barnabasaid
barnabasfund.org JULY/AUGUST 2017
BARNABAS FOR THETHE PERSECUTED CHURCH - BRINGING HOPE TO SUFFERING CHRISTIANS BARNABASFUND FUND- AID - AIDAGENCY AGENCY FOR PERSECUTED CHURCH
SCHOOLS
Transforming young Christian lives
PROJECT JOSEPH
Over 150,000 saved from Africa’s famine
A
hope and a
future
THAILAND
Pakistani Christians - victims of a forgotten persecution
What helps make Barnabas Fund distinctive from other Christian organisations that deal with persecution?
The Barnabas Fund Distinctive 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
●● channelling money from Christians through Christians to Christians
●● channelling money through existing structures in the countries where funds are sent (e.g. local churches or Christian organisations)
●● 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 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 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.
barnabasaid the magazine of Barnabas Fund Published by Barnabas Aid Inc. 6731 Curran St, McLean, Virginia 22101, USA Email info@barnabasfund.org
●● 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
●● facilitate global intercession for
the persecuted Church by providing comprehensive prayer materials
We believe:
●●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
●● tackle persecution at its root by making
●● in the power of prayer to change people’s lives
●● inform and enable Christians in the West
“Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”
known the aspects of the Islamic faith and other ideologies that result in injustice and oppression of non-believers
and situations, either through grace to endure or through deliverance from suffering
to respond to the growing challenge of Islam to Church, society and mission in their own countries
(Matthew 25:40)
You may contact Barnabas Fund at the following addresses Australia PO BOX 3527, LOGANHOLME, QLD 4129 Telephone (07) 3806 1076 or 1300 365 799 Fax (07) 3806 4076 Email bfaustralia@barnabasfund.org 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
To guard the safety of Christians in hostile environments, names may have been changed or omitted. Thank you for your understanding. Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and obtain permission for stories and images used in this publication. Barnabas Fund apologises for any errors or omissions and will be grateful for any further information regarding copyright.
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 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 Singaporean 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
To donate by credit/debit card, please visit the website www.barnabasfund.org or phone 0800 587 4006 (from outside the UK phone +44 24 7623 1923).
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations are taken from the New International Version®.
The paper used in this publication
Front Cover: Brick kiln Christians in Pakistan. See page 6.
a mill that has been awarded the ISO14001
© Barnabas Aid Inc. 2017. For permission to reproduce articles from this magazine, please contact the International Headquarters address above.
comes from sustainable forests and can be 100% recycled. The paper used is produced using wood fibre at certificate for environmental management.
Contents
“Those who love God must love their brothers and sisters” (1 John 4:21)
In
Charles Dickens’ famous book Bleak House, there is a memorable character called Mrs Jellyby, who badly neglects her many children. Mrs Jellyby is a committed Christian and feels a great burden for missions in Africa. All her time, attention and money are focused on Africa, leaving her husband, children and needy neighbours uncared for. She feels no responsibility for those close to her but focuses primarily on the needs of those far, far away with whom she had no previous connection. Today the Christian Church is under great pressure. According to the Pew Foundation, Christians are now persecuted in more countries than any other religion on the face of the earth. In some parts of the world, a further tragedy is unfolding. For alongside persecution there is now growing famine and deprivation caused either by climate change or by man-made conflicts. The Christians in these areas cry out for help, but all too often their cries go unheeded. Most Christian relief agencies and mission agencies in the West say their calling is to help everyone, irrespective of their religion. In fact, one major evangelical agency commissioned a report last year on Christians in the Middle East which concluded that they were in no greater need than Muslims. Apparently they did not recognise the attempted genocide of Christians by the Islamic State group and the anti-Christian hostility, threats and violence that have become commonplace in recent years. Others argue that it is unfair to discriminate in favour of Christians. Others again hold that it is a good witness for Christians to help non-Christians, in obedience to the Biblical command to love your neighbour as yourself. One way or another, Christians find themselves at the back of the queue. What all of this illustrates is that modern Western Christianity has no concept of what it means to be a Christian family, where our giving should start. It has come to be a religion devoid of brotherly or sisterly responsibility. We love the world but we cannot stand our own. In Islam there is the concept of the umma, meaning the worldwide community or nation of Muslims. The Arabic word umma may be derived from the word for “mother”; certainly there is a very strong intrinsic identity with and concern for fellow Muslims, as if all come from one womb. The compulsory alms-giving, called zakat, which is one of the five duties of Islam, is only used to help fellow Muslims. Christianity rightly teaches (succinctly summarised in Galatians 6:10) that we are to do good to all but especially to the household of faith, i.e. the worldwide community of Christians, the Body of Christ. After our loyalty to God, our next loyalty must be to our Christian family. When we read passages like Matthew 25:31-46 about the sheep and the goats, we may want to stretch the interpretation of Jesus’ parable to make it an affirmation of those who help the whole world. But close analysis and reference to other Bible passages show that Jesus is commending those who help their fellow Christians. Jesus’ last commandment to His disciples was that they should love one another as He had loved them. This love for our Christian family would be a witness to the world (John 13:34-35). His disciple John reminds us of the commandment in these words, “Those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.” (1 John 4:21) (NRSV). And this must be a love that is shown in practical ways. “How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?” (1 John 3:17 NRSV)
After our loyalty to God, our next loyalty must be to our Christian family
4 A hope and a future
Christian schooling for 9,772 children in 12 countries
7 10
Pakistani Christians in Thailand
Brutal treatment for desperate believers
Pull-out
Editorial
A History of Christian Persecution
part 2: Hated by the World
11
In Brief
12
Project Joseph
Palm Sunday persecution in Asia and Middle East
Life-saving food aid in East Africa
12 14
Compassion in Action
16
Operation Safe Havens
17
Advocacy
Healing Syria’s unseen war wounds
Award for Barnabas Fund Australia
Last chance to sign “The Right to Choose” petition
18
In Touch
Knitting and Unravelling
Schools feature
4 July/August 2017 Barnabas Aid
A hope and a future
Transforming young lives through Christian schools
“Train up a child in the way they should go, and when they are old they will not depart from it” Proverbs 22v6
“School has changed my life”
F
or Christian children living in contexts of persecution, school can be a place of danger instead of learning, somewhere they feel insecure rather than inspired. They can face pressure to convert to the majority religion from teachers and classmates, the prospect of being failed in their exams because they are Christians, and even violence. For others it is poverty, rather than persecution, which is their greatest barrier: many poor Christian children may never even have the opportunity to set foot inside a classroom. But the work of Barnabas Fund has altered that reality for hundreds of thousands of children, bringing hope and future prospects that many could only previously have dreamed of, and life-changing benefits for their whole families.
