by Hillel Fendel

(IsraelNN.com) Missionaries Roy and Mary Kendall boast on their email newsletter of having crept into the Jewish State by not altogether honest means.
 
“[W]e were advised to get new passports so as not to have stamps showing entry into Israel (which we did immediately),” the Messianic leaders write.  “[w]e were advised to ‘lay low’ for awhile …We’ve also been advised not to publically [sic] write the details (emails are being screened by authorities) so let’s just say that Mary’s entry agent was overwhelmed by her good looks, and mine was satisfied with a ‘grunt’ when asked if it was my first time here…Nuff said!”
 
The letter was revealed to Jewish Israel http://www.jewishisrael.com/ , a team of community leaders, educators, and activists working in close coordination with qualified rabbis and counter missionary specialists.
 
The Kendalls have been in ministry together for over 30 years including a year as Worship Pastors at the King of Kings Assembly (PAOC) from 1992-1993.  Just prior to that, the King of Kings congregation, according to its website, began placing a greater emphasis on “the Jewish/Old Testament roots of [their] faith, a worship style more suited to Jewish-Israeli culture, an expression of our message of Yeshua (Jesus) in terms Israelis could relate to and understand,” as well as “a deeper level of communication and cooperation with other Messianic communities in Israel and abroad.”
 
Earlier, according to their official CV, the couple had “felt the Call of God to move, 100% by faith!, to Jerusalem, Israel. There they were invited to be volunteer staff worship leaders for the ICEJ and various local congregations.” ICEJ Liaison Officer Doron Schneider is or was the head of the Messianic Jewish community in Maaleh Adumim. In addition, says  Ze’ev Shtieglitz of the anti-missionary Lev L’Achim organization, Dr. George Giacumakis, one-time Chairman of the Board of Trustees of ICEJ, has expressed the hope that, via various Christian Jewish ‘friendship’ organizations, and by giving financial and political support to Israel, Jews will start showing interest in Christianity.
 
"We note of late the terrible phenomenon of Messianic Jews wreaking havoc and destruction in Israel by trying to bring Jesus as Messiah into Israel,” Be’er Sheva’s Chief Rabbi Yehuda Deri once told Israel National News. “With pleasantness and kindness, they bring Torah, fear of God and even Torah commandments   but all with one underlying theme: that Jesus is Messiah. [Christian Zionists] want to help and support us, but they have the same goals as the Messianics… They have one goal, and that is Jesus.”
 
Spokespersons for many Christian groups, both Jewish and Christian, say they do not engage in active missionary activity. Many Jewish groups that work with them say they are careful to screen out missionaries, and make it clear that they will not work with anyone who espouses a missionary program.
 
But according to former Jerusalem Councilwoman Mina Fenton, many of them are missing the point: "The goal of all the groups is to blur the differences between Jews and Christians, to show the Jewish roots of Jesus, and to show that we believe in the same things… That’s why they have all these missions and study groups and women’s groups and seminars on Christianity’s Jewish roots and the like because they want Jews to think that they can remain Jewish while still accepting Jesus."
 
The Knesset Christian Allies Caucus
Kendall writes on his official CV that he is a “current member of the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus (KCAC).” However, Josh Reinstein, director of the Caucus, explains that a caucus consists only of elected officials: “I know who he is, and he may have attended some of our events, but he is not affiliated with us, and by definition of what we are, he can’t be a member. We don’t work with individuals, but rather with governments and organizations for the purpose of gaining political support. To associate with us a particular missionary who might have snuck into Israel is ludicrous.”
 
Reinstein took the opportunity to explain that the KCAC’s objective is to garner Christian faith-based political support for Israel in legislatures around the world. To this end, it has established a network of 13 sister caucuses in legislatures throughout the world, including in the U.S., Canada, Britain, Switzerland, South Africa, Germany, the European Union, Japan, South Korea and Brazil.

"Many Christians recognize that their belief in the Bible connects them to the land and the people of Israel," the KCAC website states. "On this basis, we work together to achieve our goals," namely, to "build a direct line of communication, cooperation, and coordination between the Knesset and Christian leaders around the world [and to] work with Christians who support Israel and with those who are undecided on their position towards Israel."