ARAD DOSSIER

JEWISH OUTREACH INTERNATIONAL

PO Box 720375
Atlanta, Georgia 30328

Voice Mail (770) 512-0743

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Eddie & Lura Beckford Larry Derfner The Beckfords

American Missionaries Courageous Jerusalem Post reporter

(For accessible hypertext links, please see Notes on p.22)

1
Dear Christian Pastors and Leaders,
The following information describes the plight of Eddie and Lura Beckford1, American Missionaries2 serving in the
southern Israeli city of Arad3.

The Beckfords have been subjected to relentless attacks4 by the Gerrer Chassidic organization5, which has a large
Yeshiva based in Arad.

While the Beckfords have faced their persecutors with Christ-like love and forbearance, they do need the help and
support of their Christian brethren, particularly in the United States. American churches play a vital role in supporting
Israel economically via Christian tourism and pilgrimages and politically via lobbying groups.

Please read about the Beckfords’ heroic efforts to disseminate the Gospel of love in a sea of darkness and despair.

Please pray and intercede for them.

Please consider visiting with them when you next travel to Israel.

Please consider supporting them with precious Christian seed-money.

Please also consider writing to Israeli officials6 to protest the demeaning and degrading treatment of the Beckfords at the
hands of these dangerous and violent Orthodox Jewish fanatics, whose behavior brings shame upon the State of Israel
and the entire worldwide Jewish community, especially in the eyes of American Evangelical Christians, who are
enthusiastic supporters – morally, financially and politically - of the Jewish nation.

Thanking You in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, Israel's Messiah and Savior of the World.

Toda Rabba beShem Yeshua MiNatzrat, Meshicho shel Yisrael waMoshio shel kol haOlam kulo!

PS Attached is the recent Jerusalem Post article7 about the Beckfords. Sensitive readers should prepare themselves for
8
an onslaught of racial epithets and curses, bearing in mind Jesus' words in Luke 6 :

Love for Enemies

27
"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you,
pray for those who mistreat you. 29If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone
takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. 30Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what
belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32
"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. 33And if you
do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. 34And if you lend to those
from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid
in full. 35But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.
Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful
and wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

2
 Jul 2, 2009 12:10 | Updated Jul 2, 2009 12:18

'Watch out, missionaries!'9

By10 LARRY11 DERFNER12 <updates@jpost.com>

The word "nigger" features prominently in the videos taken by Eddie Beckford and his wife Lura, a Messianic Christian
couple living in the desert town of Arad. The videos, going back to 2005, show anywhere from a handful to a mob of
local Gur Hassidim harassing them and other Messianics in town. Eddie Beckford, 61, is a black American, hence the
racial slur.

Eddie and Lura Beckford, American Missionaries in Israel

"Nigger, go back to Harlem!" chants one gleeful man in the midst of hundreds of shouting, singing, fired-up hassidim
who surrounded Beckford's storefront chess-club-cum-Christian-mission on Shabbat, June 17, 2005. Eddie was filming
from inside the club while about 10 other fearful Messianics were praying.

"Come here you stupid nigger!" another hassid calls out. "Nigger bastard!" yells another. They curse in English, usually
accented. The police keep the crowd a short distance away from the club; otherwise they do nothing.
The term "bastard" is also popular with the Gur Hassidim seen in the videos, but it's usually in reference to Jesus. "They
took some bastard and they believe he rose from the grave," says one haredi filmed last year taunting the Messianics
who were giving away second-hand clothes outside the chess club. "Where is your bastard?" the man demands,
laughing quietly.

RELATED: 'Within the law'13

About two months after the video was taken, the club, near the entrance to the town's market, was burned down in the
middle of the night. (Rebuilt, it now has bars over the rear entrance.) Some time later, dozens of liters of gasoline were
poured around the club's perimeter in the daytime, when several elderly Russian immigrants were playing chess inside,
say local Messianics.

Members of the Arad congregation, which numbers about 50, say they've had their tires slashed dozens of times.
They've been surrounded, threatened and cursed by Gur Hassidim in the market, on the streets or in their homes for
about five years. In all this time they can only recall one arrest of a suspect, and he was released immediately. I tried
three times, in person and by phone, to speak to Yuval Paz, Arad's police chief, and he was never available, nor did he
call me back.

