurfing. 

In college, I ran into Paul Stack, a junior staff for what was then Campus Crusade for Christ. He shared with me Bill Bright's 4 spiritual laws and challenged me to do more with my commitment to my faith, which consisted of occasional trips to the Episcopal church. I felt there was a personal God, but was unclear on how to access Him. I felt deep inside that I was flawed, yes, even a sinner, falling way short of the standards I set for myself and the standards that Yeshua preached about.Paul Stack challenged me to completely surrender to the will of Yeshua, whom he called Jesus Christ. A few weeks of uncertainty passed and I was deeply concerned about what total surrender might mean.After all, my life's path had already been set. I was going to become a doctor.

One evening, the burden God placed on me was clear. I considered the lack of purpose and fulfillment of life itself. As best as I tried, there was an emptiness. God said silently, "Now is the time." It was then that I surrendered my life to Christ.

At first, nothing really happened, but I felt that I now had a new identity, like a new creation; a chance to start over.

Then I began to read the Bible and it all fell into place.The growth process came quickly. My behavior and habits changed.My drinking and partying with the fraternity stopped and they began to consider me an outcast. I was one of those "born again" Christians. Back in the early 80s, being labeled that was a big deal and it set me apart from my peers. I even led praise and worship for the Crusade group.

Flash forward several decades. My life was full of challenges. Pain, suffering, and especially clinical depression, ran me into the ground. I began to rebel.My relationship with God was now on the rocks and I wanted to die. Those seeds that fall among the thorns, where the worries of life choke out the fruit – I realized that was me after 30+ years, and the thought devastated me.

One day as I was driving back home from Pensacola, God spoke to me and the tears came on suddenly.It was time to re-establish a relationship with "my first love,” Jesus.As I thought back on those first few months of being a believer, the tears kept coming. I was desperate for a new start, yet another chance. This occurred 6 months ago.

After that, I just stopped doing everything. I rarely left home, choosing instead to spend all my day in the word, in prayer, listening to music, and meditating. Then it occurred to me. With my love of languages, why not start to learn Greek? I started by downloading all the Greek words in the Bible. I began intensely studying the words, and started to slowly piece the language together. This went on for a month or so. 

Then another question occurred to me. What about Hebrew? At first, it seemed preposterous: all those unfamiliar letters, and reading backwards.Surely that was a bridge too far. And yet, I knew that Hebrew was the key that opened up the Old Testament, for which I had immense respect and reverence for. I had to know what the original language truly said, and what it really meant. 

In a manner similar to studying Greek, I downloaded all of the Hebrew words in the Bible. I began to look for patterns, rearranging the words by parts of speech. I learned how the letters work and how to pronounce them along with all the diacritical marks.It occurred to me that Hebrew was going to be a lifelong journey. But that was a journey I desperately wanted to take, to be as close to Jesus and God as possible. 

I found a Messianic Jewish community, made friends with the Rabbi, and began to attend each Shabbat. I then looked for some online resources and found Izzy and Holy Language Institute. I was amazed at all of the content that came from his page. So, I called Izzy and applied for a position as a volunteer.

And that brings us to today.

My name is Melissa, and the territory where Yah placed me is Waxahachie, Texas. I'm a 55-year-old overcomer ... of the world. My handsome father flew jets for the USAF and he and my beautiful mother conceived me in Honolulu, Hawaii while he was on R&R from Vietnam. 18 public schools in my first 18 years translated into my nihilist decisions when I entered Rice University in Houston, Texas.

I was an atheist until 1997, when The Spirit of Messiah introduced me to The Word via THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES. I felt the love of The Father when I read Ch 5, V 3-9, and He picked me up on His lap, hugged me, whispered in my ear the diagnosis of my depression, the solution against it (be a doer, not just a dreamer) and the promise that He has always and will always know me, loved me, and cared for me. I gave my life to Him then, but only read the Pentateuch until 1999, when He spoke to me audibly at a Phillip Glass opera and told me, "Now that you're awake, DON'T fall asleep." After that, I gave up pork and started keeping Shabbat.

