barnabasaid
barnabasaid.org
January/February 2017
BARNABAS AID - HOPE AND RELIEF AGENCY FOR THE PERSECUTED CHURCH - Bringing hope to suffering Christians
SYRIA
Blessings in war-torn Aleppo
NIGERIA
Support for parents of the Chibok girls
HUMANISM
Roots of the new civic religion
her future is in his hands
Barnabas Aid January/February 2017 2 What helps make Barnabas Aid distinct from other Christian organizations that deal with persecution?
We work by:
●● directing our aid only to Christians, although its
benefits may not be exclusive to them (“As we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” Galatians 6:10, emphasis added)
●● aiming the majority of our aid at Christians living in Muslim environments ●● channeling money from Christians through Christians to Christians ●● channeling money through existing structures in the countries where funds are sent (e.g. local churches or Christian organizations) ●● using the money to fund projects that have been developed by local Christians in their own communities, countries or regions ●● considering any request, however small ●● acting as equal partners with the persecuted
Church, whose leaders often help shape our overall direction
How to find us USA 6731 Curran St, McLean, VA 22101 Telephone (703) 288-1681 or toll-free 1 (866) 936-2525 Fax (703) 288-1682 Email usa@barnabasaid.org UK 9 Priory Row, Coventry CV1 5EX Telephone 024 7623 1923 Fax 024 7683 4718 From outside the UK Telephone +44 24 7623 1923 Fax +44 24 7683 4718 Email info@barnabasfund.org Registered charity number 1092935 Company registered in England number 4029536 For a list of all trustees, please contact Barnabas Fund UK at the Coventry address above.
●● acting on behalf of the persecuted Church, to be their voice – making their needs known to Christians around the world and the injustice of their persecution known to governments and international bodies
We seek to: ●● meet both practical and spiritual needs ●● encourage, strengthen and enable the existing local Church and Christian communities – so they can maintain their presence and witness rather than setting up our own structures or sending out missionaries
●● we are called to address both religious and secular ideologies that deny full religious liberty to Christian minorities – while continuing to show God’s love to all people ●● in the clear Biblical teaching that Christians should treat all people of all faiths with love and compassion, even those who seek to persecute them ●● in the power of prayer to change people’s lives and situations, either through grace to endure or through deliverance from suffering
●● tackle persecution at its root by making known the aspects of the Islamic faith and other ideologies that result in injustice and oppression of non-believers ●● inform and enable Christians in the West to respond to the growing challenge of Islam to Church, society and mission in their own countries ●● facilitate global intercession for the persecuted Church by providing comprehensive prayer materials
“Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”
(Matthew 25:40)
You may contact Barnabas Aid at the following addresses Germany German supporters may send gifts for Barnabas Fund via Hilfe für Brüder who will provide you with a tax-deductible receipt. Please mention that the donation is for “SPC 20 Barnabas Fund”. If you would like your donation to go to a specific project of Barnabas Fund, please inform the Barnabas Fund office in Pewsey, UK. Account holder: Hilfe für Brüder International e.V. Account number: 415 600 Bank: Evang Kreditgenossenschaft Stuttgart IBAN: DE89520604100000415600 BIC: GENODEF1EK1 New Zealand PO Box 27 6018, Manukau City, Auckland, 2241 Telephone (09) 280 4385 or 0800 008 805 Email office@barnabasfund.org.nz
To guard the safety of Christians in hostile environments, names may have been changed or omitted. Thank you for your understanding. Published by Barnabas Fund The Old Rectory, River Street, Pewsey, Wiltshire SN9 5DB, UK Telephone 01672 564938 Fax 01672 565030 From outside UK: Telephone +44 1672 564938 Fax +44 1672 565030 Email info@barnabasfund.org
We believe:
Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and obtain permission for stories and images used in this publication. Barnabas Aid apologizes for any errors or omissions and will be grateful for any further information regarding copyright. © Barnabas Fund 2017
Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland PO Box 354, Bangor, BT20 9EQ Telephone 028 91 455 246 or 07875 539003 Email ireland@barnabasfund.org
Singapore Cheques in Singapore dollars payable to “Olive Aid Trust” may be sent to: Olives Aid Sdn Bhd, P.O. Box 03124 Subang Jaya, 47507 Selangor, MALAYSIA
Australia PO BOX 3527, LOGANHOLME, QLD 4129 Telephone (07) 3806 1076 or 1300 365 799 Fax (07) 3806 4076 Email bfaustralia@barnabasfund.org
Singaporian supporters may send gifts for Barnabas Fund online via Olive Aid Trust: Beneficiary: OLIVE AID TRUST Bank Name: United Overseas Bank (Malaysia) Berhad Swift Code: UOVBMYKL Location: KUALA LUMPUR Account Number: 140-901-654-0
International Headquarters The Old Rectory, River Street, Pewsey, Wiltshire SN9 5DB, UK Telephone 01672 564938 Fax 01672 565030 From outside UK: Telephone +44 1672 564938 Fax +44 1672 565030 Email info@barnabasfund.org
To donate by credit/debit card, please visit the website www.barnabasaid.org or phone 703 288 1681 or toll free 1 866 936 2525
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations are taken from the New International Version®. Front Cover: Every month Barnabas Aid provides food parcels to hundreds of Christian children in Aleppo © Barnabas Aid 2017. For permission to reproduce articles from this magazine, please contact the International Headquarters address above.
Jesus our Consolation
Jesus ... will come to purify as well as to bring hope
Israel’s strength and consolation, hope of all the earth thou art; dear desire of every nation, joy of every longing heart. (Charles Wesley)
4 4 Feature
Ministering in the war-torn city of Aleppo
6
Feature
9
Feature
Widows of War; Angela’s testimony
Consolation and help for the parents of the Chibok Girls
10 Pull-out
D
uring the Christmas period we sing, “O come, O come, Emmanuel” – a hymn that carries with it the longing for God to come to His people who are held captive, who are in exile, who experience loneliness, alienation, and despair. It is a cry from the heart for God to visit His people again and to bring deliverance and help, to enclose them in His arms and take them home to their promised rest. Emmanuel – God with us – is God the comforter and God the consoler of His people. In Luke’s Gospel, chapter 2, verses 25-26, we read that Simeon was waiting for the consolation of Israel, longing for the comfort that would bring deliverance to its captive people. Jesus is that promised consolation, the divine Parakletos, who was to bring comfort to His captive and alienated people. Today the Church of Jesus Christ includes multitudes of Christians who know no earthly home but who long for their heavenly Home. Here on earth they are in exile, dispossessed, subjected to the whims of dictators, and evil men who seek to destroy them. Their experience is one of desolation. In an African country, Christian leaders have written to Barnabas Aid of the desolation that is currently afflicting their country but coupled with consolation. The desolation is that of war brought about by Islamic extremists, which in turn has led to a response from militants on the ground equally vicious, which in turn has brought in the United Nations peacekeepers who have themselves become a problem. In the midst of this conflict, there is a resurgence of witchcraft in which some of the most evil practices are being performed by some who call themselves Christians yet have turned to the spirit powers. Similarly Islamic extremists are following occult practices, for example to make themselves impervious to bullets. In the midst of this desolation, Christian leaders have looked to the consolation which Christ alone can bring and have called upon their people to repent and to turn to prayer. They have sought a spiritual response to the barbarity that surrounds them. In Western countries, where freedom reigns and physical warfare is absent, the abomination of desolation of which Jesus spoke (Mark 13:14 and Matthew 24:15, referring to the book of Daniel) is surely the paganism that has entered into the Church. Christianity has drunk from a secular, materialist, humanist cup, and therefore is shaped by the culture which is anti-God. The Church now engages in practices far from what the Bible teaches and far removed from the commandments of God. She has eyes but does not see, ears but does not hear. The desolation of the Church in the West is as stark as that which confronts the Church in places racked with war, except that it is a spiritual war that is waged against the Church of Christ and in many places is seeing her crumble. Jesus, the consolation of Israel, will come to purify as well as to bring hope. As we face a new year with all the uncertainties that it brings, we live with the abomination of desolation but also with that expectation of the Consolation of Israel who has come.
