Enthralled with the Scriptures, I began attending their Sunday night class on the book of Revelation. A few months later when I trusted in Jesus as my Savior, my life was changed by His love, forgiveness, and joy. But I could not have imagined how God would lead me to engage Jewish people with the Good News.

During my years at a liberal-arts Christian college for an education degree, I became friends with Arnold Fruchtenbaum, a Jewish believer who would become a well-known Bible teacher. Arnold introduced me to an understanding and love for the Jewish people. He encouraged me to grow in the Lord, also giving me the idea to write papers for History and English classes on aspects of Jewish civilization, like Israel and the Holocaust. Through our Israel prayer group, the Lord put a burden on my heart to reach out to Jewish people. My summers were spent in Brooklyn with the late Hilda Koser, assisting in her summer Bible school outreaches.

Faithful is He Who Calls
After school, I interned with Chosen People Ministries in New York City. They had a training program including immersion into Jewish culture. There I started a women’s bible study that would meet Friday night in the building that the ministry had.

One of the ladies in our group was Vickie. We had first met in the common dining room of the women’s residence in Manhattan where we both lived. It was just after the fast of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), and it came up that there was a Messianic Jewish service where we were fasting and praying for the nation of Israel, though I myself was not Jewish. Surprised but curious, Vickie wanted to know why Jews in particular would accept Jesus. Later, I gave her a Bible and for some reason she was drawn to read the book of Romans. On her way to work, she would often slip notes under my door with one question after another, and in this way we would wrestle through Scriptural issues. Then after several months I found a note which delighted my heart. Having just been reading Romans 8, she said, "I believe that Jesus is my Messiah and have accepted Him as my Savior!" This was so encouraging to me in my early years of ministry.

My Heart's Desire
After three years in New York City, I packed up and moved to Israel to study at Hebrew University in Jerusalem for a year. Sherry, my Jewish roommate who I met there, had also come from New York to teach English at the university in Jerusalem, and to pursue photography. Sherry would say things to guests like, "Let me show you my new photos, and then Miriam will answer all your questions about Yeshua," which I found ironic and wonderful. With some fellow believers I started a coffeehouse outreach on the Street of the Prophets near the Old City.

Soon my year was done and I moved back to New York City, and then to California where we began a music team called The Liberated Wailing Wall. There I met a new believer named Sam. I had been praying for someone to marry who was decisive and had a heart for ministry, and within three dates this decisive person was telling me we would be married. Naturally I thought he was delusional. But over time the Lord definitely brought us together in both love and ministry. For the first few years of our married lives we were on the road, criss-crossing the USA doing outreaches. Eventually our touring days ended, and Sam and I moved to New York City, where Sam opened the New York branch of Jews for Jesus, and where I discipled women one on one and in small groups. From 1979 to 1996, as Sam and I raised two sons, God called Sam to leadership in Chosen People Ministries, which eventually brought us to Charlotte. During and since this time we’vebeen planting Messianic congregations worldwide and eventually Charlotte. In 1997, Word of Messiah Ministries was born to further this shared vision of making Messianic disciples through congregations. Praise be to God for His faithfulness! "Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass" (1 Thessalonians 5:24).

Presently, Miriam leads the Sisterhood at Hope of Israel Congregation in Charlotte, NC. Join us August 28th for a special Sisterhood event "Messiah in the High Holy Days Seminar." To register or for more information click here. A sought-after speaker and writer on women's discipleship, Miriam also loves to praise the Lord as a song-writer and worship-leader. (another version of Miriam's story may be found here)