We arrived to the Houston hotel early Monday evening so Jason could set up the overhead video equipment. His church meets on Saturday in a local Baptist church for now; they are in the planning stages of building their own place of worship. For big celebrations like Passover, they meet in hotel meeting rooms for now.
While Jason worked on his set-up and Carrie assisted her mother in last-minute tasks, I had the children with me. Until the young girls from Carrie's class stole Jayna -- they were teaching her to dance traditional Jewish steps with them. Josiah was soon taken by his other grandma, leaving me to sketch some of the items on our table set up for Seder (I added watercolor later at home).
Sketching the Hebrew characters was harder than I thought; if I was around longer, I might be tempted to take the Hebrew class at the church. Meanwhile, below is a photo of Jayna dancing with the girls.
I have been tempted to visit that church. Our congregation is led by a Baptist minister who has a big heart for the Jews and Israel. He regularly delves into the Talmud to bring historical insight to a scripture, and teaches Bible from a very Jewish perspective. It adds such a level of richness. We've even begun studying Hebrew to enrich our understanding.
ReplyDeleteI have not been back to Beth Yeshua for a couple of years but encourage you to visit them if you get a chance! Had we found a home closer to Houston when we moved to Texas, I would have wanted to make them my church home. Rabbi Jim is so caring -- he and Kathy traveled to Missouri for our daughter-in-law's younger brother's funeral and I was able to spend time getting to know them.
ReplyDeleteI love the international mixture of people in the congregation --- from such different backgrounds, yet they really love and accept each other. The teaching is solidly Biblical and is a wonderful blend of old tradition and showing how it points to the Messiah Jesus. They have built a building of their own; perhaps they will soon be able to meet there instead of using the Baptist church on Saturdays.
Your church sounds amazing too!