Our First Shabbat Service in Savannah, GA!

What an amazing day!!!  We had a wonderful shabbat service with so many family and friends that drove hours to come and support us and our wonderful new local "family" that will be worshiping with us on a weekly basis.  There was dancing, singing, chanting of liturgy, a great message, a wonderful shabbat school filled with kids - so much to praise God for!  Of course there were bumps and glitches (most ironed out before people even walked in the door), but the service ran smoothly and was a great start to the work that God has planned for the Savannah, GA area.  

We know that the enemy would like to thwart this.  Even now, as I write this blog, it is on my agenda for today to contact web support as our website went down on Shabbat, making it impossible to upload the message or for anyone to view our site.  We already know that our website is a vital tool and link to those that are seeking out Messianic Judaism in the Savannah area.  The goal today is to get that website back up! www.shalomsavannah.com - Tell all your friends! :)

We want to thank everyone that has supported us to get this far - both financially and in prayer.  We are so humbled by the outpouring of love and encouragement and thankful for every bit of it!  We ask that you continue to support us.  As we already mentioned, the enemy is coming hard against this new work in Savannah.  We know that this area is ready for a Messianic synagogue.  God has already started supernaturally bringing people in the door.  We know that no weapon formed against us will prosper, but you are a vital part of this.  Your prayers against the attacks and in support of us, our family, and the ministry are the shields and spears of defense and offense against haSatan.  You are the prayer warriors and messengers helping us to get the word out!  We are the workers who will shine his light and share his message with people here - a harvest that he has already prepared.  God will have the victory and the glory!

Behind the Scenes: How You Start a Synagogue

I feel like every time I write a post I am giddy with excitement and gushing about how God has just been sending blessing upon blessing our way.  This week was no different.  We have been fortunate to have a bank account for the synagogue that is in the black, thanks to the blessing of some individuals and our former congregation.  It's been tremendous to have that "seed" money.  Even though, as I talked about in the previous post, we have a rent free space - and it has some chairs and all the sound and video equipment we need - there are still things that need to be purchased.  We have been busy designing and ordering signs and offering envelopes, invitation and contact cards, supplies for shabbat school, etc.  A HUGE purchase that needed to be made was that of extra seating.  Of course, I hunted down a bargain from my favorite store - Sam's Club - and got 40 chairs!  I did not know that they would be sent without the backs attached or that we'd have to unload them off the truck that had a bed that was about 4 feet off the ground.  This was my driveway on Wednesday mid morning.

 

They got stacked by the kids and me onto some dollies that we had purchased. Thank the Lord for those! Then they were wheeled into our already full garage.  God knew they would just fit - like puzzle pieces.

On Friday night, Jude and Noah took a few trips to the synagogue to drop them off and we sent out the word that we were going to have an informal get together and chair assembly party.  We arrived early to make sure we had the sound system worked out.  While Jude and Noah were busy with that, the kids and I got busy assembling our "rolling shabbat school" and talit rack.

Youthful enthusiasm played a big part in ridding the chairs of all that plastic so they would be ready once reinforcements arrived.  Of course, for a 4 year old, a sea of chairs is the perfect playground! (You can see one of our video monitors in the background of that picture. We have one right and one left.)

At lunch we were joined by two absolutely wonderful families that came to fellowship and lighten the load.  We were too busy eating to take a picture of that part of the day! :)  The Piersons and Barbers have been sent by God to bless us and the congregation with their willingness to serve, encourage, and come alongside us to bring Messianic Judaism to the Savannah, GA area.  We can't begin to express how much our hearts are gladdened when we think of them.  It was so wonderful to work together! I'll stop gushing now and get back to the pictures.

Don't those chairs look so much better with backs on them?  These were some of our official testers.

They've been kid-tested, rabbi-approved!

Next step was figuring out layout and spacing - leaving plenty of space for dancing in the back.  Measuring tapes were diligently used and pictures and diagrams taken and drawn.  Every week we will have to set up and tear down, so this was a crucial step. When we were done, we had a sanctuary!

