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Jeff Holder

@lekkerwors.bsky.social
1.2K followers 192 following 225 posts

Welcoming the nations the Father is bringing to our doors. Building bridges and tearing down walls that separate. Celebrating America’s diversity.

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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
neighborsinfaith.substack.com/p/where-is-a...
neighborsinfaith.substack.com
Where Is America’s Moral Courage?
A lament for our nation—and a call to remember who we are
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
neighborsinfaith.substack.com/p/where-is-a...
neighborsinfaith.substack.com
Where Is America’s Moral Courage?
A lament for our nation—and a call to remember who we are
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Who is my neighbor? A question raised many years ago by Jesus himself - and one that stands before us today. This week’s Neighbors in Faith explores this age-old question along with some very modern implications. open.substack.com/pub/neighbor...
open.substack.com
The Neighbor I Didn’t Know I Had
What if the neighbor we've overlooked is a gift waiting to be discovered?
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
open.substack.com/pub/neighbor...
open.substack.com
Neighborly Question # 5
Last Sunday, I reflected on Recovering the Wisdom We Left Behind and wondered whether children still possess something many of us lose as adults—wonder, curiosity, openness, and a willingness to learn...
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
What is one lesson you’ve learned from a child that you hope you never forget? That’s the question that inspired this week’s essay. If we’ve lost something along the road to adulthood, perhaps it’s not intelligence . . . Perhaps its wonder. open.substack.com/pub/neighbor...
open.substack.com
Recovering The Wisdom We Left Behind
What Children Still Know That Adults Forget
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Neighbors in Faith is a place where Christians, Jews, Muslims, and people from every background can learn from one another, share stories, ask honest questions, and discover our coming humanity. Interested? Here’s one essay that captures the heart of our work: open.substack.com/pub/neighbor...
open.substack.com
Sacred Moments Around Ordinary Tables
What becomes possible when we choose curiosity over fear
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
This week we begin a new part of our Neighborly Wisdom rhythms: Voices of Humanity. Alongside wisdom from Christian, Jewish, and Muslim traditions, we'll occasionally pause to hear voices whose insights speak to our shared human experience. open.substack.com/pub/neighbor...
open.substack.com
Neighborly Wisdom # 4
This week we begin a new part of our Neighborly Wisdom rhythms: Voices of Humanity. Alongside wisdom from Christian, Jewish, and Muslim traditions, we'll occasionally pause to hear voices whose insigh...
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
Sometimes the people we think we are helping become the ones who change us. open.substack.com/pub/neighbor...
open.substack.com
When the Stranger Becomes the Teacher, Pt. 2
What an Afghan refugee taught me about faith and courage
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
At Neighbors in Faith, we believe wisdom can be found wherever people practice compassion, and love for their neighbors. Neighborly Wisdom draws from Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and secular voices. We don’t have to agree on everything to learn from one another. open.substack.com/pub/neighbor...
open.substack.com
Neighborly Wisdom # 3
One of the convictions behind Neighbors in Faith is that wisdom is not the exclusive property of any one tradition.
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
open.substack.com/pub/jeffhold...
open.substack.com
Neighborly. Question # 3
Sometimes the people we least expect become our greatest teachers.
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
open.substack.com/pub/neighbor...
open.substack.com
Welcome to Neighbors in Faith
Building bridges of mutual respect, trust, and understanding across faith traditions.
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
The greatest obstacles to understanding isn’t always prejudice. Sometimes it’s the quiet assumption that we already know. My latest Neighbors in Faith essay is about learning from people I once considered strangers—and discovering they became my teachers. open.substack.com/pub/neighbor...
open.substack.com
When the Stranger Becomes the Teacher, Pt. 1
What happens when we exchange our diploma for finger paints?
