A dve r tisement
Welcome to the Future H aving been called by God at the age of 14 to bring the Good News of Yeshua to the Jewish People, I was now ready to step into the fulfillment of that calling. After graduating from Bible school, my wife and I moved to Los Angeles and found ourselves in the midst of 535,000 Jewish People. It did not take long for us to realize that we had no clue as to what we were doing. My education had not prepared me for Jewish ministry.
Relying solely on the Holy Spirit, we pieced together an education through the Messianic Jewish “School of Hard Knocks.” By God’s grace, He used us as we did our best to figure it out and utilize the tools we had at our disposal. Until recently, there had been no specialized training for those who heard the call to Jewish ministry. We used to pray for co-laborers in the Jewish harvest but it became apparent that though many people from different ethnic backgrounds had been called by God for Jewish ministry, fear stopped them: Repeatedly we would hear them say, “I don’t know enough . . . I don’t know how to go about this . . . I have no training.” Praise the Lord that no longer needs to be the case! Beginning this fall, Jewish Voice Ministries International is set to launch the Messianic Career Institute. Whether students are university age, career changers, or early retirees, this two-year, full-time Phoenixbased ministry trade school is designed specifically to train and equip those called to full-time Jewish ministry and release them into the Jewish harvest. Over the course of two years, students will take a total
24 JewishVoiceToday.org | May/June 2012
of thirty courses covering the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, Jewish and Christian History and Culture, Practical Theology, and the Hebrew language, both biblical and modern. In addition to this rich academic training, students will also be engaged in practical Messianic ministry. Three afternoons a week, students will serve among various departments of Jewish Voice, gaining experience that will broaden their base of understanding for effective ministry. Moreover, students will have opportunity to be engaged in hands-on congregational ministry within local Messianic Jewish synagogues on Shabbat. While tomorrow’s Messianic leaders will always be required to be fully reliant upon the Holy Spirit, just as the pioneers of the Movement were, never again can it be said that opportunities for specialized training in Jewish ministry are unavailable. The opportunity is here. The opportunity is now. Welcome to the future.
Dr. Raymond L. Gannon, Director of Messianic Studies Programs