Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Israel Orders Deportation of Jews for Jesus Worker
Group says British volunteer their first ever to be arrested in country
By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL
(ANS) – An Israeli immigration judge has ordered the deportation of a Messianic Jewish man from England who was arrested last week for taking part in an evangelistic event in southern Israel.
Barry Barnett (left) at
Jews for Jesus event in Israel
(Photo: Morning Star News via Jews for Jesus)
According to Morning Star News (http://morningstarnews.org), Barry Barnett, 50, a worker with Jews for Jesus UK, was ordered on Sunday (Nov. 24) to leave the country by Dec. 3. Barnett, who is based in England, was volunteering at the Jews for Jesus “Behold your God Israel” campaign around the city of Be’er Shiva when he was arrested Wednesday (Nov. 20) at about 4 p.m.
According to his wife, Alison Barnett, six immigration control officers took him from Be’er Shiva, 125 kilometers (78 miles) south of Jerusalem, to an immigration office in Omer, just outside of the city. He was held there for several hours without charge, then transferred to an immigration-holding unit of a prison in Ramle, near Tel Aviv. He spent four days in jail before his court hearing.
Barry and Alison Barnett
The Middle East Correspondent for Morning Star News went on to say that the team present at the time of the arrest was made up of Israeli citizens except for Barnett.
Dan Sered, Israel director for Jews for Jesus, said in a press release that the arrest was “outrageous.”
“As an Israeli, I have been proud that our country allows for freedom of religion,” he said. “Yet those who seized Barry and took him to prison have done a shameful thing.”
According to Sered, the presiding judge ruled that Barnett was not allowed to engage in “missionary activity” while in Israel.
“They did not really give a reason why they detained him,” Sered told Morning Star News. “All they said is that he was doing ‘missionary activity.’ That is correct, he was doing missionary activity, and that is legal to do in Israel.”
The reason the state of Israel gave for his deportation, he said, was that Barnett was engaging in missionary activity and not regular tourist activity on a B2 tourist visa.
“But the global ethics code for tourism, which the state of Israel signed and even advertises on its own Ministry of Tourism Web page, states that tourism for the purpose of exchanging religious beliefs is not only valid but also should be encouraged,” Sered said. “Therefore, his deportation and arrest by the state of Israel was done without a real legal cause.”
Barry Barnett chatting with Jewish people in Israel
Sered said Jews for Jesus would fight the deportation order. If the order is not overturned, there is a risk that it will become a legal precedent that could be used to expel missionaries or any expatriate engaging in religious activities deemed unacceptable by the Israeli government – or by government officials acting alone.
The immigration officers who arrested Barnett seized a banner he was holding with a group of Israelis who were campaigning with him. Julia Pascoe, UK branch leader for Jews for Jesus, said there was nothing inherently offensive on the banner. The banner read, “Salvation equals Jesus,” which Pascoe said was an explanation of Jesus’ name and declared him the source of salvation. It also had a telephone number to contact Jews for Jesus.
Pascoe conceded, however, that, “The gospel is an offense to those who don’t want to hear it.”
An Yad L’Achim gathering in Israel
Alison Barnett said that the ultra-Orthodox, anti-Christian group Yad L’Achim had followed the Jews for Jesus teams to their campaign sites in Israel since the event started. Yad L’Achim has a long-standing history of links with sympathetic government officials who issue legal actions on their behalf.
“Jews for Jesus members fear there is a troubling possibility that immigration officials under the influence of Yad L’Achim may have an unwritten directive to arrest foreign religious workers as part of a general crackdown on missionaries,” the story went on to say.
“Yad L’Achim has worked to deny Messianic Jews (who believe Jesus is the promised Messiah) the right of return to Israel and to deny spouses of Messianics immigration visas. They also picket and severely harass Messianics at their homes and their congregations and have been linked to different government agencies revoking the licensing of Messianic-owned businesses.”
Informing on Barnett would fix a pattern of cooperation between Yad L’Achim and the government that has been well documented by the Israeli media. On Yad L’Achim’s website, the organization reported about interfering with the Jews for Jesus outreach’s “spiritually poisonous propaganda.”
“Yad L’Achim has been dispatching beefed-up teams of activists wherever the missionaries are taking up positions in order to alert the public as to their nefarious goals,” the ultra-Orthodox, nationalist organization stated.
Barry’s logo
Jews for Jesus (www.jewsforjesus.org/) is an international organization whose stated purpose is to, “Make the messiahship of Jesus an unavoidable issue to our Jewish people worldwide.” This is the first time a Jews for Jesus member, either a worker or a volunteer, has been arrested in Israel, Pascoe said.
“We have enjoyed freedom of religion in Israel over many campaigns similar to this one; the treatment we received was atypical of the way the law is usually enforced,” she said. “We have never experienced this before.”
Pascoe added that she doesn’t believe whoever directed the arrest is “a representative of the majority.”