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
Bridge-building doesn’t usually happen at formal events. It happens over coffee or chai. It happens around a shared meal. It happens when stories are shared. My latest Neighbors in Faith essay: Sacred Moments Around Ordinary Tables. open.substack.com/pub/neighbor...
open.substack.com
Sacred Moments Around Ordinary Tables
What becomes possible when we choose curiosity over fear
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
open.substack.com/pub/neighbor...
open.substack.com
Gathering Around Our Table
Who we are and what we hold dear
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
open.substack.com/pub/neighbor...
open.substack.com
Neighborly Question # 1
What does loving your neighbor look like in today's polarized climate—where you live?
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
This week’s Neighbors in Faith reflection is one of the most personal pieces I’ve written so far—a reflection of bridge-building, belonging, loss, and the cost that sometimes comes with loving beyond our familiar circles. open.substack.com/pub/neighbor...
open.substack.com
The Cost of Staying at the Table
When loving your neighbor costs you community
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
My newest Neighbors in Faith piece reflects on what happens when friendships across faiths and cultures are tested by theology, grief, politics, and war. What does it mean to remain human with one another when the world around us seems to be falling apart. open.substack.com/pub/neighbor...
open.substack.com
What Happens After the Knock?
The slow, sacred work of building trust across differences
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Grateful for the voice of Derek Penwell. Like his grandparents, I was sent out to share the love of God —only to return 25 years later to a church hesitant to welcome the very nations now at our doorstep. His Substack brings clarity and conviction to that tension. open.substack.com/pub/derekpen...
open.substack.com
Immigration Policy and the Broken Missionary Imagination
If every person was worth crossing any distance to reach, why does that conviction collapse when the crossing goes the other way?
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
I almost walked away from one of the most meaningful chapters of my life… because I was afraid to knock on a door. This week in Neighbors in Faith, I share that story—and why I believe the doors we avoid may hold the very relationships that could change us. open.substack.com/pub/neighbor...
open.substack.com
The Courage to Knock on the Door
How One Step Beyond Fear Can Change a Life—and a Community
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
What if moving beyond your comfort zone was as simple as pulling up a chair and sharing a meaningful meal? Would you be willing to take that first step? Come join me on Substack—and let’s discover what happens together. open.substack.com/pub/neighbor...
open.substack.com
Becoming Neighbors, Around the Table
How Shared Meals Turn Strangers into Friends and Build Bridges of Understanding
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
open.substack.com/pub/neighbor...
open.substack.com
Becoming Neighbors, Around the Table
How Shared Meals Turn Strangers into Friends and Build Bridges of Understanding
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
What if the bridges we need most are the ones we build together? This story is about fear, trust, friendship, and what happens when people choose connection over division. #NeighborsInFaith #BridgeBuilding open.substack.com/pub/neighbor...
open.substack.com
Building Bridges Across the River
What shared meals across Ramadan, Passover, and Easter taught us about trust, fear, and friendship
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
What if the bridges we need most are the ones we build together? What shared meals across Ramadan, Passover and Easter taught us about trust, fear, and friendship. I’d love for you to read and share your thoughts. open.substack.com/pub/neighbor...
open.substack.com
Building Bridges Across the River
What shared meals across Ramadan, Passover, and Easter taught us about trust, fear, and friendship
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
From Nashville to South Africa 🇿🇦 and beyond, wishing our Jewish friends a happy and blessed Passover. *Image created by AI for Neighbors in Faith
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
open.substack.com/pub/neighbor...
open.substack.com
Neighbors in Faith chat
Join now in the Substack app
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
Here’s our latest publication from Neighbors in Faith. If this story resonates with you, I invite you to subscribe to it - and share it with someone who values building bridges across cultures and faith traditions. open.substack.com/pub/neighbor...
open.substack.com
Two Little Boys Sitting on a Wall
How unexpected friendships taught us what it means to be good neighbors in faith.
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
If you are interested in building bridges between people of different faith traditions, follow us on our journey. We’d like to hear from you and how you are a bridge builder where you live.
