Elias

My name is Elias. I am the fourth boy in my family, the youngest, no sisters; we are a ‘boy’ family. I love my family so much! Sometimes we are troublemakers, but we love our parents very much. We live in I’billin, Israel, and in our culture, we stay living together as one family even when we are married. We work hard together as a family to maintain this tradition, therefore, I had to start working directly after school to help the family extend our home and put away money for future provisions.

‏I grew up as a Christian kid, but I started living a new life with Jesus after I began going to bible study with Young Life. I grew to understand that the bible is more than just a story, but it's about living a different life with Jesus. I remember when I went to Young Life club, my dad would ask me to stay home to work instead. However, it was during those set-apart times that I built positive relationships with my peers and rebuilt my relationship with Jesus. Today I see many new parts of my personality that have developed. I am responsible for a group of boys in Young Life and I cannot imagine them not being a part of my life. I love being with them and hanging out together; it’s a huge responsibility, but I love it.

‏Now a Developing Global Leader, I am pursuing a degree in Information Technology from Tel Aviv University. I plan on continuing to lead teens in Young Life and am eager to see the ways God will grow the ministry to reach more kids in more communities in Israel.