Testimonials (Beth Ariel Fellowship)

Here are some personal words from members of our congregation...

Eileen

I am a Jewish believer who came to faith on February 24, 2003. Although both of my parents were Jewish, I grew up in a secular home where we seldom spoke of God. Nevertheless, I always had an ache in my heart to know God, the Creator of all things. After I married my husband Sandy and began raising our own family, we joined the North Valley Jewish Community Center. Years later, we became involved in synagogue life. However, I continued to feel empty inside because I did not have a personal and intimate relationship with God. I began to believe that what I was seeking was truly unattainable.

In February 2003, I was scheduled to have a large tumor removed from my stomach at Cedars Sinai Medical Center. Thankfully, the surgery was successful and the prognosis was excellent. However, 48 hours after I was discharged from the hospital, I began to hemorrhage. I lost four units of blood, was continuing to experience active bleeding, and was in grave, critical condition. When the surgeon went back down into the surgical suite to stop the hemorrhaging, the bleeding had miraculously stopped.

The following morning, while recovering at Cedars, a supernatural event occurred that dramatically changed the entire course of my life. By faith alone, I embraced Yeshua as my Messiah and Lord. The ache in my heart that I had for so many years was replaced by the Ruach HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit) dwelling inside me. Yeshua coming into my life brought me out of spiritual darkness and into His glorious Light.

My husband Sandy is also a Jewish believer. We have been married for 38 years and are blessed with two wonderful children who reside in the area. I have spent over 28 years in the real estate property management business, but my true passion is serving the Lord through my ministry at Beth Ariel Fellowship.

Bob

I can’t say enough about how much my wife and I have appreciated our experience at Beth Ariel Fellowship over the last 25 years. We are Gentile believers from a traditional church background, but until arriving at Beth Ariel, we never really understood, nor appreciated the very Jewish roots of our faith.

It’s interesting: Jesus was Jewish, the disciples were Jewish, virtually all the early assembly of believers were Jewish – and the early Jewish believers never dropped their Jewishness in coming to faith! How often we forget that! In Romans 9-11, Rabbi Shaul (the apostle Paul), writes about how there will always remain a Jewish remnant of believers as a testimony to God’s faithfulness to Israel. How can that remnant be identified unless Jews maintain their identity as Jews in the midst of the larger, non-Jewish Body of Messiah?

This is something my wife and I have come to learn, appreciate and foster: it’s biblical to be Jewish and believe in Jesus and maintain one's Jewish identity. Galatians 3:28 talks about there being “neither Jew nor Greek, neither male nor female… for we are all one in Messiah Jesus.” Paul’s point was that we are all spiritually equal before God. This is where Messianic congregations like Beth Ariel have stepped in. Jews can maintain their biblical/cultural/ethnic distinction as well as the Gentiles – and both can love and appreciate one another’s uniqueness in the Lord: “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity” (Psalm 133:1).

Chuck

I was raised in a warm, loving, Reform Jewish family in a small town in Northeastern Ohio and had my Bar Mitzvah in Cleveland. As an adult, I had a strong belief in God and attended High Holy Day services. In the late 1970's, God began to put a deeper desire in my heart to seek Him. I was grateful for the many blessings of my life and I realized that God wanted to have a closer relationship with me. I understood that we were God's chosen people, but I wondered why a billion people believed that a Jew named Jesus was the Messiah when I was taught that he was yet to come.

I prayed and studied for years, reading the entire Bible, twice. In late 1982 a Jewish believer in Yeshua (Jesus) invited me to a service at Beth Ariel Fellowship. I was touched and enlightened. God used Congregational Leader, Louis Lapides, to share the Messianic claims of Yeshua. In February 1983, I took that leap of faith and accepted Yeshua as my Lord and Savior. Almost immediately, God opened my eyes and heart and my life began to radically change.

The Lord took me through many ensuing trials and tribulations where I learned that when I am weak, He remains strong. My family and I have been richly blessed at Beth Ariel over the years. The teaching has been biblically strong, the music and worship uplifting and inspiring, and my children have been blessed by the Children's Education program.

Jerry

I grew up in a Conservative Jewish home in New York City. My family was strongly committed to cultivating our rich cultural and spiritual heritage. I attended Hebrew School for a number of years and had my Bar Mitzvah in an Orthodox Synagogue. During those early years, an interest and curiosity in knowing more about God was developing. I continued to attend Synagogue after my Bar Mitzvah, but God seemed aloof and distant from the affairs of my everyday life. I eventually stopped attending Synagogue but maintained a distant curiosity in God, raising more existential questions about who is He and why am I here?

Two major events took place that forced me to stop and think. The first event, which took place during my sophomore year in college, was my older brother coming home and telling the family that he had embraced Yeshua (Jesus) as his Messiah. Our family was shocked, concerned and offended. "How could this be? You’re Jewish -- you’re not supposed to believe in Jesus!" As a Jewish family from a large Jewish community, we had limited exposure to believers in Yeshua. In fact, with the exception of my fifth grade teacher, I don’t recall knowing anyone who was passionate about their devotion to following Yeshua. My initial response to my brother was met with extreme skepticism and embarrassment.