Newsdesk
What the Trump presidency could mean for persecuted Christians
Humanism
the roots of the new civic religion
12
Testimony
14
Compassion in Action
How one Afghan met Christ
“Dream come true” for rural Christians in Pakistan
14 16
Advocacy
How your letters can make a difference
18
In Touch
Suffering Church Action Week reports
A Channel of Blessing for Christians in War-Torn Aleppo Barnabas Aid partners with a compassionate and visionary doctor In a land that has been impacted by war – whether nearby or on its own territory – for 14 years, Professor Dr. Jany Haddad has spearheaded visionary work among the people of Aleppo, particularly the Christian community. He has used his medical expertise as a surgeon, his God-given energy and courage, and his ability to organize and inspire others to establish ten ministries to help the weakest and most vulnerable in the Name of Christ. Dr. Jany was born in 1954 in Iran, of Armenian parents. His father’s forebears had fled one of the earliest Ottoman attacks on Christians and moved to Aleppo in the 1860s; his mother’s family fled in 1915 when the Armenian genocide was at its height. Raised in Kuwait, he moved to Aleppo in 1990, having studied medicine at Damascus and Glasgow, specializing in oncology. In 2006 Dr. Jany (center) founded the Armenian Christian Medical Association (ACMA), which Barnabas Aid has supported. He continues to lead ACMA’s medical mission teams on their visits to the poorest and neediest places where his indefatigable energy enables him to perform so many surgical procedures each day that he keeps two complete operating theaters running simultaneously and never takes a break until he finishes late at night. He was awarded the Republic of Armenia Gold Medal “for services provided to the homeland” at Armenia’s 25th anniversary of independence in September 2016, as well as a gold medal from the prime minister of Nagorno Karabakh.
Joseph Ministry – feeding needy Christians
In March 2003, Iraqi refugees began arriving in Syria, fleeing the conflict and chaos that was about to descend on their country after the US-led invasion. Aleppo was the first major city that the refugees arrived at in their flight. Barnabas Aid was almost immediately involved, helping Aleppo’s Christians feed their needy brothers and sisters from Iraq. In 2011, as conflict broke out in Syria itself, the Joseph Ministry was expanded, with Barnabas Aid’s help, to feed Syrian Christians as well; at its peak, over 21,000¹ people were being fed through this ministry, mainly in Aleppo itself. ¹ Through other project partners, Barnabas Aid also feeds many other Christians in Aleppo and throughout Syria
St. Luke’s Medical Center
Barnabas Aid has helped to set up this new medical facility in the most dangerous part of Aleppo. Since the clinic opened, not a single rocket or mortar has landed in the area! The medical center now serves 30–50 patients per day; there are 26 volunteer Christian doctors and dentists with 13 specialities between them. Patients pay just $1 for a general check-up, EKG, ultrasound, and three days’ medicine if needed. Of the $1, the doctors get 40¢, which gives them an income of $25-30 a month. Barnabas Aid helps cover the operating costs so as to enable the clinic to charge these nominal “fees.”
Taking care of Aleppo’s elderly
Unable to face the rigors of travel, many elderly Christians remained behind in Aleppo when their younger relatives fled. There are now around 6,000 people over 75 of whom more than 3,200 are over 80. So St. Luke’s has established two teams to look after the elderly: the project supports them through regular visits, transport to the medical center, free health checks, and surgery.
“I was living in darkness for many years, and you came as a great helper to me. In spite my poor situation and having no one beside me from my family, I felt that now you are my new family and part of you.” “Armen” aged 82, who had been virtually blind from cataracts until St. Luke’s Medical Center helped him to get free surgery.
Barnabas Aid January/February 2017 5
An ancient city destroyed
Isaac Ministry – wells for fresh water
As siege conditions cut off even the most basic amenities in Aleppo, including piped water, Dr. Jany sought to build wells in the city. With help from Barnabas Aid, Isaac Ministry established 37 wells, delivering 5,000-13,000 gallons a day from each well, and serving nearly 400,000 people in Aleppo.
Widows of War program
This program began in 2013 with 18 Christian widows. Sadly, the need has grown and now the project assists 92 widows and their children. All the husbands died violently in the current war situation, many of them as martyrs for Christ. (See pages 6-8)
Micro-enterprises
Five women, each from a different family, are earning an income for their families with projects to make jam, tomato paste, pepper paste, and other food stuffs. A third of the income is reinvested in the initiative.
Aleppo
Syria
Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and formerly its industrial powerhouse, has been completely devastated by nearly six years of war. For many months it was under almost complete siege, with food very scarce and expensive. For years, piped water, electricity, fuel, and internet connections have been only occasionally available. Bombardment by rockets and mortars became the norm, and Dr. Jany had to dodge sniper bullets on his daily walk to work. During this period, Aleppo has seen its Christian population dwindle from over 400,000 to 35,000, 20% of whom are aged 75+. Before the war there were 134 private hospitals – now there are 17; only six government hospitals remain out of 20; of the 4,845 doctors pre-war, there are now only 700. Eight major churches in Aleppo have been destroyed. The Syrian pound has collapsed, and inflation has caused prices to rise by 1,000%. These are the cold statistics that barely touch the surface of the city’s human misery and privation. In spite of it all, Dr. Jany remains a man of unrelenting faith and inexorable hope.
University students
Death in Family ministry
This ministry helps the newly bereaved if the organizational burden after the death of a loved one proves too much to cope with. It also helps with funeral costs. Currently, over 100 families are getting regular help.
Post-trauma care for children
Dr. Jany has developed a curriculum which a small team is implementing to help trauma victims in Aleppo, especially children who have been greatly disturbed by what they have seen and experienced during the war.
Many students in Aleppo have had to abandon their studies to find paid work because, although tuition is free, travel and study materials cost money. Last year this ministry supported 196 university students in Aleppo who are internally displaced or orphans, and this year the number will be increasing to around 240 students. The students are supported financially to enable them to continue with their studies, and they also gather monthly for prayer and fellowship.
