Ken Burnett, founder and former Director of Prayer for Israel, died on January 10 2014, aged 95.
Ken was a believer in Jesus from an Orthodox Jewish background who became connected with Israel at the same time as helping to feed Operation Mobilisation team members from his restaurant in Bromley.
On visiting Israel in the late 1960’s after the six day war in 1967, he met Jewish believers who encouraged him to go back to the UK and get people to pray for Israel – which he did tirelessly for the next 45 years.
By 1969, Prayer for Israel (PFI) began its ministry formally as a response to the growing Messianic Jewish movement in Israel. The primary concern of PFI is prayer for Messianic and Arab believers in the land of Israel. Since the pioneering prayer work of Ken Burnett and his wife Lillie (who died in June 1998), there has been a growth in Israel from around two to well over 100 Messianic fellowships.
With thanks to Derek Rous, the current Director of PFI, who sent these facts and the photo of Ken. Derek is one of the speakers at a PFI day conference at St Pancras, Chichester – see the Events section.
Editor’s note
Ken was very keen on HEART OF SUSSEX, and even though over 90 when he found it, he would ask for extra copies and post them to his friends. I shall miss his warm encouragement.