If you'd like to stay informed about all that God's doing through Keren Ohr Messianic Synagogue in the Savannah, GA area, make sure you "like" our facebook page and also sign up for our email contact list on our website: www.ShalomSavannah.com  

There are so many ways you can support this new work: 

• Tell people about us.  You never know how that conversation will make it back to someone who lives here and is looking for a messianic synagogue
• Share and like our posts on facebook.  Every time you do that there are more people that see our posts and we get more exposure.
• Help support us financially.  You can make a tax deductible donation online or mail it to us.
• PRAY!  We feel every prayer that is sent heavenward on our behalf and we need every one!

If you live in the greater Savannah area, mark your calendars for June 7th at 10:00. 

We're saving a seat for you!

To God Be the Glory!

When we just step out of the way and let God work, things are so much better!

We started this process of planting a congregation knowing that our best outcome would happen when we let God have complete control.  We are walking by faith and not sight, only seeing just a little bit ahead of us at each turn.  For me, a planner, this can be a little unsettling at times, but God strengthens our faith with evidence of His plan. "See?" He says. "I'm taking care of all the details."

And He certainly is!

Yesterday, Jude and I met with the ministry team from Gateway Community Church.  They have graciously offered us their youth space to use for services.  Not only have they offered us this space, but they are letting us use equipment, computers; offering their time for ministry support, media work, marketing help, etc.

They prayed over us and will continue to keep us in prayer as they work alongside us.

The senior pastor, Matt Hearn, was sharing with us that the woman who heads up the children's ministry had come to him a few weeks before he had heard about us.  She said that she really felt they needed to be sowing into God's kingdom in the area of Jewish outreach.  That confirmed what Matt had also been feeling.  Just days after that, Matt was contacted by a member of his church, Brian, a man that works for Jude.  Jude had been sharing with Brian our struggle in finding a place to hold services.  We were at a dead end.  Brian felt led to call up Matt and share our situation with him.  Matt wanted to meet with Jude right away.  Out of that meeting, and prayerful consideration on the part of Gateway's ministry team and Jude and I, 

this God ordained partnership was born.

Begin your praying in earnest! 

Keren Ohr Messianic Synagogue will hold our

 first shabbat service on June 7, 2014.

We have a lot to do between now and then! We need to purchase signs, supplies, business cards, mailers.  We need to complete our website and marketing material design. We need to have a few "dress rehearsals."

Please pray over all these areas for us.  Also, pray that the word would get out in a miraculous way that we are opening our doors.  We have some plans for marketing, but there are many unaffiliated Jewish people in the nooks and crannies of this vast metro area that we are targeting: the areas in southern South Carolina, such as Hilton Head; as far to the west as Statesboro, GA; and as far south as Brunswick, GA.

Besides prayer, the best thing you can do for us is "Share" and "Like" our posts on Facebook.  Every time you do that, our post shows up on your news feed and is visible to your Facebook friends.  They in turn will see it and may like it which would show it to all of their friends. Also, invite your friends to "Like" 

Keren Ohr Messianic Synagogue's Facebook page.**  The more exposure we have, the better.  

Tell anyone and everyone who might be interested, about Keren Ohr.  

You never know how God will use that to get the word to someone locally.  God has already divinely connected Jude to an unbelieving Jewish person who heard about us from someone else.

We fully relate to the words of Paul, for we covet every prayer that you send forth on our behalf: 

"You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many." 2 Cor.1:11

**If you have any tech questions on how to "Like" or "Share" posts on Facebook or how to "Invite" your friends to "Like" Keren Ohr's Facebook page, please don't hesitate to ask and we will walk you through the process.

Passover Kippah Tutorial

Passover is right around the corner.  Have you stocked up on boxes of matzah yet?  I made a matzah trip the other day and came home with jumbo boxes to last our large family through passover (hopefully). In the spirit of all things matzah, I made two matzah kippahs that look good enough to shmear with your favorite matzah topping.  I used to think that making a kippah must be really hard, but it's surprisingly easy and can be done in just a few hours.  Today I'm going to show you how simple it is.  