“My family is very poor … When I used to see other kids going to school, I also think that maybe one day I will also go to some school. Someone told to my parents of this school and how school is helping poor families … school has changed my life … I love my school very much because students are very nice and teachers are hard working. The best thing I like of my school is we study Bible.” Kinza Asif, grade 5, Lahore, Pakistan Many Pakistani Christians are effectively trapped in poorly paid, low-status jobs such as cleaning streets and sewers. They live with discrimination and sometimes violence from the majority Muslim community because of their faith. Barnabas Fund has provided buildings, equipment, school books, staff salaries and training so thousands of children from Christian families can obtain an education. It is not unusual for these children to be the first in their family to go to school. Between April 2016 and March 2017 alone, Barnabas Fund sent more than £1.8 million to assist the education of 9,772 children and young adults in 12 countries. Sundus, age 12, attends a Christian school in Pakistan supported by Barnabas Fund. “I love my school very much. My teachers are very kind and encouraging. Whenever I feel I cannot understand or learn a question they take time out and explain very patiently. We have a music class once in a week. I love music and I look forward to my class the whole week. When I grow up I want to be a teacher. My favourite verse is John 3:16. We learn verses by heart; we also sing gospel songs and sing them in our music class. I am glad I could come to this school.”
Kinza
Sundus
Schools feature
before
after One of the classrooms in the Democratic Republic of Co ngo, before and after the constr uction work funded by Barnabas
2011, when South Sudan was created in an after the Sud m fro d the country secede impose to d A total of 26 pte em att nt Arab governme ch ristian Ch ntly p ina rovides a fr ildren are enrolled in th dom pre the on sharia law e provided school buildings c e Christian education is pre-school, which on south. Barnabas Fund has – including South-East structed in an impoveri one of 22 pre-school buildings for 1,600 children, A s ia n c o ool u sch n try since 20 shed part of this long of Barnabas 13 with the those pictured here at Merko Fund assistance
The building blocks of an education In places where schools do exist, buildings can often be unfit for purpose. Barnabas Fund enabled the construction of replacement classrooms for a primary and secondary school in a conflict-ridden region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Although building works had to be suspended when fighting broke out nearby, the classrooms have now been completed, allowing more than 393 children to learn without getting rained on. Barnabas has also funded the construction of a Christian school in Myanmar. None of the 105 pupils had ever been to school before. In another remote village, we have built two other Christian schools where communities are isolated and school buildings are often rudimentary, even unsafe. Wellbuilt and well-designed classrooms can revolutionise children’s learning, as with three schools in Ethiopia. Our partner writes: “We have been able to replace traditional temporary structures made of mud and timber with good quality, permanent classroom buildings … even at [one site] so rural it is a 30 minute walk away from the nearest road.” Barnabas Fund is supporting the schools’ running costs. One preschool in south-east Asia, built with the help of Barnabas Fund, serves four nearby villages. The pastor who is superintendent of the school said: “We are very grateful to Barnabas Fund for their support and we now can be proud that we have a
building of our own. Now the children can be taught the Scriptures and learn how to pray.” Since Boko Haram began its brutal wave of antiChristian violence in 2009, Christian schools have become targets; the 276 girls infamously kidnapped from Chibok by Boko Haram in April 2014, who were mainly Christians, were taken from a secondary school where they were sitting their end-of-year exams. Barnabas Fund has helped finance the construction of boarding hostels for both boys and girls in several schools, to save the children from the dangers of travelling to school in territory controlled by Boko Haram. St Aphrem’s Christian School in Bethlehem is so popular that there is waiting list of 60 at entry level. Established with funding from Barnabas in 2003, the latest development is the construction of a brand new secondary school (high school) building to provide much-needed classrooms for older students. When a cyclone tore through north-east Bangladesh in 2012, one of the buildings left destroyed in its wake was a church in Kusot. As well as a meeting place for believers, the building had also served as a school. Barnabas funded the reconstruction, meaning that 120 children could go back to school. At the time of writing, Barnabas Fund has helped to construct at least 84 Christian schools in 15 countries. These have provided 15,500 school places and already enabled many tens of thousands of children to have an education, with more to come in the future.
The reconstructed church /school building in Kusot, Banglade sh
The new secondary school building opened in February 2017, to the joy of the older students who have atte nded St Aphrem’s since kindergarten . Barnabas Fund has supported the school’s running costs since it ope ned, so that children from poor Christia n families only need to pay minima l fees
ooms and provided classr ents at this school nd Fu s ba na Bar ud r around 220 st itories laboratories fo tion to girls’ and boys’ dorm di ad in , ia in Niger
er in a brick kiln orks as a labour Riaz’s mother w an, back-breaking work that kist e has made the near Lahore, Pa continues until sh the next day’s d an m 5a at ts for star prepared the clay family as Riaz’s day’s quota and e th of nt re pa e sole bricks. She is th years ago. This would have been ral ve se ed di many other father ’s life, like that of az Ri ld -o ar ye n, generations of seve kistani Christians impoverished Pa as bonded labourers at brick ked and simple whom have wor attends a small he d, ea st in t Bu kilns. rnabas Fund. , supported by Ba still has to go ol ho sc n tia ris Ch az ily are so poor, Ri Because the fam r mechanic’s after school, but he ca His dream is to out to work at a r a better future. fo pe ho t as le can at n he grows up. be a pastor whe sic sums will , write and do ba at of his family ad re to ng ni ar Le th ly Riaz’s life, but s transform not on easily cheat brick kiln labourer n ca to s le er ab oy g pl in too. Em ithout be gre wages, as w out of their mea le to check the records of their ab make sure read, they are un t the bricks and un co w no n ca work. Riaz earned. id what she has his mother is pa
sts of vers the basic co co h nt o m a 2 £ Just Riaz’s education.
Riaz
Barnabas Aid July/August 2017 7
In a safe, welco min Christian childre g environment, where they do n not face discrim school supporte can flourish. Pictured are a cl ass praying durin ination because of their faith, d by Barnabas Fund in Bangla g morning asse desh mbly at a Chris tian
all-round provides an ll as high quality m e h le th e sic as we chool in B t. Christian S ma and mu environmen St Aphrem’s ich includes sport, dra nd strongly Christian ool can h a ch education w dies, all in a nurturing h running costs, the s it tu s w ic lp s e m h ie e il d ’s a d m fa ac un Barnabas F or Christian Because of r minimal fees to po s fo offer place
Barnabas Fund provided laboratories at this church school in Nigeria. The region is under threat from Boko Haram militants, who began violent attacks agai nst Christians and “Western education” – including educating girls – in 2009
The recently completed Eyon Misr (Egypt Eyes) School, which will open for students in September 2017
Schools feature
W we he he re lp
8 July/August 2017 Barnabas Aid
Learning in a safe environment
In Christian schools , ch and belittled, and als ildren can learn without being bullied o grow in their Chris tian faith
ble to ladesh are a g n a B in l o this scho ment n children in ving environ The Christia their faith in a safe, lo learn and live
Even though they are children, young Christians can still experience hatred and violence because of their faith, especially if they go to a government school dominated by another religion. Christians comprise only 1% of Bangladesh’s population, a country which is 90% Muslim and where Islam is the state religion. Barnabas has supported four schools so that believers’ children can receive a Christian education. When 13-year-old Faryal, a Pakistani Christian girl, accidentally misspelled an Islamic religious word in class, her teacher said she had deliberately insulted Muhammad. Faryal was beaten and expelled from the school. She and her family were forced to flee. During a Home Economics exam in another state school, the examiner refused to touch the food the Christian girls in the class had cooked, saying it would make her unclean. She threw their food away, and the Christian girls failed the exam Ayman, a 17-year-old Egyptian Christian, was beaten to death by his Muslim classmates in 2011, incited by their teacher, after he refused to hide his cross. Although this level of violence is comparatively rare, Egyptian Christian children are vulnerable in state schools. Many school text books in Muslim-majority countries airbrush out the history of Christian minorities, make false claims about Christianity and often portray Christians as untrustworthy and despicable. Text books for compulsory religious education in Turkish state schools, for example, teach children about Jesus only from a Muslim perspective and claim that Christians force or trick people into converting.