Barnett’s wife, who wasn’t with her husband when he was arrested, said she was surprised about it as well.
“This is the first time we have had any problem like this at all, and we have done eight campaigns,” she said. “It was quite a shock.”
Nevertheless, Alison Barnett said she expects “opposition” when in Israel.
“And quite frankly,” she added, “if we don’t get any [opposition], we probably aren’t doing our jobs right.”
Barry Barnett took part in the Behold Your God Campaign in the Negev which just successfully concluded. Last Wednesday Barry was arrested and spent 4 days and nights in from the Ramle Prison near Tel Aviv for exercising his faith in Y’shua (Jesus the Messiah).
Ultra-Orthodox Jews in deep discussion
in north London
(Photo: Andrew Aitchison, Daily Telegraph)
According to the Jews for Jesus website (www.jewsforjesus.org/), Barry Barnett was born and raised in north London, UK. His parents, both Jewish psychotherapists, raised Barry and his brother and sister in a Liberal Jewish tradition (somewhat similar to Reform Judaism in the US).
Barry describes his parents as “loving, academic, and intellectual.” He was also very close to his grandfather, who was “a tough, loving boxer who worked as a glazer and a fireman.”
A Well-Rounded Education
Barry was a part of the Liberal Jewish Youth Movement in London and was Bar Mitzvah at age thirteen. He visited Israel several times during his teen years. He attended private schools, where he excelled in a variety of sports, including football (soccer), rugby, cricket, track and field, and badminton. He also attended Hebrew school every Sunday, and trained as a youth leader at his synagogue.
After graduation, Barry attended Sussex University where he followed in his parents’ footsteps by majoring in Psychology. However, his real passion was drama. He spent the majority of his free time acting and directing plays with his fellow students.
Making a Difference in the Land
During his school holidays, Barry would often travel to Israel. He participated in humanitarian efforts, helping to run refugee camps for Ethiopian Jews who had escaped the famine in their home country and had been flown to Israel to start a new life there.
After completing his degree, Barry moved to Israel for a season. He lived in Ashkelon, a coastal city about thirty miles south of Tel Aviv. He learned Hebrew and did Sherut la’am (community service), working with children in a children’s home, as well as elderly and disabled people. And he recalls proudly, “I also acted as Beni, the pop star, in an English play for schools (semi-professional), which toured Ashkelon for a month!”
A Love for Teaching
Barry Barnett teaching
After a year and a half, Barry returned to the UK. About this time, he met an American girl whom he liked very much. They began dating, and Barry decided to move to New York, where she lived. While in New York, Barry got a job teaching in an elementary school. To his surprise, he discovered that he loved teaching. When his relationship didn’t work out, Barry moved back to the UK and continued teaching.
Hard Questions Lead to a Great Discovery
In 1995, Barry married a woman he’d met in London. She was a Christian, but their marriage was ill-fated. They were unable to conceive children together, and this resulted in a great deal of pain and bitterness. In addition, his wife insisted that—if they ever did have children, possibly via adoption—the children would be raised in the Christian tradition. Barry wanted to leave the topic of religion more open—allowing the children to decide for themselves whether Jesus was the Messiah or not.
Although their marriage sadly ended in divorce, God used their interpersonal conflict to push Barry to question his assumptions about faith. Barry says: “I was angry. I was unhappy. I was desperate. So, I began searching for God. I had been jealous of my wife’s faith in Jesus, so I visited a church and found that the worship moved me—the people really loved this Jesus.
“So I did an Alpha course, which presents the basics of Christianity and allows for seekers to ask questions. My questions were angry questions like, ‘How can Jesus say, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” How arrogant! How inflexible! What about me and all Jews??!!’ The Alpha team gave me a New Testament to read to provide answers, but I refused to read it, because I had been told it might be anti-Semitic.
“I was feeling very confused and conflicted. But then a man prayed for me to find clarity, and I felt God’s peace and joy well up in me! So I took courage and read the New Testament. I recognized that it was a Jewish book and I saw Jesus clearly as the Messiah…and more… the Son of God who died for me and saved me.”
Helen Shapiro (center) with The Beatles at the start of her career
But Barry’s recognition of Jesus as Messiah didn’t immediately lead to a commitment of faith. He relates: “I was scared to commit, as I would incur the wrath of my parents, family, Jewish community and Jewish people (because I believed I would have to convert; I didn’t think you could be Jewish and believe in Jesus). Then an Alpha team leader gave me a testimony by Helen Shapiro, a famous British Messianic Jewish singer. Shapiro explained that you can be Jewish and Christian; you don’t convert, you complete. You become a Messianic Jew. I had never heard of Messianic Jews. I was overjoyed. I gave my life to Jesus. I remained Jewish and stepped into FREEDOM!”
