OUR STORY
My wife, Naomi and I met at Calvary Chapel Bible College in Lake Arrowhead, California in 1995. I came from New Jersey after having graduated from the University of Virginia. I planned to go into the sports broadcasting field until I visited a friend at the Bible College in my fourth year at UVA, and the whole direction of my life drastically shifted. I knew I needed to study the Bible and get to know Jesus better.
I didn't have any intention of necessarily going into "full-time" ministry, however, after two years of learning and growing in my walk with the Lord, I knew I needed to teach His Word as the Lord called me in John 21 to "Feed His lambs, Tend His sheep and Feed His sheep." Naomi had come from England to the Bible College after graduating University. Not long after we met, we knew we were meant to be together.
After we finished Bible College in 1996, I began working as a Youth Pastor in New Jersey. Naomi and I were engaged that summer and then were married in the summer of 1997. We have been on a ministry adventure ever since.
Jeff Cuozzo
We ventured forth onto the mission field in 1999 and were part of establishing the Calvary Chapel Bible College in York, England in 2000. I was teaching at the Bible College and was the Dean of Men. I was also ordained as a pastor during this time as well. After a year at the Bible College, the events of September 11th took place and being from the Jersey Shore it hit very close to home for me. One of my father's best friends was in one of the towers that fell and this was a devastating event for so many people that I knew and I greatly desired to get back to the States to minister to the people.
In, 2002, we saw the Lord pick us up and place us in Falls Church, VA just outside Washington DC where we planted the Calvary DC Metro church for almost 3 years.
I was then asked to return to England to direct the Bible College in York while they were in a transitional time. After the year in York, we were lead to Northwest England to the Lake District to plant a new church. We were there for five years where we planted Calvary South Lakes.
During my time as a pastor in England I became more and more aware of the imbalance in Europe with regard to issues relating to Israel and God's plan for the Jewish people. There are many good people who are on both sides of the issue. However, what I wasn't seeing in Europe was much of a Biblically balanced viewpoint of God's heart for both Jews and Arabs. The understanding that there wasn't a need to "pick sides" but rather to love all men and share the love of Jesus with everyone. Not neglecting the realities of the challenges that everyone is facing, as Christians to not become political, rather to look to the Scriptures as our guide and continue to share the gospel and to love both our Jewish and Arab brothers and sisters equally.
This is when I became aware of Joel C. Rosenberg and the books he was writing and the work he was doing in the Middle East. Through a set of God ordained circumstances I ended up on a tour with Joel and his team to Israel. A few weeks later they offered me a position to join them in the ministry working in the Middle East. We knew God had prepared us for a change and so I began this new job.
We moved back to the United States and began living in Raleigh, NC. We have six children, three biological and three adopted ranging in age from 16 to 3 years old.
It is through these last five years of working in Israel and the neighbouring Arab countries that God has now moved my heart to found Hope Israel. The more I became aware of the need among the young people in Israel to be rooted and grounded in their walk with the Lord, the pastor's heart within me continued to break. This is one of the main reasons why I resigned from The Joshua Fund at the end of 2014, to step out in faith with my wife and kids to begin Hope Israel.
We once had a young lady share with us that when she finished her military service in the IDF, she made a list of 50 of her friends who going into the army were all believers in Yeshua. However, as they finished the IDF not a single one of them was walking with the Lord. This was a devastating fact that pierced my heart and has continued to create a God-given burden within me to provide a place where these young people can come to be restored and renewed in their faith and walk with the Lord.