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I'm Jewish - Did you know?
My Story
I was born to a Jewish mother and Christian father. Both were born in Puerto Rico. However, my great grand parents were from Spain.
I was born and raised in The Bronx as a child. Thanks to my dear dad, I went to Roman Catholic schools as a youth, but always felt uncomfortable. It must have been the Jew in me.
As a teen and young adult I wasn't too religious. Nevertheless, the Lord never gave up on me, because I was His. As a young adult, I pursued Christianity because I needed healing in my body. And yes, God did heal me!
As a Christian I grew in the faith, graduated from bible college and seminary, then soon afterwards I began to preach. God began to bless my talents and gifts, of which I used in the church.
My Ordinations
In 1995 I was ordained as a licensed minister and then in 2010, as a pastor. After receiving all of my ordinations, I planted a church. Yet, somehow I knew that it wouldn't be for long. God called me into a different ministry.
In the year 2016, the Lord opened up a door of opportunity to minister overseas, as a missionary. It was a experience that I will never forget. There, the Lord used me mightily in many ways. To Him be praised! Find out, here.
I still minister in churches whenever given the opportunity. Nevertheless, these days I'm more focused on Judaism, and try to tell other Jews about Jesus: “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few" (Matthew 9:37).
That's not to say that I'm not open to what God will do with me. If it be His will to travel again, so be it. Yet, it has to be Him who's sending. Over the years, I've been invited to many nations, but I haven't accepted every invite.
My Pilgrimage
After much prayer, God spoke to my heart and encouraged me to pursue my Jewry. Currently, I practice Messianic Judaism, the more so. This great and wonderful experience, gave birth to the ministry of Grafted in Messiah.
I guess you can call me, a "Baal Teshuva" or "Baal Teshuvah," which is a Jewish person who has returned to a more religiously observant life, after having been less observant.
The term literally means "Master of repentance" and it refers to someone who has undergone a process of introspection and has returned to Judaism. Not rabbinical Judaism. There is a huge difference between the both (Messianic and Rabbinical).
I am somewhat like the Apostle Paul. A Jew who practices Christianity. This is one of my favorite verses: "...To them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; to the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some" ( I Cor 9:20,22, KJV).