Then He had to teach me why I needed the dead guy on the cross (which was being preached at the church my boyfriend took me to on our dates). Yah answered my questions by having me read Galatians. When I got to Ch 3 V 13, I knew exactly why I needed Yeshua. HalleluYah for Him! I kept my first Feast in the Fall of 1999. It took about 5 years before I knew it was actually called Sukkot. That's okay :) I'm embarking on my 23rd annual cycle of Feasts, and am blessed with a ministry (CHAYAH) of taking the Joy of Our Salvation into prisons in Texas. Additionally, I'm blessed with a burden to start transitional housing and an assembly for veterans of prison, war and homelessness who are all-in for Yah with Yeshua. Big calling. I need help from volunteers who have learned to live for Him successfully, faithfully, and joyfully.

My name is Melody. My husband Carles and I, plus our two children used to be HLI students from Spain a few years ago, but with Covid we stopped learning Hebrew. I'm originally from Colorado and how I came to go to Spain is a long sad story, but God... We are grateful that He saved us from ourselves, brought us back into relationship with Him, revealed the Jewish roots of our faith, and gave us a passion for His Torah and His Truth. With Messiah Yeshua as our shepherd, He delivered us from many pitfalls and errors.

We tried to learn Hebrew many times but life got in the way. Unfortunately, we lost touch with the tribe after we moved to the United States two years ago. We lost my father and a baby shortly after coming. God was always there to support us in our grief. Thankfully, God also answered our prayer to provide Carles with his green card in October 2022. Now that things have settled down a bit, we are back learning Hebrew as a family once more.

We attend a Messianic Synagogue where we live and we're trying to be more involved. My husband is trying to rebuild his real estate business here and restarted his side-occupation of astro-photography, which he had to give up when we left Spain. My son, Mikey, is eight and has PKU. It has been difficult to stabilize his care here but God has always provided. My daughter is seventeen now and is almost learning to drive (which is scary!). My hope is that once they are both returned to a physical school, I too can return to school and get my degree in Messianic Biblical studies.

I don't know yet what God's will is for our family but we are grateful that He answered our prayers and delivered us from Spain and allowed us to stay together in the USA. I'm looking forward to reconnecting with the tribe. Adonai bless you all! Baruch Hashem (Blessed be the LORD)!

My name is Sue. I've been a Christian for many years, and have recently begun attending a Messianic congregation in my area.  There, we sing and pray in Hebrew and I am developing a deeper love and understanding of Yeshua. 

I have been searching for a way to learn to read and understand the Hebrew language. Google brought us together and I look forward to learning this way to read backwards (from my native English) and deepening my walk with our Lord. Shalom!

Shalom! My name is Deborah. I'm from India, living in the United Arab Emirates. I am blessed to be learning about Yeshua here, and privileged to be a part of this tribe.

I am a born again, water baptized, Holy Spirit filled Christian; who was backslidden for many years until Yeshua brought me back to Him. I lost everything; business, money, property. I was a millionaire in the worldly sense in 2011. By 2016 I was a pauper, and yet richer than I had ever been.

Why am I here? To learn about Yeshua, to learn to be His disciple, to learn His language, and to learn to be like Him. 

My name is Connie and I am from New Brigden, Alberta, Canada. I was born not far from here on the wide-open prairie of Saskatchewan, so have returned full circle. Most of my life was spent in the city of Vancouver BC.

I am a retired teacher of the Deaf. I have 2 sons. I married a widower Farmer/Rancher 3 ½ years ago. We met in Israel, both volunteering for the Aliyah Return Centre, in Tiberias!

I am a writer, love music, love horses, love people, a teacher forever, and am an intercessor. I am a leader in my church and Bible study, love Israel and the Jewish people. I love to travel and am a passionate lover of the Lord Yeshua Jesus Messiah.

