Discover the individual path & personal experience of our Leaders
I was born in Montreal on November 1, 1958 and I grew up in a secular Jewish family, with one brother, three years older than me. From my earliest memories, I felt like the least favoured in my family. I was the youngest, the weakest, and not very good in sports. Moreover, to make matters worse, my father convinced the principal at my primary school to admit me prior to the required age (the age limit was that one had to be six years old by September 15). The goal was to put me ahead, but the result was that it put me behind all the other kids.
As the littlest one, I ended up being the brunt of a lot of teasing, bullying on the schoolyard, and even antisemitism. (The school was part of the Protestant School Board, so I was outnumbered by a predominantly Gentile and Christian crowd of kids.)
My childhood for me is a mix of good and not-so-good memories. Our home-life was quite turbulent at times, as my parents had a rocky marriage which finally broke apart. I remember often feeling alone, empty, restless, angry, and bitter inside. The world was quickly becoming a cold, cruel, and unsafe place for me.
I found little comfort at home or at school, and often, I would hide in the woods near our house, or read books, fairy tales, and fables, or just daydream to escape the pain, despair and emptiness that I lived with daily. As I grew older, I began to self-medicate my pain and emptiness with drugs and alcohol being my solution, but eventually my solution became more of a problem.
After searching through various religions and spiritual paths, I explored Orthodox Judaism. There, I discovered that my delight in the Torah battled endlessly with the sin to which I was a prisoner. I was forced to recognize myself as spiritually and morally bankrupt. When my life hit rock bottom in 2000, I heard about Jesus, the Jewish messiah who alone is powerful to rescue, save and deliver. I ran into Jesus’ arms, which cost me many relationships with family and friends who said it isn’t possible to remain Jewish and believe in Jesus. But, my life finally started changing for the better. God was lifting me out of the miry pit that David speaks of in Psalm 40:1-3:
1 I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. 2 He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. 3 He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord.
Over time, I came to understand that the roots of Christianity are Jewish, and I saw myself as a completed Jew according to God’s promise to Abraham.
In 2001-2003, I pursued biblical studies at the Faculte Evangelique de Montreal. As I look back, I realize that they did not provide much focus on Israel nor the rightful place of the Jewish people in the Bible, God’s plan, prophecies, and promises, but I did learn my way around the Bible and received a foundational Christian education.
I met Jacques Gabizon, Messianic Leader of Beth Ariel in Montreal shortly after being saved in the year 2000. At the time, he was giving weekly Bible Studies, which I attended, and through him, I also became familiar with Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum, the Founder of Ariel Ministries in Texas, USA. The Ariel line of teaching is world-class, and rich with books, commentaries, and resources, which I have availed myself of, and continue to do so to this very day.
In 2005, I experienced a profound and vital turning point in my faith. I had a serious skiing accident and nearly died. During my recovery and time of healing, I was able to see and experience my faith in a much deeper, personal, and more meaningful way. A close brush with death can do that.
I realized that to be truly saved, we must see at least two things:
1- The truth about who Jesus is;
2- The truth about ourselves and who we are as unholy sinners before our Holy God.
That’s when I began to see how desperate I was for God, His Son and Holy Spirit in my life.
Sometime later in 2014, I reconnected with the Beth Ariel Congregation in Montreal. Jacques Gabizon was the leader, and under his tutelage and encouragement, I continued to grow in faith, my studies, and biblical understanding. Under his intense Messianic teaching, I developed an entirely new and deeper appreciation for God’s Word, prophecies, transformative power to change lives, and God’s plan to redeem the world, as well as Israel’s vital place within it.
I remarried in 2022, and moved near Ottawa and shortly after, with Jacques' help and support, Beth Ariel was born in Ottawa. I have been leading this congregation ever since with my wife Susan, and it has truly been a labour of love.
I have also written two books in the last few years. The first (God’s Epic Plan of Redemption) is an overview of the entire storyline of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation for the layman, connecting the dots to see the ‘Big Picture’. The second book is called "WHY BLESS ISRAEL". This book is written to Christians explaining why they should connect with the Jewish roots of their faith, bless Israel, and see the connection they have to God’s Chosen People and the Holy Land, and seeing Jesus in his Jewish historical culture and context.