Schools feature
Barnabas Aid July/August 2017 9
in South Sudan, ced to flee their home Despite having been for ain ag es smiles on their fac the children now have
Enabling refugee children to go back to school Barnabas Fund is also helping Christian children fleeing violence to maintain their education. We support refugee children from Sudan and South Sudan at a specialist education centre in another country, staffed by teachers who are themselves refugees. The centre teaches both primary and secondary school curricula and is inspiring a new generation of young believers. “My name is Amira … I am 14 years old … I love my school because I really improved a lot. I love English lessons and I can speak good English now. When I grow up, I want to be a lawyer in order to defend those who are oppressed.” Barnabas also funded two primary schools in Malaysia for ethnic minority Chin and Dai Christian refugee children from Myanmar (Burma). Founded and run by refugees, the schools have regular times of praise and worship, prayer and Bible reading. We are also helping with school fees for Afghan children whose families have fled from persecution in Afghanistan to another Asian country. One 18-yearold boy writes: “without your help and support we couldn’t go to school. By your help today I am in class 11 and still studying.”
This girl was one of 20 0 Bu school kit containing wr rundian refugee children who received a iting paper, pencils and cra continue to learn, even though she lives in a ref yons, so she can ugee camp
Changing lives By enabling Christian children to go to school and to study together in a safe environment, even if their families could not afford it, Barnabas Fund’s schools work has dramatically altered tens of thousands of young lives. Instead of facing discrimination, abuse and even violence, the children can enjoy their learning, be equipped for the future and grow in their faith. The vicious cycle of poverty, marginalisation and lack of education can be broken and children’s prospects transformed. Project reference 00-794 Christian Schooling for Christian Children
School-place sponsorship
g the life and You can play a part in transformin text where prospects of a Christian child in a con dvantaged Christians are an oppressed or disa regularly minority. Supporters who can give details of a will be sent a card with a photo and pray for. Christian schoolchild whom they can newsletter You will also receive a twice-yearly ht from about the schools projects, which mig child. For time to time include news of “your” and to security reasons, to save overheads gifts to be enable as much as possible of your sonal sent overseas, we do not arrange per r” child. communication between you and “you The average amount needed per child is £18 a month, but it does not matter how great or small your regular gifts are - you can still be part of the SchoolPlace Sponsorship Programme. Project reference 00-514
10 July/August 2017 Barnabas Aid
Pakistani Christians in Thailand
H
anooq’s family used to own a successful department store in a Muslim community in Lahore, until Muslim extremists discovered it was run by Christians. They repeatedly threatened the family and attacked Hanooq’s brother, breaking his leg. The whole family fled their homes and business to seek safety in Thailand. At the time of writing, 29-year-old Hanooq has been arrested by Thai police who are demanding a payment of £1,165 (€1,370, $1,500) to release him. As a Pakistani Christian refugee, he is, as far as the Thai government is concerned, an illegal immigrant. Hanooq’s wife and one-year-old son have been told that without payment he will be sent to one of the Thai government’s brutally harsh immigration detention centres, where asylum-seekers are crammed into cells so crowded that they have to take it in turns to lie down. As many as 5,000 Pakistani Christians are currently in Thailand seeking refuge from persecution in Pakistan, but once they attempt to claim asylum they are treated like common criminals. Whole families are held in detention centres in cramped, unhygienic cells – access to bathroom facilities can be denied to
those deemed to be “faking illness”, while it is forbidden for visitors to take in medication. People have died while in detention. Even young children between the ages of three and seven are given a prison-style uniform. For those detained, their only prospect of release is the conclusion of their claim for asylum – a process which can take years – or securing release through paying a “bail” of more than £776 (€915, $1,000). These Christians are the victims of a forgotten persecution. Barnabas Fund is intervening to come to the aid of Pakistani Christians in Thailand. We are providing food parcels for 40 families, as well as for 42 individuals in detention. As access to healthcare is almost non-existent for refugees, we are also helping with critical medical cases, including a sevenyear-old boy; a Christian who fell ill while imprisoned in a detention centre; and a woman needing urgent breast cancer surgery. In addition, Barnabas Fund is helping families by funding English lessons. We are also providing salaries for teachers and supplying home-schooling materials for Pakistani Christian refugee children. Project reference: 82-1276
THE THAI GOVERNMENT’S HISTORY OF INDIFFERENCE Thailand is not a signatory to the 1951 U.N. Refugee Convention and even though many Pakistani Christians are officially registered as seeking asylum with the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), they have no access to work and little access to healthcare. Thai immigration police carry out arbitrary mass arrests, claimed to be focused on “nationals seen as possible criminals or terrorists”, even raiding places of worship to seek those without valid visas. So these Christians live in daily fear. The UNHCR is processing asylum claims at the request of the Thai government. However, the significant backlog means that securing even an initial decision can take up to five years. Refusal of a claim means forced deportation, with acceptance resulting in resettlement in another country; Thailand does not officially re-home anyone seeking asylum. The number of desperate Pakistani Christians seeking safety in Thailand is decreasing, as news of their brutal treatment filters back home, but those already there face an uncertain future. Their plight is largely unknown or ignored.
Pull-Out
A History of
Christian Persecution 2
AD 33 – 312 Hated by the World Jesus said, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.” John 15:18 The fires of popular hatred were ever smouldering, liable at any moment to break into sudden flame … [the early Christians] lived under the shadow of a great hate. H.B. Workman, Persecution in the Early Church (1906), p.107 So to the wild wolf Hate were sacrificed The panting, huddled flock, whose crime was Christ. Sir William Watson (1858-1905)
T
he agony of Gethsemane, the mental anguish of a rigged trial, the physical torture preceding the crucifixion, and finally the nailing of Jesus to the cross and the appalling pain were followed by that ultimate suffering for Jesus when He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” So, it seemed, ended a life that had shown so much promise. For many the death of Jesus was a hope devastated and a calamitous defeat. But three days later Jesus rose triumphantly from the grave. He met with His disciples and they encountered Him in His bodily resurrection. Then this timid band of cowards and betrayers became invigorated and, as they experienced the reality of
the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room in Jerusalem, so they were transformed. From lambs they became lions. Those who had lost all hope were filled with a passion and a vision of what Jesus wanted of them and what the world could become. And so, following His ascension, His disciples went out into the world to make disciples of all nations. There were many positives in their mission, which focused firstly on the Jews, for Jesus was a Jew and they themselves were Jews so it was the natural starting place. Commencing with Jerusalem, they took the Gospel to the Jewish diaspora who had been scattered around the then known world, preaching first in the synagogues and then, when rejected, moving into the streets, public places and homes. They also entered the Roman world which, like the Jewish world, had seemingly been prepared for the coming of the Messiah.
