“Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”
1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT)
No matter what we go through in life, we all need the faithful love of God that will never give up on us. Yossi’s story is one where we can see the love of God pursuing his heart through the ups and downs of his life.
Yossi, 42, lives in Sderot with his mother and brother. At a young age, Yossi became friends with a group of people who negatively influenced him into substance abuse. From that point on, Yossi began to drink and use drugs.
Over years of excessive consumption of alcohol, Yossi began to experience significant physical and mental effects. It got so bad that he almost lost his liver. As a result of the damage to the liver, he received 100% disability from National Insurance. To this day, Yossi lives off of this disability.
Yossi received help at a rehab center for several years to help him with his addiction. He ended up recovering so well that he began to help others overcome their addictions. For 5 consecutive and dedicated years, he worked as an instructor in rehab helping many teenagers and adults with their rehabilitation. He was highly esteemed by his team and was able to advance to the position of instructor coordinator.
In 2021, Yossi lost his father in a fire that broke out in his house while he was sleeping. He also lost a mentor who had accompanied him for years through his journey of recovery. And on top of that, he separated from his partner. With all of these overwhelming and heartbreaking circumstances, Yossi fell hard back into the world of drugs and alcohol.
He moved in with his mother in Sderot and was broken, depressed, hopeless, and without any desire to live. Many made the effort to help him go back to rehab and recovery, but Yossi was so overwhelmed with sorrow, shame, and guilt that he couldn’t get out of his addictions.
He hit rock bottom when he became a beggar at the central bus station in Tel Aviv. Even though Yossi had given up, his friends, mentors, and God never gave up on him. Many of his friends, who were former addicts, searched for him on the streets of Tel Aviv to encourage him and talk with him. But the final turning point was when Yossi got run over on the roads of Tel Aviv. He suffered serious injuries and almost lost his legs, but God spared his life and his legs. As soon as Yossi’s social worker and friends heard about his accident, they visited him at the hospital. They continued to faithfully visit him day after day during his long recovery at the hospital.
When he was finally discharged from the hospital, he agreed to go directly to rehab. He went through rehab successfully and then moved to a therapeutic community for a year. From there he continued to a therapeutic hostel, where he began to thrive and help many others in their recovery process as well. When he finished the program and felt strong, he returned home.
Shortly after returning home, the horrific events of October 7th happened. At the time of the incident, Yossi was at his mother’s house, and his sister (divorced) with 6 children, was at her house which was close to the police station in Sderot. This police station was overrun by Hamas terrorists who ruthlessly killed 35 Israeli officers and civilians.
When Yossi realized there was danger outside, he called his sister to try and rescue her and the kids. Heroically, Yossi drove towards his sister's house and bravely managed to rescue all of them by piling them into his car. As they drove towards his mother's house, bullets were flying all around them, however, they managed to arrive safely.
In the following days, they were relocated with thousands of other Israelis. For several months they were displaced from their homes, but Yossi and his mother have finally returned to her house. Today, Yossi still lives with his mother, but he realizes more and more that he needs his own space and privacy. Yossi had purchased an apartment during his "good" years but did not move into it because of the challenging situations he went through. He would like to return to his own apartment but needs financial assistance to continue to pay his mortgage and for the necessary appliances for his apartment.
Thankfully today, Yossi has rehabilitated his life and is still connected to his mentors and treatments, who help him maintain his recovery. He also plans to return to instructing and helping others recover from their addictions.
If you would like to partner with VFI in supporting Yossi and many others in their recovery process, visit our website and donate here.
