The Messianic Times - International Messianic Jewish News and Information

Let’s say you are at a Messianic conference. It’s in between classes or services and you are in need of a little diversion. Sure, the worship has been wonderful, the speakers passionate, but it’s still either too close to your last meal or not quite far enough away to your next one to justify a food break. What to do? I recently found myself in just such a position and decided to take a stroll through the Marketplace and see what was there. Tables filled the room, some piled with displays, others with artful arrangements and some with racks and stands nearby to hold even more items. There were people selling jewelry, Messianic teaching materials, holiday items, things for children, artwork, music CDs, etc. Some vendors even needed three tables to show all their wares but most seem limited to a table or two.

It’s a nice place to get lost for a while and meander around trying to find the perfect gift to bring back home for the person who is watching the dog or maybe to talk yourself into buying yet another Star of David pendant. After all, you say to yourself, “I don’t have this one,” because there does seem to be a beautiful variety. I was deeply entrenched into just such a dialog with myself when my son came rushing up to me. He desperately needed to show me something and tugged me along to a table near the corner of the room where there was a towering array of really big shofars. Apparently, he had been having similar conversations with himself too saying, “Well, I don’t have this one!”

Shofars and shopping aside, there are other reasons to frequent the Marketplace specifically; information-gathering and people-meeting. Except when the Marketplace is extremely busy, most vendors are more than happy to share stories and information with you. You may find it challenging to look quietly without engaging in conversation but, frankly, the friendliness adds to the flavor, along with a little bargaining that may go on here and there. Moving along, I ran into an old friend that I hadn’t seen for years. He supplements his income by selling high quality Messianic Judaica at various conferences. There are a number of vendors who do just that. Some are volunteers from their congregations who bring items from their sisterhood shop and want to tell you where their synagogue is and brag about it a little. It’s always interesting to hear about other congregations and meet new faces or reconnect with familiar ones.

There are artists who go from conference to conference and often show their work in galleries in between. One such situation is a mother, daughter and sister-inlaw team called C. K. T. Signature Designs. I was drawn at first by their dramatic table display. It stood out from the rest as elegant and sophisticated with a multitiered and draped table that glistened with their items. They make handcrafted jewelry out of semiprecious stones such as tourmaline, carnelian, jade and turquoise, along with sterling silver, freshwater pearls and Swarovski crystals. This is not your usual Judaica but unique pieces of artwork; and the pride with which each individual piece was made is evident as I spoke with the artists. The C.K.T. reflects their names, Christine Kilian, Kathy Schaaf and Tera Kilian.

Jubilee Harps is another standout. These are handcrafted 10 string harps created for personal praise or professional ministry lovingly made by Rick Woods in Evansville, Indiana. It was such a popular stall for so much of the time that I could hardly squeeze in to take a peek at these beautiful instruments. Instead of pulling some sort of Zaccheus move I decided to wait till there was a lull in the traffic to visit. Only weighing 4-6 pounds and 24'' tall the harps are portable and thus popular with many traveling Messianic ministries and musicians. Even though they are endorsed by Paul Wilbur and Greg Buchanan, the world class harpist, play-by-number music is even available for those like me, who are completely unable to make a musical instrument make a joyful sound unto the Lord. The harps are a perennial favorite at Messianic conferences.

Another brightly colored perennial, is the “Scarf Lady,” JoAnne Ferderer of Joyful Life Ministries. JoAnne defines her ministry as one that “distributes scarves with teachings for each design, and anointing oils, prophetic jewelry and materials to assist the body of Messiah in learning about the Jewish Roots of their faith.”

From the bevy of scarves and anointing oils, I moved on in the Marketplace. There was quite a large table where Rabbi Scott Sekulow displayed almost every Messianic music CD ever made along with a number of books. I perused his wares saying to myself, “Oh, I have that one, that one… hum…how about this one?” I learned that Rabbi Scott has the nation’s only Messianic Talk show. I had no idea the Messianic Movement has now come far enough for a talk show. The Marketplace is definitely an area to pick up information and network.

My time at the Marketplace was broken up into segments. I popped in at different times during the conference to see if something I had my eye on was still there, or to talk to people behind the tables and hear their stories about themselves, their wares and their congregations. It’s fun to run into friends and see what treasures they bought.

There is a bit of something for everyone, from a Messianic seal key chain or a gefilte fish car symbol. to artwork for the home, a special silver menorah or valuable teaching materials. It’s an enjoyable place to be, but then the conference is over and it’s time to drive home with that four foot shofar sticking out the back window of the car.