My Story-Jarrod
I was born on 15 December 1972 in Johannesburg, South Africa into a middleclass Jewish family with two wonderful parents Harry and Marilyn.
Life was amazing. My father was a very kind and loving man who spent a lot of time with me, especially Saturday mornings. This was our weekly tradition. He would take me to some fun places and buy me some food. Life couldn’t have been better.
Dad’s stroke
Yet sadly when I was only eight years old, dad suffered a stroke which left him crippled for life and not able to ever speak again. Dad’s friends and family quickly deserted him and gave up visiting him. Mom earned a meager salary and couldn’t afford a nurse to look after dad so we had a humble lady helping us. Yet after a few years it was a major financial and emotional challenge for mom so we had no choice but to put him in a convalescent home. I will forever be grateful to Our Parents Convalescent Home who took him in to care for him at no cost, as mom couldn’t afford it. It was heart breaking to see dad leave our house and we went weekends to visit him. Dad remained in this condition until his death when I was 19 years old.
Bullying at school
I was no stranger to pain. At school I was targeted by a gang of bullies that tormented me daily. They would beat, spit and cuss at me and constantly embarrass me in class by ridiculing me. They even once burnt my hand with a classroom heater.
Embarrassed in school: Moms lack of finances at school
Growing up in South Africa the students wear school uniforms. The incident that marked me also at school was my mom’s inability to buy me new school uniforms when I had outgrown some of them. We had a ‘swop shop’ at school where you could exchange your now outgrown clothes and trade them in for some other kids who traded their clothes. I cannot tell you the shame and embarasment that I felt. At that moment I realised that we were ‘poor’. I made an inner vow that I would be rich one day and never have to wear other peoples old clothes because I couldn’t afford my own. This in a way unleashed an ambitious, driven spirit in me that has never left, but it is now re-directed.
My gift for organization and business started at elementary and high school
I began having small businesses in elementary school and then High school. I was gifted at business and always was good at making money, selling things to other students and running my own betting book for the 4 Grand Slam majors of tennis because I was a top tennis player and knew who was likely to win on the different tennis surfaces.
I wanted to be a rich businessman in the sphere of hotels and theme parks. The alure of theme parks was that kids could have an amazing day of fun and forget about the challenges they were going through in life.
Anti-Semitism in the South African Military
After graduating from school I went on to complete my one year compulsory national military service in South Africa. During this time I was again persecuted and targeted by antisemitic, racist aggressors. I was often threatened with death and violence. After completing my military service, I began searching for the true meaning to life.
I came to Faith in 1993 and my heart changed. I received Yeshua, Jesus as my Messiah. All hurt, pain and rejection that I felt as a young boy and young man left. As you can imagine this was a shock to my whole family. Half of them embrased me while half excomunicated me.
A life dedicated to helping others
My ambition to be a wealthy businessman was re-directed at age 20 into wanting to spend the rest of my life helping to reach children in schools. Knowing the same or worse abuses than I even experienced was my motivation.
I knew that I needed to be trained for this journey so stopped by business studies at college and enrolled in Bible College where I graduated after 2 years of study. It was during this time where learnt how to communicate and reach people for the Lord.
I had a dream of reaching children in schools and started Save the World Foundation in 2002 in Johannesburg, South Africa and in the US in 2008 in Orlando and when Lucinda and I got married in 2010 we moved it to Orange County, CA
I am so proud of our 6 outreach teams who spend their days, weeks, months and years of their lives with that same heart and do daily school outreaches reaching precious children
We have now reached and lead about 6,004,379 children to Jesus in face to face outreaches in 8904 school outreaches from 2002 until November 2023 and we have lead tens of thousands of elderly to the Lord in 739 convalescent home outreaches to date.
My message to those who abused me
I forgive you boys at school who bullied me and made me feel unworthy and afraid. Maybe you were abused yourselves and took it out on me. Or maybe you were just cruel and sadistic. I hope you don’t do it to your kids or grandkids, there is a better way.
I forgave the military officers that lied about me, abused and targeted me for being Jewish. Its a sad and heavy burden to have hatred in your hearts.
The Lords Vision for Save the World Foundation
Save the World Foundation is a generational ministry. We have a great depth of leadership to facilitate this MASTER PLAN and the ethos and determination to fulfill this God given mandate, which in essence is the GREAT COMMISION.
Our vision from the Lord for this generation which I have now taken as my personal vision is to raise up 250 fulltime Save the World Foundation Outreaches teams and set them up in nations around the world. With each team having the ability to lead over 100,000 students a year to the Lord in 125 yearly school outreaches (historically since 2002, this is what each team we have started achieves-PROOF OF CONCEPT) , equates to us having the potential of leading 25 million children to Jesus each year, which equates to 250 children over 10 years and a BILLION children over the NEXT 40 years.