And now, I am excited to tell you, that by the power and strength of God manifesting in my weakness, my life is being transformed by God into a man that He can use more and more each day, for His purposes and glory. I am so grateful for this, for this is something I could never have done on my own. Too many times, I found myself like Paul in Romans 7 who said "the very thing I know I am not supposed to do, I can’t stop doing, and the very thing I know I should do, I do not do. Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!".
God, by the power of his Spirit has transformed me and will continue to transform me in this never-ending process of sanctification after salvation that will continue until the time comes that I go to my eternal home to be with him forever.
Today, though, I have a fullness and peace in my life beyond all understanding and an indescribable joy in my heart that overflows in my work and in my relationships and in my sharing the gospel with as many people as I can, including Jews and Gentiles. I have a wonderful homelife and marriage with my wife Susan, living in the forest in Ontario with our two beloved dogs and cat. It is truly a foretaste of heaven on earth!
In prayer, one day, I asked God why He placed me in a family where I was the black sheep, and the least favoured one. His reply in my heart was instant. God answered my question with a question. He asked, “Among everyone in your family, who is most favoured in my eyes?”
Wow! I could never have come up with such a poignant and moving answer so quickly. I know this was God speaking into my heart. And now, I am happy to report that relations with my family, mother, and brother, are getting better and better each day. Being Jewish, they still struggle to understand that my faith in Yeshua is a Jewish faith at its core, but they can’t fail to see the incredible transformation the Lord has wrought so far in my life.
I believe the greatest thing that one can experience in this world is to be saved and sanctified by God to the point where He can use us for His purpose, and we can show and tell our story of transformation repeatedly for His glory.
Thank you for reading my story. I hope you have been blessed as I have been in sharing it. Warm Regards,
Charles E. Shefler
+1-514-647-4111
shefler147@gmail.com
Jacques Isaac Gabizon was born in Casablanca, Morocco and comes from a Jewish orthodox family where his grandfather, great-grandfather and great-great grandfather were all rabbis.
Testimony
One of my fondest memories of Morocco was on Friday nights and Saturday mornings, the Sabbath, at my grandfather’s synagogue. I remember how my friends looked up to me for being the grandson of the rabbi of our synagogue. And I admit that I felt a certain sense of holiness and a wonderful sense of belonging to the rich traditions of Sephardic Judaism.
But soon after the Six Day War in Israel, life as a Jew in a Moslem country became somewhat straining, even though the Jews in Morocco were treated much better than other Jews living in other Muslim countries. So, in 1968, my family considered the option of moving either to Israel, France or Canada. Since we already had some close family in Montreal, and because the city is French speaking, the choice was made. When I arrived, I was in for a great culture shock. My parents decided it would be best for me to enter into the English school system. So, at the age of 13, one day after having arrived in Montreal, I was put into school without knowing one word of English. It took me 3 months before I was able to hold any kind of a decent conversation at school.
Within just a few days after having asked my father for those books on the prophets, some evangelists had come to my college and had set up a book table. Out of curiosity, I approached them and picked up a book. I went on to read the summary on the back cover, and this is what it said: “What the Old Testament Hebrew Prophets Prophesy About our Time.”
That was a direct answer to the question I had! It was like a head on collision. I am by nature very skeptical, but I knew that there was something supernatural about that moment. I really felt that God was looking deep in my soul. I felt disarmed, powerless and exposed. It was as if I wanted to hide somewhere. I even looked behind me at who was there; so strongly had I felt a presence with me. So, I wanted to buy that book but I was not sure I had enough money. My family was pretty poor in those days. But here again, putting my hand in my pocket I found the exact amount needed to buy this book, plus 10 cents for my return bus fare back home. I must have had some kind of physical reaction when paying for that book because the lady on the other side of the table looked at me in a very strange way. God bless her, I still can remember her face. The book which I purchased was The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey. It was in French. So, like Jeremiah, I ate that book.
