Write the vision
Habakkuk 2:2
And make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it.
This blog stems from a prayer Vision uniting Christians & Jews
This blog stems from a vision concerning Ohio and my journey answering God’s call to introduce His people, the Christians, to His people, the Jews. Before the work of Haverim was birthed, my thirst for understanding the root of my Christian faith prompted taking Hebrew from our local rabbi for two years. How did this come about, you might say?
As a backslidden Christian, I cried out to God from the depths of my soul one summer night. I confessed every sin I could think of during my 28 years and committed my life to Him. Five months later, He re-introduced me to His son Jesus at a Catholic renewal and gave me a Bible. Between working, changing diapers, and caring for the rest of my family, I read the Bible at every opportunity. In the process, I realized Jesus’ entire family was Jewish and the early Church. By adoption, I am now part of Jesus’ family, and as God’s child, I can call God Abba, Father. It was no stretch for me to understand that the Old Testament was Jesus’ family tree, thus mine. It made perfect sense to me – if I wanted to know Jesus and His immediate family and the Church, I needed to understand the Hebrew of the Bible and God’s people, the Jews.
About seven years after the summer evening, when I cried out to God, an older seasoned woman of God asked me if I would like to come and pray with her for clarity concerning the Lord’s calling me towards Israel and the Jewish people. I accepted her invitation and received an open vision on the day we prayed. The vision entailed a small group of Christians with a battering ram in front of a synagogue door, Jews inside opening the door and inviting us in for fellowship, returning to the door and facing the battering ram outwards. A projection screen opened, the outline of the State of Ohio appeared, 8 Ohio cities popped up, the screen rolled up, and the vision was over. My friend advised me to write the vision down and wait for the Lord to confirm it.
Six weeks later, a letter from the Government Affairs Committee of Ohio’s Jewish Communities arrived. The letter invited me to be their Christian liaison for eight Ohio cities with Jewish Federations. My purpose would be to find Christians to join the local Jewish community in the fight to free Soviet Jews. The letterhead listed the eight cities of the Ohio vision in its right margin. I attended the meeting and the adventure began.
The work needed a name, and those involved remembered a teaching I gave them on God’s desire for friendship and understanding among our two faiths, including the Hebrew word “haverim” for “friends.” Eventually, I produced a radio program named, Haverim. Jewish community members decided I needed to become a non-profit to finance the radio work; with the help of Jews & Christians, the organization became a reality with the name Haverim. Today, my Haverim is no longer an organization (There are many organizations by that name). However, my call as a Believer to introduce God’s people, the Christians, to His people, the Jews, hasn’t changed.
Recently, I renewed my Hebrew studies and realized introducing God’s people through Jewish/Christian relations isn’t the true key to our understanding and friendship. The key that unlocks the door is finding who we are through knowing the Hebrew language in the New and Old Testament. Once we begin connecting on this level, it is an Emmaus Road experience. Do you know the Scripture?
And they said to one another,
Luke 24:32, The Road to Emmaus Passage
“Did not our heart burn within us while He talked
with us on the road,
and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”
I have laid my microphone down for now. But you’ll find I write with a pen dipped into ink provided by the same God of Israel who gave the vision to begin Haverim. As you read the articles or listen to the videos posted here, I pray that you will be encouraged and uplifted as God continues to open our understanding of the family tree!
Blessed be the Holy One of Israel,
Nan Montgomery
Haverim – חברים – began with prayer and a vision!
Link to Ohio Vision here.
© 2022 Nancy Montgomery – Haverim.blog
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