I was saved at age 24. I had a dramatic salvation in that after making a mess of things and searching for truth, concertedly not in a church. The LORD allowed me to see words on a wall one day that I could not forget. Those words appeared like a neon sign lettering across a whole wall. The other person in the room could not see the words. The words read “JESUS”, then “ALL LOVE”, and then “TRUST ME”.

I could not forget that experienceand sought prayer with someone I knew who had recentlystarted going to church and had changed dramatically. She led me to the LORD. Jesus has made all the difference, has given me joy, exploits, purpose, and love.

I started learning Hebrew in patches with various people and short courses. I belonged to Holy Language Institute previously but just got too busy running my own consulting company. I am back now and so excited!!!

Please pray with me for my son who is just beginning a new life here in Alberta. He has struggled with a psychosis setback 21 years ago but is making solid strides. The LORD is bringing him to a new part of his life and it is so wonderful to see. Please pray for Matt (age 40).

Hi my name is Heath. I’m originally from California but moved to Arkansas with my family 14 years ago. I have recently started working with data analysis. I enjoy poetry and art of all kinds.

I walked away from the faith personally 10 years ago. A string of events that took place after multiple upheavals forced me to look at the questions I had back before I walked away. I came to Holy Language Institute a few months ago but was a bit tight on my budget. I am back because I found useful information here. 

I want to learn Hebrew. I do not know much of it, but I do believe language itself is very important when it comes to influencing states of mind. I am curious on how the structure of Hebrew influences in comparison to English.

Just a quick Hello! I was a member years ago, in the tribe and also briefly a volunteer. I just restarted my account after a 5-year hiatus, having moved to Belize where my husband and I are not your average missionaries. 

My husband, Sam's parents were missionaries here for 50 years before they left this world. We follow in their footsteps, ministering all over the country among church communities and outside on the street, just for the love of the Word, for the love of Yeshua and for the love of all the Belizean people among whom we live.

I decided to offer what Hebrew knowledge I have to the general public here in Belize. I have a student who wants to start in Genesis (B’reisheit). I want to bring as much as I can to my new vocation and look forward to reconnecting with Izzy as well as the Tribe! Shalom!‎

Hi, I'm Ibrahim. I was born in 1992 in Turkey.

I was born to a Muslim and Kurdish family. My parents are worshipers of Allah. I used to do the same. I didn’t have very many friends in my childhood and I was always feeling alone. I didn’t have a girlfriend even until 2016. Everyone laughed at me and made fun of me. They enjoyed that I didn’t reply badly to them. In Turkey, power is important. If you don’t have the power to defend yourself, everyone can crash you. So, I was always in search of power.

In 2012 I started studying Automotive Engineering. That same year I started reading the Quran and then I left Islam. Then I started reading YPG leader Abdullah Öcalan's books and I learned a lot of things about Turkey's deep politics which makes us weak. His childhood was like mine.

In 2015 I changed my education from Engineer to Mathematics.

In2016 I started reading the Bible. After this, my life started changing a lot. I read the Bible through twice.

In 2019 I accepted the Old Testament, I said the Shema Israel Adonai Elohim, Adonai Ehad.

In 2020 I started learning some Hebrew vocabularyto convert to Judaism.I was going to do this but,

In 2021 January I accepted Yeshua Messiah as my Lord and My savior. I got baptized, I studied theBible with my pastors a lot. I learned a lot of things.

In 2022 march I moved from Turkey to El Salvador. I got married to a Salvadorian Lady. I improved my English here and I learned international politics. Also, I learned HTML-CSS and JavaScript here in El Salvador.

Recently I feel in my heart that God will use me in the area of Turkey's politics. I can serve to help bring peace in theMiddle Eastwhich is called the Abraham Accords.

I believe that God is fulfilling His promise to bring back home all the Jewish people in boththis and last century. For this we need a strong USA to fight strong with Israel againstits enemies which are Iran and UE right now.