Renovation of damaged homes Barnabas Aid is assisting in the funding of this initiative to repair homes that have been damaged in the conflict so that they are fit to live in when the families return. The team of volunteers discusses with the owners of the buildings to make sure they are committed to returning home before they start work on the properties, asking only that the home-owners contribute 10% of the final cost of repair.
A Martyr’s Widow Angela’s story “My future and my kids’ future are 100% in His hands.”
Angela, a Christian widow from Aleppo. Her husband was killed by Islamic State because he would not convert to Islam
Barnabas Aid January/February 2017 7
On
January 8, 2014, Angela was at home with her three young children in Aleppo, Syria, when she received a phone call. It was Islamic State (IS) calling to tell her that they had beheaded her husband, Minas, and her father-in-law.
to collect the bodies. A DVD with footage of the beheadings was delivered to her. Desperately Angela sought help to retrieve the bodies, but no one knew how to get them from IS in Raqqa. Then IS phoned and said, “You would give them a Christian burial, but we are going to give them a Muslim burial. We will do you a favor, however, and put them in single graves instead of in a mass grave.”
The two men had gone out to work one hot summer’s day in 2013 and never came home. It was a fortnight before she got a call telling her that IS had kidnapped them from the ice-making factory on the Aleppo airport road where they worked. The caller was very frightened. He himself had been held captive by IS alongside Angela’s husband and fatherin-law, but had been released after a ransom was paid. Although a Muslim, he had felt a bond with his Christian fellow-prisoners, and agreed to smuggle out Angela’s phone number and contact her to tell her where her loved ones were.
In February 2014 Angela joined the Widows of War program in Aleppo (see overleaf), which gives both practical and spiritual support. She had been raging against God, asking why He had let this happen to her godly husband, who was so faithful in prayer, and to her father-in-law, who read the Bible every day despite his
“Islamic State do not need your money … They want something else – a penalty.”
Angela learned that a Muslim worker at the factory had betrayed the owners, telling IS that there was a Christian factory in operation. The shock was even greater because Minas and his father had always cared for this particular worker, buying him clothes every year and treating him like a son. IS fighters came to the factory and seized Minas. When his father arrived later and saw what had happened, he begged IS to take him instead of his son. IS took them both. The caller also told Angela it would be no use offering a ransom for her relatives. “Islamic State do not need your money,” he said. “They want something else – a penalty.” Two months passed before IS themselves began to phone Angela, threatening that they knew where she lived and where her children went to school. A neighbor living in the flat below Angela’s was “one of us,” they said, and was reporting her every movement to IS. Then came the call to say that her loved ones had been beheaded and telling her
failing eyesight. The spiritual ministry of the Widows of War program gave her a fresh perspective. “I got peace in my heart,” she recalls. “I realized it was not a punishment but the love of God to keep me and my children in this situation.” However IS would not leave her alone. They resumed their threatening phone calls, trying to get her to convert to Islam. They threatened to rape her and her eight-yearold daughter, or to kill her children in front of her eyes. They told her, “Your husband was very stubborn. We could not convince him to leave Christianity.” No doubt Angela realized full well that they must have tortured him. “Your husband was buried as a Muslim,” they said, “therefore he is now a Muslim, and therefore, you belong to us.” Eventually Angela and her children fled to Armenia, where they now live in safety. “Previously I had a gloomy future,” she says. “Now I have trust and faith that God is with me. My future and my kids’ future are 100% in His hands.”
“Look after orphans and widows in their distress”
(James 1:27)
Consolation and relief for Aleppo’s Christian widows of war
K
idnapped, tortured, killed – Christian men are one of the main targets of Islamist militant groups in Syria. As well as those who died as martyrs for Christ, many Syrian Christian men have lost their lives in other war-related violence. Each husband and father leaves a widow and children, not only grieving but also bereft of their protector and provider. In Syria’s largest city Aleppo, now so battle-scarred that it is virtually unrecognizable, a Christian doctor and his wife coordinate a program to help 92 young Christian widows. All of them have lost their husbands in the current conflict. Barnabas Aid supplies the finance to support these widows and their 186 children while Professor Dr. Jany Haddad and his wife head up the program that brings both practical help and spiritual consolation.
Regular help relieves practical burdens
Every month the widows receive a food parcel and other support. Once a year the whole family gets new clothes, and the children get new shoes twice a year. The children are also given stationery and other school items. All this costs an average of $63 per widow per month. There is day-to-day support through home visits and counseling, and also an annual health check-up.
Hope and healing for grieving hearts
The project has gradually developed a sense of community among these bereaved women and their children as they reach out to comfort and care for each other. Once a month, the widows gather for a day of prayer, teaching and fellowship, including inspirational stories of women in the Bible, advice on women’s health issues, and trauma counseling.
Barnabas helps 92 Christian widows in Aleppo, most of who are aged between 20 and 45.
Every year, they celebrate Christmas, Easter and Mother’s Day together and, from time to time, there are special conferences for children, young people and the widows themselves. The healing impact of these events can be dramatic, as in the case of a little girl called “Saramma” (see box), or mother-of-three, Angela (see pages 6–7). Outside these meetings the widows keep in touch with each other. They can’t change what has happened, but they can look ahead and, with God’s help, find joy in the present and hope for the future. Eight-year-old “Saramma” refused to leave the corner of the room on the first day of the conference for the fatherless children, and would not talk to anyone. When given a picture to draw, she colored the whole piece of paper in black. But by the last day, after the skilled intervention of trauma specialists, the little girl was playing with the other children – and she colored her picture with many bright colors. Project reference 49-1307
Heart-broken parents of kidnapped Chibok girls get relief and trauma counseling
Anguished mothers of the Chibok girls
On
the night of April 14-15, 2014, militant Islamist group Boko Haram kidnapped at least 270 schoolgirls, mainly Christian, and forced them to convert to Islam and marry Boko Haram fighters. Some escaped and some were later released, but over 200 girls, now aged around 16–18, are still held. Wracked with grief, many of the missing girls’ parents have developed illnesses arising from stress and sorrow since their daughters were taken, and 17 of them have died. The parents have also struggled to survive economically; with Boko Haram so active in the area, it has been impossible for them to travel to the fields where they had previously grown food.
Organizing the relief distribution now work in the safety of their own homes, instead of making the high-risk journey to their fields, which are so vulnerable to attack by Boko Haram. Thirdly, six trauma counselors – pastors, medical workers, and psychologists – have worked with the parents, to help ease their emotional suffering.
“A question will come to my mind, ‘Does Mary and Lydia have something to eat in the bush?’ Then tears will flow from eyes … But, your counsel and advice has given confidence to trust God for their needs.” Paul Pogu Lalai
Triple relief
Barnabas Aid has brought relief to the devastated parents with a three-part project, organized by church leaders in Nigeria. Firstly, the project provided basic food supplies, with each family given 110 lbs maize, 110 lbs rice, cooking oil, and stock cubes. Secondly, each family was given either a sewing machine or a knitting machine, to enable them to support themselves economically. They can
Lives transformed
Lydia, mother of one of the kidnapped girls, told how Barnabas Aid’s trauma counseling had transformed her. “It has been very difficult for me to trust people, mingle with others freely, eat and sleep as a normal human
Barnabas Aid has brought practical, emotional, and spiritual help to 215 grief-stricken families of the girls abducted from their school in Chibok, Nigeria in 2014. The project has supplied them with food, spiritual support, trauma counseling and livelihoods.