"All their claims are false," insists a haredi man passing by Yeshivat Lev Sameah near the entrance to Arad's Halamish
neighborhood, where the 2,000 or so local Gur Hassidim live. The man, who wouldn't give his name and who was the
only hassid I approached who agreed to talk with me even off-the-record, said he took part in some of the protests
against the Messianics. "We all did," he said, pointing to the Halamish quarter.
3
He said he wasn't against Christians, just against missionaries who proselytize Jews, insisting that this was against the
law. (In fact, it isn't. Israeli law only forbids proselytizing minors or "bribing" potential converts with money or material
favors.)

"This is not their land, this is the land of the Jews," he said. "All these missionaries have to be removed."

From Arad? I asked.

"From Israel," he replied.

ISRAEL'S MESSIANIC Jewish congregations, which are heavily mixed with born Christians like the Beckfords, have
been hounded by the haredim in numerous cities over the years. But no congregation has gotten it worse than the one in
Arad. In nearby Beersheba, the main local Messianic group also receives much more than its share14 of trouble from
local haredim.

Yoyakim Figueras, the Israeli-born leader of the local congregation, says that when the demonstrations outside his
family's Arad house began a few years back, "they used to yell 'Nazi,' and 'Nazi dog.' Now they've become more
sophisticated and they chant, 'Stop baptizing Jews into Christianity.'"

The congregation in Arad includes Christians, Arabs, African refugees, foreign students and workers and Russian
immigrants who weren't brought up Jewish, says Figueras.

Asked if there were also "standard" Israeli Jews - those raised Jewish by a Jewish mother and father - he replied, "Very
few."

The Messianics baptize those who "come to Jesus," but they have scant attraction for mainstream Israeli Jews. As for
gaining new converts, Figueras says nothing has helped the cause in Arad like "the publicity we've gotten from the
ultra-Orthodox."

Virtually every Tuesday night, about 15 of them come to chant outside his house. "This is where we used to hold our
prayer meetings. They got a permit to demonstrate, and now we hold the prayer meetings elsewhere, but they keep
coming to my house and bothering my wife and kids. When I ask the police how they can let people demonstrate week
after week outside a person's private hone because they don't like his religion, they tell me, 'This is a democratic
country,'" says Figueras, 39, a social worker who now works full-time as the congregation's pastor. A couple of haredi
protesters also show up at the Messianics' weekly Shabbat morning services, he adds.

Those protests are the focus of the local Gur Hassidim's campaign now that Beckford is under house arrest for
assaulting one of them. Beckford has been confined to a rented, furnished house in a nice part of Arad, where he is kept
company by his wife and by frequent visitors from the congregation, since February of last year. He is under house
arrest because of an incident that occurred last year, when he was visited at the chess club by a Messianic couple who'd
brought their infant along. A few Gur Hassidim pursued them and soon had them surrounded. Beckford, a tall, strongly-
built Vietnam War veteran raised in a rough part of Manhattan, waded into the pack, pushed the leader to the ground
and punched him out, injuring his ear.

The husband of the visiting couple, who has since left Arad to get away from the hassidim's harassment, told me by
phone that he and his wife, who had been holding their baby in a "snuggly," were terrified. "Before that they'd come to
our house and yelled 'goy,' 'Christian,' 'traitor.' They once threw a placard at my daughter, she was afraid to leave the
house for a long time after that. One of them, named Mendel, had given me a lot of trouble, and when he saw us that
day in the shouk he began following us, yelling, chasing us with the others and I thought he was going to attack us.
Then Eddie jumped in, threw Mendel down, hit him and then I grabbed Eddie and pulled him off," the husband recalls.

4
(Continued from page 1 of 2)15

On the wall opposite the chess club are faded posters put up by Yad L'Achim, the haredi anti-missionary organization
that's instrumental in the campaigns in Arad and elsewhere. "The missionary Edwin Beckford under house arrest," reads
the headline above a copy of the court order. Underneath, it reads: "Citizens of Arad: The missionaries are out to
ambush you! Don't give them a stronghold in Arad." Underneath that, the warning, "Watch out, missionaries!" is
repeated four times.

SITTING IN their living room, Beckford, with his thick white moustache and goatee, looks like a distinguished jazz
veteran while his wife Lura looks like a youthful Middle American grandmother. She immigrated to Israel in 1995 with
her Messianic Jewish husband, a Vietnam War buddy of Eddie's. After her husband died of a heart attack, Lura and
Eddie gradually became close and eventually married; Eddie joined her here in 2001.

On the soundtrack of the video of the 2005 mob scene outside the chess club, Beckford, after the first time he films
someone calling him a "nigger," is heard saying into the microphone, "You're the only guy who's living who doesn't
have a broken jaw for calling me that... You better be glad I'm saved."

