Heidi
Heidi grew up in suburban New Jersey. One evening when she was a young girl, she heard the truth about God’s love and forgiveness. She says, “I thought about it for a few days. I knew I was a sinner and Jesus paid for those sins. So I spoke to my mom about my decision to accept Jesus as my Savior and Lord.
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“I worked hard at and enjoyed doing the things I knew I should do. But over time Christianity became a facade – something to please people around me. I knew the right answers and how to act yet there was something missing. When I entered MIT, I had dreams of changing this. But my spiritual life continued to be just as frustrating as it was before.
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“Then I began meeting with a staff member of Campus Crusade for Christ. She helped me to understand that a fulfilling Christian life, like salvation, was the result of trusting God with every area of my life and not as a result of hard work. As she challenged me to walk by faith, I began to grow in my love for Christ and experience the fulfillment Christ promises. I began helping other women develop their relationships with God and it became quite clear to me what God wanted me to do with my life.”
Phil
Philip grew up in rural Missouri. His parents both love God and faithfully brought him to church from the time he was born. It was at an evening church service when he was a boy that Phil says, “I came to understand what Jesus did for me in dying on the cross. At that time I invited Him to come into my life to be my Savior and Lord.
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“My faith in God continued to develop during the years following my decision. As time approached to leave home for college, I really desired to continue growing in my relationship with God. My excitement at being accepted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was tempered by my fear of not finding Christian fellowship at this prestigious institution.
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“God provided what I was looking for through Campus Crusade for Christ. I not only grew in my relationship with God, but also learned how to effectively share my faith and help others grow closer to God themselves. As I saw Him work in others’ lives through my ministry, I began to discern God leading me away from a career in engineering in order to enter full-time Christian service.”
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Phil graduated in 1982 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and took a position with Allied Signal to begin repaying school loans. We were married in 1983 a few months after Heidi’s graduation with a degree in Architecture. In January 1985 Phil resigned from Allied Signal and we began ministering full-time at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire with Campus Crusade. During that time our first son, Josiah, was born.
In 1988 we transitioned to a position as International Representatives during which time our second child, Abigail, was born. In February of 1989 we left the United States to begin developing a ministry at the Technion, Israel’s premier technical university. While living in Israel, the Lord blessed us with three more children, Hannah, Elishua and Noah.
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In May of 1995 Phil was awarded an MBA degree from the Technion. At that same time he was asked to serve as the National Director for Or B’Aretz, the local ministry of Campus Crusade. As National Director Phil coordinated and supervised all of Campus Crusade’s efforts of evangelism and discipleship among Jewish Israelis, giving direction to multiple teams ministering to campuses as well as churches and implementing strategies involving the “JESUS” Film and the internet to share the gospel with Israelis. This international team consisted of nationals as well as expatriate short-term and long-term volunteers numbering up to 25 full-time individuals.
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The focus of our personal ministry over the years has been building leaders and strengthening our local Messianic Jewish Congregation, Beit Eliyahu here in Haifa. We serve as congregational leaders and are involved in teaching, small groups, one-on-one counseling and training, hospitality, organizing events, facilities planning in addition to involvement in the regular worship and prayer activities of Beit Eliyahu. In 2013 we were led to make the congregation our full-time focus, so we left Campus Crusade and joined The Global Mission in order for Phil to serve as Associate Pastor.
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Our family has sought to integrate into Israeli society since arriving. Our children grew up studying at the Reali Hebrew School in Haifa and speak both Hebrew and English fluently. They have all chosen to make Israel their home and have served or are serving their mandatory IDF service. Each has made a profession of faith as a child and are currently worshiping and serving at Beit Eliyahu.
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On March 5th, 2003 our family personally experienced the … when Abigail was killed in the terrorist bombing of Bus 37 while on her way home from school. She, like each of our other children, had made a profession of faith as a child, a decision which not only gives us comfort but which served as a witness to Yeshua for many who know us.