The Journey

Hebron: 

• community, alliance and friendship
• a body of people with a social and spiritual unity
• a group of allied families and friends joined in intimacy and affection.

Called into the wilderness .... "Come out of her my people"

Community was, and still is, the main emphasis in our decision to establish our farming property and therefore that, along with the leading of YHVH, was part of our decision to name the property Hebron.

We had been called out of the church system in 2000 and YHVH graciously began the process of revealing His truth, exposing the traditions of man for what they were and reducing us to be absolutely reliant on Him and His Word.  I say "reducing us" because that is how it unfolded.  Traditions, perceptions, expectations and self-reliance were stripped away, until the small group was whittled down to literally one family.  The initial thought was to establish a new congregation, therefore this process was challenging and exposing.  Are we going to follow the leading of the Spirit above all, or are we going to continue on as we were, albeit under a different banner?  This may sound like a traumatic process but the exact opposite was and is true.  We would never trade those precious years for anything. The power of His presence, combined with the unveiling of His truth, was such a privileged and blessed time and we were changed forever.

After a couple of years YHVH added couples, families and individuals in His timing and way but this was something that was never pursued on our behalf.  In fact we were instructed to not pursue, count numbers or provide any programs to attract people - He was forming a community, not another 'church' or self-appointed purveyor of salvation.  We were not called to 'usher in the kingdom', 'take the city' or bring 'revival'.  We were called to worship Him - end of story.  He will take care of the rest and lead us in His own good time when He is confident that we are able to 'hear and obey'.  Cloud by day and fire by night.

Worship, prayer, fasting and the Word became the highest priorities.  Vast portions of the day and night for two and a half continuous years was devoted to spending time with Him, not because it was a required duty, but because it became overwhelmingly desirable.  This season was the most precious, joyous, life-changing experience and it was sustained by His Spirit alone.  He was laying a foundation and preparing us for the future.  Far from being a lonely experience, it was a treasured time devoted solely to YHVH.

During this time there were a few themes that were raised powerfully and we had a choice whether to respond and continue moving with Him, or hold to our own truth and experience and return to what we knew.  At each junction it became painfully obvious that changes were necessary and to be embraced:

• Judgement comes to the house first - repentence and appropriate awe of Him
• Unity not ecumenialism - the remnant coming together
• Correct understanding and application of the purposes and roles of men and women/husbands and wives
• The treatment of Aboriginal people
• His chosen people - Israel
• Sabbath and His moed
• The power, purpose and use of His name YHVH, and His Son Yeshua, our Messiah
• Interdependence within community

Each of these points deserves a volume on its own, but as this blog is devoted to Hebron, our community property, it is the last point which I will focus on.

During these initial years it became painfully obvious that relationships and community was uppermost in YHVH's heart for us.  This is not some warm and fuzzy thing, it requires commitment, sacrifice, forgiveness and the very real application of the the torah and the apostles' writings.  This commitment to community has been tried and tested and we have fallen down and got back up again; we have made mistakes and we have also have done things well.  Through it all we are being moulded and transformed, little by little and step by step.

A couple of years into our journey together we had the unusual situation that three families had another three families living with them for an extended period of time.  Our Father was breaking down our independence and setting our hearts on something very different.  We enjoyed each other's company, we dealt with our differences and our hearts were being knitted together.  During this period of time we began to keep the feasts of YHVH and the sabbath, as well as exploring the concept of having a property where we could celebrate the feasts, and be a source of provision and refuge for when times become difficult.

YHVH gave us very specific scriptures to guide and encourage us and we began to actively look for the property that had been earmarked for us.  This property was one of the first properties that we viewed online but didn't seriously considered it as we felt it was too far from Adelaide (1 hours drive), too big, too dry and required too much work.  But YHVH had indeed set this property aside for us.  After a few more months we decided that the property deserved a reconnaissance as the house was perfect for our needs.

Something very powerful was happening in our midst and hearts were being moved to invest into the eternal. This small community invested finances and lives into the venture and with YHVH's help we purchased this property in January of 2006.  The property was initially called Anunaka, which was just one more indicator that this was the one set aside for us as one of the scriptures we were given was Numbers 13; referring to the giants of Anak.  So this was property was claimed and renamed Hebron (Kiriath Arba).  I could probably write a book with all the scriptures and encouragements along this part of our journey together but suffice to say there was never a question in our minds that this property was purposed to bring us together to celebrate the feasts and become a provision for ourselves and Israel.  I will outlined a little more fully the purposes for Hebron in another page.

Over the last 18 years we have worked hard to develop the property and are now enjoying the blessings.  Who would have thought this group of people had so many latent talents!  We've had our fair share of challenges and we'll continue to face them, we've had times of grief and times of joy but through it all YHVH has been guiding and overshadowing us.  Hebron is by no means our only focus but it has become a very important expression of who we are.

And so the journey continues .....