Parents received maize, rice, cooking oil, and stock cubes, as well as a means of a livelihood being, I [needed] stomach ulcer drugs due to living with an empty stomach. Your teachings have changed my perspective. I now leave everything to God.” Paul Pogu Lalai, father of two of the girls, explained how the counseling had changed him, “For the past two years it’s difficult for me to do something for myself, I cannot even eat to my satisfaction because anytime I have food placed before me as a father, a question will come to my mind, ‘Does Mary and Lydia have something to eat in the bush?’ Then tears will flow from my eyes and I will just leave the food. Your counsel and advice has given confidence to trust God for their needs.” Project reference 39-1286
Barnabas Aid January/February 2017 10
Donald Trump on radical Islam, the genocide against Christians and freedom of religion
On
January 20, 2017, Donald Trump will be inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States. Trump’s vicepresident-elect, Mike Pence, is well known as a Christian conservative, who as governor of the state of Indiana signed into law a Religious Freedom Act, to protect individual religious freedoms from what he described as “government overreach.” Mr. Trump’s own views on religious freedom have been less well publicized. During the election campaign, Trump stated clear support for the United States’ Christian heritage: “A week doesn’t go by where there’s not some negative ruling on something having to do with Christianity … I’ll be fighting on the other side much stronger than anybody else … because I think it’s really outrageous.” Trump has spoken out about the suffering of Christians in the Middle East and the scandalously low percentage of Christians among the Syrian refugees admitted to the US by the Obama administration. From October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016, the US admitted 10,801 Syrian refugees of which a mere 56 were Christians, i.e. one half of one percent.¹ In a speech on terrorism in August 2016, Trump said: “ISIS has carried out one unthinkable atrocity after another. Children slaughtered, girls sold into slavery, men and women burned alive. Crucifixions, beheadings, and drownings. Ethnic minorities targeted for mass execution. Holy sites desecrated. Christians driven from their homes and hunted for extermination. ISIS rounding up what it calls the ‘nation of the cross’ in a campaign of genocide. We cannot let this evil continue.” During a radio interview in 2015 Trump condemned
the apparent bias against Christian refugees from Syria: “If you’re from Syria and you’re a Christian, you cannot come into this country, and they’re the ones that are being decimated. If you are Islamic ... it’s hard to believe, you can come in so easily.” Trump’s Middle East and counterterrorism advisor, Dr. Walid Phares, is an Arab Christian with extensive experience in US government circles; one US think tank
“ISIS has carried out one unthinkable atrocity after another … rounding up what it calls the ‘nation of the cross’ in a campaign of genocide. We cannot let this evil continue.” recently said of Phares: “He understands that Islam is more than a religion, that it’s also an ideology and an ideology of conquest.” Trump himself has made strong statements condemning radical Islam: “Nor can we let the hateful ideology of radical Islam – its oppression of women, gays, children, and nonbelievers – be allowed to reside or spread within our own countries … Anyone who cannot condemn the hatred, oppression and violence of radical Islam lacks the moral clarity to serve as our President.” Now is the time to pray for the new president. ¹ Syrian Christians, who comprised 10% of Syria’s population before the outbreak of the war, are in far greater danger than the Sunni Muslims who have formed the vast majority (99.1%) of the Syrian refugees admitted to the US.
HUMANISM HOW DID WE GET HERE?
The new civic religion – humanism – is having a major impact on many societies with a Christian heritage and can lead to a rejection of traditional Christian beliefs. It may seem that humanism is a modern, Western idea, but it has its roots in concepts and philosophies that span the globe and date back thousands of years.
Ancient Indian influences The Lokayata system, founded in India around 1500 BC, was a materialistic philosophy that rejected the notion of God, gods, or a creator. It developed many variations, for example Carvaka, whose followers believe that life must be lived to the full and humans must pursue happiness and pleasure above all else. Another Indian influence is Theravada Buddhism.¹ This doctrine of Buddhism rejects the concept of a creator god or considers it irrelevant. Virtue is considered very important, and there are many detailed rules of conduct.
Ancient Chinese influences In China, a form of humanism began to emerge through the philosopher Confucius (551–479 BC). He stated that human values, rather than the supernatural, should govern our lives.
Influences from ancient Greece and Rome (900 BC – 500 AD) The Greek philosopher Epicurus (341–271 BC) taught that humans can live good lives independent of any religion or gods. He also taught that pleasure and pain were the only measures of good and evil, so pleasure must be pursued and pain avoided. Stoicism, developed about 300 BC by Zeno in Ancient Greece, also gained many followers in Ancient Rome. Stoics believed in a self-controlled and virtuous life-style, lived in accordance with nature, which they equated with a god. They taught that people should maintain an inner calm whatever their external situation. Stoics held that truth is what we come to believe because of what we feel through our senses; they did not believe in objective truth.
Islamic influence In Islam’s “Golden Age” (7th to 13th centuries AD), some Muslim scholars became interested in the humanist philosophies of the ancient Greeks and Romans, and preserved their writings in libraries. Meanwhile, medieval Europe lost touch with this classical learning of the past. Eventually European scholars became interested in the scholarly works preserved by Muslims in Arabic, translated them, and began to explore the humanist philosophies.
The Renaissance: 1350 – 1600 During this great reawakening of the arts and literature in Europe, a movement began in northern Italy that was later
called humanism.² Its main aim was to communicate scholarly ideas to the general public and turn the ideas into action. The humanists looked back to Ancient Rome to find out how to communicate effectively, and went on to develop a great interest in the classical world, both Greek and Roman, and in their ancient texts. The next stage was the development of Biblical humanism (also called Christian humanism), which applied these humanist attitudes to Christianity and looked very carefully at the Bible texts. The Biblical humanists emphasized tolerance, Christian love and individual moral responsibility. They tried to understand the Bible’s real message so that people could lead truly Christian lives, and they promoted better education.³
The Reformation: 16th century The Reformation created a new kind of Christianity in Europe, which came to be called Protestantism. This emphasized the individual and taught that each believer could approach God directly, without needing a priest. It also emphasized the Bible more than church tradition and church authority. Martin Luther, who led the Reformation in Germany, was influenced by the Christian humanists.
The Enlightenment: mid-17th – late 18th century As science and other studies developed, Europe moved into a time known as the Enlightenment. Everything had to be tested by reason or it could not be believed. Reason was supreme over revelation and tradition. Concepts that were developed included tolerance, the right to express beliefs, and the separation of Church and State. The Swiss-born French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) wrote an essay entitled Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality among Men, which said that society is the cause of the evils afflicting humankind. He argued that when humans long ago had lived in an isolated state of nature they had been perfectly content and happy, like God. Rousseau recommended that people should cut themselves off as much as they could from relationships with other members of society. In particular he wanted to abolish the family, leaving only individuals and the State.