Shortly after this seismic event rocked my family, I developed a severe case of mononucleosis. I began to reflect and ask the weightier questions of life. I reconnected with my interest in the State of Israel that I had cultivated as an early teen. I began months of preparation to travel to Israel to work on a kibbutz.

It was also during this time that I was exposed to the film, the Late Great Planet Earth, based on the best seller by Hal Lindsey. I was surprised by the realization that the re-establishment of the State of Israel was actually a fulfillment of biblical prophecy and that this re-gathering was a pivotal event preceding the coming of Messiah. I had never heard about the spiritual significance of the re-gathering of the Jews from the “four corners of the earth” at my Orthodox synagogue. And what about this Yeshua issue? Could He really be the Messiah? Why did most people acknowledge this with the exception of the Jewish community? Could it be possible that we had missed something?

At this juncture, I started my own study of the Scriptures. When I read the gospels, I could not stop. I was amazed that it was a Jewish book talking about a Jewish Messiah. As I read, I felt something that I could not explain … a peace and presence from God that was drawing me to Himself. It became apparent that Yeshua was who He claimed to be -- the Messiah. He was not only the King of Israel, but the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. This acceptance was a life-changing decision that resulted in an inspiring, life-long spiritual journey. My curiosity shifted to a certainty that allows me to say as Job said: "I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see Him with my own eyes -- I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!" (Job 19:25-27).

Shortly after this decision I found myself in Israel working on Kibbutz Ein Gedi and traveling the country that God loves and that I had prepared to visit many months before. In subsequent years, the commitment to my Messiah and cultivating my Jewishness has grown and deepened. Being a part of Beth Ariel Fellowship for the last twenty years has been a phenomenal experience as I have been able to raise my family in that same faith and cultivate our Jewish identity as Messianic Jews.

Al & Bette Lou

As a Gentile married to a Messianic Jewish woman, attending a Messianic Congregation has created a deeper understanding and a spiritual bond in our home. My wife felt uncomfortable in many traditional churches as she felt alienated from her cultural roots. She also felt that the Jewishness of Yeshua was often undervalued. Since my involvement in the Messianic Movement, I have gained an education into the Jewish roots of my faith, and a deeper love for the Jewish People. We think that a Messianic congregation such as Beth Ariel is what the ideal church should be (and would have been) had anti-Semitism not been present in the history of the church. Beth Ariel is an excellent place for mixed couples, where we can worship and grow together.

Claudine

I am somewhat new to Beth Ariel but from my very first visit I discovered a warm, friendly and loving community that made me, a Gentile believer, feel right at home.

I became a believer in 1971, during the Jesus Movement. Having been disillusioned by the emptiness of the drug culture, although only still a teenager, I was burnt-out and suicidal. But God -- who is not willing that any should perish, intersected my life with a Spirit-filled couple who lovingly introduced me to His Son, Yeshua. When I came to faith, accepting the Lord as my Savior, He replaced my emptiness with His life, my depression with His joy, and my hopelessness with hope that can only be found in Him. I now knew that God loved me and had a plan and a purpose for my life.

Although my parents were not believers, they had instilled in me a love for God’s chosen people. At the time I became a believer, we lived in the Fairfax area of Los Angeles where I was attending Fairfax High School. It was natural for me to become involved with Beth Sar Shalom, a Messianic Jewish organization. It was there that I developed a deep sense of gratitude to the Jews for preserving the Scriptures, and my heartfelt desire to pray and share with them the love of God and His Son, Yeshua.

Adelaide

When I came to Beth Ariel during the summer of 2007, I was in desperate need of spiritual food and fellowship. My spiritual journey had been a bumpy road. When Jesus walked into my life in the spring of 1983, I was a few months away from moving back to Europe to take a job. The Lord was gracious and crammed a multitude of spiritual experiences into those few months, most of which I didn’t understand until much later. Europe, i.e., Switzerland, where I had moved, seemed like a spiritual wasteland and it took a while to find a good congregation. Everything was fabulous until something went very wrong inside that congregation, with the result that I was left on my own – for years.

During the years that I spent on my own, I was faced with the possibility that I am of Jewish descent. I started reading up on Judaism, which opened an entirely new world for me, and I began to see Jesus as the Jew He was. Then I found a Messianic web site and studied the Bible. However, I had no one to share all this with in Switzerland, which is the main reason I returned to the States after 23 years when I retired from my job.

