Beth Photos 2001

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.

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.

Mottel & Jeff prepare to lead worship at an outdoor service

Here's the group from our fellowship in New Jersey, 2001. There are a half dozen Messianic Jewish gatherings each summer of all stripes and beliefs. We feel strongly that correct Bible teaching matters, and so for years we had a strong group of our folks at this Bible camp where Mottel & several others teach. Our Congregation benefited.

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.

Dining Room at Summer Bible Camp. A little rustic, but the food is great !!

Jeff and Mottel, just after Jeff followed Messiah's teaching to make a
"public profession of faith". Each year several do this at Camp.

Three Jewish believers from our Congregation in New Jersey. As budding leaders attended the summer Bible school, we prospered.

Mottel, Jeff & Gary, Jewish believers in Jesus. All 3 of us teach in our local
congregations, and 2 of us were teaching at the Bible Camp. Jewish Baby Boomers !!

. . . and hooray for Jewish teen men who believe in Messiah Jesus.
This photo is from 2002, all four are following the Lord today in 2015!!

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

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.

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