At eight years old, my family and I relocated from Detroit, Michigan, to sunny Jacksonville, Florida. Sounds like a dream come true, right? Well, not really. While moving away from the ice and snow would be most people’s best-case scenario, for me, it meant leaving grandparents, uncles, aunts, and all of our family.

No, for us, it was not a dream come true but a harsh reality made necessary due to the havoc the cold climate was having on our mother’s health.

Up north, my Father was a Christian Pastor who led street churches in the suburbs of Chicago and Detroit, so when we moved to Florida we figured the most obvious place for our family to find belonging was in a faith-based community.

Our need was legitimate, but was there a faith-based community ready to stand in the gap, to be that extended family we desperately needed?

Some of my fondest memories are those of my sisters and me in Sunday school and later that of Shabbat school. Those memories of memorizing Scripture, going to summer camp, meeting friends and coming into a genuine relationship with Yeshua influenced my life in an unmeasurable way.

Read the full article here: June ’22 Issue 10