The Uncommon Yarmulke is a fantastic book written by Cathy Perlmutter that walks you step by step through the process of making your own yarmulke or kippah, as it's called in Hebrew.  First, hop on over to Cathy's website here and purchase a copy of her book for specific templates and measurements.  If you're an instant gratification person, like me, you can get a pdf copy of her book and print out those templates right now! (This post is in no way endorsed or sponsored by Ms. Perlmutter.  I just love her book!  If you don't want to buy a copy, you can make your own templates using an existing kippah that you own, but out of respect for Ms. Perlmutter's copyright, I will not be including specific templates or measurements.)

 

I got my matzah fabric from 1-800-Dreidel.com.  They have a fabulous selection of Jewish-themed fabrics and craft supplies.  You can find the matzah fabric here, but I just purchased a small remnant piece from their website.  This project is great for using up those small bits of fabric.  

For this project you'll need:

• a medium or quilter's weight cotton fabric for the outer fabric and lining
• fusible interfacing of your choice
• template plastic, cardboard, or card stock
• some type of marking tool
• pins (They'll get a lot of use)
• clover clips (optional)

The matzah fabric was a lightweight canvas type fabric, so I chose not to interface it, 

but if you're using a cotton, I suggest adding interfacing for extra body.

 

After making your template from The Uncommon Yarmulke - I'll be making the four-panel kippah - you'll need to trace it onto your fabrics.  You'll need four from your matzah fabric, four from your lining fabric, and either eight or four from the fusible interfacing - depending on the thickness of your fabrics. Make sure you mark the top of your template where the four panels will come together in the center.  Transfer this mark onto each of the outer, interfacing, and lining pieces.  Trust me, I speak from experience.

 

Follow the directions for your particular interfacing to fuse it to the lining and outer fabrics.

 

For my kippah, I chose to do a prepared bias binding.  The Uncommon Yarmulke also has directions on how to use packaged binding, which is a really easy and quick option.  Nine pieces of fabric - Easy!

 

Now we sew - my favorite part!  I despise the prep work.  See that lovely little dot at the top of my fabric?  That's the mark I told you to make.  You'll match up the two tops and pin along one side. 

        

This is where you'll be sewing using a 1/4" seam.  Match and pin the two pairs of lining fabrics and the two pairs of outer fabrics.  If you're really adventurous, you can skip the pinning.

 

 Head on over to the ironing board.  Before you use that bad boy, make sure you finger press the seams open.  Because we've got a curved seam, ironing can be kind of tricky, so take your time.  It's important that your seam is open fully and pressed all the way so it lays nicely later on.  Pressing on the right side is also essential.  This is the part where I always say I should get a ham - no, not the oinking kind - the kind that's used to iron curved parts on garments.  But using the end of your ironing board or just squiggling the tip of your iron in there works too.

 

Look!  Now we're got four sort of butterfly looking things.  Time to make it just two!

 There are those marks again!  They're so crucial to this process.  We're going to match up the two outer pieces and the two lining pieces.  You want to make sure you match up the marks on both pieces that you're sewing or you'll be stitching the bottom together - not so good.

 

Now is not the time to be adventurous.  You want to have those seams match up perfectly - or as close to it as you can.  I like to pin just on either side of the seam.  Then you want to match up the ends and pin along the curve. Use as few or many pins as you need to feel comfortable.  Going slowly as you sew also helps.

 

Time to iron again.  Now you should have your lining and outer sections all sewn together.  Finger press that long seam open and hit it with the iron again.  It's a little bit more difficult now that you're essentially trying to iron inside a little bowl, but I just do one side, the other, and then get the tip of the iron into the center.  Also make sure you press the right side as well.

 Now it's time to sew the lining to the outer section.  This step is something I came up with.  The book just says to pin it, but I found that pinning the two sections together and sewing a smidge less than 1/4" seam helped the raw edges to stay together better while I was getting the binding pinned and sewn on.  Once again, we're matching up seams.  Make sure the four lining seams match up with the four outer seams.

