Pics 2006

Ministry Activities 2006 thru 2008
Mottel & Deborah Baleston - Messengers Messianic Jewish Outreach

In addition to "MESSENGERS" ministry responsibilities, for many years Mottel Baleston also served as Associate Messianic Rabbi/Pastor at "Beth Messiah", a Messianic Congregation in Livingston, New Jersey. During those years over half the members were Jewish believers in Yeshua. The Congregation is sound in doctrine and is effective at communicating the Good News of Messiah Yeshua to the Jewish community.

Note: Due to privacy & security issues, this public web page does not show all the aspects of our activities.

At our Shabbat Service, Kids sing Passover Songs	At the Passover Seder we make a strong presentation that Messiah Yeshua is the greater Passover Lamb
Mottel uses the Passover Haggadah (Liturgy) to tell the story	Teens from our Congregational families
The Passover Seder is a ritual which our Jewish people have continually observed for over 3,000 years. Passover is first found in the book of Exodus and celebrates our release from physical bondage in Egypt. As Jews, Jesus and His disciples celebrated the Passover, with the "Last Supper " being the best known example. Increasingly, Christians are enjoying the celebration of Passover as they discover the Jewish roots of their faith. Our presentation demonstrates that the Passover service contains rituals which clearly point to Jesus as Messiah.	Children find the 'Afikomen' (hidden matzah)

Beth Messiah Congregation at the
Memorial Day Parade 2006, Livingston, NJ

Mottel and Hal practice holding the banner level before the parade start. Looks like they're ready.

Just west of New York City. In the center of dense suburbs is Livingston, a neighborhood with 6 Synagogues and a population that’s 50% Jewish & 40% Catholic. It’s the perfect place for our Congregation! Livingston’s Memorial Day Parade draws many from surrounding areas, but we don’t remember a Congregation, Church or Synagogue ever marching as a group, so why not us as the first?! When 26 from our group, Beth Messiah (House of Messiah) lined up at the start area, behind a large new banner with our name and purpose, and stepped off, reactions along the 2 mile route were a study in contrasts. Some cheered us on while other individuals looked bewildered. We had set up an Info Table near the Reviewing Stand, and others from our Congregation staffed the table and handed out literature and took the names of those who accepted booklets and stopped to talk. Much of the work putting this together was done by Allen R, a Jewish believer who came to saving faith back at our 1987 Passover Outreach.

-

View from inside our group. The back of our shirts say:
"We have found Him, of whom Moses in the Law, and the Prophets wrote, Yeshua of Nazareth"

The Parade judges awarded us: "BEST (only) JEWISH CONGREGATION IN THE PARADE" Hooray!!!

A Discipleship Bible Class at Camp Shoshanah. Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum is teaching this session. Other courses were taught by Mottel Baleston & Steve Ger

Children sing the scriptures. Half the kids here are the children of
Jewish believers in Messiah Jesus.

One of Mottel's joys was leading worship one session per day

Teaching the Scriptures

Each Friday evening a Shabbat Meal was held. Here Mottel chants the
traditional Hebrew 'Motzi', the blessing over the Challah Bread.

At the beginning of the Service, Mottel leads prayer asking for God's guidance

Mottel calls out the notes as we blow the Shofar to bring in the Jewish Year 5767

At our Rosh HaShannah Kiddush, the 'healthy food' minded visited the fresh fruit table, while . . .

the rest of us grabbed a Poppy Seed Bagel, Lox and Cream Cheese. Yum, Yum !!

The Passover Seder is a ritual which our Jewish people have continually observed for over 3,000 years. Passover is first found in the book of Exodus and celebrates our release from physical bondage in Egypt. As Jews, Jesus and His disciples celebrated the Passover, with the "Last Supper " being the best known example. Increasingly, Christians are enjoying the celebration of Passover as they discover the Jewish roots of their faith. Our presentation demonstrates that the Passover service contains rituals which clearly point to Jesus as Messiah.
At the Passover Seder we co-sponsored with Beth Messiah, we made a strong presentation that Messiah Yeshua is the greater Passover Lamb

The two brothers at right are
chanting the "Four Questions"
at our Passover Seder in April. They're
using the Hebrew text of the Hagadah,
the ancient liturgy of the Passover Seder.
They are students in the Hebrew Class
that Mottel & Deborah Baleston teach.
Their father is a Jewish believer
who came to faith at our Congregation.

Each Summer Mottel teaches for several weeks at Camp Shoshanah, the discipleship program for new Jewish & Gentile believers 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 believers we work with attending. 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 Camp averages about 80 adult students, and over the years many who were initially discipled here went on to full time Jewish outreach ministry, including myself. This year Mottel taught three different Bible courses to the adults, and another class with the teens, a total of 30 one hour class sessions.

At left the instructor is Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum, a Jewish believer and founder of Ariel Ministries and a world-class Bible teacher.

At a Camp Shoshanah class, Mottel demonstrates Tefellin, the 'Phylacteries' commanded in
Mosaic Law and mentioned in the Gospels

One of the teachers is a trained "Walk thru the Bible" Instructor, and here he takes the teens thru Bible history

Each Friday evening brings the special Shabbat meal, Mottel seen here saying the Hebrew prayer over the bread.
Unseen are the approx 85 people in the rest of our rustic Dining Hall!! At right are Daniel & Arlene Rigney,
both are graduates of Moody Bible Institute during the 1960's. Dan serves as Chaplin at the camp,
and the Rigneys have been our special friends and mentors for over 25 years.

Mottel demonstrates how a Hebrew Torah Scroll is arranged, using a half-size replica model. The Torah is the 5 books of Moses, and are mentioned often in the Gospels.

An actual Torah Scroll, in Hebrew a 'Sefer Torah', is hand written by a Jewish scribe in Hebrew on many sheep skins that have been sewn together and then rolled onto wood staffs as seen here.

One of our Teens wrote and produced a play that was presented by the teens & kids during the last week:
THE HOPE OF 2,000 YEARS: GOD KEEPS HIS COVENANT PROMISES

Mottel Baleston, Arnold Fruchtenbaum, Randy Shapiro

Mottel Baleston, Arnold Fruchtenbaum (in the Bible cloth robe he wore one evening) and Randy Shapiro,
a Jewish believer who leads a Congregation in Texas

Tammy, Gayle, Jay & Rachel staff our table	Karyn does her "Miss America wave"
We had 26 people marching!!	Only a quarter mile to go