Sheep among wolves
They saw the remarkable work of the Holy Spirit as many became followers of Jesus Christ. “I am sending you out as sheep among wolves,” the Lord had said to them earlier (Matthew 10:16). The words Jesus had spoken in His days on earth soon become a reality for them in their lives. Jesus had said that, because of Him, a family would turn against each other. Their ultimate faith and loyalty in Jesus Christ would bring conflict and division between close relatives (Matthew 10:34-35). Communities would be divided over Jesus. For Paul, the former zealous Pharisee, considered that everything was “rubbish” compared with “gaining Christ” and that rubbish included his heritage as a Jew (Philippians 3:4-9). Those who had asserted the Jewishness of their faith
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ii July/August 2017 Barnabas Aid
and their loyalty to the Jewish nation would have now let their loyalty to Jesus take precedence. Then there was the choice between Caesar and Christ (Matthew 22:21; Acts 4:19): while certain duties were owed to the state, ultimate loyalty must be to Christ. The disciples were to learn that in triumph there would be pain. They would discover that now they had not only to embrace the cross but also to carry the marks of the cross in their bodies as a new community, the ekklesia of God (those called out of the world). As the Body of Christ, they would now share in the sufferings of Christ. And they would conquer the world, not with the sword but with the cross of shame and suffering. Jesus had rightly told them that if they were to be His disciples they had to deny themselves, take up their cross and follow Him, that to lose their life was to find it (Matthew 16:24-25). There was now no way back. This new expression of early Christianity was inextricably linked to suffering and persecution. They would be the hated minority, the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world (1 Corinthians 4:13). Weak and vulnerable, they succeeded against all the odds. But at a tremendous cost. For Christ’s followers knew alienation and each of the apostles followed Him in martyrdom.
GROWTH OF THE EARLY CHURCH The conditions that, humanly speaking, encouraged Christianity and facilitated its rapid spread were: 1. Pax Romana The Roman Empire, which covered the known civilised world, was unified and at peace. Communications and travel were easier than for many centuries before and after. 2. Greek language Greek was the trade language used throughout the Roman Empire. The Greek interest in philosophy meant that religious and philosophical subjects were commonly discussed. 3. Jewish diaspora Jews had settled all across the empire, bringing with them monotheism, morality and a simple style of worship. 4. Hungry souls There seems to have been a great spiritual hunger at this time, as mystery religions came flooding in from the east. And so the Church grew. But this growth was met with rejection and hostility. Ordinary Christians were mostly not harassed; it was the leaders and the most active believers who were the focus of persecution.
Jewish reaction
This was an implacable hostility. The four main stumbling blocks were: 1. The cross, for a crucified Messiah was nonsensical to Jews waiting for a victorious political leader.
2. The resurrection, which they could not accept as a fact, particularly because Sadducees did not believe in any kind of afterlife. 3. The inclusion of the Gentiles in the Church on equal terms with Jews. This was a serious hindrance. 4. Jesus the Son of God, a concept that was hard to accept for followers of a faith whose main distinctive had always been its monotheism. The Jews circulated false accusations against Christians, encouraged anti-Christian mob violence, and made sure that the Roman bureaucracy penalised Christians. They could inflict serious economic consequences on Christians from a Jewish background, who would also be cursed during synagogue prayers. There were even occasions when, according to Justin Martyr (died c. 165), “the Jews treat us as open enemies, putting us to death and torturing us”.
Roman reaction
Religion was considered a state matter, and everyone in the empire was required to participate in the rituals of the Roman state religion. This religion was gradually evolving from worship of the traditional Roman gods to include worship of the living Roman emperor. Following other religions was allowed, so long as people also observed the state religion. Those who refused to sacrifice to the emperor were guilty of the serious crime of majestas.1 At first Christianity was tolerated by the authorities as it was considered to be a Jewish sect. Although hated by the general population, Jews were favoured by the ruling classes, who gave them privileges including exemption from making the mandatory sacrifices to the emperor. But soon Christianity began to be viewed as a definite threat to the Roman state religion. For a start, Christian evangelists declared that all other religions were false. Worse still, they refused to worship the emperor. The apocalyptic hope that Christians spoke of as they longed for the return of Christ was interpreted by others as plotting a coup. The way in which some Christians embraced poverty was completely baffling to onlookers, who called the Christians anarchists. Christians reacted to being considered traitors by withdrawing into what appeared to non-Christians to be anti-social and highly suspect secret societies. No one knew what went on at the Christians’ meetings, but it was rumoured to involve consuming human flesh and babies’ blood. The “holy kiss” that Paul mentions was assumed to be very far from holy, and the fact that Christians called their meetings agapes [loves] suggested that they were wild nights of lust. The Christian attitude to family life drew criticism too: they refused to marry non-Christians, some of them did not marry at all, and Jesus had spoken about setting members of a family against each other (Matthew 10:34-35). Christians were also seen as a threat to society
Pull-Out because of their attitude to slaves. They treated them well and gave them leadership roles in the Church. Roman governors, conscious of the vast slave populations, dreaded a slave uprising. To sum up, Christians were “hated for their abominations”, as the historian Tacitus wrote in approximately AD 116. Thus the Christians found themselves hated by the Gentile population at large, by the Roman authorities, and by the Jews. Christians were very vulnerable to being accused and brought to court by delators [denouncers]. These individuals were something like an informer and something like a private prosecutor. “I am a Christian” was confession of a crime for which there could be no extenuating circumstances and no forgiveness. Judges did not call witnesses in such cases. They simply passed sentence.
SPORADIC PERSECUTION (UNTIL AD 250) The emperor’s whim
The first century was characterised by fitful bursts of persecution. Although short, these periods of persecution could be very intense, and occurred chiefly on the instructions of two emperors: Nero (AD 54-68) and Domitian (AD 81-96). Nero began his reign well, but later became a deranged sadist. He blamed the Christians for Rome’s Great Fire in AD 64 and on this pretext had many Christians crucified, thrown to the wild beasts, or burned to death at night to illuminate his gardens. Domitian was another ruthless tyrant. He was very active in religious persecution, including the persecution of Christians, focusing on those in the highest positions.
The emperor restrains persecution
Emperor Trajan (98-117) established some ground rules to restrain persecution initiated by others: ●● No hard and fast rule can be laid down about how to deal with alleged Christians. ●● The authorities should not proactively hunt down Christians; they should wait for an accusation to be made by a delator. ●● If charges of being a Christian are proved, then the Christian is to be punished. ●● If anyone denies he is a Christian and can prove it, he should be pardoned. This proof includes offering incense to the emperor’s statue and cursing Christ. ●● Accusations made in anonymous written notices should be ignored. Hadrian (117-138) added further regulations: ●● If Christians are to be accused it should be done in a formal, legal way, not by baying mobs. ●● Accusations must relate to breaking a specific law.
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●● Delators who bring deliberate false accusations must be punished severely. Antoninus Pius (138-161) was generally tolerant, although it was during his reign that the aged bishop Polycarp was martyred, during a bout of persecution at Smyrna.
