Feature Stories
Volumne 17 Number 2
November/December 1999
Cheshvan/Kislev/Tevet 5760/5761
What G-d Is Doing With Messianic Jewish Youth Today
By David Kasdan and Rachelle Remigio (with help from the rabbi)
It is an interesting life being a Jewish teenager who believes in Yeshua
as the Messiah. In years past it would have been even more difficult because
were very few Messianic synagogues or youth groups. Today, the good news
is that there is a lot going on both in local synagogues and in larger
organizations like the Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations (UMJC).
Last summer we had a great opportunity to represent Kehilat Ariel at the
first ever delegates meeting for the UMJCY (Youth branch). There were
over 50 teens representing about 30 congregations who met in Columbus,
Ohio for this groundbreaking meeting as a prelude to the larger international
conference. The purpose of the meeting was discuss and plan events for
the present and the future. Among the projects being planned is a special
“Fast of Esther” where our Youth groups will raise money and
canned food donations to help the Jewish communities of Russia during
the time of Purim. Besides planning for this event, we had a great time
of fun and fellowship with an outing to a local park. We had some good
practical lessons for life as we learned to launch water bombs! For those
of us who have attended the UMJC functions for several years, it is a
great blessing to develop friendships with other Messianic youth from
around the country and even around the world. It was encouraging to have
many classes taught by various leaders (including our own rabbi) on topics
which are important to youth such as dealing with peer pressure, spiritual
life and Jewish identity. These were very helpful
because Messianic youth are often caught in the middle trying to balance
our faith in Yeshua with our Jewish identity. It is nice to know that
there are many hundreds of youth who can stand with each other and help
each other. A highlight of last summer’s conference was when we got
to lead the Erev Shabbat service on Friday night. It is pretty cool to
have all these teens singing together in a choir and many of us also played
in a klezmer band.One of the great plans discussed at the Delegate’s
meeting was the summer
conference of 2001. This conference is going to be radically different
in the setting as it will be held in the Rockies Mountains about 2 hours
from Denver. It will be the first time that the UMJCY summer meeting will
be in a mountain camp setting. We look forward to such things as horseback
riding, hiking and even river rafting. This will be a week long retreat
so there will be lots of time for fun and spiritual studies. The adults
and yourger kids will have a separate camp nearby. We are hoping that
a lot of the Kehilat Ariel youth will come and maybe we can have the families
caravan from San Diego. We will plan some fundraisers coming soon to assist
the KA
youth. Plan on coming for a life changing time!
On a local level, G-d is working on many of the youth as we keep growing
in
our faith. Sometimes, after Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, the youth can have a hard
time continuing to grow. Because the High School years are times of asking
deeper questions, it is also a good time to study more about our faith
and heritage. We are enjoying a new class with our rabbi on Shabbat mornings
which is an overview of Jewish history. This is helping us to understand
our beliefs and how they tie into thousands of years of Jewish history.
All in all, G-d is doing some great things with today’s youth. Many
of us want to do something with our lives that will make a lasting impact.
Whatever we do, we need Yeshua to be the center. A good theme verse for
today’s Messianic youth could be: “Don’t let anyone
look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers
in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity” [I Timothy
4:12].
Thank you for supporting us as we reach toward these goals.
©2001Kehilat Ariel Messianic Synagogue. All rights reserved.