“The Long Nineteenth Century:” 1789 – 1914 During this time there was rapid progress in scientific discovery. Reason and intellect were held in high regard. Education became more widespread, and encouraged questioning and scepticism. Ideas about human equality were popular and led to discussions about a perfect world
or Utopia. Advances in science led to the Industrial Revolution. The rural poor moved to the cities to find work in the new factories but working conditions were often dreadful. Men, women, and children were required to work long hours for low pay in dangerous and unhealthy conditions. Numerous ethical and charitable societies and other civic institutions were created in the Americas and Europe promoting the human rights of these workers and other marginalized groups in society. Many of these societies were Christian but some were atheist and humanist. Some humanists believed that religion promoted helplessness, was evil, and should be fought against to free people. Karl Marx (1818–1883), a German activist, held that religion produced an unjust society because people placed their faith and hope in a future salvation or a better place called heaven, and therefore did little to fight the injustices of the present. Marx did not believe that people had any “inward nature” or could reason or had the freewill to make choices. He wanted to abolish religion. In 1859 Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species, which described how natural selection had gradually produced the different species of animals and plants. This was widely promoted by humanists as proof that there was no creator God or purposefully ordered natural law. It led to a crisis of faith for many people who became either atheists or agnostics. In 1860 the term “humanist” was used in print for the first time. Humanist societies began to be established across the world, such as the National Secular Society which was founded in Britain in 1866. In 1896 the various ethical societies in Britain came together to form the Union of Ethical Societies. The American Ethical Union, established in 1886, went on to found the International Humanist and Ethical Union in 1952, which is now the umbrella organization for the global humanist movement.
the infrastructure and resources of the country. Most Fascist governments were led by strong leaders or dictators, such as Mussolini and Hitler. All of these global factors hindered the spread of humanist ideas.
Early 20th century: humanism wanes
Humanism is stronger now than it has ever been, and is spreading fast. The New Atheism movement, led by Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion and patron of the British Humanist Association, is actively attacking religions, in particular Christianity. Humanist beliefs are firmly entrenched in most Western educational and legal systems. One effect of this is the decline of Christianity in Europe. Many people are humanists without even realizing it. They may not belong to any humanist organization or even recognize the term “humanism,” but because of their exposure to a humanist-based society and their humanist education, their belief system and worldview are significantly humanist. A society immersed in a humanist ideology has influenced and impacted the Church. Not only has morality slipped within the Church, but also some parts of the Church are now taking an active role in promoting and propagating this humanist worldview. One small example of this is the growing use – in society at large and amongst Christians too – of the word “partner”
The spread of humanism slowed down in the period between the two world wars. The ideals of a Utopian society had been dashed by the realities and atrocities of the First World War. Governments became much more authoritarian. A communist totalitarian regime was established in the Soviet Union. In America the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression that followed, brought unemployment, hunger, and enormous suffering. A more conservative lifestyle, where there was little questioning of authority, was promoted. Europe’s economy had been severely affected by the First World War and then by the Great Depression. Fascist governments started to emerge in countries such as Italy, Germany, Poland, Greece, Hungary, Romania, and Yugoslavia, seeking to bring about economic reform. These governments rejected Marxism and international socialism, the core tenets of the humanist movement, and instead promoted National Socialism, where the State controlled
Humanism intensifies efforts to spread and begins to thrive Humanists blamed capitalism and greed for the economic collapse that resulted in the Great Depression. In 1933 Roy Wood Sellars and Raymond Bragg published a document entitled A Humanist Manifesto.⁴ The document was signed by a number of notable scholars, politicians, and thinkers of the time. It was strongly socialist and promoted humanism as a replacement to Christianity. One of the most significant results of the manifesto was the formalization of humanist belief, its aims and objectives as a movement, and a call to action. A number of new humanist organizations began to be created in Europe and America in the late 1940s. Towards the end of the Second World War and into the 1950s and 1960s, humanism grew in popularity. After the horrors of war and the Nazi death camps, people were looking for morality and ethics to guide future human behavior. Humanism enabled societies of different religious stances to unite in common causes such as the protection of human rights. This paved the way for organizations such as the United Nations (where several humanists took senior roles) and the creation of human rights charters, many based on humanist beliefs.
Humanism and the Church today
instead of “husband” or “wife.” Using this term conceals whether the couple are married or unmarried, man and woman or same-sex, and sends the message that such differences are of no significance.
and Jesus. They claim that anyone who does good can be considered a follower of Christ and that they ignore any parts of the Bible which do not fit their worldview.
Return of Pelagianism
Many Christian leaders have been active in promoting a humanist civic religion. The Swiss theologian Hans Küng believes that a global ethical code can be found when the morals and values of all religions are reduced to a common denominator. He also drafted “A Declaration Toward a Global Ethic” which was supported by a number of prominent Christian leaders as well as leaders from other religions. This Declaration has been used to justify the promotion of civic religion by governments.
The belief that humans are inherently good has been one of the recurring heresies within the Church throughout the ages. It accords with humanist ideas of the innate goodness of all human beings. The heresy is called Pelagianism, after a 5th-century British monk called Pelagius (rejected as heresy by the Synod of Carthage, c. 418 AD). Pelagius taught that human nature is essentially good and Christians can therefore choose to obey God and thus be saved. He rejected the Christian teaching on original sin and the doctrine that people can only be saved by God’s grace because it is impossible for them to obey God perfectly. Adolf von Harnack wrote in 1899 of Pelagianism “that in its deepest roots it is godless, that it knows, and seeks to know, nothing of redemption.”⁵ This doctrine is shaping large sections of contemporary Christianity. According to the theologian Michael S. Horton, 77% of evangelical Christians in 1994 held this belief without realizing it was a heresy.6 One implication of denying original sin and affirming the primacy of free will is the belief that we humans can be masters of our destiny and of the world. Another implication is the belief that our social structures do not need renewal and neither do human beings. The emphasis on love – without boundaries – can become an emphasis on fulfilling our selfish desires, so that pleasure becomes a goal in itself.
The “Emerging Church” (Emergent Church)
This is a group of Christians, mainly young, who are trying to make the Gospel message relevant to a humanist and unbelieving world. They also have a great concern to alleviate poverty and social deprivation. These aims are good, but the Emerging Church movement believes that Christianity and the Church have been too exclusive in the past, and that there may be other ways of discovering God
Relationship with other religions
Summary The Renaissance humanist emphasis on classical education, the Reformation emphasis on the individual, and the Enlightenment emphasis on reason – all good things in themselves – combined to set the stage for a rejection of traditional Christian beliefs.
¹ Mahayana Buddhism is theistic, unlike Theravada Buddhism. ² The term “humanism” is used to describe this Renaissance movement interested in classical studies and education as well as the very different movement that began in the 19th century and continues today. ³ The term “Christian humanism” is used in two very different ways: (1) the Renaissance group described here (2) modern Christian humanists who have different beliefs, placing less emphasis on the authority of the Bible and seeing morality as more relative. ⁴ Two further humanist manifestos were published in 1973 and 2003. 5 von Harnack, Adolf History of Dogma vol. V. (1899) Translated by Neil Buchanan. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., p. 203. 6 Horton, Michael S. “Heresy” in Modern Reformation 3:1 (Jan/Feb 1994) pp. 26-32.
