|
Introducing
John & Jesma O'Hara
John, a businessman & Jesma have five children,
and two grandchildren, Isabella and Asher
Both serve on the Eldership of Hesed Fellowship
and are board members of International Christian
Embassy, Jerusalem, Australian Branch and Jesma
has also been the Editor of their magazine for
the past 12 years.
Jesma is Chairman of the Board of Nambour Christian
College, co-educational inter-denominational college
of over 1200 students, from preschool to year
12.
They are also the Australian Representatives of
Orr Shalom Children’s Homes.
Jesma's Qualifications
Masters in Early Judaism and Early Christianity.
B A major in Religious Studies
Studied in Jerusalem at AMI Jerusalem Centre For
Biblical Studies and Research and Educator’s From
Abroad Study Course at Yad VaShem.
Contact
John and Jesma
About
Hesed Fellowship
Hesed
Ministries aims to build the body of Messiah throughout
the world by providing teaching materials relating
to the Hebrew Roots of Christianity and the importance
of Israel in God’s redemptive plan and purpose.
Hesed
Ministries is based at Hesed Fellowship on the
Sunshine Coast and is committed to helping the
needy in Israel, both Jew and Arab, through the
International Christian Embassy, Jerusalem (ICEJ).
The
ICEJ offer a number of relief and support programs
from their Jerusalem Headquarters, for both Jew
and Arab. Some of these programs include : Social
Assistance, Russian Homecare, Jerusalem Ministry
Centre.
Donations
and 50% of the profit from Jesma's books go to
support the ICEJ special projects and towards
the running of the ICEJ Australian Office.
Hesed
Ministries also gives to a number of other projects
: Field workers in Israel, Orr Shalom Children's
Homes, Kesher Friends of WIZO and Mercy International
in Thailand. Our Links (on the right) will take
you to their websites. We also support orphanages
and schools for AIDS affected children in Malawi
and Kenya.
Hesed
Fellowship meets at 219 Panorama Drive, Nambour,
Queensland on Friday evenings at 7.30pm. Phone
54414987
|
| Selected
Quotes from Jesma's Books: |
|
| "The
Language of the Scriptures is bound by
culture and time. Understanding the Word of
God involves much more than just knowing what
the words mean. We need to focus our attention
on who was writing, what was happening when
the book was written, who it was written to,
and why they were writing." - The
Day of Restoration |
| "The
green pastures that David wrote about
were not like our rolling, grassy, grazing
lands in Australia. They were dry, barren,
parched hills with not fences. The shepherd
had to search out the spindly tufts of grass
hidden in the clefts of the rocks and lead
the flock to them. The still waters David
visualised were teh brackish pools left in
the wadis following the rainy season. The
Shepherd had to search out the water holes
and know where they were, otherwise the sheep
would have died of thirst in the harsh climate.
Middle Eastern shepherds always led their
flocks and stayed with them. They knew every
sheep by name; and so the Lord used this analogy
to remind us that He is always with us, leading
us and providing for our every need, even
in the difficult circumstances."
-
Touching the
Hem of His Garment |
| "Abraham
lived in a culture that practised blood sacrifice
as a means of appeasing angry, inconsistent
gods, however the Hebrew concept of building
altars is centred round praise and thanksgiving,
reflection, repentance and atonement. Over
and over again in the lives of the patriarchs
we find these altars becoming meeting places
with God where He shares His heart with them.
- Lessons in
Living: From the lives of The Patriarchs |
| "Central
to this new move of God is Israel and
God's purposes for her. The trumpet has sounded
and He is harvesting the nations, drawing
the Jewish people for the past 2,000 years,
and bringing them home to Israel in fulfilment
of the words of the prophets." - The
Day of Restoration |
| "In
Jewish tradition the home is sanctified
[set apart] for prayer, bible study and serving
community needs. Each home is to be a reflection
of God's glory here on earth. The dinner table
is likened to the altar and provides opportunity
for important times of communication and fellowship.
