The recent conflict in Gaza between the Israel Defense Force and Hamas has filled headlines for several months. This conflict has sparked controversy and arguments on many sides of conversation and has been discussed almost daily since the start of the war.
On Tuesday, Feb. 20, Murray Tilles and Anna Beth Havener, founders and directors of Light of Messiah Ministries, spoke at convocation, hosted a panel about their ministry and discussed the Gaza conflict.
The ministry focuses on spreading the good news and gospel of Jesus to Jews and sharing Jewish heritage and the history of the Bible with Christians. It started in late 1991 and began in the metro Atlanta area in 1992.
“Our ministry is a bridge-building organization helping Jewish people understand Jesus better and helping Christians learn more about the Jewish roots of our faith as believers in Jesus,” said Tilles. “We want to build bridges, not tear bridges down.”
“I think that communication between the Jewish and Christian community… needs to be enhanced and fostered,” said Tilles.
At convocation, Tilles and Havener told their stories and their missions, shared the message of their ministry and spoke on the conflict happening in Gaza.
In the afternoon, they hosted a panel in the Dwight M. Beeson Hall discussing Israel and Palestine.
Many people attended the panel and filled the event with questions and discussion. Some of the discussions included: the Christians in Gaza and the West Bank, the usage of heavy weapons by the IDF, the history of the conflict and events that have happened since Oct. 7.
While at the panel, Tilles and Havener shared that they were scheduled to travel to Israel on Oct. 7, the day of the Hamas attack.
One of the resources that the ministry provides on its website is a collection of news sources, including faith-based and secular content, that they recommend regarding Israel and the ongoing conflict.
“We might not necessarily agree in all areas with all of those links, but we want to give people what we see as reliable sources to navigate these issues,” said Tilles.
Havener, who is the director of communications and community outreach, spoke on some of the things the ministry has been involved with since Oct. 7.
“After what happened on October 7th, it was just a couple of days and then we started receiving dozens of phone calls from pastors asking, ‘How do I talk about this to my congregation,’” said Havener.
The ministry has also done campaigns where their ministry network wrote letters to many of the Jewish synagogues in the Atlanta area as a way for the Christian community to support the Jewish community.
“What a lot of people, especially Christians, non-Jewish people that do not have a connection, what they do not realize is that it’s been incredibly, almost just as, difficult for the Jewish community around the world because they are feeling the intense effects of that spilling over in antisemitism,” said Havener.
To look more into Light of Messiah Ministries and read their resources on the conflict of Gaza, check out their website at https://lightofmessiah.org/.
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