He's taken a lot in Arad. "They slashed six tires on our car and van. They scratched the car; they wrote 'f**k' all over it.
They'd call us up all the time in the middle of the night. I'd come home and see them leaning up against the wall of the
house," he says. "I went to the police over and over again, and they'd tell me to wait here, sit over there, go to some
other office. I'd be there for four hours, six hours, and nothing ever got done." After being called "nigger" repeatedly by
one haredi man, Beckford sued him for slander, but the case has been delayed from one date to the next.

A Jewish shopkeeper in the market says: "Everything that happened to him, his troubles with the law, are a result of the
provocations by the haredim. They were very, very aggressive. The haredim came every Monday, when the produce
stands are open and a lot of people come to shop. They'd come by the dozens every week, and on holidays there'd be
hundreds of them, blowing a shofar. They called him and his wife terrible names. They'd call him 'nigger'; they'd call
her 'whore.' Really, no normal person could listen to that all the time and do nothing. Eddie's a good man, peaceful; he
has his own ideology, but he doesn't bother anybody. Just finally he couldn't take it anymore, and so maybe he hit one
of them."

The shopkeeper says he called police several times against the marauders, "but as soon as the police showed up, they
would run away, and that was it." Since Beckford was placed under house arrest and no longer comes to the chess club,
the haredi assaults have stopped, he adds. "It's quiet here now." The shopkeeper insisted on anonymity, saying, "I don't
want to take any chances with the haredim around here."

IN ONE of the Beckfords' videos, a Gur hassid is seen berating one of the Messianic women handing out free clothes
when the hassid is told that the woman was born Jewish. Speaking to the camera in accented English, he offers Jesus a
sarcastic word of thanks.

"All the rotten Jews he took out of us, we should thank him. Take all the rotten Jews. Take all the stinking Jews that no
one wants," he says.

Pointing to the woman he's targeted, he goes on: "She has a black child. All the blacks, he'll take them all." Waving his
hand dismissively, the hassid mutters, "Sick people."

A Messianic woman is heard telling him, "God made black children."

He continues: "We needed that stupid Jesus, that bastard of Jews, to take out all the sick Jews and all the sick Christians
out of us." In the end he says something about "six million Jews." It's hard to make out the context. Overall, though, the
picture is clear enough.

5
 SUGGESTED FORMAT OF APPEAL TO ISRAELI GOVT. OFFICIALS:
To Government Ministers and Officials ,‫לכבוד שרי ומנהיגי ישראל‬
of the State of Israel,
.‫קבלנו הודעה זו על המצב הנורא בערד‬
We received this message about the terrible situation in Arad.
‫נראה לנו שהתנהגות חסידי גור כלפי חברת‬
It seems to us that the behavior of the Gerrer Chassidim towards - ‫ ובפרט נגד הזוג הנוצרי האמרקאי‬- ‫הנוצרים‬
the Christian community – and especially against the American ‫תגרום לחילול ה' עצום וללעג גדול נגד‬
Christian couple - will cause a huge desecration of God's Name
.‫מדינת ישראל‬
and a terrible disgrace to the State of Israel.
,‫למען כבוד ה' וכבוד עמו ישראל‬
For the honor of God and for the honor of His People Israel,
!‫נא לרסן את הקנאים המסוכנים האלה מגור‬
please restrain these dangerous fanatics from Gerr!

With Great Concern,

,‫בדאגה רבה‬
[Signed]

(You can easily harvest the emails out of the following tables by selecting
with the mouse, copying, and pasting them directly into your address line.)

Eddie & Lura Beckford Larry Derfner The Beckfords

American Missionaries Courageous Jerusalem Post reporter

6
 ISRAELI GOVERNMENT ADDRESSES16
ISRAELI FOREIGN AGENCIES
AGENCY
Embassy of Israel, Washington, D.C. (USA)
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EMAIL
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projects@sanfrancisco.mfa.gov.il,
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7
 Tourist Information
Information Center Tel:1-888-77-ISRAEL or info@goisrael.com,
Web: 212-499-5660
www.goisrael.com Fax: 212-499-5665

New York 800 Second Avenue igtonewyork@imot.org,

Israel Government New York, 10017
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8
 ISRAELI DOMESTIC AGENCIES

Prime Minister webmaster@pmo.gov.il,

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Deputy Prime Minister, sar@moin.gov.il,