 Because the two sections are the same size, it will seem at first that the edges to not want to fit - or that you made something too large.  It's okay.  You just need to convince it to come together.  See my nice little cactus-y, porcupiney thing up there? Here's where you need to pin the heck out of this.  Start with those four seams, then match up the raw edges in between each seam.  Next you'll match up halfway between each of those pins.  Then you should have your own little kippah porcupine.

 Sew, sew, sew! Just give the edge a little smoosh and sew less than 1/4" all the way around the edge.  This stitching line will be covered by your binding later (if you make sure it's just a smidge away from the raw edge) so it doesn't need to be perfect.  We're just keeping everything together for the next step.

 More pins!  Depending on what type of binding you choose from the book and how you choose to finish it off, this is where you'll be pinning it along the edge.  What I've done here is a prepared bias binding made to match my lining with a mitered edge.  You'll pin it all around the outer edge and stitch it a scant 1/4" all the way around.  Take out all those pins and give them a rest.  Time to use your finagling skills.

Wrap the binding around the raw edge, nice and tight and even, to the lining.  The folded edge of the binding should easily go past the stitching line.  On this step I like to use the clover clips.  I used to use pins, but getting them through all those layers of fabric so they could secure the binding to the back was somewhat difficult.  It's completely do-able, but the clover clips save a lot of time and hassle.

 Once again we're going to stitch around the edge of the outer portion of the kippah.  Stitch "in the ditch" or as close to the binding as you can.  The closer you can get, the more sure you are that you'll catch the binding on the back to secure it and that your stitches on the outside will be less visible.

Guess what?  You're finished!  You now have a matzah kippah that will be the envy of everyone at your seder.  Wasn't it easier than you thought?  I hope that this post inspires you to get your own copy of 

The Uncommon Yarmulke and start making these fanciful headcoverings for all the kippah wearers in your life.  If you have any questions or need any help, just leave me a comment.  

When I Let Go of My Vision I Can Embrace His Plan

The title of this blog is so apropos!  Every time I turn around I find myself saying, "God is just Overwhelmingly Amazing!"  It is very easy to get so caught up in ourselves and our "things" that we fail to see the way God is working in our lives, but going through Ann Voskamp's book last year helped me to focus on slowing down how I view life to be able to see the magnificence of God at work.

It was all in preparation for this journey that we are taking.  I am a woman of action.  Tell me what direction we're headed in and I'll chart the course, make a list of supplies, and lead the charge.  My life has been a process of learning to wait for God and not rush ahead of him.  Learning to be still, keep silent, even to refrain from planning has been the road he has led me on.  I have had to be taught how to do all these things with his peace in my heart and not a spirit of restlessness to give God the space to reveal what his plans are before I rush off in my own direction.  Amen that he brought me through that before this time in our lives.  This has been one big faith walk!

We came to Savannah, GA knowing only that God was opening doors for us to start the first messianic synagogue in this place that has the third oldest Jewish community in the nation!  Who knew that Jews have been in Georgia since 1733?!  I didn't!!  Jude did. He does all the fact finding for us. :)

(Beautiful, isnt it?)

How do you get the word out that we're here to set up shop and start services? No clue!!! 

Print ads? No one really reads the newspaper any more. 

Radio ads? We plan on that, but it may only reach a small part of our intended audience. 

Social media? Doing that - but it still only gets to a small target group. 

(But every time you share or invite your friends to like our page, you never know how someone else may come in contact with it or see it - so don't stop helping us with that!)

We felt peace about taking an "If you built it they will come" approach. We know we can handle doing the services. We have years of experience in praise and worship, Jude has experience doing sermons. We have kids that have been taught (by our awesome previous synagogue family) to run audio/visual, dance, hospitality, as well as our own experience in these areas. We have faith that God will bring in the people in his time. Until then, with a family of 8, we're halfway to a good number of "regulars"!

But where to have services? Jude cold-called local pastors and rarely got past the secretary with no call backs. People suggested renting out local rec center rooms or school cafeterias. All those options were dead ends. For various reasons, it just wasn't working. My heart's cry was, "God, why did you give us this desire to start now (versus our plan to wait until we were more established in our new community) only to have us reach dead ends?" We can't hold a service with no location - and God knows that our rental house feels cramped with just us, and the dog wouldn't really appreciate "strangers" in her space. 