Barnabas Aid hope and relief for the persecuted church USA 6731 Curran St, McLean, VA 22101 Telephone (703) 288-1681 or toll-free 1-866-936-2525 Fax (703) 288-1682 Email usa@barnabasaid.org New Zealand PO Box 27 6018, Manukau City, Auckland, 2241 Telephone (09) 280 4385 or 0800 008 805 Email office@barnabasfund.org.nz
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Barnabas Aid January/February 2017 11
Convert loses appeal against Facebook “blasphemy” conviction Algeria
Slimane Bouhafs, a 49-year-old Algerian Christian convert from Islam, was sentenced to three years’ prison on September 6, 2016 for “offending the Prophet [Muhammad]” and “denigrating the creed and precepts of Islam.” Mr Bouhafs, who suffers from ill health, posted on Facebook in July 2016 that “Jesus overcomes the lies of Islam.”
Uncertain future in CAR following escalation in violence Central African Republic
The Christian-majority Central African Republic (CAR) saw a marked escalation in violence last year. In one attack, up to 26 Christians were murdered by Muslim Seleka militants in Ndomete on September 16, in their ongoing bid to seize power. Also of concern is the threat of a military coup to oust newly installed President Touadera.
New department to help persecuted Christians in Middle East Hungary
The Hungarian government has announced the creation of a new department to help persecuted Christians, focusing initially on humanitarian work in the Middle East. “[We] will do everything in our power to improve the circumstances of Christians living in the Middle Eastern region,” said Zoltan Balog, Hungary’s Minister for Human Resources.
Eighteen Christians killed in two alShabaab attacks
Leader of convert church falsely accused Kyrgyzstan
Kenya
Twelve Christians were killed in the town of Mandera, north-east Kenya, on October 25,2016, when al-Shabaab Islamist militants attacked a guesthouse. Earlier in the month, on October 6, another alShabaab attack in the same town killed six Christians in a residential compound. Our contact told Barnabas Aid “We the Christian community in the region are living in fear of attack. The security forces appear to be unable to protect us from these targeted attacks, two in a month.”
Marat Nizalyiev with his family
Aasia Bibi appeal against death sentence postponed
Marat Nizalyiev, a Kyrgyzstan church leader, was arrested on October 6, 2016 on the trumped-up charge of attempting to rape an eight-year-old girl. Marat started a small home church in 2011 that now has 40 members, all from a Muslim background. He was under increasing pressure from the authorities and local Muslim leaders.
Pakistan
Christian abducted and severely beaten for distributing Christian literature Aasia Bibi’s husband, here with two of their children, is very grateful for Barnabas Aid’s support of the family Aasia Bibi’s appeal in Pakistan’s Supreme Court against her death penalty for “blasphemy” was adjourned moments after it had started, on October 13, 2016, when one of the three judges excused himself. A date has yet to be re-set for the appeal. Her appeal to the High Court was postponed five times before eventually being heard, and rejected, in October 2014.
India
A 45-year-old Christian was abducted and severely beaten on September 16, 2016 for distributing Christian literature in Kharghar and Taloja, near Mumbai. Prashant Bhatnagar was handing out material with a married couple and their four-year-old son when he was hijacked by armed thugs. At gunpoint, he was severely beaten and threatened with immolation. To view our most current news scan this with your device
Barnabas Aid January/February 2017 12
Through anguish, strife, and war The story of how the Holy Spirit led one Afghan to Christ
My
name used to be Gilane Abdul Jamil, but now I am known as Jamil Abraham. I was born in the Ningarhar province of Afghanistan. Before I accepted the Lord I was considered a Muslim scholar – I have two Masters degrees, in Islamic studies and in the Pashto language. I married my wife, who was a teacher, in 1990. When the civil war started in Afghanistan in 1992, we went to Pakistan. There, my wife converted to Christianity through the witness of a Pakistani missionary. We returned to Afghanistan in 1995 and my wife gave birth to two beautiful daughters. Since the Taliban regime was against girls’ education, my wife started an underground home-school for girls in Kabul. She was also sharing the Gospel with her students through these classes. She had received many threats from the Taliban that she should shut the school, but she had not paid any attention. Then, in 1999, the Taliban abducted my wife and killed her. That was the reason I and my two daughters left our country to go back to Pakistan.
Since I was an Islamic scholar, I had always had a question about the person of the Holy Spirit. In the Quran, the Holy Spirit is known as the Angel Gabriel, but I was not happy with that teaching and I used to discuss about it with believers. During that time I had a dream about Jesus Christ. One night, He came to me, opened His arms and told me, “Come to me, I am the Holy Spirit.” Despite the dream I still did not believe in Him. It was then I started spending time comparing Islam with Christianity. While doing that I had another dream about Jesus. As He came to me, He opened His arms and told me, “Come to me, I am the Holy Spirit.” I had already started going to church and after having the same dream for the second time, I shared my dream with the pastor of the church. He said to me, “Congratulations! God has invited you to believe and accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.” I agreed and gave my heart to Jesus. I got baptized in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, in the year 2000. It was then that the Pakistani mullah of the area heard about my conversion to Christianity. He and his followers tried to kill me, so I had to leave Pakistan and return to my
Barnabas Aid January/February 2017 13
country in 2004. Later, I got married again to a woman named Dunya who is still my wife and now the mother of my three kids from our marriage and two daughters from my previous marriage. After a year she learned that I was a Christian and after a while she also accepted the Lord. This is how she came to the Lord. She had many dreams that I was washing her feet. When she shared those dreams with me, I told her that I was a Christian. I shared some parts of the Gospel with her and I invited and encouraged her to accept the Lord Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior. She said, “If your faith teaches you that kind of humility that you wash my feet, then why shouldn’t I accept the Christian faith and wash your feet too?” As I used to work with a security agency in Afghanistan, I received many threats from the Taliban. Once they attacked my house. Not only that but I was also threatened and harassed by people who knew about my faith. I did not have freedom
of religion in Afghanistan and I wanted to freely worship and have fellowship with other believers. Therefore I decided to take my family to India and live there. Here in India, we are under the UNHCR refugee mandate/shelter. I serve with the church here, my job is to translate the New Testament into Pashto; I have already translated 70% of it. I also write, compose and produce Pashto worship songs. I am a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ and I serve with the Afghan Church of New Delhi and its partners in different ways, according to my ability and the gifts that Holy Spirit has given to me. Please pray for me and my family.
He came to me, opened His arms and told me, “Come to me”
Barnabas Aid assists the community of Afghan Christians in India to which Jamil belongs.
Life-saving winter aid, including coal and food, to Ukraine “I do not know whose joy was greater, the joy of the refugees or the joy of those who helped them,” said a Ukrainian church leader. He added that, working through churches and individual Christians, Barnabas Aid’s support has “had life-saving importance for many people” affected by the civil war. Last winter the Ukrainian church that had taken in hundreds of refugees, exhausted their supplies. In prayer, they told God that they could not help the refugees any longer: the following day relief arrived from Barnabas Aid. Barnabas has sent further relief for winter 2016/17, focusing particularly on the “Grey Zone” – between the Russian-backed separatists’ territory in the east and the Ukrainiancontrolled west – where the fighting is now concentrated. Many have fled the area but others, like widows and the elderly, cannot.