Minister of Internal Affairs

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Minister of Internal Security sar@mops.gov.il,

webmaster@mops.gov.il,

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Justice sar@justice.gov.il,

Labor and Welfare sar@molsa.gov.il,

9
 CURRENT KENESSETH MEMBERS
Rachel Adatto radato@knesset.gov.il,
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10
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11
Otniel Schneller oschneller@knesset.gov.il,
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Hanin Zoabi hzoaby@knesset.gov.il,
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12
 Who is Lura?17
Shalom! My name is Lura Maiman & I am an Israeli citizen. I was born in the United States in 1943.
Since 1980, my late husband, Messianic Rabbi Milt Maiman, & I had been traveling back & forth to
Israel, exploring the Land & getting to know its people. We immigrated to Israel permanently in
1996. 3 years later, when the Lord decided to call him home to be with Him, I stayed where my heart
is -- in Israel.
We were both serving in the U.S. Air Force when we met one another and subsequently married. We
have lived in many places, but Israel was always our favorite place in all the earth. I still feel that
way.
Israel is the place where God has chosen to place His Name & that makes it unique in all the nations.
I am a Messianic Believer (one who believes in and follows Y'shua (Jesus) the Messiah & Savior). I
accepted Y'shua as my personal L-rd & Savior in 1950 (long time ago!). I am a Bible teacher & I
care deeply about this tiny country & its inhabitants (Jews, Arabs & Christians) because the Lord
cares about this country & its inhabitants. This is the country where the Lord chose to bring into
existence the Living Word, the embodiment of His Being -- the perfect God-man, Y'shua, to bring
salvation to the Jews and also to the world.
I want to bless you with some of the things I have learned over the years & hopefully, together we
can bless the people of Israel, no matter where they are in the world. If you have any questions, feel
free to ask.

October 10, 2001, Eddie Beckford and I were married on the island of Cyprus and we reside in
Arad, Israel together. We began a Chess Club and Bible Shop called The King's Men. For
Eddie's personal story, click Here18 (Home Page of the USAF Redhorse Unit in Vietnam - click
on Edwin Beckford). The ministry continues!
If you would like to help keep us in Israel & are able to do more than pray; please send
contributions to:

Jewish Outreach International is an IRS Tax Exempt 501(c)(3) non-profit Organization. All
donations are Tax deductible. If you're led to make a money contribution, please make your check
out to:
Jewish Outreach International.

PO Box 720375 Atlanta, Georgia 30328 USA

(Please include note with check: Beckford/Israel or General Ministry Fund).

Periodically We travel to the United States to do speaking. If you would like to schedule us in your
church/synagogue, please contact us by email lura_eddie@hotmail.com or through the above
address.

13
 The Religious Freedoms Lawsuits in Israel19
The Arad Battlefront

The King’s Men Chess and Bible Shop20

Lura and Eddie Beckford's ministry to the elderly and poor
Jews, Arabs and Bedouin in the Negev Desert town of Arad

From Lura's email on February 1, 2007

Thanks to your prayers and God’s grace, we have experienced a major victory in the
Supreme Court of Israel. We accept this victory in humility and with caution. Read on and
you will see why….

This past month: After we wrote a check to the court house for the court costs incurred, our
check was turned over to the Haredim [ultra-Orthodox] by someone (?) and they tried to cash
it. The bank refused as it was not made out to them. Instead the Haredim photo-copied the
check and enlarged it, and have been parading around town showing it and claiming that we
are criminals and we had to pay them. The actual check was returned to us by messenger and
I paid the court house directly, however, the Haredim are still boasting with their lies and
slandering us to anyone who will listen.

Two weeks ago: The Haredim have been requesting a police permit for 700 people to
demonstrate outside Polly’s house* in Arad and the Beersheva police turned them down.
The Haredim took the police to court and after more than a year of deliberating, the
Supreme Court upheld the police decision and went a step further and denied the
Haredim permission to demonstrate outside private homes at all. They also said that a
situation needs to be avoided where one group can harass another group and push them out of
town. We will soon post the decision in Hebrew and English on the website. Legally, this is a
major victory for the believers.

However, the Haredim are not law-abiding citizens and feel no compunction to adhere to
the court’s ruling. They are still demonstrating and ever since the verdict was handed down
two weeks ago, they have been more aggressive and nastier than ever. Since our
Chess and Bible Shop is not a private home, we are feeling the brunt of their aggression a bit
more than usual. They are trying to think up something more devious against the believers.
The Lord is our Defense in every way!

Today: A side effect of this verdict has affected us personally as today we went to court again
to answer one of the many false charges the Haredim have filed against Eddie. The
prosecutor dismissed this particular charge and we left the court in a jubilant spirit,
thanking God!

