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!