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
We are excited to launch Neighbors in Faith! 💛 Join us as we follow Jesus in loving and learning from our Muslim, Jewish, and Christian neighbors. Follow, subscribe, and discover ways to serve together and celebrate the gifts God brings to our communities. 🌍🙌 open.substack.com/pub/neighbor...
open.substack.com
Welcome to Neighbors in Faith
Welcome.
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
Beginning tomorrow, both Lent and Ramadan will begin. Every 33 years, Lent, Ramadan, and Passover overlap. In the spaces between our various faith traditions, we will experience partial intersections — sacred moments that invite reflection, humility, fasting, prayer, and deeper love of neighbor.
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
Some truths are eternal! “This world of ours is big enough for all God’s children.” youtu.be/8q8e8YvbrZE?...
youtu.be
What America Owes Its Immigrants | Martin Luther King Jr.
YouTube video by Martin Luther King Jr.
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
Ellie and I have been down by the river for a 3 mile walk. We’re back at Tevredeplaas enjoying the setting of the sun by our garden pond. Life is good! 💚🐾🦴🐾
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
Here’s my latest edition of Around an African Fire. Have a look and if you like it, consider subscribing. open.substack.com/pub/jeffhold...
open.substack.com
A Bright and Beautiful Day, Pt. 2
I can’t believe it’s been two months since I wrote A Bright and Beautiful Day, Pt 1.
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
History will tell the sordid story of a people who allowed image bearers to be treated like this. And they will ask, “Where was the Church?”
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 24/12/2025
“It’s telling that the Department of Homeland Security reportedly even touted recent ICE arrests as a “Christmas gift to Americans,” as if rounding up delivery drivers and line cooks were something to rejoice in. Thankful for the Catholic Church. www.thelettersfromleo.com/p/no-room-at...
thelettersfromleo.com
No Room at the Trump Inn: White House Rejects Bishops’ Call to Halt Christmas Raids
Echoing Pope Leo, Florida’s top bishop urged Trump: “Don’t be the Grinch” this Christmas. The White House slammed the door anyway.
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
As we try to drink from the political fire hydrant that is MAGA, we find ourselves overwhelmed and weary. Trump’s most recent attempts at diversion is his betrayal of our Afghan allies to whom we promised protection. My newest Substack speaks to this subject. open.substack.com/pub/jeffhold...
open.substack.com
When Community Chooses You
[I’m pausing from our normal sequence in order to speak to an important moral topic in the news.
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
Fox News knows no shame!
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
A Nashville church seeks to be the hands and feet of Jesus as they love and serve their unhoused neighbors. “When there’s no one left in the living world who remembers you, you disappear from this world. We call it the ‘Final Death.’” — Héctor Rivera, “Coco” nashvillebanner.com/2025/11/21/b...
nashvillebanner.com
Burrito Brigade holds memorial for unhoused in Woodbine - Nashville Banner
A community vigil in Woodbine honors the unhoused who died in recent months. Volunteers known as the Burrito Brigade staged the event to honor their lives.
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 23/11/2025
In a day when Christian Nationalism is sucking all the air out of our conversations about spiritual things, there are those faithful followers of Christ in Nashville who are offering a courageous welcome to their ever-changing communities! open.substack.com/pub/jeffhold...
open.substack.com
A Bright and Beautiful Day, Pt. 1
Around an African Fire is all about building community with those who may or may not be a part of our tribe.
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
Play ball anyone? 🎾 Ellie’s ready!
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 19/10/2025
I love No Kings Day! And I love dogs that dish truth to power!
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
Aunt Tifa’s strategy to counter ICE 🧊
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
It’s that time of the year! 🍁🍂🍃
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 06/09/2025
Donald Trump it’s a sickness on the soul of America!
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 24/08/2025
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 23/08/2025
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 17/08/2025
Sunday morning at #Tevredeplaas🇿🇦Nashville
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Jeff Holder @lekkerwors.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
open.substack.com/pub/jeffholder
open.substack.com
Around An African Fire | Jeff Holder | Substack
My personal Substack. Click to read Around An African Fire, by Jeff Holder, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.
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