But right now, I don’t know where I can start. I watch a lot of Pastors videos on YouTube, such as Amir Tsarfati, and Pastor John Hagee etc.

Turkey has 7300 believers as a Turkish Citizenship, maybe I am the only one who is a Christian Zionist.

Maybe that’s why I feel like this.

Thank you and God bless you. Please pray for me.

Shalom, my name is Beau. I was raised in southeast Texas by my grandparents, who were old world folks. My mother, whom I love, was there but we grew up more or less like brother and sister. My grandfather was a WWII vet and passed when I was 5. My grandmother was born in TX. Her mother, who resided with us for a time, was born in Mikulov, Czech. That side of my family was from there and all over Bohemia. They were Kovar/Vanek/Kelarek/Baca/and others. My dad and grandfather’s side were all from Germany and came over in the early 1900s, as well. They were Bartel/Glass/and others. I was raised Catholic. My grandmother read her Bible every morning and I would always see her on her knees praying. She had a quiet strength that I admired. She never beat me over the head with it, she just lived it. The old-world folks would meet at our house and speak a form of Czech and make kolaches, etc.

I grew upwithout men around the house and I wanted to be a man. My early life revolved around Star Wars and Indiana Jones. I always craved adventure and was fascinated with all sorts of weapons and military stories.  I started going to numerous different denominations in Jr High and High School; Methodist, Catholic, Pentecostal, Non-denominational, and Baptist. All I saw was a bunch of “milk toast” men behind the pulpit and in the pews and really did not feel like I had a place in church. I wanted to slay dragons and storm the beaches of Normandy. I started playing football and it was great. I went to a Power Team show and saw men who loved Yeshua. I had two coaches in High School who were tough men and loved Yeshua. They made us learn Bible verses at “two-a-days” and led prayer before practice. I started reading the Bible from cover to cover in High School because I was hard-headed and wanted to know for myself. If I was going to follow this GOD, then I wanted to know for myself.

As I started reading, I saw men who were warriors and followed GOD. I met Yeshua and saw that meekness was not weakness and that He is the Warrior of warriors. I believed every Word and said, “Yes. I want to be apart of this.”  Yeshua came and got me, right where I was. The more I read, the stronger the conviction I had for Israel. It grew stronger and stronger. My cousins always thought we were Jewish and we do have a great grandfather (Kovar, I believe) who was on a rabbinical census in Mikulov, Czech. A cousin found the census and sent it to me. DNA tests showed some but little DNA as “Eastern Jewish”, whatever that means. I became born again in High School but had zero direction and little knowledge. My journey has been more of a lifelong journey and not so much the “Roman Road” experience others have.

After a career in the military, I ended up in Alabama where I still work with government contracts conducting training, etc., for specific groups. I have had the pleasure of training with IDF and former IDF Operators.

I started learning Hebrew, with the aid of the Ruach HaKodesh(Holy Spirit) years ago. As well, we started meeting on Shabbat, in our homes and reading through the Parasha, Haftarah, and Brit HaDashah (Torah Portion, readings from the prophets, New Testament). I met a faithful lady, who loves Yeshua, who works for the Messianic Bible Institute and have followed them ever since. I picked up a copy of the Hebrew/English Bible from Amir Tsarfati at Behold Israel and started reading in Hebrew. My “Biblical” Hebrew has grown significantly, though my conversational Hebrew sounds like Tarzan on good days and Frankenstein, mostly. A few years ago, I ran into a Messianic Rabbi who leads Beit Israel in Bayou La Batre, AL. We struct up a friendship and that is where I attend, mostly. We are still meeting, as a family, in our living room.