Bible studies and leadership training equip church leaders in Kyrgyzstan Seventy-six Christians have completed a year-long program studying John’s Gospel and training to lead small isolated churches in six districts of Kyrgyzstan. Many Kyrgyz Muslims are coming to Christ, and isolated congregations of new believers are coming into being. The impoverished leaders of these small groups have often had little opportunity for training to equip them for the challenging task of discipling new Christians in a hostile environment. There can be pressures from both the local Muslim community and from the authorities. Some of those who have completed the training have already gone on to plant new churches. “We are believers of a village that needed this training very much,” said one of the attendees.
Christians during a Bible study
Project reference 96-1196
“While we have suffered great losses, you have consoled and upheld us in the whirlwind that is the sect of Boko Haram ... Even though we are in danger, we are moved to joy because God and your gifts lift us up.” – Pastor Pierre Deva in Cameroon A grant from Barnabas Aid has provided relief to 229 Christian families whose homes were looted and burned by Boko Haram. The families come from three villages in northern Cameroon, a region regularly targeted by the Islamist militants. The relief included blankets, soap, and millet, as well as bags containing items specifically for women and children. Young men in one village composed a song of joy after they received motorpumps to assist with irrigating their fields so they can generate some muchneeded income.
These motor-pumps will enable Cameroonian Christians to grow crops and support themselves more effectively following recent attacks by Boko Haram
Fuel is desperately needed in winter, when temperatures can plunge to -18°F. Many Christians, with their homes destroyed, have sought refuge in churches.
$211,700 for coal, food, medicines and other aid for needy Christians in Ukraine
“God and your gifts lift us up”
$5,260 for leadership training for isolated church leaders in Kyrgyzstan Project reference 26-1099
$43,150 for relief to Cameroonian Christian victims of violence Project reference 00-345, Victims of Violence fund
Rescuing widows and orphans in conflict-ridden South Sudan “It has helped individual Christian families to begin life again after the crisis,” writes a church leader in Juba, South Sudan. “The project has rescued lives.” Barnabas Aid is helping bring hope and relief to Christians affected by the ongoing conflict in South Sudan that began in 2013 and has resulted in a widespread humanitarian crisis. Following a spike in violence in July 2016, funds were sent to church partners in Juba, the capital, to provide maize, beans, oil, and salt to 3,150 of the most vulnerable Christians displaced by the conflict, including widows, orphans, and families who have lost their homes. One mother said, “Thanks be to God today that my children are going to taste food after going three days without food. Today I know that the Church cares for its people.”
Displaced Christians in Juba receiving relief provided by Barnabas Aid
$12,860 to provide lifesaving aid for Christians in South Sudan Project reference 48-1171
Brighter future for young Myanmar Christians “I am really blessed … I knew nothing about hotels and now I am working in an international 5-star hotel. I know my future is very clear,” says Sa Steven, a young Christian in Myanmar (Burma). Barnabas Aid contributes towards providing a brighter future for poor, young Pwo Karen Christians in Myanmar by supporting a vocational training center that trains students to work in hotels and restaurants. Christians in Myanmar can face discrimination both for their religion and for their ethnicity. Many of Myanmar’s young Christians are forced to work as lowly paid field workers just to survive. Schools are often too far away to attend, and without training it is difficult for them to break out of the cycle of poverty, debt and inequity.
"This school is like a dream come true" “My community won’t die uneducated now,” says a grandmother at one of 13 Christian schools opened in 2014/15 in Sindh, Pakistan. “Every day when I pray, I pray that God gives health and strength to this team who have reached out to our remote village to open up a school.” Barnabas Aid helps cover the operating costs of the 13 schools that currently serve 728 mostly Christian children aged between five and twelve. In all, Barnabas Aid supports 77 Christian schools throughout Pakistan, as well as six hostels and an orphanage. Parents are grateful that decent, accessible schooling is available to both girls and boys in places where it can be difficult for Christian families to get their children educated because of issues such as poverty, isolation, and anti-Christian discrimination. “For poverty-stricken people like us, this [school] is like a dream come true,” said one mother and father.
Barnabas Aid’s support covers the students’ meals and accommodation: there are five training courses a year; each course lasts two months and trains 30 students.
A proud graduate, Sa Steven, in his smart waiter’s uniform
The grandmother (left) with staff and students of one of the 13 schools; children have displayed stronger social skills, increased confidence, improved hygiene, and better behavior since the schools opened
$20,000 to help up to 150 young Pwo Karen Christians receive vocational training
$47,810 towards supporting 13 Christian schools in Sindh, Pakistan
Project reference 75-1296
Project reference 41-1237
Barnabas Aid January/February 2017 16
From dismay to delight How an Australian supporters’ campaign brought Syrian Christian refugees to a new home one year later
It
was discouraging to be sure: a Barnabas Aid breakfast meeting where only nine folk turned up to hear our international guests present their recent report on relief to the persecuted church and the plight of refugees from war-ravaged areas. But opportunity beckoned. Sat around a table, we decided the moment was ripe for action and penned a statement to go out to our thousands of Australian Barnabas Aid supporters. Within hours there was a sleek flyer, with the Barnabas logo, reaching across our nation stating the desperate position of Syrian refugees and the need for a safe haven for them. I emailed it to more friends in different states and a helpful member of my own church ran off a great pile of copies to be handed out that coming Sunday. To each I stapled the names, addresses and contact details of the MPs of surrounding districts. Our suggestion: Ring them up! Send emails! Go and visit to discuss our concerns about the refugees with our government members! That’s just what people did, everywhere. I myself went to visit our local MP with a feisty 90-year-old friend from church. Disappointingly,
the MP had been called away to another meeting, no doubt more pressing than our own, yet the attention we received from her staff couldn’t have been more polite and receptive. We talked for an hour about the desperate needs of so many Christians facing genocide. The MP’s office deputy rang others, even the Shadow Minister for Immigration, I recall. We feel sure, too, that our pleas were passed on to the highest echelons,
Their joy and delight is obvious as they come to begin new lives with us because soon afterwards, the very last thing that Prime Minister Tony Abbott did before leaving office in September 2015 was to affirm publicly that Christians would make up a significant number of the promised new intake of 12,000 Syrian and Iraqi refugees seeking asylum in our country. It was also stated loud and clear on the front pages of our national newspaper, The Australian, as well. One year later, our Christian brothers and sisters are arriving. Their joy and delight is obvious as
they come to begin new lives with us. How wonderful that through Barnabas Aid’s project, Operation Safe Havens, our faithful supporters have been part of their arrival and their financial support. Surely the Lord is delighted too.
