barnabasaid
barnabasfund.org NOVEMBER/ DECEMBER 2017
BARNABAS FOR THETHE PERSECUTED CHURCH - BRINGING HOPE TO SUFFERING CHRISTIANS BARNABASFUND FUND- AID - AIDAGENCY AGENCY FOR PERSECUTED CHURCH
PROJECT JOSEPH
Saving God’s people in Africa from starvation
WATER
Lifesaving water flows for persecuted Christians
SYRIA
War, death threats & a secret preacher - a convert’s journey
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 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
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 to respond to the growing challenge of Islam to Church, society and mission in their own countries
and situations, either through grace to endure or through deliverance from suffering
(Matthew 25:40)
You may contact Barnabas Fund at the following addresses New Zealand PO Box 276018, 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 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
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.
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. 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
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations are taken from the New International Version®. Front Cover: School funded by Barnabas for Pakistani Christian children from brick-kiln families. © Barnabas Aid Inc. 2017. For permission to reproduce articles from this magazine, please contact the International Headquarters address above.
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 card please visit the website or phone BFA office on 1300 365 799
Contents
The Incarnation: Turning the World Upside Down
We
worship Christ because we believe that God is present in Him,” said Aphrahat in the fourth century. Often called “the Persian Sage”, he also taught that “the Incarnation does not mean reincarnation, but it means that God becomes man so man may be brought up to God.” The writer to the Hebrews emphasised that Jesus shared in our humanity, that He was made fully human in every way (Hebrews 2:14,17). But who were these with whom the Lord identified? Was it those with wealth, power and status? No, He identified with the lowest level of human life. He was born amidst hay, dirt and animals, in the middle of winter. He identified with the poor, the weak and the suffering. In Luke’s Gospel, the Christmas story targets the most powerful man on earth and the most powerful institution in the world. Luke devotes five verses to Emperor Augustus, but only two verses to the birth of Jesus. Luke is targeting the emperor at the peak of his reign and at the height of his policy making. Caesar Augustus dwells in a palace, sits on a golden throne and decks himself in fine robes. But in reality the emperor is naked. The real king dwells in a manger, sleeps on a bed of straw and is robed in swaddling clothes. In a dramatic reversal, these shepherds are called to be witnesses of the birth of Christ. Luke has already pre-empted this reversal in Mary’s prophetic song of praise (Luke 1:46-55), where the Messiah Jesus reverses the whole order of life and turned the norms of society upside down. We need those same reversals today. God has been diminished and made very small by secular humanist societies that magnify humankind. This must be reversed, with God praised, honoured and lifted high (v.46), and the overweening self-esteem of human beings reduced to a Biblical humility and attitude of dependence on God’s mercy. The materialism and greed, which riddle both society and the Western church to the point where even the most committed Christians are all but blind to the grotesque paradox of their luxurious lifestyles, must be abandoned. Christians must learn to store up treasure in heaven, to use their money to help those in need, and to value simplicity (v.53). Mary also sang of the Lord bringing down the powerful and lifting up the lowly (v.52). How desperately both society and church need this reversal — that the weak and lowly may no longer be trampled underfoot. At the time of writing, the world could not be more broken. A series of horrendous hurricanes have hit the Caribbean and the southern USA with devastating force. Three earthquakes have rocked Mexico, bringing destruction and mayhem. Floods have wreaked havoc in parts of the Indian sub-continent and West Africa. Famine is escalating in East Africa, and Yemen has become the worst place in the world for human need. The world is going through a cataclysmic period and these events touch on the lives of ordinary people. The poor have become destitute. Refugees traverse the globe in all directions. There are wars and rumours of wars. Suffering humanity is crying out for hope. Paul also wonderfully draws together the twin themes of the incarnation and the poverty of Christ: ‘For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.’ (2Co 8:9 NIV) As Christmas comes, we remember the angels singing in glory to the newborn Saviour. We focus again on the Babe in the stable, the universal King who holds the world tenderly in His pierced hands. He was made man to bring us to God. In this broken world, He alone is our hope.
“
The real king dwells in a manger, sleeps on a bed of straw and is robed in swaddling clothes
4 Project Joseph
12 million meals and counting
6 8
Testimony
A Syrian convert’s journey to faith
10
In Brief
Pakistani Christian man sentenced to death for WhatsApp “blasphemy”
Pull-out
Editorial
A History of Christian Persecution
part 3: Persecution outside the Roman Empire
12
Water
Water for persecuted and embattled communities
12 13
Legacy
14
Compassion in Action
16
Ukraine
How you can help future generations
Living in “God’s given dignity”
Winter aid for Christians in conflict zone
18
In Touch
Barnabas visit to Project Joseph
...