We did not realize how discouraged our lawyer has been in fighting all these cases and not
being able to win any of them, only to postpone them pending the outcome of the Supreme
Court case. Today his first words outside the court room were giving thanks to God. We were
able to sit down and talk with him and fully realize the depths of his depression about this
case. He is very encouraged now and ready to face the future cases. We have another one on
Feb 11. We thank the Lord for renewing his strength and would appreciate your prayers for
him.

14
Lately: Some of the Habadniks (from the late Rabbi Schneerson’s group) have been
getting angry at the Hassidei Gur group and telling them to stop making trouble. Up
until now, both groups were working together and now there is a split in the Habad group of
ultra-orthodox Jews. This is good and we pray that it continues to foster discussion
about the believers.

Email from Lura Beckford on February 28, 2007

ARRESTED!
Shalom Friends. On Feb. 25 Eddie was inside the Chess and Bible Shop and a small
army of Haredim came looking for him. The Chess players shut the door and told Eddie to
stay inside. However, the Haredim next surrounded our van in the parking area. The Bedouin
came running to tell Eddie that the Haredim were messing with the vehicle. Intending to just
get in the van and drive away, Eddie went running to the parking area. They would not let him
drive away, so he got out and ran after one of them – the others jumped him and he was hurt
and they ripped his shirt. The police came and the Haredim complained that Eddie
attacked them.

[Imagine, folks, a mob--the usual suspects--claiming that one man attacked them, and the
police of the small town, knowing the history of harassment this particular mob inflicts on the
owner of this shop, arrests the man for trying to protect his vechicle!--dd]

The police never ask what the Haredim are always doing at our place around our car,
congregation, etc. We never bother them, but the police saw their chance to act against us.
They blame us for the disturbances the Haredim cause: They tell us, "If you weren't
here, we wouldn't have to deal with this trouble."

So, they arrested Eddie and put him in leg irons and took him to jail. They completely
ignored the Bedouins testimony that Eddie did nothing and the Haredim attacked him. He
spent the night in a small filthy cell with 5 other men and in the middle of the night, they
transferred him to another filthy cell. This afternoon, he was arraigned before a judge in
Beersheva, and a plea bargain was offered to him. Go to jail or agree not to return to
Arad for 45 days. So Eddie agreed not to return to the city of Arad for 45 days.

It is 5:30 p.m. and I just returned from a day in court, then taking Eddie to Dimona to retrieve
some of his personal effects, and now I am in Arad to try to retrieve his I.D. Card, which was
confiscated by the police. Eddie is waiting for me at Mohamed's outside town. We will spend
the night in Beersheva and decide what to do next. I am very grateful to the Lord for releasing
him from prison.

This is a culmination of a week of horror as far as the Haredim are concerned. Just this
week, “A” was harassed by them four different times - they blocked his car and pounded on it,
etc. “R” has been harassed while walking her child from school by these grown men. She and I
have been harrassed several times in public areas while walking. All of us have put in
complaints with the police on assault charges.

I had the privilege of being hit by the chief Rabbi of Arad. Why? Just because I believe in
Y'shua as the Savior of the Jewish people and the world. "S," a visiting friend of ours has been
terribly harrassed while giving out literature, including being beaten and spit upon. All this
because we have committed the crime of being believers.

15
Pray for us! Pray for the Jewish People - May God have mercy upon the souls of those
who act in ignorance. The rest I leave in His righteous Hands.

Lura Beckford

P.S. This latest escapade has cost us dearly - if you wish to contribute to our legal
defense fund and help us survive here and continue to do good for the needy - Please
send checks to M.H.C.F., Inc. 2796 N. Cherry Lane, Ronks, PA 17572 USA Please designate the
gifts for Israel - Beckford

Thanks for standing with us - We appreciate it more than you will ever know! It is difficult right
now, but we are more determined than ever to finish the work God has entrusted to us.

*Polly is a believer and a widow who has taken in several children from believing families as
foster care. Because it is against the law to share the faith with any child under the age of 18
years old in Israel, the ultra-Orthodox have over the past three years been daily protesting
Polly's care of these children. They are loud, clamoring and threatening. You can read the
online documentation of the persecution at Lura and Eddie's site (lots of documentary pictures
also). The congregation in Arad led by Yakim Figeuras is also a target of harassment.
http://www.angelfire.com/super/redhorse/Reports/Reports.html

IMPORTANT NOTICE

As always when we bring these disturbing reports from the Holy Land regarding the
abuse of our spiritual family--the followers of Yeshua in Israel--we want to
emphasize that in no way are we encouarging anyone in anti-Jewish or anti-Israel
actions or reactions.

