Interview with Gera’el Toma By Josie Durgan August 7, 2024
Intercultural Communications
Gerald Thomas, otherwise known as Gera’el Toma, is an elder, historical researcher, and incredible author of the website “Truther’s Journal”. An admired and loved member of “Remnant House Ministries”, I was given the honor to interview and speak with Gera’el about his life, wisdom and learned experiences.
https://truthersjournal.com/…/interview-with-gerael…/
I joined Remnant House around fall of 2023, as I was introduced to it through my mother.
Soon we began to watch Yum Shabbat services together (Saturday) and livestreams done on Yum Rishon (Sunday) and news coverage on Yum Sheni (Monday).
Gera’el would be part of the Yum Rishon discussions with Apostle Peter Michael Martinez and have intriguing conversations together while on livestream for anyone who wanted to hop on.
Gera’el has this sweet southern demeanor that is comforting, inviting, and loving. He has this inherent ability to tell stories so well, I am so glad that he told me his.
Questions 1, 2, 6, and 3
Gera’el Toma was born August 7th, 1950. When I asked him what his earliest memory was, he told me that his earliest memory was living in Detroit, Michigan at around 5 or 6 years old.
Unfortunately, at age 7, his mother ended up passing away, five years after the passing of his mother, he and his sister were then taken into the care of their grandparents.
The second question I asked him was “Is there a scent that gives you instant nostalgia?”, he said flowers, as it reminded him of his grandmother, Lottie Leadingham, who used to have a lot of flowers in her garden. He told me that his grandmother loved roses. Gera’el grew up gardening with his grandparents, he humorously told me that “At eighteen years old, that’s when I found out that my name wasn’t ‘Go Plow’”.
Having cultivated a love of gardening, he joined the garden club at school. While Gera’el was in high school, he helped do the topsoil and shrubbery around his school. What’s even more precious is that he also planted and tended to a rose garden on the campus.
This corresponds with question number six: “Of all the lessons your grandparents instilled in you, which one feels the most valuable?”. Gera’el responded that gardening gave him the ability to feed himself and others without having to rely on the government or stores. It’s very paramount to what his grandparents taught him. Gera’el’s grandparents were members of the Pentecostal “Church of God” as his grandfather, Rosco Leadingham was the 350th ordained pastor of it.
Gera’el had a strong passion for the faith and music. When asked “What song transports you back to being a teenager?”, Gera’el spoke about how he loved church music, the song that he gave me was “Keep Me Sanctified”, a song his grandmother Lottie taught him. Gera’el knows how to play guitar, piano, saxophone, and the harmonica. He and his friend Jim would often go to hospitals and rest homes to play music for the residents.
Side Note: Gera’el still plays music today and I will link both his renditions of “Keep Me Sanctified” on YouTube.
Questions 4, 5, 7, and 8
When asked about question four, “What do you wish people knew about life back when you were young?”, Gera’el did not like when people would disrespect their mothers. He knew the heartache of losing a mother and couldn’t stand to see someone else disrespecting and sassing their own mother. If he was present to see this occur, he would pull aside his friend, and “lay into him” about not talking to their mother like that.
It states in The Scriptures in Exodus 20:12 to “Honor your father and your mother.”, a commandment that needs to be highly regarded. This reminded me to watch how I treat my mother, for as long as I live, as my father passed away when I was 11 years old. Gera’el’s grandfather, Rosco, is his biggest role model. His grandfather Rosco Leadingham was an on-fire preacher in the church. Rosco and Lottie Leadingham did not just speak The Word, they walked by it. Gera’el spoke about how, every night, his grandparents, his sister, and himself would gather around together, read a book from the Scriptures, all taking turns reading chapters. Once finished they all knelt and prayed together. His love of Scripture sparked at a young age, going as far as preaching the Word after church service!
He would get up on a chair on the stage, and just go for it! He held his grandfather in such high regard, that Gera’el wanted to wear the same color shoes as Rosco. If Rosco was wearing black shoes, Gera’el’s brown shoes would then be waxed to black.
For question seven, I asked him “Which communities- formal or informal have you been a proud member of, over the years?”.
As I mentioned, Gera’el is a member of Remnant House ministries, a member of the Natsarim faith. This is a more recent membership compared to his previous communities such as church, fellowships, and being a public relations and safety manager for a large international company.