The feasts all contain times when the family
shares a meal together." -
Biblical Feasts:
God's Sanctified Signposts |
| "The
birthright entitled the holder to a double
portion of the father's goods but also carried
with it, in the case of Abraham's descendants,
the responsibility to be a bearer of the Kingdom
of God and God's redemptive purposes to the
nations down through the ages. That Esau was
willing to sell his birthright for just a
bowl of lentils shows a great deal about his
character. He esteemed the things of God and
family lightly. He was like Lot, a man of
small vision, concerned only with his immediate
needs. Such a man could not carry the call
forward to his own people and to the nations.
He was too carnally minded, caught up only
with the things of this world. He despised
the birthright he should have held sacred
and to satisfy his appetite, was willing to
sacrifice eternity. - Lessons
in Living: From the lives of The Patriarchs |
| "They
cried to the Lord for a king and God gave
them Saul in answer to their desire to
be like the other nations. He then sent the
prophet Samuel to anoint a young shepherd
boy named David - ' a man after God's own
heart'. It was to David that God spoke again
of an everlasting covenant and of the Messiah
who would come from His line. Through the
prophet Nathan the Lord told David that He
would appoint a place for the people, plant
them in a place of their own, and they would
never be moved again or be afflicted by wicked
men. (2 Samuel 7:10) He also told David that
his house and kingdom would be made sure forever
(verse 16). This promise looked ahead to the
time when the Messiah would reign from Jerusalem.
- Israel: An
Everlasting Possession |
| "From
the beginning the Jews have been a people
set apart, tied in an almost inexplicable
way to their land. Despite being cast adrift
among the nations on several occasions, the
last for nearly 2000 years, they have maintained
a separate identity and continued in a longing
for a land they no longer possessed. Their
thoughts and prayers have centered on the
land and the city of Jerusalem in particular,
no matter how far their captors have taken
them. Their feasts were kept according to
the calendar and seasons of the land they
had left behind. Their Passover Seder ends
each year with the words 'L shana haba b Yerushalayim'
or 'Next year in Jerusalem'. The deepest longings
of the collective Jewish heart through all
the years of exile and separation from their
homeland were centered in their desire to
return and repossess the land of their forefathers.
-
Israel: An
Everlasting Possession
|
| "To
facilitate this call, God placed them at the
crossroads of the world - on a land bridge
between Europe, Asia and Africa. All of the
caravans carrying merchandise between the
nations passed through, giving the merchants
and travellers the opportunity to hear about
the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They
are still, in that sense, a crossroads nation,
with world attention constantly being directed
towards them via the media. God is still using
them to direct the nations' attention towards
Him and to remind us of the truth of His Word.
In that sense they remain the Almighty's grace
gift to the nations. -
The Life &
Times of Yeshua the Messiah
|
| "Tradition,
with no biblical basis at all, places
the birth of God's son in a stable simply
because he was laid in a manger [Luke 2:7],
but this shows a lack of understanding of
Jewish laws of cleanliness and hospitality
and completely ignores the importance of the
birth of children in Jewish eyes. [Psalms
127 & 128] Most probably Mary would have given
birth in a Succah, the little 'cubby house'
made of palm fronds that is built outside
Jewish homes, restaurants and hotels even
today during Succoth. In Bible days everyone
slept in their succah during the week of the
feast. -
The Life &
Times of Yeshua the Messiah
|
| "When
the Lord allowed the Jewish people to be scattered
across the earth, they were wrenched from
the land He had promised them. No other people
has been given a specific piece of land as
an everlasting possession. this covenant the
Lord made with them bonded them to the land
in such a way that separation for either party
was like a forced separation between a husband
and wife. The two that have been one are forced
apart and the ensuing despair prevents either
from living life to the full. So it is between
Israel and the Jewish people - they are bound
together by the Lord and apart neither prospers."
-
This Land is
My Land
|
|
|
|