It is important for the Church to handle this information in a Christlike manner. We

don't ignore the truth or pretend it doesn't exist because our brothers and sisters will suffer
greatly if we react in that false manner. But we do not make Jews or Israelis our 'enemies'
because these persecutions are allowed to take place.

Mature believers will acknowledge the truth of the situation and take it to prayer before
the throne of God. But our duty does not end there. We must support the believing community
in Israel and also speak out on behalf of those being persecuted.

No matter what relationships we have formed with unbelievers in Israel, if we don't

speak to the persecution of our brothers and sisters who are Israeli citizens, than family
members who allow a family member to repeatedly beat a spouse or child without intervening.
The blood is upon the hands of those who remain silent knowing that abuse is being
perpetrated.--Donna Diorio

16
 On Tue, 8/25/09, Lura Maiman Beckford <lura_eddie@hotmail.com> wrote:

From: Lura Maiman Beckford <lura_eddie@hotmail.com>

Subject: RE: Appeal to Israeli Kenneseth on Behalf of American Missionaries in Arad
To: "IsraelMichael Korn" <jesusoverisrael@yahoo.com>
Date: Tuesday, August 25, 2009, 1:36 PM

Hi Michael, Thanks for sending this letter to us. It's nice to know that someone else believes the same thing
we do.

Eddie has put a list on the website of Do's and Don'ts as far as giving goes. People keep asking us. We do
not support strictly humanitarian efforts in Israel at the expense of the gospel. We believe it is a betrayal of
Y'shua's command.

When my late husband and I came to Israel we came with the idea that if we get kicked out for giving the
gospel, so be it! So from Day 1, we talked about Y'shua. Than after my husband died, and Eddie came to
Israel and we married, he had the same idea - Y'shua first! Humanitarian works are good if it is connected
with Y'shua. Otherwise it is a waste of time and money.
GOOD MINUS GOD= "0"

Strangely enough, every since we have been on house arrest, we have not been able to continue the
humanitarian work we were doing, but the Gospel has not suffered at all - it is still going forth strongly! We
are becoming so well-known here that all we have to do is show up and people start talking about Y'shua and
the Messianics, etc. God is pleased!

Many of the Christian organizations are being shoved out of Israel and I am not sorry for that.

One of the benefits of persecution here is that some believers have become strong through it. They were
hiding before, but they are standing out in front now. PLus, the children who have experienced this for so
many years are unafraid of the orthodox and they are witnessing and leading other young people to the
Lord. We are very proud of what the Lord is doing here among the teenagers. Things are changing and it's
about time! Blessings upon you! Lura

Website: www.kingsmenarad.com / Website: www.savethejews.org

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present
nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be
able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom 8:38-39

17
From:
Subject: Re: Appeal to Israeli Kenneseth on Behalf of American Missionaries in Arad
To: jesusoverisrael@yahoo.com
Date: Tuesday, August 25, 2009, 3:17 AM

Dear Michael,

This is a sad story that has not changed over centuries. Sadly, it will continue because the Messianic voice in Israel is
still and in hiding (there are a few exceptions).

Companies such as Bridges for Peace,ICEJ and others should be supporting the local believing Jewish/Israeli population
(not the general Israeli public). They are a population that have no voice and have become by and large
"closet believers",afraid of persecution, deportation or worse (e.g, the Ami Ortiz incident).

My wife, for example, who went for a job interview at Bridges for peace was asked whether she would participate in
Missionary activities - a major deciding factor in getting the job. She said no, and got the job!

This does not equate to a vibrant and strong voice within the local believing community. And until this voice is given
the support it deserves it doesn't matter how much money one pumps into Christian Missionaries from America, the
gospel will not flourish here.

PS Until the local believing Israeli/Jewish population have that support they will continue to be a feeble shadow of what
they can be.

From: Lura Maiman Beckford <lura_eddie@hotmail.com>

Subject: Results
To:
Date: Tuesday, August 25, 2009, 12:30 PM

Shalom Friends and Family,

Here are the results of this week in government offices:

Wed. Aug. 19:

Well, today in the Beersheva Court was another experience. We had a lady Judge - one we had never seen before. We
thought we knew them all.

