Extraordinary Ordinary!Sample

Joseph Aaron was the youngest of eleven children born to a German Jewish rabbi. At six years old, Joseph and his sister, Rachel, were taken from their mother and sent to live in a German children’s home. Their family was taken to Auschwitz where his mother and nine other siblings were immediately killed in the gas chambers. On the day Joseph was separated from his sister, Rachel, Joseph remembers hearing the whistle of a train and its engine roaring past him. When Joseph was nine he was taken to a secluded spot with ten other boys. Soldier after soldier after soldier violently abused these boys. The bleeding, nearly lifeless heap of boys was found by a group of British soldiers. The British soldiers sobbed as they picked up the surviving children, held them in their strong, safe arms. “Through all the years of my life,” Joseph now says, “I knew that Yeshua was with me. He took care of me and protected me. I felt His presence in the concentration camps. He gave His life for me and now I live my life for Him.” A college missions team was invited to visit Joseph Aaron. This man lived a quiet existence, but was happy to share an afternoon with a group of young people who loved to worship Yeshua. As each college student passed through the door, Joseph Aaron greeted each one with kisses on both cheeks. Waiting in his tidy living room was a feast fit for a king or two! Even though Joseph had been brutally tortured, his countenance is one of peace and forgiveness. He remembers the moment when Yeshua asked him to forgive the German people and that he holds no bitterness in his heart. Joseph asked the students to sing over him. As they sang, one could almost hear the voice of God singing over Joseph Aaron. Joseph Aaron closed his tear-filled eyes and listen to the worship filling his home. Joseph truly knows how Yeshua makes beautiful things. He feels the breath of God upon his scarred face and soul.