Staff Testimonies
FFOZ, dedicated to proclaiming the Torah and its way of life, fully centered on Messiah, to today's people of God.
Amy Dralle
Amy is part of the FFOZ Administrative Care Team. She takes care of customer service concerns, processes orders and answers the phones. If you call the FFOZ offices, you will probably speak with her first!
I’ll admit it; I still miss sitting in the pews, listening to the organ music play and singing hymns with the choir in the Baptist congregation I attended as a child. I was brought up in the Christian faith thanks to my parents. My mother was a former Catholic, and my father was a former member of the Reformed Church. I attended VBS regularly, participated in every youth group activity and thought I had a solid grasp on my faith. I was baptized and had always been a “good” kid. I truly loved God and had a childlike faith.
Being raised in a Baptist church, I learned all about the Bible narratives in Sunday School. Unfortunately, basic instruction about words like “sanctification” and “justification” was not taught. I knew the stories and some of the Gospels, but I lacked some of the main theological ideas that fused the Bible together. For example, I did not learn until I was about 19 that the Bible is the history of God’s attempt to reconcile mankind to himself. It was as if the church assumed I knew those things already or that they were too elementary.
Then the unthinkable happened: my parents got divorced. It came out of nowhere, and I was stunned when I found out about it. After the divorce was final, I lived with my father (who moved to downstate Illinois), and my brother lived with my mother (who moved to Michigan). I was 16, had moved away from the only home I ever knew, and now had to start over in a completely new place. I was angry at God for allowing this to happen and quickly decided that I would have “fun” until college, and then I would be “religious” when I got older and had children.
But God had a different time frame in mind than I did; He did not want me to waste any more time. I went through some rebellious periods, but despite my self destructive behavior, I continued to attend church to appease my father. While I learned things from that church, I had one foot in the world and one foot in the church. I was a total hypocrite and was not committed to God.
When I moved downstate, I met a nice young man named Seth. We were in high school band together, both played on the drum line, and had similar interests in music. At the moment when I had no one else to turn to as a friend, Seth called. We talked at length about God, and those conversations rekindled the interest and love I once truly had for God. I began to read my Bible more, and God turned my thinking from self-centered to God-centered. Seth and I became sweet hearts at the end of my senior year of high school.
College was close on the horizon. I didn’t have any specific academic goals, so I went to the first college that accepted me, which was a secular university. Although I hated it, my faith was strengthened there. I always had someone challenging me about my Christian beliefs, so I became skilled at responding. More telephone conversations with Seth also helped to strengthen my enthusiasm for God’s truth. I transferred the following year to Lincoln Christian College, where Seth would also soon be attending.
During the summer at my mother’s house, Seth became interested in Torah and Sabbath. I thought he was off his rocker and was determined to prove him wrong.
Being at a Christian college, I had ample resources to explore the idea of following Torah, specifically, my professors. I questioned them all about Torah—especially about a phrase that stuck out in my mind: this is an eternal covenant forever between God and the children of Israel. God had said that the Torah was forever. When I questioned some of my distinguished professors about this, I was disappointed with their responses. While I very much admire their vast knowledge and Christ-like character, their answers left me wanting more of Torah.
After a year of studying, inquiring of others and conviction directly from God, my Torah beliefs were solid. I fought it, but I ended up a firm believer in living out Torah and its validity.
Once I accepted Torah, Seth and I were eager to spread the word. We wanted others to see that the Messiah followed Torah and that there was so much depth to His teachings when viewed in light of the Torah. Since we shared an interest in alternative music, we attended one punk rock show where we set up a booth for our Messianic congregation and passed out literature about Torah, including Ascend Magazine—which more people read and took than anything else we brought. We were excited to tell others that the Messiah followed Torah and wanted to tell others about it anywhere we were, including punk rock shows!
I finished my college degree and married Seth in 2004. I cannot even begin to describe the blessing he is in my life. We are committed to each other, to living out Torah to the best of our abilities and serving Messiah however we can.
Amy lives in Missouri with her husband Seth. She is currently attending Lincoln Christian Seminary and is working towards a Masters degree with a focus in Pastoral Care and Counseling.