She sees no reason to allow us off house arrest because we have six open cases against us. Our lawyer brought up the
fact that the Haredim were harassing the Christians in Arad and that's where these cases came from and she cut him off
and told him she didn't want to hear it.
So then he suggested an alternative. Since the problem is in Arad, why not allow us to out of Arad whenever we want
and just be on house arrest whenever we are in Arad. She asked the prosecutor if he were open to that and he really
wasn't, but then they both agreed that IF THE ARAD POLICE agree, then that's a possibility. So the Judge said she
would give the Arad police 48 hours to get back to her with an answer. So we should know something by Sunday or
Monday.
The lawyer also asked her if she would add an hour to our exercise times because we have to go out of Arad and it takes
about a hour to get to Beersheva & by the time we get there, it's almost time to turn around and get back. She nixed that
idea too.

So we wait and see. Praise the Lord either way!

18
Thurs., Aug. 20:
The anti-missionary organization, Yad L’Achim, had interfered with Eddie’s I.D. records, so we went to court. The
Judge in Jerusalem had instructed the Interior Ministry to give Eddie a tourist visa immediately so he could not be
deported and to accept our application for permanent residency. They complied. Eddie now has a valid 3-month tourist
visa and they accepted our application for permanent residency. We paid our fees and gave them his passport picture.
They said they would call us when to come back within a few days. So far, so good. The clerk seemed to take it in
stride that she had to follow the Judge's orders. She conferred with the manager and they didn't argue about it at all.
We'll let you know when we get called for the permanent visa.

Seems funny - first Eddie was a citizen and was even able to vote in an election and now he is a tourist. Strange - we
must be in Israel......

Sunday, Aug. 23:

Our Beersheva Defense lawyer called. The Arad Police have stated that under no conditions will the house arrest be
lifted. When our lawyer asked, “What would the conditions be so it could be lifted?” They would not answer. So our
lawyer asked if they were being pressured from the Knesset and they did admit to being pressured but are apparently too
afraid to admit by whom.
Our lawyer then asked what would happen if we were to move out of Arad. They did not want to talk about it, but they
want an answer by tomorrow whether we intend to move out of Arad.. The strange thing is that they want us out of
Arad, but we cannot look for another house unless the house arrest is lifted.

The Lord has been using this house arrest to bring some unity into the Body here in Israel. I am wondering whether He
isn’t trying to bring some unity into the Body-at-large throughout the world. I see the people rallying around Suu Kyi in
Myanmar. She is their elected leader and yet the military staged a coup and put her under house arrest for years! She
has not been forgotten by her people or the media. She is not a Christian and if unsaved people can support her, why
can’t the Christians support us in a similar way?

I think it would be a tremendous witness to Israel if the Christians around the world began expressing their opinions to
the Israeli government about allowing the believers to be so harassed and persecuted by the orthodox and then put under
house arrest without any convictions. (Note: House Arrest is not considered as punishment here). Government members
of the Knesset are listed in the Israel government website, along with their email addresses. Or perhaps writing to the
Foreign Minister at the Israel Embassy in Washington D.C. Whatever the Lord leads you to do, please do it.

We realize that the Lord has a Plan and He is doing something whether we understand it or not. We are submitting to
that, but as in all His Plans, He includes His children. It’s worthwhile to pray, but we also need to put some feet to those
prayers. James 2:14-18

Meanwhile, the Knesset is trying to pass a law that makes illegal workers (Sudanese & other Africans, Asians, etc.)
eligible for 5 - 7 years in prison and ANYONE TRYING TO HELP THEM IS SUBJECT TO THE SAME PRISON
SENTENCE. It is a back door way to get at the Peace Now activists and the Messianic Jews since we are the ones
helping the refugees. The law has passed 2 readings already - it just needs one more reading to be enacted into law. A
Peace Now clinic is referring this activity to the UN Human Rights Committee, and the Labor party is calling for a
discussion of this law before the 3rd reading. The liberal MKs don't like this law, but are having a difficult time
generating opposition to it. Israel just keeps shooting herself in the foot. The only way to bless the Israelis is with the
Gospel. They are almost beyond help. See Isaiah chapter 1.