The emperor permits persecution
Emperor Marcus Aurelius (161-180) ruled in a time of grave crisis in the empire. The year 166 was particularly afflicted by disasters. To superstitious Romans, it was natural to try to find a cause for the gods’ evident displeasure; the strange and obnoxious Christians, who would not worship the emperor or the other gods, seemed likely culprits. Many Christians were martyred with the approval of Marcus Aurelius, who found them an obstacle to his desire to promote Stoic philosophy. The next bout of persecution occurred under Emperor Septimius Severus (193-211), who was trying to promote religious harmony so as to hold the empire together, but it is unclear how much he was responsible for the persecution.
SYSTEMATIC PERSECUTION (AD 250 - 312) The emperor initiates persecution
Persecution began again, around the year 250, but with these differences: the Church was no longer small and weak, Christians were no longer universally hated, the persecution was initiated by the emperor and it aimed to destroy the Church. The empire was beset with economic and social instability. The Persians and Goths threatened the frontiers. Christians were still viewed by some as a kind of treacherous fifth column, partly because of the cautious Christian attitude to war. At the same time there was a revival of the old Roman religion. Emperor Decius (249-251) issued an edict in 250 that on certain days all men must sacrifice to the emperor and the other gods. Certificates were issued to those who complied; those who did not were in serious trouble. This posed a major problem for Christians. Some went into hiding. Some bribed officials to get a certificate without actually sacrificing. Some tried to compromise by offering incense instead of a proper sacrifice. Some did sacrifice to the emperor. Many Church leaders were imprisoned, tortured or banished, and some were executed. But the pressure soon eased off, and when Decius died in 251 it ceased. In 252 persecution re-started, under Emperor Gallus who was attempting to restore the faltering empire by purging it of all the newer religions. But Gallus was a less effective persecutor than Decius, while the Church, purified by its trials in 250-251, was stronger than before and Christians did not backslide as they had then. But before long another anti-Christian edict
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was issued, this time by Emperor Valerian in 257. It banned Christians, on pain of death, from meeting together and from using their cemeteries. It also directed that bishops and priests must be banished if they refused to sacrifice to the emperor. Many Christians were killed, banished or sent to the mines.
Respite from persecution
After this, Christians had a long period of respite from persecution. Emperor Gallienus even issued an edict of toleration in 260, restoring to the Church its confiscated buildings, re-opening church cemeteries, and granting Christians freedom to gather for worship. During this time the Church was afflicted with divisions, partly because of the different ways in which Christians had responded to the edicts of Decius and Valerian. Was it legitimate to have fled/hidden, or should all have boldly refused? In particular there was the issue of apostate Christians, who had avoided persecution by sacrificing to the emperor, wanting to return to the Christian faith now that this was no longer dangerous.
More persecution by edict
Emperor Diocletian (284-305) favoured Christians when he first came to power. But he was persuaded by his assistant emperor, Galerius, to clamp down on them. Diocletian issued a series of edicts from February 303 until April 304, which ruthlessly suppressed Christianity. This period became known as “The Great Persecution”. ●● Edict 1 – This repealed Gallienus’ edict of toleration and re-enacted Valerian’s laws. All church buildings were to be destroyed, all Christian Scriptures burned, and Christian worship forbidden. Christian officials were to be deprived of civil rights, and lower ranking Christians demoted to be slaves. ●● Edict 2 - All Christian clergy to be imprisoned. ●● Edict 3 – Clergy to be released from prison if they would sacrifice to the emperor, but those who refused were to be tortured.
●● Edict 4 – All Christian believers to sacrifice to the emperor. The punishment for those who refused was death and the confiscation of their property. These edicts were zealously enforced in the eastern part of the empire, but much less so in the western part. One Christian-majority town was completely wiped out. When Diocletian abdicated in 305, persecution ceased in the west. But in the east Galerius was still there to enforce the edicts, sometimes even more severely than under Diocletian. In 308 Galerius issued a fifth and even stricter edict, which included the command that everything on sale in markets should be sprinkled with offerings made to the gods, thus polluting it in the eyes of Christians. In 311, on his deathbed, Galerius issued one more edict. This time it was an edict of toleration, reversing the earlier edicts and asking Christians to pray for his healing. He died a few days later. But persecution had not quite finished in the east. Galerius was succeeded by Maximin, who had refused to sign Galerius’s edict of toleration. Under his rule, persecution and martyrdoms continued in some places, but in others Christians were released from mines and exile.
THE END OF STATE PERSECUTION (AD 313) In March 313, Constantine and Licinian, the two remaining emperors, issued a joint edict in Milan setting out a religious liberty policy for the whole empire. This stated that the power of seeing to matters of belief must be left to the judgement and desire of each individual, according to the man’s own free will. 1 Crimen laesae majestatis (usually called majestas) was the crime of lèse-majesté, or treason against the emperor. This is the crime for which Jesus was executed. See “A History of Christian Persecution: Part 1 The Persecution of Jesus” in Barnabas Aid (May-June 2017) p.ii.
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In Brief
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Christian governor jailed on politicallymotivated blasphemy charges INDONESIA
The Christian former governor of Jakarta, “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, has been found guilty of blasphemy and sentenced to two years in prison by a panel of judges, even though prosecutors were no longer pursuing his conviction due to lack of evidence. The blasphemy charge – which was levelled against Ahok after he challenged Islamist claims that the Quran forbids Muslims to be governed by non-Muslims – has been widely credited as the reason Ahok lost his re-election bid to a Muslim candidate. The leader of Indonesia’s largest Islamic organisation stated the allegations were “all manipulation … for the purpose of the election”. Having spoken up for Indonesia’s historic philosophy of tolerance in defiance of Islamists, Ahok now faces two years in jail.
Christians unable to return to liberated homelands IRAQ
Qaraqosh was liberated from Islamic State (IS) militants in October 2016, but the believers who lived in what was once the largest Christian town in Iraq still feel they cannot return. “It was not just Daesh [IS] who destroyed our homes, it was also our neighbours, the ones we considered our friends,” explains an 80-year-old Christian now living in a Christian camp in Erbil. As the Christians fled from IS, Sunni Muslims from surrounding villages arrived on tractors and lorries and looted their houses. “Our neighbours betrayed us and the Iraqi army did nothing to stop Daesh. How can we possibly live somewhere we don’t feel welcome or safe?”
Palm Sunday sees Christians targeted in Asia and Middle East EGYPT, INDIA, PAKISTAN
Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for two deadly suicide bombings at churches in Tanta and Alexandria on Palm Sunday, 9 April, which left at least 46 people dead and more than 100 injured. In Tanta, around 60 miles north of Cairo, the bomber ran up the aisle of the church and blew himself up near the altar. The same day, Christians were targeted in five different states across India. In Madhya Pradesh and Haryana, police arrested church pastors after Hindu extremists alleged they had forced people to convert to Christianity. Local officials in Tamil Nadu invaded a private prayer meeting, falsely claiming that the believers required permission from the local authorities before gathering, and in Uttar Pradesh, a church pastor was beaten by a mob. In Pakistan, security services foiled a planned suicide bombing in Lahore, arresting a woman who later admitted she was intending to blow herself up at a church over the Easter weekend. Last year, a suicide bomber targeted Christians celebrating Easter in a park in the city, killing 74 people.
