This article was produced as part of JTA’s Teen Journalism Fellowship, a program that works with Jewish teens around the world to report on issues that affect their lives.

I am Jewish, but Christianity has filled my life. The earliest memory I have going to school in Arkansas involves reciting a prayer about Jesus before and after every meal. We would walk in the lunchroom in our school-issued uniforms, sit down with our food, and be told to rise again to bless our food.

Because my dad’s job includes moving to various small towns across the south to grow their economic development, moving has been a constant in my family. Currently I’m a senior in high school and I have attended four different high schools in Texas. Although moving has so many benefits, like going out of your comfort zone and meeting all kinds of people from different backgrounds, each move also has its own struggles. The challenge I found most constant was the lack of a Jewish community.

I was 3 years old the day we moved to Arkansas from Louisiana. My mom’s cousin’s wife, who grew up near where we had just moved, told us to never tell anyone we were Jewish. She claimed there was an active Ku Klux Klan organization just outside of our town and warned us of the dangers.

For the three years we lived there, we hid our identity as much as we could. My siblings and I went to a private Christian school and our family celebrated Christian holidays, hoping to fit in. Each year, my siblings and I would go to sleep early on Christmas Eve excited for Santa to come. We never........

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