Gera’el mentioned that the company he worked for made various polyester and plastic items. Because of this, workers who were actively involved in the making of these products had to be dressed in safety gear due to the harmful chemicals that were being used. He stated that there were many accidents on the job and some of those being fatal. He was promoted to be a safety instructor, and with that, he turned the most accident-prone factory, to the gold standard of the company.
For the eighth question,“How have your spiritual beliefs or faith changed over time?”,
Gera’el responded with “Stronger”. Gera’el loved reading the Scriptures and would stay up past the time everyone had gone to bed to read more. He told me that he would lay by his grandmother’s side and listen to her recite scriptural stories.
He joked about keeping her and his grandfather Rosco up this way. Gera’el would take the opportunity of going to various libraries and learning about scriptural history. This became the foundational building blocks for what is THE “Truther’s Journal”. Furthermore, Gera’el has become more courageous to which he said, “Fear don’t grip me.”. He has been courageously sharing the Truth of the Scriptures, The True Name of The Father and The Messiah, YAHUAH and YAHUSHA, through “Truther’s Journal”, his music on YouTube @Gerald W. Thomas, and livestreams on Yum Rishons’.
Questions 9, 10, and 11
Pertaining to question nine, which asks “What advice or wisdom would you like to impart on the future generations?”, Gera’el emphasizes that prayer is vital in our lives, to even pray for minor things. “Don’t forget to pray”, those were his grandmother Lottie’s last words to him. As I read today, it is also stated in the Scriptures “Pray without ceasing.
” 1st Thessalonians 5:17.
Scripture reading, and prayer is the cultural tradition that Gera’el wants me to preserve. It was instilled in Gera’el as a child to read the Scriptures and pray every day. I too think that it is vital for us to read the Scriptures and pray every day.
I feel much better when I get my daily bread and prayer time in with YAHUAH! Through Gera’el’s story, it showed me how prayer got him through really difficult situations in his life. That YAHUAH was always looking out for him, building him, and strengthening him. Gera’el told me that it’s not easy getting old. The best part about it has been retiring from his workplace in the world, and working full-time for YAHUAH, writing for the Kavod (glory) of YAHUAH, giving wisdom and advice on livestreams, and of course, sharing his musical talents on YouTube.
Question 12
As we near the end of our conversation, I ask Gera’el: “What do you wish I would have asked you?”. In the ministry, Gera’el is well known for loving all his little critters, big and small. So, to answer my question, anything about animals.
From that point, we went on to have conversations about our animals of course! While we were talking about our animals, I mentioned that our dogs had ended up coming to us rather than going out to find them. Gera’el mentioned that the same thing happened to him too!!! Both Gera’el and I have SPECIFICALLY prayed for or hoped for a breed of dog. I remember wanting a female black lab who played fetch, he said he prayed for a beagle. He told me the incredible ONLY YAHUAH COULD DO story about how a stray beagle ended up at his door. He took him and nursed him back to health, now that beagle is living it up in Grandpa G’s (Gera’el) house! Sheila, my black lab, was my neighbor’s dog and started sleeping under my window after I had helped her while her owners were away. I played ball with her, and she LOVES to play! Our dogs are our gifts from YAHUAH!
Reflection
Gera’el’s story of perseverance, Faith, hard work, strength, wisdom and love was inspiring and amazing to listen to. Gera’el’s walk in the Faith of YAHUAH and Master YAHUSHA HA’MASHIACH has lead him from a boy planting seeds in the garden who preaches on top of a chair in church, to a young man sharing his Faith through singing on his guitar with Jim, then working to keep factory workers safe on the job, and now, planting seeds of Faith, sharing the daily bread and the one and only TRUE SALVATION OF YAHUSHA HA’MASHIACH. I want to take away from this to keep learning about Scripture and history, pick up an instrument and actually play it, and of course, working hard in The Will of YAHUAH, and never giving up.
To end this reflection, I believe these Scripture verses align perfectly with Gera’el Toma’s story.
HALLELUYAHUAH! ALL KAVOD TO YAHUSHA HA’MASHIACH!
“Fight the good fight of the belief, lay hold on everlasting life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession before many witnesses.” 1 Timothy 6:12
“And we know that all matters work together for good to those who love ALUHYM, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28
YADAH YAHUAH!
“Keep Me Sanctified” By Gerald W. Thomas (Gera’el Toma)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oDXnGxzyaA…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnbfyhydMb8…
TRUTHER’S JOURNAL:
Remnant House Ministries:
PRAISE BE TO YAHUAH!!!
