Ministry & Activity Photos - 2001
thru 2005 - Mottel & Deborah Baleston
Messengers Messianic Jewish Fellowship - New Jersey
Rosh Hashanah Service at Beth Messiah, September 2001,
Mottel on Guitar.
This is the congregation Mottel led from 1997 thru 2001, at which point it had
grown large enough
to call a full time Messianic Pastor who arrived in June 2001.
Rosh HaShanah, September 2001, Bringing in the Jewish year 5762 with the sounding of the Shofar (Ram's Horn) |
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Lighting the Hanukah Candles and Singing Hanukah songs, 2001
Beth Messiah
Children of Jewish Believers in Messiah light the Menorah |
"This is the way you light them" The girl at center is the daughter of a Jewish believer whom Mottel taught Bible in the mid 1980's |
SUMMER BIBLE DISCIPLESHIP SCHOOL AT CAMP SHOSHANAH - 2001 - 2005
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Each Summer Mottel teaches for 3 weeks at Messianic Summer Discipleship Program at Camp Shoshanah, arranged by Ariel Ministries. Over twenty years ago this program was vital to my early spiritual growth and so it is a privilege to teach there and to have new believers we work with attending. The program was originally limited to Jewish believers but is now open to all. Many of the Jewish believers there have come to faith in recent years. The program entails 5 hours of classes per day at the Bible College level, so the students tend to be serious. An encouraging trend the past few years is the increased presence of a younger group of new believers in their 20’s. The program averages about 80 adult students over several weeks, and over the years many who were initially discipled here went on to full time Jewish outreach ministry, including myself. Mottel teaches 15 hours of classes each summer, and shared the leadership & counseling tasks. The other instructors include Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum, an internationally known Bible Teacher and Author, as well as other doctrinally conservative men. |
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The kids present a Bible song. Two of them are children of
our fellowship Jewish believers, and Maureen, their teacher here, is one of our
core members.
The main Bible teaching hall at Camp Shoshanah
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Three Jewish believers from our Congregation in New
Jersey. As budding leaders attended the summer Bible school, we prospered.
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HANUKKAH CELEBRATION 2002
Hanukkah, a Hebrew word meaning
"Dedication", is a Jewish holiday often known as the Festival of
Lights. It is celebrated for eight days during Kislev, a Hebrew
month that runs from approx. mid-November thru mid-December. The
holiday commemorates the rededication of the Jewish Temple in
Jerusalem for the service of God and the victory over the Hellenist
Syrians in 164 BCE.
The Maccabees, sons of the Jewish Priest Mattathias, led the Jewish people in their revolt against the Syrians. They entered the Temple which had been defiled by the Syrian invaders, cleansed it and dedicated it anew to the service of God. To mark their victory, the Maccabees celebrated the first Hanukkah. Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) observed Hanukkah throughout his life and is seen in the New Testament traveling to be in Jerusalem during this Holiday (John 10:22). As believers in Messiah Yeshua, we find an important lesson in Hanukkah, that even when when times are difficult for our Jewish people, God always keeps His Covenant promises to us (Gen 12:1-3) by sending to us a Prophet, Leader or Hero to guide us back to Gods' truth and help us triumph over our enemies. The greatest example of this is the arrival of Messiah Yeshua, who provided a permanent atonement and a way back to the God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob. |
Mottel leading the Hanukkah Celebration 2002. Almost all
the children here have one or both parents who are Jewish believers in Messiah
Jesus.
Eight-branched Hanukkah Menorahs are lit as a praise to
God is sung:
BARUCH ATAH ADONAI, ELOHENU MELECH HA-OLAM, SH' ASSA NISEEM LA-VOH-TEY-NU, BAH
YAH MEEM, HA HEHM, BAH AH MAHN HA ZEH.
Blessed be Thou, O Lord Our God, King of the Universe, Who performed miracles
for our ancestors in days of old at this season, Amen
NEW ZEALAND BIBLE TEACHING CONFERENCE 2003
In April 2003 Mottel retuned to New Zealand to co-teach with Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum of Ariel Ministries at a week long Bible Study Camp for Jewish and Gentile believers held in Rotorua. There are Jewish communities in each of the major cities. This trip was sponsored by believers in Auckland. One of their concerns is a recent trend in the 'Messianic Movement' of Jewish people who have come to faith in Messiah Jesus. There is a confusion over Law vs. Grace among some, with the sad result that many are involved in the 'legalism' of mandatory Mosaic Law observance. So, Arnold and I, 2 Jewish believers, were able to clearly teach that one can be both a Jewish believer in Messiah, having a healthy sense of our identity as Jewish believers, and fully embrace the Freedom & Grace that is found in the finished work of Messiah. We had over 85 adult students. Mottel taught 10 one hour classes over a five day period. The study camp was a great blessing to all. |
Mottel teaching at Bible Conference in New
Zealand, 2003
After class, Mottel answering question on the Covenants of
the Bible, one of the subjects he taught. Several Jewish believers were there,
including one from Israel
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