Anne Willett Melbourne, Australia
Olive, with Ai Len, her neighbor. Both are very strong supporters of Barnabas
At the time of going to press, 620 Syrian and Iraqi Christians had been enabled to settle in Australia, thanks to the generosity of the Australian government in providing visas and the generosity of Barnabas Aid supporters in providing donations to cover their airfares. Out of the 6,000 Syrian and Iraqi refugees who have so far arrived in Australia, more than 10% have been supported by Barnabas Aid.
How to
persuade your elected Representative to support persecuted Christians One of the best ways to make change happen is to influence the government, and one of the best way s to do that is by writing to your elected representative. Many take up issues about persecuted Christians precisely because their con stituents ask them.
Here are our top ten tips for effective communication with your elected representative: 1
Pray about which issues to raise, what to say, and then pray that God will use your words.
2
Only contact your own elected representative (the Congressperson for the constituency where you live). Protocols require that they normally only deal with voters in their own constituency, so it is a waste of time writing to other Congresspersons unless they are government ministers with relevant portfolios.
3
4
5
and treat them with cynicism and suspicion. This is very unhelpful, and Christians should make sure that their letters instead reflect the values of the Kingdom of God. A good test is to read your letter back and think how you would react if you received a similar letter.
6
Even if your Congressperson disagrees with you, still be courteous. Congresspersons and their staff can very easily develop negative views of Christians because of the tone of many letters they get.
7
State your case briefly and politely. Using numbers or bullet points can make the issues clear and easy to grasp. Remember the Congressperson may have a thousand other letters and emails to deal with that week.
Say thank you if your Congressperson takes up the issues and especially if they speak in a debate. Sometimes when Barnabas Aid has sent a “thank you” email to Congresspersons they have responded by thanking us for thanking them – which shows how few people bother to thank politicians.
8
Leave party politics out of communications about persecuted Christians. If you want to write to your Congressperson about party political topics, send a separate letter.
Build a positive relationship with your Congressperson. If the Congressperson is at an event in the constituency, go and speak to them, perhaps thanking them for their hard work.
9
Congresspersons are generally open to invitations to attend a question-and-answer session at a local church. Take care around election times to be evenhanded and invite all the candidates.
10
If you are involved in politics yourself, Congresspersons will generally take more notice. If you are a local councilor, your Congressperson is more likely to respond personally when you write, even if you are a member of a different party.
Remember that your Congressperson is a fallible human being – just like you! They could be working incredibly long hours, separated from their family for most of the week. Congresspersons suffer huge amounts of criticism and hostility. There is a culture in many Western countries that regards it as legitimate to question the motives of all politicians
Su Ne f w Ac feri s f tio ng rom n W Ch ee urc k h
In Touch
Christians gather at Cloverhill, Republic of Ireland to hear international Barnabas speakers
Barnabas Aid International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church s The Day of Prayer is one of the highlight y Man of Suffering Church Action Week. ts. churches around the world organized even Holy Jenny Summersby, a supporter from of Trinity Church, Spital, in the north-west t: even England, writes about her church’s ion “Shocked as we had been at the persecut were of Christians in far-off lands, we own ashamed that this could happen in our , sain Hus country. We learned from Nissar who a convert from Islam, how Muslims convert to Jesus are labeled apostates and targeted by their own community. his After a hate campaign against Nissar and life ar’s family, one serious attempt on Niss to and further credible threats to his life and to them sed his family’s safety, the police advi all in g ntin leave Bradford for good. Disappoi from of this was the lack of support and love from ort the local church leaders! With supp cated Barnabas Aid, the family have since relo to another part of the country.
During Suffering Church Action Week each year, churches around the world hold special events and services focusing on the persecuted Church. For 2016 a tour with three internat ional speakers, covering the Republic of Ireland, Nor thern Ireland, and Scotland, brought home the suff ering of Christians through first-hand accounts from Pro fessor Dr. Jany Haddad from Syria, Pastor Umar Mul inde from Uganda, and Wilson Saraj from Pak istan. You can read about Dr. Jany’s work among the “poorest of the poor” Christians in war-torn Aleppo on pages 4-5 in this issue of Barnabas Aid; Pastor Umar has had twelve atte mpts made on his life, including a brutal acid atta ck, because of his conversion from Islam; “In the midst of my sufferings,” he says, “I got this visi on” - which is to protect, disciple, and empower othe r converts from Islam. We will be reporting on this in our next issue. Wilson Saraj spoke about Barnabas Aid’s work in Pakistan and other parts of the world: how Barnabas Aid combats the effects of the persecution, marginalization and impoverishmen t of Christians in many ways such as feeding program s, education, theological training, and support for church leaders – “bringing the joy and peace of Chr ist through practical help.” On their travels the intrepid team encountered driving snow in the Cairngorms of Scotland, but wherever they went they enjoyed a warm reception at journey’s end.
gave Finally, Chris Martin from Barnabas Aid view over us a clear, challenging and inspiring all of the work of Barnabas Aid, making us abas Barn the more determined to support d in every possible way. On the day, we raise ” Aid. abas $1,137 towards the work of Barn Nissar Hussain addressing over 100 Christians at Holy
Trinity Church
YES, I WOULD LIKE TO HELP THE PERSECUTED CHURCH Title................ Full Name.............................................................................................. Address..........................................................................................................................
Mission Statement
The mission of Barnabas Aid is to support Christians where they are in a minority and suffer discrimination, oppression and persecution as a consequence of their faith. Our goal is to strengthen Christian individuals, churches and their communities by providing material and spiritual support in response to needs identified by local Christian leaders. We do this by making their needs known to Christians around the world, and encouraging prayer, advocacy and financial giving in support of these brothers and sisters in Christ, working with existing local Christian organizations. Barnabas Aid channels this flow from donors to the needy recipients with a minimum of overhead. All gifts are monitored to ensure they are used in line with the stated need. In accordance with biblical teaching, we believe that Christians should treat all people of all faiths with love and compassion, even those who persecute them.
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Breaking through the Barriers Leading muslims to Christ Rosemary Sookhdeo How can we understand our Muslim friends and neighbors so that we can share the Gospel effectively with them? This book discusses their religion, culture, and practices to find the points of contact that will help Muslims respond to the Christian Gospel. The author deals with the crucial differences between Islam and Christianity and answers important questions, such as: Is the God of the Bible the same as Allah? Is the Muslim Jesus or Isa, the same as the Jesus we know in the Gospels?
$12 (+ P&P)
ISBN: 978-0-9825218-1-6 Number of Pages: 160 Cover: Paperback Retail Price:$12.00 Postage & Packaging: $2.99
Why Christian Women convert to Islam Rosemary Sookhdeo Why are increasing numbers of Western women converting to Islam? The author explores the reasons for this and illustrates the problems facing those who convert by conviction or by marriage by describing true life stories of women who have become Muslims. She unfolds the long term implications of conversion and examines the particular issues relating to such marriages. The author prepares parents and church leaders to guide women who are contemplating conversion or marriage with Muslims.
ISBN: 978-0-9967245-2-4 Number of Pages: 144 Cover: Paperback Retail Price: $10.00 Postage & Packaging: $2.99
To order these books, visit www.barnabasaid.org/shop. Alternatively, please contact your nearest Barnabas Aid office (addresses on inside front cover).
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$10 (+P&P)