Oy! I can only imagine the noise!

But I continued to hold onto and remind myself of the lessons that God has taught me. 

God has everything under control and at the right time he will reveal it. Too much information and I'm sure I would be overwhelmed. He knows me and knows just what I can handle. And so we waited, and waited, and waited.....well, not really for that long, but it felt like it!

In no coincidence, but miraculous appointment (which I'll reveal at a later date), God has brought Jude into contact with a local pastor that wants to bless our ministry. God has given him a heart for supporting messianic Judaism. Now here's where my second lesson comes into play - Thanks, Ann Voskamp! 

If I had not learned to let go of my idea of what is "good," then I would be sorely disappointed now. None of what I "wanted" or "expected" is happening. I had planned for a transition time to get settled and then start an ad campaign; getting to know local leaders of the body to network and for support; somehow a shebang immediate move to our own place (perhaps a small storefront - hadn't figured out the logistics of that yet.)

I had never even considered Savannah, GA. What's in Savannah, God?

I never wanted to start a congregation from scratch! That's too much work, God!

I didn't want to start anything right away. God, you know that I'm really busy homeschooling ALL the kids right now and then we have to move out of our temporary housing in a few months. I'm sure you'd planned for us to do this when things slow down - not until at least the fall, right, God?

I didn't want to have services in a "temporary" place. It won't be like our own home, God. And we'd have to lug things back and forth every week, God. It's like staying at someone else's house.

This post is all to give testimony and praise to the Lord for 

bringing us to Savannah, GA to

start a congregation from the ground up,

in the midst of our chaotic lives while we

hold services in someone else's space.

And it's not just someone else's space - it's not their sanctuary - it's their YOUTH SPACE! In my fleshly mind it's like getting the walk in closet instead of the spacious living room. But my spirit is so thrilled because 

WE WILL HAVE A SPACE! I can rejoice in this because I have let go of what this process looked like to me and opened my hand to receive God's blessing that he intended for me. It is his perfect provision and it will be perfect because it is in his plan for this ministry. There is no Jude or Jen in this - only God!

Now, this is all subject to the prayerful consideration and approval of the head ministry team of this church, so we can't reveal any more details, and we don't have a solid start date. But all signs point to this and a potential start date in June. To be fair to this wonderful church, they themselves rent out a local YMCA to hold 4 services a week and are in the process of building their own building, so they only space of "theirs" that they can provide for us on a Saturday is their youth space. The pastor has said that once their sanctuary is built, we could use that on Shabbat. God is so Overwhelmingly Amazing!

Please continue to support us in prayer and spread the word! We know that God has great things in store - greater things than we can even begin to fathom. He is putting a fire in our hearts for the people here to spread the love of the Lord like a "ray of light" from Savannah, GA to the world!

Change is Coming

God is amazing! There is no other way to start out this post. After 6-7 years of Jude feeling called to be a senior rabbi, with no indication or open door from God to do that, He has finally told us that it's time. The years leading up to this have been incredibly trying and frustrating from a spiritual standpoint - not understanding why God would put something on our hearts and not give us the vehicle to walk it out. It's also been a time of growth and learning patience and to not jump ahead of God, but to know that He who began a good work in us will carry it out to completion.

God has opened the door for our family to move to Savannah, Ga - somewhere we'd never thought He'd take us. Once our family is settled and God gives us the go ahead we will be starting a messianic congregation there. It's a completely daunting prospect! Starting up a new work is so much work! But we are trusting this completely to Him. We know that any ideas or plans that we have will be worthless, but He has far greater plans for this city than we can even begin to imagine. We are excited to see Him move in the lives of his people there!