Barry was thirty-three years old when he became a believer in Jesus. He continued attending a local church and grew in his faith. He also began to specialize in teaching religious studies at the schools where he worked, in addition to teaching drama and other subjects.
A Heart for Ministry
Barry continued to teach for twelve years, but increasingly felt a calling to get involved with full-time missions work. So, in 2002, Barry left his teaching career and became a missionary with YWAM (Youth With A Mission). He ministered to needy children in third-world countries and grew in his walk with God.
“I gained an enormous amount from YWAM. I learned to submit, obey, put God first, and put others before myself. I also learned about intercessory prayer, developing spiritual gifts, and spiritual warfare, and I learned a great deal about the Bible—I read and studied it five times in nine months.”
After several years of full-time missions, Barry began to feel a strong pull to reach out to his own Jewish people. Since coming to faith, Barry had heard about and had some contact with Jews for Jesus (JFJ). He now realized that God was calling him out of YWAM to begin to volunteer with the London branch of JFJ.
“I had heard of Jews for Jesus and thought they were a bit too confrontational and upset my Jewish people. But I started volunteering with them in 2004, and soon realized that not telling my people about Jesus is much worse than upsetting them.”
God Makes a Match
Barry continued to volunteer on outreaches and evangelism projects for the next year. Then, during a Hanukkah party in 2005, he met Alison.
Alison was a Jewish believer in Jesus who had also begun to feel called to Jewish ministry. She started volunteering with Jews for Jesus and immediately felt like it was a good fit for her. She and Barry also hit it off right away and soon began dating, in addition to volunteering together.
After several months, Barry and Alison decided that God was bringing them together as man and wife. They were wed in early 2007. They continued to work with Jews for Jesus and soon agreed that God was calling them to work with the ministry full-time. They applied and were accepted as staff missionaries.
Barry and Alison hit the ground running, participating in three back-to-back evangelistic campaigns—one in London, one in New York City, and one in Israel. They returned to London to complete their missionary training and have been ministering together ever since. In addition to doing street evangelism and meeting one-one-one with Jewish seekers, Barry draws on his experience as a teacher in his position as the Children and Youth Ministry worker in London. He disciples young Jewish believers and has done Messianic Bar Mitzvahs and Bat Mitzvahs for many teenagers who are growing in their faith.
Enjoying Today and Hoping for the Future
Barry and Alison live in Northwest London, near the very Jewish area called Golders Green. Barry continues to pursue his passion for drama by writing plays and attending the theater, opera, and ballet with Alison. They also like to entertain. Barry says, “Ali cooks and I enjoy talking with our guests. I am an extreme extrovert!”
Barry and Alison also love to travel together. They have been to the East and West Coasts of the USA, to Hong Kong, Germany, and Poland. Barry says they would like to visit South America, especially Brazil. Recently, Barry and Alison spent several months in Johannesburg, South Africa, where they temporarily oversaw Jews for Jesus’ work there. Alison led the branch while Barry headed up evangelism, and they also helped to pastor a local Messianic congregation.
Eventually Barry and Alison said they would like to settle in Israel, a country they both love. Barry says, “By far my best experience as a missionary has been witnessing on the streets of Tel Aviv, sharing Messiah Y’shua (Jesus) in Hebrew and English to my Jewish people in my own Land.”
Whether in London or in Israel, whether speaking to young people or adults, Barry is passionate about telling people of the freedom and peace that he himself has found in God and that they too can have in Jesus.
Now Barry will soon be on a plane back to London after his four days in jail before his court hearing. And many wonder if he will now be able to fulfill his dream of living full-time in Israel.
To see a video about Barry’s release, and to also hear a conversation between David Brickner and Barry and Alison Barnett on Barry’s experience in prison, please go to: www.jewsforjesus.org/about-jews-for-jesus/press/campaigner-released-on-bail-from-prison. On the same page, there is a video of his release from prison.
Note from Dan Wooding: My father, the Rev. Alfred Wooding, was engaged in Jewish evangelism for some 30 years in the English city of Birmingham with a group called the Barbican Mission to the Jews, which is now known as Christian Witness to Israel (www.cwi.org.uk) , which was formed by the amalgamation of two evangelical and interdenominational societies: the International Society for Evangelisation of the Jews (IJS) and the Barbican Mission to the Jews (BMJ). Both were motivated by the fact that “the gospel of Christ … is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first…” Christian Witness to Israel says on its website that it “exists to share the Good News of Jesus with the Jewish people, to relieve the poor and sick, to make the Church aware of its spiritual and material debt to the Jews and to oppose anti-Semitism.”
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Dan Wooding, 72, is an award-winning journalist who who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 50 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter, and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS) and he hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on the KWVE Radio Network in Southern California and which is also carried throughout the United States and around the world. He is the author of some 45 books, the latest of which is a novel about the life of Jesus through the eyes of his mother called “Mary: My Story from Bethlehem to Calvary”. (Click to order)
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