Barry was raised in a Jewish American family, encountering the Messiah as a young musician living a colourful lifestyle in Detroit and Cleveland. He focused on praise and worship music and led a fellowship while also pursuing a career in professional radio and TV production. In 1981, Barry made Aliyah from the USA and moved to Jerusalem where he met Batya. They were married in Jerusalem in 1987.

After Barry received a powerful vision that Israel would experience a time of plenty and then of anguish, similar to the Biblical tale of Joseph, he and Batya opened the Joseph Storehouse, a warehouse that supplied essential humanitarian aid to impoverished Israelis—both Jews and Arabs. Vision for Israel was registered as a non-profit organisation in Israel in 1994.