Over 3,000 years ago, God promised the Land of Israel to Abraham and his descendants forever (Genesis 12:7; Luke 1:55). Israel today is a land of miracles. Many of the battles and wars since Israel’s independence in 1948 can only be explained by God’s faithfulness to His covenant promises with Abraham. If you are aware of the scriptural prophecies, you can visit the land of Israel and be eyewitnesses of how God is faithfully fulfilling His word: cities are being rebuilt, swamps drained, and the deserts are blooming (Isaiah 35 and 61). Israel is a beautiful country!

“Indeed, the LORD will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places. And her wilderness He will make like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and sound of a melody” (Isaiah 51:3).[i]

Christians can receive much from the Jewish people, including their deep love of the Scriptures. This love has been expressed for thousands of years in the careful way they transcribed every “jot and tittle” to preserve the Word of God. Even when forced to flee their homes during times of severe persecution, the Jews always carried their precious Torah scrolls, the clothes on their backs, and a few other cherished possessions. Nevertheless, the prophet Isaiah tells how the nations will stream to Mount Zion to learn the ways of the Lord:

Now it will come about that

In the last days
The mountain of the house of the LORD
Will be established as the chief of the mountains,
And will be raised above the hills;
And all the nations will stream to it.

And many peoples will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
That He may teach us concerning His ways
And that we may walk in His paths.”
For the law will go forth from Zion
And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. (Isaiah 2:2-3)

As an observant Jew and native of Jerusalem, the late Dr. Shlomo Chai Hizak, or Shlomo as he preferred to be called, founded the AMI Center in 1962 to teach others the ways of the Lord. Through the AMI Center, he dedicated his life to build a bridge of understanding between Jews and Christians. His ability to relate to all types of Christians throughout the world was amazing. AMI in Hebrew means “My people.” In the Hebrew language, AMI is also an acronym for “People, Land, and the Scriptures.” Shlomo knew what it meant to be grafted in to the covenant promises of Abraham and had a God-given anointing to deeply understand both Christians and Jews. He also recognized that God is set to bless the Jewish people and fulfill His covenant promise to bless those who blessed Abraham and his descendants.

“And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Genesis 12:3).

Shlomo loved God, loved His Word, and loved the Jews and their homeland. He also freely distributed over four million Bibles in forty different languages around the world and made available a special edition of the Bible in Arabic for distribution in schools both in Israel and throughout the Middle East. Similar to the apostle Paul, he became “all things to all men” (1 Corinthians 9:22). Since Shlomo understood the Father’s heart to bless those who bless the Jewish people, he wanted to teach Christians about the Jewish culture and Judaism. He knew that if they walked through the streets of Jerusalem with a heart open to the Spirit, they would fall in love with the Jewish people—it is an experience. He also wanted to bring Christians to Israel so they could see that God is fulfilling His Word to “comfort Zion” and restore the land.

The AMI Center continues to keep Shlomo’s vision alive by conducting tours to Israel, holding seminars and study sessions and conferences, as well as distributing newsletters in English, French, and German. The Israel tours visit biblical sites with a Jewish guide who makes the Scriptures come alive. Visitors may stand on a hill overlooking the place where David brought down Goliath or walk through the excavations of the City of David or see where the Tabernacle stood in Shiloh for 369 years. These tours and other conferences at the AMI Center introduce guests to the Hebrew Scriptures and songs, so the Jewish faith and culture can become a heartfelt experience to Jewish and Christian believers alike. As Christians, we pray that God will draw our hearts together with His people and continue to fulfill every word He has spoken over Israel and the Jewish people.

Please join the AMI family today to bless Israel and the nations.

100% of all donations designated to the AMI Center through Hargrave Ministries are tax deductible and go directly to this group.

[i] All Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB95).