My name is Kathleen, I live in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and I will be doing this "Campfire" together with the help of my sister, Elise Hyatt, and also my mother, Sandie Smith - they live in Vero Beach, FL. We are connected in very strong ways, not only as Daughters, Mothers, and Children, but as Spiritual Sisters - as it is written, a cord of three strands is not easily broken. We wish to inspire many others with our story and praise God in faith throughout our generations. This is one way we can bring the kingdom of Heaven to earth and speak to others about Yeshua the Messiah, equipping other women like us to share their testimonies and light fires of Spirit and truth.
Our Testimony is intertwined and woven like a tapestry that only Adonai's wisdom could have made. We all came to the knowledge of Yeshua in very unique and different ways around 7 years ago. (We were Christians in our early life, and as children we went to church more regularly than most (although secular education systems and unbelief crept in after high school).
In 2014, I was at a very desperate point in my life. I could barely take care of myself as an adult, the overwhelming weight of never having enough faith and grace for myself (I was confused by seeming contradictions in the Bible and worldly/secular viewpoints) coupled with toxic shame, fear, and regret pulled me to the pit of despair on a daily basis. Then one day, I cried out to God with all I had and dropped to my knees... I spoke three words that day - in a language I did not know - one word I heard very clearly was Yeshua/Yeshuati! That moment started my journey of Teshuvah, and deep revelation. Little did I know, simultaneously the Ruach was also moving with the fire of revival in the hearts of my sister and mother. My mother was discovering the Romanian Jewish roots that had been hidden on her grandmother’s side of the family, with pictures, recollections, and stories.
While the Lord put a few Messianic Jewish believers in my sister’s path, her roommate told us about a Messianic Synagogue, and invited us to a formal Passover dinner event. We went, immediately got to know the community of believers there, and dove in. We became members of Followers of the Way Messianic Synagogue - We started learning Hebrew thanks to Izzy via Holy Language Institute, and started performing Aliyah readings in our synagogue for Shabbat services, and a year after that we changed our name to Tikvat Mashiach.
I was given access to blog on our website. I was also granted a Full year Tuition to Messianic Yeshiva at YeshivatShuvu, a wonderful experience, and I learned a lot from our Shiurs and discussions. My mother and sister work in Children's ministry, and lead Studies and Lifegroups together. All three of us cook/serve for the Festivals and for our regular weekly Oneg, and with other women at our Homes.
Our Synagogue somewhat collapsed because of COVID-19 along with the added stress that our Rabbi Dan contracted Lyme disease and could not risk sickness. As a result, some congregants have moved away and are attending different congregations now, and things have been shifting in many directions. Thus, here we are. . .
We would like to ask for prayer for R' Dan, in complete healing with his family, and also Paul and Christi, and their daughters who are going through a hard time. We pray for Yeshua to have his way in this group, as we dedicate this group to the Lord Our Messiah as he sees fit. We plan to have an All Women’s Yeshua group nicknamed- "b'not Emunah" or "Daughters of Faith" in honor of the woman who touched Yeshua's garment in complete faith and received her healing. We would like to encourage and discuss the many faceted themes in the TNK and Brit Hadashah which all are grounded in faith. We are going to keep it simple, also adding in Parenting and Children's themes, and geared for women who are Single, Married, Widowed, etc. There is so much going through the changing seasons of a Woman’s Life and we want to talk and discuss them through the lens of Messiah. This is our Tzedekah, our charity - May Abba bless it and establish the work of our hands. We look to start a FB group if you give us the green light to register and we will expand from there by adding more women from our previous congregation - branch out from there and see the Lord’s leading. We Hope and Pray in Faith Knowing no matter the outcome the Lord, Yeshua will have his way. AMEN That is our story, and you can contact us at [email protected]. Shalom Aleichem!
Interested in starting a group? https://yeshuagroups.com/start