Buddhist mob force pastor and wife from home SRI LANKA
A pastor and his wife in Ingiriya, southwest Sri Lanka, have been forced to leave their home after being targeted by a Buddhist mob. Police supported false claims by Buddhist extremists that the church the pastor leads must be registered to meet and threated to charge the pastor with breaching the peace. After a mob vandalised the pastor’s vehicle, surrounded his house and threated to attack him, police requested that he and his wife leave their home for their own safety.
Muslim youths target Christian on Sydney train AUSTRALIA
A 30-year-old Christian man was attacked by five Muslim youths on a train in south-west Sydney in April. “Mike”, who wears a cross given to him by his mother when he was a teenager, said “They ripped the cross off me, threw it to the ground, they said **** Jesus.” The youths referred to Allah and then began to assault the Christian. “It’s not just an attack on me, it’s an attack on what I believe in and every Christian out there.” New South Wales police stated following the assault that they were investigating an “alleged religiouslymotivated” attack on a Sydney train.
Islamist Seleka militia continue violent attacks on Christians CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
Barnabas Fund has provided food and household essentials to needy Christians in the CAR who have been the victims of violence Despite the presence of a UN peacekeeping force, Christians in the Central African Republic continue to experience violent attacks from Islamist Seleka, who are refusing to accept the result of last year’s elections, which led to a Christian becoming president of this Christian-majority nation. At least 50 people were killed in April in separate attacks on three Christian communities in the central Bambari region. To view our most current news scan this with your device
12 July/August 2017 Barnabas Aid
OVER 150,000 SAVED FROM STARVATION THROUGH PROJECT JOSEPH
This truck took vital aid to villages in Uganda; Barnabas Fund supporters’ help is gratefully acknowledged
Project Joseph When news of the drought and famine sweeping East Africa broke early in 2017, Barnabas Fund responded swiftly with food aid distributed through churches and Christian ministries, and has continued to supply hundreds of tonnes of maize, cooking oil, milk powder and salt, with aid being distributed to over 156,500 starving people (including refugees from South Sudan). Aid goes directly though churches and partner organisations in Kenya and Uganda.
Life-saving food aid for Christians in drought-stricken Kenya, made possible by Barnabas Fund supporters
Project Joseph
Because Barnabas Fund works directly through local churches and trusted Christian partners, needs are quickly made known; aid is promptly sourced, then efficiently distributed to exactly where it needs to go.
We
know only too well that there is still a deep crisis, and there is much more to do. But there is renewed hope and heartfelt joy brought by the swift, practical and timely aid which supporters’ generosity has made possible – as witnessed by the letters of thanks we have received. One grateful Kenyan Christian, Gladys, wrote, “People are now happy and rejoicing for your help. I don’t know how to express their happiness.” Matthias’ letter said, “When the food reached us, we were in the critical condition.” Martha too said how thankful Christians are, but reminded us that the need remains great when she added, “however, we prayed for more because drought still existing …”
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Your help is saving thousands from starvation; until the seasonal rains resume and there is a fresh harvest, the threat of famine persists for these folk who live off what they grow and their own livestock. With their animals gone – dead from thirst or hunger, sold to buy food, or eaten for survival – aid is still needed until such time as they are once again self-sufficient for their food and livelihoods. Through Project Joseph, enabled by supporters’ generosity, essential food aid is now reaching over 156,500 people: over 76,000 in Kenya, and more than 80,500 in Uganda, including around 79,000 refugees from South Sudan. However, across the region people remain in great peril. It is vital that we continue to get aid to where it is most urgently needed, with some communities still struggling to survive drought and famine. The situation remains precariously balanced for those who live directly off their crops or their livestock. At the time of writing, the situation remains critical in the affected regions of Africa. Seeds for planting have been eaten; many animals that were not lost to the drought were either sold to buy food or slaughtered and eaten out of desperation. Even if the hoped-for rains arrive and there is a good harvest, it will take several seasons for normal life to resume.
STOP PRESS! If you have given to Project Joseph and you pay sufficient UK Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax (even if that is on a pension, or investments) but you haven’t completed a Gift Aid declaration – your gift could be worth an additional 25% when you fill in the declaration at the back of this magazine! We estimate that if every eligible person giving to Project Joseph had completed that declaration, we could have sent an additional £70,000 to help those in danger of starvation – just imagine, that could have provided maize, beans and cooking oil for a week for 70,000 South Sudanese refugees in Camp Rhino, Uganda! But it’s not too late – compete and return the declaration to us, and HMRC will calculate the value of your giving to Barnabas FOR THE PAST FOUR YEARS!
PROJECT
JOSEPH
Project Joseph, feeding hungry Christians in Africa (00-1313)
Sitting by their dead livestock, oblivious to the health dangers posed by the carcasses, this family did not know where to turn for help
Even camels, famed as the “ships of the desert”, became too weak to reach watering holes when the drought was at its fiercest
how barnabas is helping Healing the unseen war-wounds of Syria’s Christians In times of great suffering, Christians naturally look to their church leaders for help and comfort. Barnabas is equipping churches from war-torn Syria to be more effective in helping their members traumatised by war, deprivation and persecution. Recently, 33 Syrian church leaders from different churches and backgrounds were trained in trauma counselling in neighbouring Lebanon. This gives them skills to help other traumatised believers to cope with the horrors that they have experience or witnessed. This is the third such course which Barnabas has funded. Areas of Syria are still being fought over as the civil war grinds on. As well as the toll of hundreds of thousands of dead and injured, ruined buildings and shattered infrastructure, there are deep psychological and spiritual wounds suffered by civilians caught up in the atrocities; Christians endure the additional suffering of being directly persecuted for their faith.
Trauma counselling training for Syrian church leaders
£20,835 to train Syrian church leaders in trauma counselling ($27,120; €24,300) Project reference 00-1032 (Christians in Syria Fund)
Self-sufficiency for Zonkwa’s widows There is a growing number of needy Christian widows in Zonkwa, Kaduna State, in the Middle Belt of Nigeria, an area where Christians are often attacked by ethnic Fulani militants. Barnabas Fund has covered the cost of scaling up the local churches’ interest-free revolving loan programme tenfold. The women are also given vocational training to equip them with the skills they need, as well as training in how to set up and run a small business. This programme is now enabling 100 widows each year to gain financial independence through their own small businesses. The interest-free loans of just 20,000 naira (£53) each enable these widows to support themselves; without this help many would be reduced to begging. Loans are repaid at the rate of 2,000 naira a month, and the repayments fund further loans to help yet more widows. The range of small businesses set up so far includes pig breeding, rearing chickens, selling produce such as vegetables and meat, and farming.
