Carissa’s throat was closing up. She was bedridden on an air mattress on the floor of an empty apartment. She was having anaphylaxis every day now and we were terrified, because we had no idea what was happening or why.

It was June 2017 and we were trying to raise funds to move overseas, but we ended up calling back every single person that we had made an appointment with to cancel, because Carissa was too sick to get out of bed. Instead, we ended up calling our bosses to explain that we could not go to New Zealand that Winter to serve at an established guesthouse, and we would not be able to move to Brazil with our teammate of 5 years to start the new guesthouse.

We were devastated. Our dreams and passions of 5 years were slipping away. 5 years of training, planning, trips to Brazil for scouting, team building, and prayerful strategizing seemed to have all been for nothing. It took the next 2 to 3 years of praying, crying, begging God for miraculous healing, and painful processing to finally let go of the plan we thought God had for our lives. All seemed lost.

But God. In January 2020 God allowed us to join a team within Chosen People Ministries to start Host Israelis – a global network of Christians who open their hearts and homes to host Israeli travelers for free. God prevented us from starting one guesthouse in Brazil, but He used us to start a network of a thousand guesthouses all around the world! God is multiplying our impact to reach more Israelis with the Gospel than we ever imagined.

Through our years of trials, we have been encouraged by Paul’s reflections on his own suffering: “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

Following God is not easy or comfortable, but it’s worth it all. Thank you so much for being on our team and praying with us through it!

Love,
BJ, Carissa, Ari, and Aviya