Joel & Leila Goldberg, Graduate Studies Diploma

As teenagers, both Joel and Leila Goldberg committed their lives to serving Jesus the Christ “anywhere, anytime and anyplace.” Although Joel grew up in Israel as a Messianic Jew and Leila in the United States as an immigrant from Scotland, God was preparing the two of them to fulfill their promise and work at the great commission together among the youth in Israel.

For several years the Goldbergs had been involved in youth ministry at the volunteer level, but as the needs in the Israeli church began to grow, they saw their calling enlarge.

Leila said, “We began to understand the necessity to be in full-time ministry to adequately serve and shepherd the youth. We also recognized the need to be better equipped and prepared for future work and training of future youth leaders.”

After their new calling had been realized the Goldbergs were faced with the dilemma of finding a place that would provide training for them. They first looked in Israel but realized that the training they wanted was not available there.

After much thought and prayer, the Goldberg family moved to Portland, Oregon in July 2003 to study at Western Seminary.

Joel said, “We feel truly blessed to have had this opportunity to study and regroup as a family and form a clearer understanding of the vision that God has placed on our hearts to minister to youth in Israel, in the context of the local churches.”

Although the Goldbergs knew they had been called to train at Western, their decision to attend seminary proved to be a journey of faith. In fact, when they boarded the plane to the United States, they did not even know for sure that they had been admitted.

Joel said, “For two years God provided a miracle every month, never too much, but never lacking. Every semester we had no idea how God will provide, but we never missed a class for the lack of finances. We lived from day to day learning in a new way what it means to be totally dependent on God to provide for our needs.”

"The Joel Goldberg Family Trusted God
to provide each day's needs while living
at the WorldView Center in Portland. Now
they are back in Israel, bringing the hope
of Jesus the Messiah to young people in
and around Netanya."

It was during this time that the Goldberg family developed the skills necessary to more effectively reach the youth in Israel with the gospel of Jesus the Messiah.

Joel said, “The professors were very helpful in the process of refining our capacity for ministry. In addition to the many hours spent with them in classes learning from their wisdom and experience, a very valuable time for us was spending time with them in their offices or eating lunch together. During these informal meetings, we would discuss with them the practical applications of what we were learning in seminary with ministry in Israel and our family.”

In June 2005 the Goldberg family returned equipped for the demands of their expanded calling - to reach the youth of Israel, to see the youth worshipping the Messiah, and to develop youth leaders with greater capacities for ministry to impact the entire country.