International Mission to Jewish People

International Mission to Jewish People
Formation1976 (1976)
Merger ofBarbican Mission to the Jews
International Society for Evangelisation of the Jews
Websitewww.imjp.org
The first planeload of Jewish refugee children from Czechoslovakia arrived in England on 12 January 1939. The Barbicans arranged the flight.

International Mission to Jewish People (IMJP) formerly Christian Witness to Israel (CWI) is a Protestant Christian organization dedicated to the evangelisation of Jewish people. It was founded in 1976 as a merger between the International Society for Evangelisation of the Jews and the Barbican Mission to the Jews.[1]

The International Society for the Evangelisation of the Jews (IJS) was founded in 1842 as the British Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Among the Jews. It published a periodical called The Jewish Herald.[2]

The Barbican Mission to the Jews (BMJ) was founded in 1879. It operated in the East End of London, and was run by Jewish Christians.[2] BMJ was also involved in the Kindertransport, including the KLM flight of January 1939, and supported the rescue of about a hundred Jewish children to England prior to World War II.[3][4]

Both pre- and post-millennial theology inspired the early Christian Zionists who established and ran the two progenitor societies.[5]

IMJP has workers in Israel, the United Kingdom, France, Holland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and the United States. It considers that the Bible "gives a special place to Jewish evangelism".[6]

  1. ^ "A Brief History". Christian Witness to Israel. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  2. ^ a b Rubinstein, William D.; Jolles, Michael; Rubinstein, Hilary L. (2011). The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History. pp. 126–127. ISBN 9781403939104. Retrieved 28 July 2015.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ Cesarani, David (2014). "Mad Dogs and Englishmen: Towards a Taxonomy of Rescuers in a 'Bystander' Country – Britain 1933-45". Bystanders to the Holocaust: A Re-evaluation. Routledge. p. 56. ISBN 9781317791744.
  4. ^ "BBC - Radio 4 - Home Truths - Ilse's Story". www.bbc.co.uk. BBC Radio 4. Archived from the original on 27 January 2024. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  5. ^ Lewis, Donald (2 January 2014). The Origins of Christian Zionism: Lord Shaftesbury And Evangelical Support For A Jewish Homeland. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 380. ISBN 9781107631960.
  6. ^ "FAQ". Christian Witness to Israel Australia. Retrieved 28 July 2015.