Ann Stacy
I was only 12 during the Eichmann Trial, but I had one constant thought, “why didn’t someone help”. I have a book whose cover is the picture of a tallit. The name of the book is, AND EVERY SINGLE ONE WAS SOMEONE. Only one word is written 6 million times, “Jew”.
For the past 10 years I have worked with AMERICANS FOR A SAFE ISRAEL hosting Israelis, mostly from Judea and Samaria, to come to Texas and tell their stories.The impetus for this came when I learned of the Fogel Family Massacre in Itamar, March 2011 and joined AFSI.org.
In addition to representing AFSI in Texas, we have our own 501c3, TEXANS FOR A SAFE ISRAEL, and a new endeavor, JUST AMONG FRIENDS. Most Texans will never get to Israel, so we try to bring Israel to them. JUST AMONG FRIENDS is an endeavor to bring Christians and Jews together, Christians with no hidden agenda except to be a blessing to the Jewish people and Israel.
Mike Isley
I think I was created in my mother’s womb to love the Jewish people.
My mom always told me how she worked for a wonderful Jewish man named Mr Zales in Dallas Texas during WW2. She always told me what a great man he was. Growing up I always had Jewish friends from elementary school to High School. At the age of 4, I made a booklet, which I still have, from Biblical stories and pictures and I would always say one of these days I want to go to that Land of Abraham-Moses-King David and Jesus!
My First Trip to Israel was around 1980 with my Church and I never was the same after that 2 weeks! I’ve probably been to Israel 30 or more times since that first trip.
In 2006 I went to Israel after I lost my dad and my mom- it’s that trip that started giving me a new family of Orthodox Jewish friends. G-d opened and changed my life forever with my brothers from another mother -Rabbi Jeremy Gimpel and Rabbi Ari Abramowitz! I now have hundreds of Jewish friends. These new relationships birthed the idea in 2007 of a non-profit organization called Texans for Israel-supporting the Jewish people in the land of Israel.
I’m also very involved with Christians United for Israel since its start, AIPAC, HAYOVEL and many other PRO ISRAEL organizations.
I am very excited to introduce to the world, with my friends Ann Stacy and Lori Hinze, our new adventure of Just Among Friends. To bring Jews and Non-Jews together to hear our stories of how G-d (HaShem) brought us to this Love of The Land of Israel-To this Love of The Jewish
People-No Hidden Agenda- and How we can Be Part of G-Ds plan in These Amazing Days we are living in.
Lori Hinze
Lori Hinze- Speaker, Educator, Chef Graduate of the International Culinary Center-NYC and co-host of Just Among Friends, offers Israel presentations at events, leads culinary based tours to Israel, blogs about the nation of Israel-a mindblowing country and hosts a weekly zoom show, Just Among Friends.
Lori’s passion is connecting people to Israel through unique culinary experiences, teaching the truth about Israel, opposing anti-semitism, supporting the Jewish people and the Land of Israel and hosting a weekly show where she interviews expert speakers on a range of topics with the sole mission of enlarging the circle of friends who share Judeo-Christian values while cultivating hearts to align with Israel and the Jewish people.
As a Christian Zionist, she uses all platforms available to support the Jewish people, build bridges between Christians and Jews and along the way, uses unique culinary experiences in Israel to try and bring awareness to the spirituality of food and wine.
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.