Anyway, we must pray about this. Messianic Jews are not going to stop helping the refugees because of some stupid
unrighteous law. Just paint a bigger target on our backs! “…sheep to be slaughtered.” Romans 8:35-39

As for me, I am feeling a little claustrophobic and I keep reminding myself that “ In all things, we are more than
conquerors through Him who loved us!” Continue to pray that we are given the grace to endure.
Thanks for being there! Blessings in Y’shua, Lura / Arad, Israel lura_eddie@hotmail.com
19
 JEWISH OUTREACH INTERNATIONAL21
PO Box 720375
Atlanta, Georgia 30328
Voice Mail (770) 512-0743
Cell Phone (770) 880-7474 (Verizon)
stevenbkaplan@aol.com
Jewish Outreach International (JOI) EVANGELIZES and DISCIPLES Jewish people and others
while EQUIPPING the church to do the same. We believe Jesus (Yeshua) was God in the
flesh, died for our sins and rose from the dead. We love and support the state of Israel and
the Jewish people. Our doctrine is consistent with the Baptist Faith and Message. JOI is an
IRS approved 501(c)(3) non-profit ministry headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and began
ministering on January 1, 2008. Our Board of Directors enables us to minister with our
president, two staff workers in Israel, local volunteers and thousands of believers worldwide
who use our t-shirts and Gospel materials to share God's love.

Steven Barry Kaplan EDDIE and LURA BECKFORD

Atlanta, Georgia Arad, Israel

The Beckfords have been ministering in

Steven is the president of Jewish Outreach
International, is a Jewish believer in Jesus, a
licensed Southern Baptist Minister and ministers
throughout the world. Steven has challenged
millions worldwide with his evangelistic clothing,
has personally distributed over 500,000 Gospel
materials in 25 countries and has prayed with
hundreds of Jews and gentiles to receive Jesus.
Steven hosts a weekly Bible study fellowship for
new Jewish believers and others.
Israel since 2001. They manage the
Kingsmen Arad Chess Club -Messianic
Outreach Center in Arad, Israel.
Despite fire bombings, physical
assaults and continued harassment,
God has used the Beckfords to share
the love of Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) to
reach many in Arad, throughout Israel
and worldwide!
(click here for their website)

20
 Egged Buses To Arad22 (sample routes):
From Jerusalem Central Bus Station From Tel Aviv-Yafo New Central Bus Station
To Tel Aviv-Yafo New Central Bus Station To Arad Central Bus Station

First segment of the trip

Route No. 405 Operator Egged

Departing: Jerusalem CBS ( 3th floor) Platform 17
Departure Time Thu - 05:50 Arrival Time Thu - 06:45
Destination Tel Aviv CBS
Total Time 00:55 Fare nis 19

Second segment of the trip

Route No. 389 Operator Egged
Departing: Tel Aviv CBS Platform 614
Departure Time Thu - 10:10 Arrival Time Thu - 12:01
Destination Arad
Total Time 01:51 Fare nis 37

From Jerusalem - Central Bus Station From Be'er Sheva Central Bus Station
To Be'er Sheva Central Bus Station To Arad - Central Bus Station

First segment of the trip

Route No: 446 Operator Egged
Departing: Jerusalem CBS ( 3th floor) Platform 10
Departure Time Thu - 06:00 Arrival Time Thu - 08:10
Destination Be'er Sheva, CBS
Trip Time 02:10 Fare nis 30
Second segment of the trip
Route No: 384 Operator Egged
Departing: Be'er Sheva, CBS Platform 3
Departure Time Thu - 09:30 Arrival Time Thu - 10:15
Destination Bus stops
Trip Time 00:45 Fare 16 nis

21
 NOTES

1
http://kingsmenarad.com/

2
https://www.savethejews.org/

3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arad,_Israel

4
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ger_(Hasidic_dynasty)

5
http://www.israelprayer.com/articles/The%20Arad%20Israel%20Battlefront.html

6
http://www.scribd.com/doc/18947500/Israeli-Govt-Addresses

7
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1246443701838&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter

8
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+6&version=NIV

9
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1246443701838

10
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1246443701838&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter

11
http://www.jewishisrael.com/profiles/blogs/pray-for-larry-derfner-israels

12
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?apage=1&cid=1233304759140&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

13
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1246443701861&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

14
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1246443701838#
15
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?apage=2&cid=1246443701838&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

16
For accessible Israeli Government hypertext links, please go to this site: http://www.scribd.com/doc/18947500/Israeli-Govt-Addresses

17
http://www.angelfire.com/super2/redhorse/Chaplain/FAQ/faq01.html

18
http://www.angelfire.com/super2/redhorse/index.html
19
http://www.israelprayer.com/articles/The%20Arad%20Israel%20Battlefront.html
20
http://www.angelfire.com/super/redhorse/Reports/Reports.html

21
https://www.savethejews.org/

22
http://mslworld.egged.co.il/eggedtimetable/WebForms/wfrmMain.aspx?width=1024&company=1&language=en&state

22