As I began to read, one thing which surprised me was the way in which the name of Jesus was mentioned and how the author put Him on such a high pedestal. As a Jew it was difficult to see anyone revering a man whom we Jews understood to be an enemy. I resolved the problem by concluding that since Hal Lindsay was a Christian, it is only natural for a Christian to love Christ. But as a Jew what did Jesus have to do with any Old Testament prophecies? I can admit to you that at that time, I had such an aversion to the name of Jesus. I could not even read His name. When I would spot His name with the corner of my eyes, I would carefully jump over it and avoid reading it. Let me tell you that today, for me, the name of Jesus is the name that is above all names.
Jehovah Jesus?
A couple of weeks later I met a Baptist minister, Jim Browning. I went to sit next to him and the first question I asked him was “Who is Jesus?” Knowing I was Jewish, he tried to show me Jesus in the Old Testament. He told me that Jesus was the Angel of the Lord who came to earth to die for our sins. The problem was that I did not know anything about the Angel of the Lord, so I understood that he said that Jesus was an angel who came down to die for our sins. All is well, I thought, since this was not at all a threatening situation since angels aren’t so dangerous for Jews. So why so much fuss about this one?
So, I called Jim back and asked him more about this angel. After many other long conversations, he explained to me that Yeshua was actually God in the flesh. That was the one truth which I had the most difficulty with. That is, until one day when I read this verse which helped me to see that Jesus must be Jehovah Himself. It is found in Isaiah 43:11 where Jehovah says: “I, even I am the Lord, and besides Me there is no Savior”.
There were two possible conclusions to draw from this verse:
a) That Jesus is not the Savior and not the Messiah.
b) That Jesus is not only the Messiah but that He is Jehovah Himself.
I thanked God many times for this verse. I realized that I needed to understand that Yeshua is Lord in order to appreciate all His works and words. He could not be anything less than Jehovah Himself. All other doctrines, such as the doctrine of grace, substitution and redemption all took on a new and fuller meaning once this wonderful doctrine of the deity of Messiah was grasped and believed.
One other passage that brought me to clearly see the Messiah was Isaiah 53. When I first read it, I thought that this French Bible had surely been falsified, so clear did this passage speak of Yeshua. I went to show it to my parents, and I asked them if they knew anything about it. They said they did not. But I am thankful because years later, 3 months before the Lord took him home, my father confessed Yeshua as His personal Redeemer...
I grew up in a small town in northern Quebec, Chibougamau, where I lived for over 60 years. My parents were second generation believers and they educated me in the knowledge of the word of God. They and another young couple of believers began to meet together in assembly on Sundays. The town of Chibougamau at that time had only a few houses. Over the years Christians were added to the assembly and today there are three evangelical denominations: Church of the Christian Brothers, Baptist Church and New Life Church. Our family of five lived in a small mobile home of ten feet by twenty-five feet. We regularly hosted missionaries from different Christian denominations. These missionaries, English, French, man, woman, announced the gospel to the Cree nations. Throughout my life, I have never made a distinction between denominations. My parents instilled in me from my youth, the importance of having love for one another, in the church of Jesus Christ. We sought to practice obedience to the commandment of John 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
As a born-again believer, I attended different evangelical churches. I also had fellowship with the believing Cree Christians of the north. But I felt an inner void, because there was little fellowship between us all. For me it was natural to join Beth Ariel Ottawa where the church is composed of Jews, Gentiles, different ethnicities and evangelical denominations without any discrimination.
As for me, Beth Ariel Ottawa is like a return to the origins of the church. (1 Corinthians 12:13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slave or free; and we were all given to drink by one Spirit.) Here at Beth Ariel, I immediately felt part of the family and I am grateful that God has given me the privilege of serving Him in the worship ministry with a wonderful team of musicians.
Our goal is to elevate the person of God through song and to make our wonderful Savior, the Lord Yeshua (Jesus) known to many.
Gaston Savard,
1 Corinthians 1:18 (NIV)