Personal Testimony

I was born in Portugal on the Açores Island of St. Miguel. Shortly after I turned two, my family emmigrated to Canada where we made our home in Toronto, Ontario. I was raised as a Catholic and always knew God existed but never knew him personally. We were what I'd call "C & E" Christians ... because we'd go to Church on Christmas and Easter.

I entered the youth group and was automatically the rebel as I made fun of Christianity and what the other young people were doing. I can remember giving the Junior High Youth Pastor a hard time. Once I hit Senior High, I left to go to the program for 15+ year olds. The Youth Pastor there loved me unconditionally. It didn't matter to him that I smoked (I was nicknamed "Smokin' Joe" for the fact that I smoked two packs a day), that I listened to heavy metal or that I came from a low-income home. He just preached about things that I dealt with on a daily basis...things I faced in relationships, at home, and at school. And he told me how Jesus was real and that I could have a relationship with Him.

I had been at a party one night and was waiting at the TTC bus stop and with the words of my Youth Pastor ringing in my ears I decided to ask God something. I looked up and said, "God, if you're real...help me quit smoking." The very next puff I took, I choked on it and could not get it down. I chalked it up as a coincidence; I got on the bus and took the drive home. When I got off the bus, I tried to "light-up" again and the same thing happened! I haven't had a cigarette since that day and I knew then and there that God was real to me.

How I Got Where I Am Today

Once I was saved, I began to get discipled and grow in my walk with the Lord. I then began to serve on the youth leadership. In that youth group I met the woman I knew I was going to marry and we were married in December of 1990. Karen was a pastor's daughter—the daughter of a man whose heart was for the people and the land of Israel. On the Easter Monday of 1992, I knew I couldn't put off any longer what God wanted me to do. So I sent off an application to Eastern Pentecostal Bible College (now called Master's College & Seminary). God provided for us each step of the way for me to go there. We sold our home, left our jobs, moved to a tiny basement apartment and miraculously, when the unemployment rate was so high in the town we moved to, my wife got a job at the college.

After college, I helped and served in different churches across Ontario. I enjoyed my times there but hadn't felt like I was fulfilling my calling. What that calling was, I wasn't 100% sure. I went through a very difficult time in my walk with God during the summer and fall of 2001. I was caught in a downward spiral to the point of leaving the ministry and vowing to never go back...or so I thought! It was at that point I hit my lowest. I was depressed; my wife was even more depressed to watch me go through the desert experience. We left the church we were pastoring and I began to "try it on my own".

Thankfully, God had other plans. I awoke one January morning in 2002 and I heard the Lord speak to my heart when He called me, "Jonah ... the one who runs from My call." To be totally honest, I was mad. I thought, "Wow, God! We don't speak in months and that's the first thing You say to me?!?! Thanks a lot!" I went on with my day as usual but those words had sparked something in me. For weeks, my mother had been trying to get me to go to special meetings and I had continually turned her down. I was fine that God and I weren't on speaking terms and I was happy to go about doing things my way. However, because of that 'wake up call' I somehow felt there was change coming so when my wife called me from work, she was surprised to hear me say yes when she asked if I wanted to go that evening. Both of us were so powerfully touched and changed.

The preacher there that night spoke over us a word of knowledge and prophecy that was so profound, we almost thought he was reading a cue card sent by God—things that my wife and I had only discussed three or four days previously. It was a night to remember and got me back on track serving Him.

In August of 2002, I travelled to Alberta where I attended a camp for pastors. The Lord told me I was to go and to be quiet because there were some things He wanted to speak to me about—about some key decisions regarding my future that were to be made. So I was obedient and that's where a new ministry seed was planted.

Growing the Seed

In September of 2002, I attended an event called a "Home Feast"—hosted every year by my in-laws, Clyde and Marion Williamson. It was there that a very wonderful friend of the family asked if I had ever been to Israel. I said, "No...I have this strange allergy...to bombs!" They continued to say, "You have to go! You have to go!" So, through awesome provision, I ended up in Israel in November of 2002. For the first four days I was terrified everywhere I went and called my wife saying, "I want to come home. I can't relax. I feel so tense here." etc. Little did I know, but my wife and my mother-in-law got together and began to pray for me and what a difference it made. The very next day, I met our tour guide—a Messianic Jew. He began to tell us the stories of the Bible in the places they had actually occured. He told us the stories behind the stories—the little known facts and the things that the disciples never wrote about because in their day, they were "givens" because of their culture.

I began to see Jesus from a Hebrew perspective and not from my usual North American point of view. When I got home, I began to gather every bit of material that I could get my hands on. First Century, Hebrew culture became fascinating to me. I don't think my wife had ever seen me read so much—I read more than I had even read in College! My eyes became opened to a whole new way of thinking about the Messiah—the One who died on Calvary's cross for our sins; The Saviour who has a very timely plan for this earth; the One I choose to serve with all my heart for the rest of my days.

What I Teach

Through my fascination with First Century Hebrew culture I began to see the parallels God laid out in His Feasts—the Feasts He gave to Israel. I teach how what was given to the Israelites in the Feasts points to the coming of the Messiah and His return and rule and reign with His bride. There are some fascinating facts that come out during these sessions.

I also teach on the "stories behind the stories". There were several idioms in Jesus' day that made perfect sense to the people living in that day that have lost some of their meaning in our society because perhaps we don't understand the culture in which Jesus lived and the people to whom He taught. Phrases such as "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead" and "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed" which come to whole new light when we look at these idioms from a First Century Hebrew perspective.

If these topics interest you, please go to our Resources page to learn more. If you are a pastor and would like to have this kind of teaching in your church, please give our office a call at 1-877-628-2800 or send an email to karen@firstcentury.tv. I look forward to hearing from you.

Also in September 2005, we began a new television program. For more information, please go to www.firstcentury.tv to see what it's all about.