I have been married to the same girl since I was 20. She is a veteran, as well, and has been with me through all the deployments. She is my “Ashit Chayil”, woman of valor. We have 3 strong boys and are blessed beyond measure. The fire that GOD put in my gut, that forged me and my path and led me back home to Him has opened my eyes to who He is and who we are in Him. The community that He allowed me to be apart of taught me that mastering the small, week one things, (be it shooting, tactics, jiujutsu, Krav Maga, sports, whatever) is what separates the best from the rest. GOD is a warrior. He is the Master Tactician, who knows the end from the beginning. That is a piece of Him in us. It is no wonder that Yeshua said to “Love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, and might…..and your neighbor as yourself.” That is the ultimate “mastering the basics”. It is the perfect, “the Mission, the Men, then Me”, WWII leadership principle. I’m so excited to be apart of His Kingdom.

Chazak V’Ametz V’Shema! Be strong, and courageous, and obey!

“I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend”-J. R. R. Tolkien

I’m Camille and I met Yeshua when I was 3 years old. He stayed with me when I was inadvertently left alone. He put his hand on my back, comforted me, and spoke to me until my mom came home. So, no matter what I was going through, I could never deny Him.

I grew up with a Jewish father and a Christian mother who divorced when I was 1 year old. I look just like my father, who looks just like his father who was an Orthodox Jew from Riga, Lativa. As a very young girl, and throughout my adult life, I’ve always felt a strong connection to my grandfather, who died when my dad was 13, and my Hebrew heritage. And, from a young age, I questioned why Christians did away with all of the Hebrew celebrations and traditions. I thought, Jesus did them, why don’t we?My step-mother is Reform Jew and, for various reasons, has never understood my attachment to my heritage. I celebrated Chanukah and Passover when I was with them, but she has never been able to answer questions I’ve had, or hasn’t wanted to. Although my dad is not religious, and he’s always been very silent about my grandfather. He has, however, gotten very upset when people try to tell me I’m not Jewish. There’s a reason I look like him. My aunt, prior to her death, finally opened up a bit about her relationship with my grandfather. She shared feelings I thought were only mine regarding him. When she told me that he used to call her his “Levite Princess”, we cried together and I felt as if he were calling me the same.

Another thing that I’ve always had a feeling about was language. I’ve always picked up accents without trying. I grew up in Seattle and had friends in British Columbia. I’d go visit them and it would take me weeks to speak without a Canadian accent. I’ve been able to pick up singing in other languages fairly easy, as well. In my late 20’s, as I would pray and walk with my dog, I felt as if I had a language filling my mouth, and that one day, I would just pick up a language and be able to speak it. In my early 50’s, as I was dealing and praying through some major trauma, a prayer language presented itself. It came out as if I’d been speaking it all my life.

As an adult, I’ve struggled to find my place in organized religion. I don’t believe the same way most do, and my husband understands where I’m coming from, but he’s not onboard enough to attend a Messianic Synagogue. Where we are in the Midwest, there are not many close to us. Since Covid, we’ve not been in a hurry to run back to an organized church. We waited until a lot of the divisiveness surrounding masks and vaccines has died down and we are attending on and off now, but we really are struggling to find a place we belong. I was noticing a friend on Facebook commenting about Sabbath and changing how she worships so I started chatting with her. She mentioned the Bible she was using and who she was listening to. I began to research that Bible and found Izzy and Holy Language Institute. I’ve listened to several of his videos and walked away, afraid to start and not finish. So much of what Izzy has shared has touched me in a way that makes me feel as if I’m being called to this next journey. As of now, I’ll be working through this on my own, but my prayer is that my husband and kids will eagerly join me, finding the depth of hope, love, and protection that comes from knowing the Jesus that I met so long ago.

Here’s my story... we just passed our first-year anniversary living in Torah. Life has dramatically changed for us to the point where I cannot breathe without praising Yah!

I had a horrific four months where I was unemployed for four months. I lost 49 grand and then lost one of our houses. Sigh. I felt like life was going down the tubes.

My beloved got me watching some silly YouTube videos. The algorithms started to send me other videos, and then to Holy Language Institute.

Long story short: I asked the Ruach Kodesh (Holy Spirit) into my heart, and it was a lightning bolt.