Pig breeding is just one of the small businesses started up by widows on this programme
£11,313 for self-sufficiency programme for Christian widows in Nigeria ($14,725; €13,175) Project reference 39-1284
Medical assistance for poor rural Christians Impoverished Christians cannot afford medical treatment and in rural areas there is not much available anyway. Yet, pressures and persecution take their toll on the health of believers, especially of pastors and leaders who are the main targets for harassment by the authorities in this very restricted country. Sometimes Christian patients are discriminated against by local hospital staff. So a team of Christian health professionals, supported by Barnabas, visits different regions for a week at a time, enabling Christians to receive the treatment they need, free of charge. Further funds from Barnabas help to finance medication and other treatments. In the past year the team has treated conditions such as Hepatitis B, kidney failure and gynaecological problems.
Skilled medical help enabled this pastor’s son to be free of his constant headaches and enabled him to sleep at night
£18, 586 for medical assistance for persecuted Christians in a Central Asian country ($24,200; €21,650) Project reference xx-1197
Strengthened and encouraged. This is what we often hear from Christians who have received support from Barnabas Fund. Thank you for making this possible. Here are just a few examples of the many ways we have recently helped persecuted and pressurised Christians.
Support for Church Planters Medical needs after Palm Sunday bombings Barnabas Fund is helping with the ongoing medical treatment of 38 Christians who sustained injuries when suicide bombers targeted two Egyptian churches on Palm Sunday, 9 April. The blasts killed 45 people and left 126 injured, some of them seriously. A last-minute decision to have 300 children worship in another nearby church rather than at St George, Tanta, undoubtedly spared many young lives. Many of the dead and injured were men and the sole breadwinners for their families, so the church is also assisting their wives and children with living costs.
Barnabas Fund supports church planters ministering amongst Muslims in Indonesia; the grant of £23 a month covers part of their family needs and ministry costs, but the church-planters must also earn some money. When the new church is established and thriving, the members’ giving will mean that Barnabas no longer has to fund. Church planter Nataniel writes that as well as buying medication and daily needs, “We used [your support] partly to purchase school uniforms for our daughter Eunike, replacing the old worn-out ones after five years.” Another church planter, Johanes, has made a success of manufacturing bricks, and the money he makes from that goes into supporting his outreach activities. Regular pastoral contact with all the church planters encourages them, ensuring that they feel part of the bigger picture and that financial support reaches them.
Mina, killed in the Palm Sunday attacks, and his son Kirollos, who is among the injured being helped by Barnabas Fund
£20,000 for medical care for victims of the Palm Sunday bombings in Alexandria and Tanta ($26,000; €23,300) Project reference 00-345 (Victims of Violence Fund)
Johanes with his family; money he makes from brickmaking pays for his outreach activities
£11,040 to support to 40 church planters for a year ($14,350; €12,745) Project reference 22-828
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New buildings for Children’s Ministry From its early origins rescuing babies who had been sacrificed to Hindu gods, Divya Shanthi in Bangalore, India, now provides residential care for about 63 children with over 500 more coming daily to school on site, as well as many other ministries. The original simple and cheaply constructed buildings for the ministry have become increasingly unfit for purpose through monsoon damage, and so Barnabas Fund has stepped in to fund a new durable building which will include dormitories, a health centre, a special needs school and other facilities at an overall cost of £1 million. The foundation stone was laid on 8 March, and Barnabas Fund was represented at the joyful ceremony marking this special step in the growth of Divya Shanthi, “God’s Peace”. For details on sponsorship of children at Divya Shanthi, contact your local Barnabas Fund office (addresses on inside front cover).
Workmen pour concrete as the foundations for the new building for Divya Shanthi start to take shape
£1,000,000 to construct a new multipurpose building at Divya Shanthi Children’s Ministry ($1,300,000; €1,154,000) Project reference: 21-1226
Operation Safe Havens
16 July/August 2017 Barnabas Aid
OPERATION
The reason
violence from Islamic State (IS) and other Islamist groups. Whether they are struggling to survive while internally displaced in their homeland, refugees in neighbouring countries, or wanting to leave the region altogether, Barnabas Fund is on the ground making a difference.
UPDATE
The progress
Australia, Brazil, Canada, the Czech Republic and Poland. Barnabas Fund helps them to get visas, pays their airfares and if necessary gives some financial support on arrival. Local Christians welcome them and help them settle in.
SAFE HAVENS
The sheer scale of inhuman atrocities occurring today in the Middle East has caused over a million Syrian Christians to flee their homes. As Christians they suffer not only from the conflict but also from specifically anti-Christian persecution and
Since the launch of Operation Safe Havens in July 2015, Barnabas Fund has rescued more than 1,600 Syrian and Iraqi Christians who felt they had no option but to flee their homeland. They are now living safely in
The recognition
Barnabas Fund Australia was honoured to receive an award from the Assyrian Universal Alliance, presented by Hon. Luke Aquinas Foley MP, Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of New South Wales, on 1 April. “The Friend of Assyria” award was given in recognition of the many lives saved through Operation Safe Havens and in appreciation of our advocacy for internally displaced Christians in the Middle East. The thousandth Christian resettled in Australia through Operation Safe
The result
“The Friend of Assyria” award presented to Barnabas Fund by Hon. Luke Aquinas Foley MP Havens had arrived on 8 February. Assyrians are the original ethnic group of Iraq, and have been Christians for nearly 2,000 years. Because of their support we found our way in Australia, so a big thank you to them and God bless them.” Karem and his family, from Iraq, were rescued by Operation Safe Havens
Ninos with his wife and son - One of the many families rescued through Operation Safe Havens
Your donations and prayerful support have made this possible. To find out more and to support Operation safe Havens go to www.barnabasfund.org/osh Project reference 00-1199
Karem and his family, from Iraq “… We were displaced from our home city Qaraqosh … by the Islamic army (Daesh), we lost our property, our belongings, everything and we fled to Kurdistan region, then we left Iraq to Jordan and we got a humanitarian visa to Australia … It was very hard for us to pay for our ticket to travel to Australia [which was eventually funded by Operation Safe Havens]. “We appreciate the support we got from Barnabas Fund and we are very grateful to the donors.
“We would like to acknowledge Barnabas Fund for their support in financing our relocation to Australia on humanitarian grounds. We experienced significant persecution in Syria due to our Christian beliefs and through the sheer grace of God we escaped the terrorists and were refugees in Lebanon for almost two years before being granted a Humanitarian Visa by Australia. Thank you kindly for all the assistance you’ve provided in securing our safety; we are eternally indebted.” Ninos and his family were also rescued by Operation Safe Havens
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Make sure to join us wherever you are in the world on Saturday 4 November for the Barnabas Fund International Day of Prayer. And don’t forget to get Suffering Church Action Week booked in to your church’s diary. Phone or email your local Barnabas office to register for a free Inspiration Resource Pack to help you and your church focus your worship and activities on the persecuted Church. Contact details for your local office can be found on the inside front cover of this magazine. The Inspiration Resource Pack will include an A3 poster to advertise your event, prayer materials, a DVD with resources relating to our work, a sermon outline and Bible study, a money box for collecting donations and an original new song.
2017
Sunday 29 October – Sunday 5 November Be a part of Suffering Church Action Week as we unite with persecuted Christians to say I am not ashamed.