PROJECT
JOSEPH
UPDATE
4 November/December 2017 Barnabas Aid
12 MILLION MEALS saving God’s people in East Africa from starvation Between three to four thousand people are supplied with food parcels of maize, beans, oil and milk powder at each Barnabas Fund food distribution at Camp Rhino. Altogether, almost 90,000 are being fed
Project Joseph update
Barnabas Aid November/December 2017 5
“By giving us food it is like you have given us life” – Gabriel Mena, a displaced Christian from Yei River State, South Sudan, now at Camp Rhino, Uganda
“A
mos” lost his parents as the family tried to make their way to Uganda; they were escaping the drought, famine and killing fields of South Sudan. The twelve-year-old continued through the bush alone. He came across another group of refugees making the arduous trek to the border, and they agreed to let Amos travel with them. But before long, the group walked into an ambush. As the attackers opened fire, the refugees scattered and, when the shooting ended, Amos found himself on his own again. He hid in the bush for two days, until he saw another group passing, who let him join them. By this time Amos was so weak with hunger that he could scarcely walk. Eventually two of the men took turns to carry him on their backs, swopping over every ten kilometres, until they reached Uganda. The brutal famine affecting swathes of East Africa has forced many to leave behind their land and homes in search of food, creating an exodus of the hungry. Over 2,000 refugees cross from South Sudan into Uganda every day. Many are orphaned children; many are fleeing because of violence, as well as drought and famine. At the time of writing there are
Across East Africa, drought and famine have brought Christian families to the brink of starvation
90,000 refugees at Camp Rhino in north-east Uganda, almost of all of whom are from South Sudan; 86% of the camp population are women and children. United Nations’ agencies have been supplying food to the camp, but in May the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) cut their ration to the refugees by half. Barnabas Fund’s food aid, delivered by the Church of Uganda, is essential to meet the most basic needs of the refugees. Facing the painful prospect of slow starvation, Christian families in Muslim-majority Isiolo, Kenya, five hours drive north of Nairobi, made a heart-breaking decision. In an effort to save any cattle they could, husbands drove the family herds away in search of water, leaving women and children to walk for seven hours over the passes of Mount Kenya to try to find food. In many parts of arid northern Kenya, such as East Pokot, the land is so dry that it is largely unsuitable for arable farming. Livestock make up the bedrock of the economy, accounting for over 80% of the region’s food sources. When severe drought struck in late 2016 and early 2017, Christians in East Pokot could only look on as their cattle wasted away and the crops they had been able to grow – maize, sorghum and millet – withered and died. There was so little water that even camels perished.
Nomadic pastoral communities in northern Kenya, reliant on their livestock, have been some of the hardest hit
6 November/December 2017 Barnabas Aid
A woman and child at a Barnabas Fund food distribution in Camp Rhino; each refugee receives 2kg of beans and 3kg of maize flour, which they ration carefully to last about a month
RESPONDING TO THE CALL Uganda
AID IN NUMBERS
At Camp Rhino, Barnabas Fund has become the biggest donor of food aid, often supplying over 60% of the food for most of the people in the camp. The maize and sorghum grain distributed by the U.N. WFP need to be milled before they can be eaten, so refugees have no choice but to sell some of their desperately-needed ration to pay to mill the rest of it so they are able cook it. The maize flour distributed by Barnabas Fund, however, is ready to cook and refugees frequently comment on the quality of the food parcels they receive: ‘‘Honestly this food came like a rescue miracle, we were not expecting it … the beans are very nice, does not take long to get ready,” said Joja Tom. Deliveries of food by the WFP have been sporadic, leaving refugees in a life-threatening limbo, without any guarantee of where their next meal
is going to come from. “It is some months back since World Vision brought us food but we thank God for [the] Church … we have food which is of good quality. Our children were about to die of hunger,” said South Sudanese pastor, Sarapino Mame. As a result of Barnabas Fund’s help, all the different villages in the vast Camp Rhino have been supplied. Our project partner sent the encouraging message in August that because of the food supplied through Project Joseph, the refugees had been able to go a month without sleeping hungry. A single day’s food ration for a refugee – which they will often stretch to last more than one meal – costs 24c and contains around 120g of maize, 80g of beans, as well as cooking oil. Pastor Nason describes the difference that Project Joseph has made to South Sudanese refugees in Uganda: “When they first came, you could see how hungry they were … Now you can look at them and see how much better they are doing and
Refugees at Camp Rhino have repeatedly commented on the good quality of the food – especially the beans – supplied by Barnabas Fund nourished they are. Their faces and appearance have changed because of the food distribution. Children are now looking strong and happy.” At the time of writing, Barnabas Fund has provided more than 7.5 million meals to refugees in Camp Rhino. The commander at the camp told visitors, “Without the Barnabas Fund we would not be able to manage the camp.” Barnabas Fund also stepped in to provide food for desperately hungry Ugandans in Anyara county, who were not getting the help the South Sudanese refugees in their neighbourhood were receiving. The chairman of the local council wrote to Barnabas Fund’s project partner, the Church of Uganda: “On behalf of the government of Uganda, the district leadership of Kaberamaido, the 204 most vulnerable beneficiaries and on my own behalf, would like to sincerely thank you for your generosity and compassion to sustain the neediest with maize flour and dry beans to last for some good time … You are the first to send help to our people.”