Since then, I’ve sold almost everything we own, trusted Yah and he has blessed us more than we could have ever dreamed.

New friends

Business is finally blossoming

Synagogue

Shalom. Sweet, sweet shalom

Shabbat

New romance with my wife

My twin brother coming to Torah

His grown children are coming to Torah

I could go on and on

3 months. Boom

Only Yah. Praise His precious beloved glorious esteemed nature

And His name.... His mighty name

I am nothing. He is everything.

Thanks Izzy

Shalom! My name is David, a beloved name, but my friends call me Dave. I'm happily married to my wife of 43 years Deborah. We have two married children; a son with three grandkids living in Alaska and a daughter living in Texas.

I’ve been a professed Christian since 1961. I came on fire for our Lord around 1983.  As with all of us, there’s a long story of ups/downs, pain, sorrow and joy on my journey that has resulted in my being passionately in love with our LORD - and Messiah Yeshua.

I attended a 2-year Bible college in the 80’s. From there I have served as an elder, head deacon, and taught various church Sunday/Bible Schools. I am currently leading our 4th Home Life Group and LOVE to teach. My favorite courses I have taught include Synoptic Gospels, Sermon on the Mount, Angels/Demons & Spiritual Warfare and the Tabernacle of Moses/David. I guess I am a nerd when it comes to studying the Bible. I’m always hungry for more and I want to get others excited in God’s Word.

About 5 years ago it really hit me hard that Christianity is not really a separate “religion” (although from a Western perspective it seems to be) but Christianity is Judaism fulfilled! With that realization I have become more focused on the Old Testament, Hebrew language, Jewish interpretations/customs - and all that God instructed man to do such as the feasts and their prophetic meanings. That started me reading books/commentaries from Jewish authors such as Jonathan Sacks, Jonathan Cahn, Ron Moseley, David Stern and Sam Nadler, etc. I’m very interested in learning Hebrew - and will see just how much a 66-year-old man can absorb!

I moved last year from Central Oregon, where I thought would be our retirement home, to Prescott Valley, Arizona. I’m not sure if we will stay in AZ as our family ranch in Texas is pulling at us hard! Prior to almost 4 years in Oregon, I worked 16 years out of the USA in Singapore and Montreal. Before that I worked in Washington DC, Anchorage, Alaska, Galveston & San Antonio, TX. As for what I do for fun - besides Bible study, I love landscape/wildlife photography, camping, motorcycling (both on/off road) and four-wheeling.

Jesus is my story. At least for the last 46 years. I made a deal with God at 24 when my son was born. My wife began spontaneous bleeding shortly after we got home from the hospital. I promised God that if He would save her, I would go into full-time Christian service for Him. She lived, and 8 years later He pulled me straight up out of bed. I immediately knew He wanted me to fulfill my promise.

I ended up in Michigan working in a church planting group with the Oxford Baptist Association. I was in full-time Christian service for ten weeks. It was the hardest work I had ever done before or since. It would never have happened if God hadn't set it all up.

Then my daughter was hit by a train and lived - with only a broken foot. That was when she was in college. At the age of 45, she was hit in a head-on collision. An ambulance was less than a minute from the accident. A vascular surgeon was on duty at the nearby hospital. This is very hard to believe but it is true. She had a torn aorta and a torn vena cava (the big artery going out and the big vein coming in). My son-in-law called and my wife and I were on our way. I asked God “what could I do?” It was a two-hour trip to the hospital.

By the time we arrived at the hospital we had called my 6 sisters and 3 brothers. Between us we had prayers going up from 9 states, 3 countries, in at least 3 languages as well as multiple churches and a mission group.

Later the head operating room nurse told us that they could feel God's presence in the room. The vascular surgeon told me later that Laura was the first of that kind of surgery to survive. She was the fifth one he had done. That is just a sample of the many miracles she experienced throughout her recovery. Her ureters were also severed and were eventually replaced by another one-of-a-kind surgery for another surgeon. Her kidneys started working immediately after a hospital room prayer. At one point, my daughter stopped the prayer and gave God praise saying, " Dad, God's healed me now! " (this also led to the discovery of her severed ureters)

Jesus is everything to me. He is working with my son too. His promises are sure and true. And I know my children and my grandchildren are the 3rd and 4th generation that He has promised to me and my own father.

