Following their support at the recent March Against Antisemitism in Leeds, Karen and Gordon Beattie, the UK Prayer Co-ordinators of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, tell us how the organisation is tackling rising antisemitism in the UK.
The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) was established in 1980 with the aim of raising support for Israel across Christian communities globally. The organisation currently represents millions of Christians across 100 different countries. Karen and Gordon Beattie are the organisation’s UK Prayer Co- ordinators and Karen explains how they came to be involved: “About 20 years ago, we were in a church in the Wirral and there was a group that prayed for Israel. We went to a few of the annual ICEJ conferences, and we always kept a loose connection with them, but paths go on different steams. We really felt the need to reconnect back five years ago. Israel was doing well financially but we knew it needed a lot of prayer and support from the Christian community.”
Since October 7th, there has been a national prayer call from the ICEJ headquarters in Jerusalem. Karen and Gordon co-ordinate all the prayer for the UK: “There are over 150 nations represented in the prayer call, so they have a panel of ICEJ leaders, Jewish representatives, pastors from the land of Israel and from other nations. They also give up-to-date information on what’s happening in Gaza and at the northern border.”
The couple have managed to visit Israel several times through their work with the ICEJ and were struck with the country’s beauty, as Gordon shares: “It’s wonderful to be able to support Israel, particularly at this time. The reception we receive when we do marches there, with people from different nations marching through the streets of Israel, it’s marvellous. I love Jerusalem, especially the old city.”
Another important aspect of the ICEJ’s is tackling rising antisemitism, and Karen and Gordon recently spoke at a March Against Antisemitism in Leeds City Centre. Karen shares some thoughts on this goal: “The ICEJUK are prepared to stand with the Jewish community. We have representatives right across the UK and we’re more than willing to come and share our work. We want the Jewish community to know that there are people standing with them.”
Find out more at Icej.org
