He never really even intended to leave the small Alabama town of Gordo where he grew up, but Herbby Geer and his family have been living in Israel for so long and found life there so rewarding, that Israel has become Geer’s home away from home.
Geer serves as a Baptist representative for the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention in Israel, where he has lived since 1987. Although Israel is a place where unrest and tension are elements of everyday life, Geer anticipates he will continue to serve in the same capacity. “As far as we can see, we’re in it for the long haul. It has become our home.”
Geer, who was formerly a member of Shades Mountain Baptist Church, Vestavia Hills, first traveled to Israel as an engineer for Southern Company Services. He met his wife, Anne, a native of Canada, there, and in time the couple established a home in the place where Christianity got its roots. As a Baptist representative in Israel, Geer works to help increase understanding of Baptist roots in Judaism.
One project that has aided this process is a full-scale replica of the tabernacle in Elat, a resort community on the tip of the Red Sea. The tabernacle is an attraction for both Jews vacationing in the area and Christians, Geer said. When Jews tour the tabernacle, it stimulates their interest and encourages them to go back to the Old Testament for more research and study. “That’s very exciting for us because we believe that as people seek the Lord He’ll reveal Himself to them.”
Americans would probably be surprised to learn that 80 percent of Israelis are secular, rather than religious, according to Geer. “We see them all as Orthodox,” Geer pointed out. “There is such a pluralistic thought within Judaism.”
Among a population of 5 to 6 million, only about 7,000 identify themselves as Messianic Jews, or Jews who believe in Jesus. “There is a messianic movement,” said Geer. “But it’s still a very, very small percentage.”
Likewise, Christians gain insight into their faith as they explore their Jewish roots, according to Geer. “We see Him (Jesus) so clearly revealed in the Old Testament. In Israel you absorb history.”
Geer, who graduated from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and attended Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., said the honor and respect that Americans, especially Christians, give to Jews because of their shared heritage is not well understood by Israelis. “They have been a persecuted people for thousands of years. It’s hard for them to know who’s on their side or understand that we have a natural affinity.” It is one-on-one that this is best communicated, he said. “I do think they understand who we are as Baptists and our position on Scripture.”
In fact, Israelis are much more open to Christians brandishing the distinction of being Baptists because to many Israelis all Christians are Catholics. Jews, in turn, have been surprised to discover that Baptists are proponents of freedom of religion, something Geer believes they find gratifying. “We’re not looking to cram the gospel down their throats.”
Instead, Geer, who speaks Hebrew, tries to help Israelis see God’s faithfulness to them over the years. “One of the big questions Israelis have is: Where was God during the Holocaust? That’s a very difficult question. Why didn’t He hear when they cried out during the Holocaust?”
To answer that question, Geer traces the history of the Jewish, noting that when, as recorded in Exodus, they went to Egypt as free people and became enslaved by Pharaoh, God heard their cries and delivered them. “It was basically a Holocaust in Egypt. When they cried out to God, He heard them and remembered His covenant with them. That covenant included giving them the land He promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God literally begins to move heaven and earth to keep His promise.” Later they were enslaved in Babylon. “Again, they cried out to God, and He brought them back.”
Geer said God also heard their cries through the Holocaust because within three years Israel became a free nation again. He pointed out that — previously dispersed throughout the world — the Jews came back together as a people group in their own country. Hebrew, which Geer described as a “dead language” also returned to common vernacular.
This should be as important to Baptists as Jews, according to Geer. “That should give us all an assurance that God keeps His promises. He made a covenant with the Jews, and He will keep it. It’s clear then that God has heard, He has answered Israel, and He loves them.”
Meanwhile, however, the country has taken an economic beating because of continued persecution through terrorism, Geer said. “When there is peace there, everything blossoms like a rose in a rainstorm,” Geer said. Since 2000, however, tourism and high-tech industries have drastically declined.
Geer, who recently spoke at a Global Missions Conference at Shades Mountain Baptist Church, said his family feels safe in Israel but they live in a state of constant vigilance.
And though they love returning to their native state, they return to Israel because they’ve found friends and family in Israelis, too. “Once you’re in their hearts, you’re in their hearts forever.”
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