A brother in Christ,

Joe 

P.S. I've been trying to learn Hebrew for 3 years now. That's how I came across your site. Shalom.

I’ve always been interested in learning and knowing the Holy Scriptures in its original context. 

I love languages, and cultures, and I’m especially fascinated by learning more about Jesus, God Our Father, Holy Spirit, and all about Holy Scripture. All that aside from my love for becoming fluent in Hebrew speaking and reading. 

I’m looking forward to learning with Holy Language Institute. 

There’s just so much to tell...

Here’s a small testimony of why I am so overwhelmingly in love with our Savior!

I grew up in upstate New York, USA. I am #4 of 7 children. We were separated from our mother when I was about 3 years old. She was diagnosed as a manic-depressive schizophrenic. I have very little memory of my early childhood visits with her.

I do remember a portion of my last visit with her. It was the summer when I was 15 in 1987. I remember going into a store with her and being aware that others took notice of her. I remember walking closer to her and saying “mom” extra loudly as I conversed with her, like I wanted to stress that she was my mom and I was proud of that. Prior to this visit I had not seen her for four years. I did pick up on some odd behaviors, but I didn’t really grasp the situation.

We went for a walk in the forest behind my grandma’s house during the visit. I remember just being so happy to be with her, and even to be alone with her. I felt so special that there were no other siblings or grownups around.

I’m weeping now as I write this. I am realizing and feeling how utterly alone and unloved I felt my whole childhood. I also can’t imagine the pain and agony that my mother endured living apart from her 7 children all those years.

I’m recently divorced and have lived apart from my young adult children for 6 months. I communicate with them regularly and spend time with them often. Still, as a former 24/7 homeschooling mom, the Lord has utterly held my seams together through some pretty desperate, beyond human bearable, anguish of soul moments over the transition.

Praise You Father for answered prayer to turn up the furnace sevenfold, throw me in, and burn me out. Till nothing but Jesus remains! Hallelujah. Amen.

So, as I was just writing to share a poignant memory with my mom in the forest, our sweet Redeemer has cleansed me out some more! Thank You Lord.

My mom must’ve truly loved Christ to have endured as she did. Thank You Lord for this beautiful peace. She wasn’t alone after all.

While in the forest, my mom pointed up to a tree and said she had put a cup of water up there. I followed her finger with my eyes. She said that the cup was now half empty. She asked me if I knew what had happened to it. I didn’t have an answer. I could tell this meant something special to her.

She told me, with a strange happiness, that “God drank it.” I wasn’t understanding. I had not heard of a god in my life before, at least I didn’t remember ever hearing about one. She didn’t explain about this God, and we continued walking.

I haven’t thought of this in so long, and hadn’t thought of it when I started this email. How wonderful is our Bridegroom!! How HE loves us!!

As for learning Hebrew, I’ve been desiring to learn Hebrew so that I may know what the Almighty actually sent down to be revealed.

There are so many variations and translations of the Bible. I want to know a firsthand account of HIS words, so that I may know HIM most accurately and therefore most accurately obey and share HIM with others, for the praise and honor and glory of Yeshua!!

I’m so excited for answered prayer to move closer to our Savior through learning Biblical Hebrew. I’ve devoured lessons 1-3 in two days and am so excited to have just signed on to gain access to additional lessons. The power and awe of Christ abound in the videos and His presence is clear through Izzy. Incredibly well done, faithful servant!!

God bless you, Izzy and your family. Father, protect them from all schemes of the enemy. Strengthen and encourage them breath by breath. I am looking forward to digging in deep and joining your fellowship and volunteer group if accepted. Thank You LORD!