When I first arrived back in this country, I figured the Lord would tell me where to go. He did. First, I went to a large church, one that I remembered from before I had left the country. But it was so large that I could have gone there for years in total anonymity. I am sure I would have gotten good spiritual food there if I had decided to stay – but no real fellowship, which I needed most. I then looked for Messianic congregations on the Internet. Beth Ariel was the second one I went to. As soon as I walked in the door, I felt life. People didn’t just give me a polite “hello” at the door; they gave me a warm welcome and took time to talk with me. Within a few weeks I felt integrated into this vibrant family of Jewish and Gentile believers. Everything God had shown me over the years finally fell into place. My years in the “wilderness” living on “manna” were over. I was home. Praise God.

Jackie

In 1960, my family and I immigrated to the United States from London, England. It was a huge move for us, and I'm not sure anyone fully realized why we were doing this. My family was considerably happy, settled in London, and we were a Jewish family content with our place with God. After my uncle died, and we sat shiva for him, our family considered leaving London. California was highly touted and suddenly the idea appealed to the family. My first impressions of the U.S. were not good and some of the people we encountered seemed far from the normal people we knew in England -- "Where had we come to and why?"

About a year after our arrival, my cousin, David, had been visiting a youth club with a very nice man who headed up the club. This man impressed David greatly and he wanted our mothers to meet him. A "Jewish-Christian Minister?" -- a joke, thought our mums -- one can't be Jewish and Christian! "No," they said. David was insistent, and they (the mothers) wondered if they should serve bacon/ham sandwiches or lox and bagels.

Long story short, Louis Mann did visit one evening, and explained how Yeshua was the promised Jewish Messiah, how He came for the Jewish people, not only the Christians or Gentiles (we thought those terms were synonymous at that time). When the mums heard they could have eternal life with the Lord in heaven, when they understood that Jew and Gentile were made one in Messiah Yeshua -- these "girls" accepted Yeshua without further delay. The rest of the family returned from their various outings and each heard the news -- "Oh no!! Have our mums gone nuts, too!?!" Well, dad kindly offered to drive them to bible class and we went along for something to do -- convinced we wouldn't believe this stuff. It was OK for our mothers, but we didn't want or need it.

Martin (Moishe) Rosen was minister in charge of the Beth Sar Shalom ministries here on the West Coast. He presented the truth about Yeshua to us, explaining the difference between who we thought were Christians and who Christians really were. He clarified that true Christians loved the Jewish people because it was through them they had the Bible and forgiveness of sins through the promised Messiah -- Yeshua. We soon met believers who had a deep and abiding love for the Jewish people. We never experienced this kind of love before. The Lord Himself by the power of the Holy Spirit opened our eyes and, above all, our hearts. Over the next year, the balance of our family of six accepted Yeshua as our wonderful Messiah. We grew in faith and strength. My dad died two years after accepting Yeshua. Although we were heartbroken, we knew we would see him again. My mum and aunt died more recently -- and again we have been deeply affected by their absence -- but how grateful to know we will be reunited with them again. They also became strong advocates for the Lord Yeshua, never hesitating to tell Jews and Gentiles about the Lord. I really feel Heaven is a lot busier because of our mothers' boldness.

For me, life has been a series of serious health issues, many losses and heartbreaks -- but I can honestly say that with the Lord in my life the Holy Spirit has been my Comforter and Guide every step of the way. I have grown deeply in love with my Yeshua through my experiences. I have also become more proud of my Jewish heritage. I cannot imagine my life without Him, and don't honestly know how anybody else copes with life without the Lord in the center of it. My prayer is for my family and my Jewish people to come to know their promised Jewish Messiah.

P.S. We all finally figured out why we came to California - it was to meet our Lord.

Lorraine

I was born to a Jewish family just as WWII was ending. Most of my relatives had been exterminated in the concentration camps or murdered by the SS in the streets of Hungary, France and Germany. Despite the cries of "Where was God?" that rang in my head for most of my early life, I knew deep down in my heart that there had to be a Creator. I was seeking answers to two burning questions: "How do I find Truth?" and "Where is God and how do I find him?"

My search took me on a very eclectic and interesting journey. Along this journey I picked up "fragments" of the Truth, but nothing that put the pieces together into an integrated whole. Because so many of my ancestors perished throughout the ages at the hands of people holding the banner of "Christ," I struggled to turn to this man, Yeshua. The more I studied about the world's religions both current and past, the narrower my search took me. Then one day it happened -- Yeshua found me. It was during a service at a Messianic congregation when the Rabbi suddenly stopped mid stream in his sermon and said, "I have it in my heart to stop and ask someone to come up today and accept Yeshua." (This Rabbi had rarely given invitations in this manner.) That is when I felt the "hand of God" lift me out of my seat prompting me to respond. The next thing I knew I had finally found The Truth! Yeshua is alive, He's real, and I now know Him personally. I have found a peace that is only found in giving myself to Him unconditionally. I have learned to walk on the only right path, knowing that I am loved and that I will never again be alone. I thank all my brothers and sisters at Beth Ariel for walking beside me on this exhilarating journey.

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