At Just Among Friends, our mission is to cultivate hearts to align with the Jewish people and the Land of Israel, with a special focus on Judea and Samaria. We come to the Jewish people as learners and stand shoulder to shoulder with them just as the prophets foretold thousands of years ago. Zephaniah 3:9
A portion of our budget is dedicated to education and fellowship, as we host speakers to teach us our shared heritage from their time-honored tradition and to tell their personal stories. In addition, we are honored to financially support projects that align with our mission.
We believe every speaker we have had is a true hero or heroine. Against all odds, and often at great personal risk, they have followed God’s calling to return to HIS LAND and to serve His people according to the unchanged Torah laws they received from Moses at Mount Sinai and observe to this day. Just Among Friends is proud to be among those who bless the Chosen people and we believe we are blessed in return.
Just Among Friends endeavors to be, without a hidden agenda, a haven for the Jewish people. We network with other pro-Israel groups to give as many opportunities as possible to hear the truth about Israel.
We encourage people to make lasting friendships with our Israeli and Jewish speakers, and to make their own plans to visit Israel and further their interfaith relationships.
Meet the Founders
Ann Stacy
Founder
I have often thought about a quote from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. “When I was a child and read fairy tales, I fancied them not to be true, but now I find myself in the midst of one.” We are all in the midst of a dream that could not have happened for most of the past 2000 years. We, Jew and Gentile, are coming from different places, different times, and different backgrounds. These past 20 years, I have tried to create safe places of mutual respect and trust so that we can better work together. I have found that if we can do this, maybe, just maybe a light will shine on something we have never considered about each other, and together we can believe God’s Great and Precious Promises for Jerusalem, Yerushalayim, Har Haybayit, Judea, Samaria, all of Israel and the Jewish people.
I was born in 1948 into a home with respect for the Jewish people and the State of Israel. My great-grandfather was born during the Civil War. In the early 1880’s he became a Methodist circuit rider preacher. He died 20 years before the State of Israel was formed, but he left our family a legacy of knowing the Jewish People were not only God’s Chosen People, but they were also “God’s Time Clock”. Since the Jewish People had been in exile for most of 2000 years, I still marvel at his belief that they would surely return one day, which would be the beginning of The Redemption and The End of Days.
In my teen years, I was profoundly affected by the Adolf Eichman Trial. I had one persistent thought, and I still think it today. “Why didn’t more people help them? ”.
In college, I began to question the authenticity of the Bible. I was a history major, and the Bible was never mentioned once. Someone suggested I read, THE LATE GREAT PLANET EARTH, by Hal Lindsay. For the first time, I saw Scripture that had become historical fact. One instance would be Isaiah 44:28 which was written over a hundred years before the birth of King Cyrus. God brought me closer to him using a Jewish source.
In the ensuing years, I married the love of my life, John Stacy. We will be celebrating 50 years of marriage in August. We raised three wonderful children who have given us equally as wonderful 10 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren. For 30 years we have had a family business that all of our children and most of our grandchildren have worked at.
For most of 45 years, I have had one diversion, collecting Holocaust remembrance stories. Early on I had an uncanny feeling that they might someday disappear from the
shelves.
As the years have progressed, I have bought used books from cities, schools, universities, and even church libraries that are stamped “DISCARD”. I hope I am wrong about them disappearing, but I have hundreds in my collection.
If I were writing a memoir, it would be in four parts…maybe there is a fifth one coming…God willing.
Lori Hinze
Founder
Lori has had the privilege of cooking alongside some of the nation’s most notable chefs: Los Angeles’ Govind Armstrong, Philadelphia’s Georges Pierre, Kendall Jackson’s Justin Wrangler; New York City’s Matt Hughes and many others. Additionally, Lori is the Founder and Executive Director of CookLearnGrow-a kid’s cooking school. Lori lives deep in the heart of Texas and first visited Israel in 2014 with Pastor Mark Biltz of El Shaddai Ministries and has never been the same.
Lori enjoys speaking at events on The Food & Wine of Israel, Why Israel Matters and leading cooking workshops in Jerusalem and the States.
She has been featured at the Austin and Houston Home & Garden Shows, Becker Vineyards Lavender Festival, the Austin Farmers Markets, as well as featured in the Austin American Statesman, Edible Austin notable mentions and My Fox
Austin, KXAN and Fox 26 Houston morning cooking segments.
Lori has had the privilege of cooking alongside some of the nation’s most notable chefs: Los Angeles’ Govind Armstrong, Philadelphia’s Georges Pierre, Kendall Jackson’s Justin Wrangler; New York City’s Matt Hughes and many others.
Additionally, Lori is the Founder and Executive Director of CookLearnGrow-a kid’s cooking school.
Lori lives deep in the heart of Texas and first visited Israel in 2014 with Pastor Mark Biltz of El Shaddai Ministries and has never been the same.