Our persecuted brothers and sisters need our prayers and support, and Suffering Church Action Week is the perfect time to raise awareness and reach out to them. Don’t miss out on your chance to make a difference. For more details go to www.barnabasfund.org/scaw
LAST CHANCE TO SIGN THE PETITION June 30th is the closing date to sign our petition “The right to choose your religion” The petition is calling upon the UK government to do four things: ●● Fulfil its obligations, under article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to protect the rights of all UK residents who have converted from religions including Islam, many of whom face extreme coercion and violence to return to their previous religion. ●● Recognise attempts at “forced reconversion” to Islam and acts of retribution against converts from Islam as a particular type of hate crime. ●● Adopt a specific Home Office strategy to combat criminal attempts at “forced reconversion” to Islam in the UK.
●● Recognise that those who have converted from Islam frequently face death threats and other forms of severe coercion in accordance with the sharia penalty for apostasy and give priority status to asylum applications from those whose lives are at risk in their own countries because they have converted from Islam. Make sure to return your completed petition forms as soon as possible to Barnabas Fund, 9 Priory Row, Coventry, CV1 5EX. Please note that we will still be able to accept your signed forms if they arrive shortly after June 30th. * If you are unable to sign and return a printed copy of the petition, please go to our website to sign the petition online at www.barnabasfund.org/my-right-to-freedom
18 July/Augu st 2017 Barn abas Aid
In Touch
Heather gets knitting … Kind-hearted Heather Rogers decided to mark her 75th birthday by undertaking a sponsored Knitathon to fundraise for charity. The many friends and family who came to support her helped raise over £500 for the Sewing and Literacy Centre project in Pakistan, where Christian women acquire skills to earn a living through tailoring and also learn how to read and write in Urdu.
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I do not require an acknowledgement of this gift GIFT AID DECLARATION (Applicable to UK tax payers only) Boost your donation by 25p of Gift Aid for every £1 you donate Gift Aid is reclaimed by the charity from the tax you pay for the current tax year. Your address is needed to identify you as a current UK taxpayer, please fill this in below if different from the details above.
In order to Gift Aid your donation you must mark the box below: I want to Gift Aid this donation and any donations I make in the future or have made in the past to: Barnabas Fund. I am a UK taxpayer and understand that if I pay less Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax than the amount of Gift Aid claimed on all my donations in that tax year it is my responsibility to pay any difference. My Details: Title ............... First name ..................................................................................... Last name ............................................................................................................ Full Home address . .............................................................................................. ............................................................................................................................ Postcode ............................................................................................................. Please notify Barnabas Fund if your circumstances change.
If you pay Income Tax at the higher or additional rate and want to receive the additional tax relief due to you, you must include all your Gift Aid donations on your Self-Assessment tax return or ask HM Revenue and Customs to adjust your tax code.
Please return this form to Barnabas Fund at your national office or to the UK office. Addresses are on the inside front cover. Barnabas Fund will not give your address, telephone number or email to anyone else. Supporters in Germany: please turn to inside front cover for how to send gifts to Barnabas Fund. Phone 0800 587 4006 or visit our website at www.barnabasfund.org to make a donation by Direct Debit, credit or debit card. From outside UK phone +44 24 7623 1923.
Please start on 1st/3rd/7th/11th/15th/21st/28th (delete as applicable) of ........................................(month) and then every month/quarter/year until further notice. This Direct Debit is a new one/in addition to/replaces an earlier Standing Order/Direct Debit in favour of Barnabas Fund.
ALTERNATIVE GIFT CARD
If you would like to make a donation as an alternative gift for a friend or relative, we can supply you with an attractive “Thank you” card, which you can send to the person for whom you have made the donation. Please contact your local B C A office to order one.
FUNDRAISING
Barnabas works hard to be ethical in the way we raise funds and in the ways we contact supporters.
We raise funds from: ●● appeals through our own literature such as the magazine, which is sent to people on our mailing list ●● appeals via emails sent to people on our email list ●● appeal leaflets in other Christian publications ●● appeals on our website and social media We never: ●● cold call people ●● have street collections ●● use external fundraising organisations If you ask us to stop mailing you we will take you off the mailing list as soon as we receive your request. Please note that you may still receive some printed material if the mailing list has been used by our printer to create a mailing shortly before we removed you from the list. *If the project chosen is sufficiently funded, we reserve the right to use designated gifts either for another project of a similar type or for another project in the same country. Registered Charity number 1092935 Company registered in England number 4029536
Instruction to your bank or building society to pay by Direct Debit Please fill in the whole form using a ball point pen and send it to: Barnabas Fund, 9 Priory Row, Coventry CV1 5EX Name and full postal address of your bank or building society
Name(s) of account holder(s) Bank/building society account number
Branch sort code
Service User Number
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Reference (Barnabas Fund to complete) Instruction to your bank or building society: Please pay Barnabas Fund Direct Debits from the account detailed in this instruction subject to the safeguards assured to by the Direct Debit Guarantee. I understand that this instruction may remain with Barnabas Fund and, if so, details will be passed electronically to my bank/building society. DD18 Signature(s) Date
THE DIRECT DEBIT GUARANTEE This Guarantee is offered by all Banks and Building Societies that accept instructions to pay Direct Debits. If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your Direct Debit Barnabas Fund will notify you 10 working days in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed. If you request Barnabas Fund to collect a payment, confirmation of the amount and date will be given to you at the time of the request. If an error is made in the payment of your Direct Debit by Barnabas Fund or your bank or building society, you are guaranteed a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from your bank or building society. If you receive a refund you are not entitled to, you must pay it back when Barnabas Fund asks you to. You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by simply contacting your bank or building society. Written confirmation may be required. Please also notify us.
What will happen to your earthly treasures after you have gone on to Glory? Through your wise planning and investment you can continue to be a blessing to the persecuted Church long after you have left this earth. Please remember Barnabas Fund in your Will. For a helpful booklet to support you in this process, please contact your local office.
“This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.” (2 Corinthians 9:12)
SURVIVING THE FORGOTTEN ARMENIAN GENOCIDE - A MOVING PERSONAL STORY
£8.30 (includes P& P)
Smpat Chorbadjian. Edited by Patrick Sookhdeo
A gripping eye witness account of the genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Turkish government against its Armenian subjects during World War 1. Smpat Chorbadjian tells his story of the appalling hardships he suffered. It shows his courage, endurance and the will to survive and records, his healing and restoration, after years of extreme misery. ISBN: 9780991614578 Number of Pages: 136 Cover: Paperback
DAWA - THE ISLAMIC STRATEGY FOR RESHAPING THE MODERN WORLD Patrick Sookhdeo
£13.05 (includes P& P)
A global survey of Islamist strategies and tactics for missionary outreach (dawa), this readable but well referenced book analyses the current processes of Islamisation at an individual and societal level, revealing the underlying patterns, structures and organisation. It also examines the theological roots of dawa that inspire Islamists today. ISBN: 9780991614530 Number of Pages: 318 Cover: Hardback
To order these books, visit www.barnabasfund.org/shop. Alternatively, please contact your nearest Barnabas Fund office (addresses on inside front cover). Cheques for the UK should be made payable to “Barnabas Books”. sales@barnabasbooks.org
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