“We had to become Christians to appreciate our families’ Jewish roots,” says Bruce Klein, who leads their ministry called “Beth Nehemiah,” or “House of Nehemiah.”
Shiela Klein, a self-described “child of the ‘60s,” toyed with a potpourri of beliefs before meeting Bruce.
The Kleins grew up in Chicago — he on the north side, she on the south. They never met as youngsters, but they both had families who seemed to hide their Jewish ancestries.
“Mother became Catholic when she married my dad,” says Bruce, 58, who attended parochial school. “My sister and I knew that her maiden name, ‘Ronk,’ was unusual. I believe my Jewish heritage came through Mother. I was an altar boy and considered the priesthood, but Mother objected.
Bruce married while attending the University of Wisconsin in Menomonie and graduated in 1966 to coach football and teach high school and junior college vocational arts.
“I loved teaching but left it in 1971 to design homes for the ‘70s and ‘80s Chicago building market.,” he says.
“I was an only child, always curious, always pushing the envelope,” says Shiela, 54. “I think I experienced ‘family’ the way God intended — I knew unconditional love from my parents and grandparents, and I developed great confidence.
From what she knows, Shiela’s parents came from Bremen Germany. They were Jacobys and Redmans who settled in Chicago in the late 1800s.
“Grandmother became fearful if we discussed our Jewishness,” she says. “I was brought up in a Lutheran church, which was the social center of our lives—the ladies’ luncheons, the fashion shows, the choir. Our very liturgical church was a melting pot of nationalities.”
Shiela Klein married in 1965 when she was 18.
“My husband became an electrical contractor, and I stayed home until our two daughters entered nursery school,” she says. “Then I obtained a real estate license.”
She soon started looking for ‘the truth’ and managed to try most religions and philosophies that became popular.
“When I was 28, I told my mother: ‘I have to tell you, Mom. Something is going on inside of me. I’m going to end up being a different person, but I don’t know if I’m going to be really, really good or really, really bad. I want you to know that if I’m bad, don’t ever think that I don’t love you.’ Mother was speechless.
“I spent a lot of time in the spiritualism movement, where people practiced Tarot card reading, mediation, and exorcism. At one psychic fair, I tried to decide which psychic I wanted to talk with. God spoke into my thoughts: ‘Excuse me. Why are you going to a person to find out what I have destined for your future? If you want to know your future, ask me. I’m God.’”
Shiela joined Bruce’s company after Bruce’s business partner met Shiela and invited her to an interview. Shiela and Bruce were both going through divorces, and within a year after their divorces, they married in San Antonio, Texas, working there for 14 months before moving back to Illinois.
“After returning from Texas, we visited Willow Creek Community Church, which is known for ‘seeker-sensitive services’ that are untraditional and non-threatening. Pastor Bill Hybels seemed to talk right to us,” says Bruce. “The church had over 4000 members in 1982 and now has over 30,000.”
Shiela became a Christian, and Bruce followed weeks later when he heard singer Dave Boyer at Willow Creek.
“Dave talked about being drunk and on drugs,” says Bruce, “and as he sang, I said, ‘That’s who I am, too!’ I believed God was real and that it was time I gave myself to him. We were baptized on Dec. 11, 1983, along with 200 other people.”
Later, Shiela worked for Christian radio station WCRM in Dundee, Ill., where she and Bruce met “spirit-filled” Charismatic/Pentecostal friends.
“Their beliefs reminded me of the spiritualism movement I’d come from, but then I saw that what they had was from God,” says Shiela. “My father died in 1987, and we moved to Sebring, Fla. We attended two churches—Faith Lutheran Church and Hope Tabernacle, a Spirit-filled church.”
“The Lord called us into full-time ministry in 1991,” says Bruce. “Faith Lutheran Church channeled us into a stewardship ministry. I tried to steer the church away from its real estate habit to spending more on evangelism. Also in 1991, when I had quadruple bypass heart surgery, I received blood contaminated with hepatitis C. In March 1992, a Hope Tabernacle elder—the administrator at the local hospital—prayed over me, and I was healed. All symptoms of hepatitis C left.”
“We moved to Vero Beach and our Central Assembly of God pastor often taught on the relationship of Judaism to Christianity,” says Shiela. “As I read the Bible, the whole thing opened up incrementally. My mother’s maiden name was Jacoby—that comes from ‘Jacob’—and I serve the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as did my Jewish ancestors.”
“In 1996, Morning Star Ministries, led by Rick Joyner of Charlotte, became a catalyst for our meeting Messianic Jews—those Jews who believe in Yeshua Ha Maschia (Hebrew for ‘the Lord Jesus Christ’),” says Bruce. “Morning Star hosted a conference in Charlotte, and we attended with 3,500-4,000 worshipers. We bought a book and a tape—“One New Man” and “Jerusalem: A Cup of Poison”—by Reuven Doron, a Messianic Jew. We became friends with Doron who lives in Israel. He encouraged our belief in Yeshua and our love for Israel. Jews are part of the land of Israel, no matter where they live.”
Six months after the Kleins met Doron, he talked with them at a conference and asked, “How may I pray for you and what may I ask the Father to do for you?”
“We want to go home,” Shiela replied as she and Bruce tearfully embraced Doron.
“We wanted to go to Israel,” says Bruce.
A year later, Bruce traveled to Israel and worked for five weeks in Haifa with 450 volunteers constructing a worship center. Two years later, Shiela journeyed to Israel.
The Kleins, who met Janice Lea when she lived in Florida, visited Janice and her husband Robert at their West End home in 1995. The Kleins moved to Moore County in 1997 and called their home “Nehemiah House.”
Each Friday evening, the Kleins celebrate Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath (Friday sundown to Saturday sundown), by lighting candles, pronouncing traditional blessings of children, wife, bread and wine, and by sharing a meal.
“We open the House of Nehemiah for Shabbat, prayer, men’s and women’s ministries, and Living Word Bible Studies throughout the week,” says Bruce.
The Kleins accept donations but sometimes work at “tent-making” (working at secular jobs as the Apostle Paul did when he made tents at times to support his ministry).
“We minister under the oversight of Dr. Howard Morgan of Kingdom Ministries International of Atlanta, Ga.,” says Bruce. “His ministry and ours emphasize two themes: reconciliation of the Church to its Jewish roots and the Jewish people and the equipping and empowering of believers for service. We want to share America’s Judeo-Christian heritage.”