But if God is going to be able to work through Jude and me, then there must be nothing of Jude and me in it. We are merely vessels. Any bit of "us" will just be less of Him. So my desire in this process was to throw out my playbook, step back, and let God be the one completely in control. Now, we all say that God is in control of our lives, but if we are really honest with ourselves, we will see that we only let God be in control of the things we want Him to be in control of. When we come up against difficult situations we willingly hand those over to God, fervently praying and seeking His will. But the minute things are comfortable again it's, "Thanks, God. I got this now." We take back control until the next sticky situation. So who's really running the show? Ultimately, we will never achieve or see great works of God because we don't take the leap and let go. We limit the power of God in our lives because the faith necessary to realize that power

comes at a cost to our comfort.

But I don't want to short change God. I don't want to short change the people in the Savannah area that He is sending us to minister to. I want them to see Him, to feel His love, to be overwhelmed by Him through me. So "He must increase, but I must decrease." John 3:30. I took the leap.

Let me tell you.....at first it was beautiful and overwhelmingly tremendous! God has provided a job (necessary to sustain a family of 8 while we grow a congregation into a full-time supporting work). It is a fantastic job!!!! Jude took a shot in the dark and asked for the top end of the salary range, fully expecting them to counter, and they did. They came back and told him that he didn't ask for enough. They wanted to pay him more! WHAT?!!! As my oldest daughter said, "Who does that?!" God. The company is paying to move us, paying realtor fees to sell our house, and the list goes on and on.

 

We had a buyer for our house before we even listed it for sale. Everything seemed to be falling into place. I felt like the children of Israel as they left Egypt and the Egyptians gave them their gold and silver. "God, dayenu! (It would have been enough) if you had just provided this job. But everything else is just so much!" He's givien us so much more than we ever hoped or asked for!

We knew that God, who had just sold our house so quickly, must have the perfect place for us to rent in Savannah. That was the next step in this process of seeing His hand move in mighty ways. Jude and I took a weekend trip to look at possible places. Well, there was barely anything to see in the way of housing choices - especially for a family of 8. The few, decent possibilities that had potential were rented our sold - just a day after we had scheduled with a realtor to see them.

I had taken that leap out of my comfort zone to follow God to Savannah, GA. That weekend, the reality of leaping set in as the ground rushed up to meet me. I was falling at mach speed, as the enemy began to set obstacle after obstacle in our path. Just days after we were singing hallelujahs about God's abundant blessings, I was in tears. I was at such a low point, not understanding why things weren't falling into place.

"What is going on, God?! You opened the door and we followed you out willingly. We didn't grumble and complain about leaving. You brought us out and how could you not provide us with a place to live?!" Sitting in the hotel room that night, not knowing what we were going to do...where we were going to live....when we were going to move....I had to choose to accept everything, even if it didn't look "good" or I was no better than the children of Israel who spent 40 years in the wilderness grumbling against God and talking about how things were better back in Egypt.  Because they could only look back, 

they missed the blessings that God had for them.

Ann Voskamp, in her book One Thousand Gifts, tells us that we must hold our hands open to God, being willing to accept everything - good and bad. It was easy to accept all those amazing, unimagined blessings of abundance. But this? The lack? The open-endedness? If I truly want to leap and let him control everything, then I must not wrench my hand back when He gives me something I don't want, grasping for control again to right my world as it begins to spin out of my control. Faith....the leap....it is amazing.....and terrifying. But on the other side, if I can just hang on to Him, are things that I cannot even comprehend.

Tonight, just a week and a half before Jude begins his new job - we still have no idea where we will move to or when. We have prospects and possibilities, but nothing solid. We have maybe's and could be's, but no sure things. That amazingly quick house sale that was such a miracle became a migraine-inducing mess that looked like it would fall apart at any minute. (Thankfully, it looks like it will go through.) The ground under our feet has been constantly shifting. Minute by minute the situation changes. If I stop to think; if I look down at the ground instead of keeping my eyes on God, I will quickly sink into fear and doubt.

I remember a hymn I used to sing in church with my nana and grandpa when I was a kid - "On Christ the solid rock I stand....All other ground is sinking sand.....All other ground is sinking sand." He is my sure foundation - there is no other. That is what gives me peace when I "should" be freaking out right now.

I took a leap. I gave up control. I can't wait to see where He takes me.