12 million
total meals provided for starving Christians in East Africa
Over 2,250
tonnes of food over the last four months
169,970 believers fed
The food has brought smiles back to faces of Christian children
Barnabas Aid November/December 2017 7
Children have been the worst affected
Kenya Through Project Joseph, Barnabas Fund has distributed over 83 tonnes of food in East Pokot, providing 416,000 meals. Before this aid was delivered, people had been eating poisonous wild fruit (boiled for hours) to try to survive. Project Joseph’s maize, beans, cooking oil, milk powder and salt were received with immense joy and thanksgiving. Across northern Kenya as a whole, Barnabas Fund has delivered life-saving food aid to 152,000 Christians in desperate need – over 3 million meals In Madogo and Garissa – the area where Al Shabaab infamously attacked a university in 2015 and singled out Christian students for execution – the demonstration of the Church in action has been a great witness to the local community. Barnabas Fund’s project partner reported that the latest food distribution was “the talk of the towns … even among non-Christians as to how the God of the Christians has helped his people in a time of crisis.” A church pastor in Kakuma commented that, as a result of the food, believers now have extra energy to praise during worship services. He added, “Christians are not on their own struggling with life and other things without help like the rest, but we have Jesus Christ who is constantly using our brothers elsewhere to meet our needs and to take care of us.”
Christian women and children from Isiolo walked for seven hours to reach a Barnabas Fund food distribution
Believers at a displaced people’s camp in Wau, South Sudan, were forced to eat leaves and grass, until food aid arrived. Barnabas has now supported 5,700 Christians at the camp
South Sudan In South Sudan, Barnabas has come to the aid of 5,700 desperate Christians at a camp in Wau. “Before we were eating the leaves of the trees and grass for surviving and now we have enough food for two months which has never happened before. To receive food in a good quantity and the salt at the same time … we will never forget those who support us in this time of hunger,” said one displaced believer, Buola Wunguac. Each of the 1,140 internally displaced Christian families at Wau received 45kg of sorghum and 500g of salt. Fifteen percent of these families are children only, who have no adult relative caring for them.
4,000 families have been helped in Marsabit, Kenya; our project partner said the assistance gave “life to those who have lost hope”
AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE The work of Project Joseph has saved untold lives in East Africa, but millions of Christians and others still live with the looming prospect of starvation – many refugees still have no settled place to begin to grow crops, while those who own land and livestock have seen them devastated by drought. Rainfall this year has been patchy, falling in some places but not in others. Recovery will take years and in the meantime, they continue to rely on their brothers and sisters to aid them and pray for them in their hour of need. Project reference 00-1313
Finding Grace
8 November/December 2017 Barnabas Aid
Finding Grace
One Syrian couple’s journey to faith “Mervan”, a Kurdish school-teacher from Syria, tells the story of how he and his wife “Sherin” found faith in Christ – and how they have suffered for His Name
I
grew up in a simple but devout Muslim family. My grandfather was a sheikh (cleric) in the mosque. He obliged us to attend mosque every Friday to listen to the religious sermon. I had questions regarding many things including: why all this hatred towards Christians; the accusation of Jews and Christians being infidels; and why the burning of the Bible and killing of Christians? Listening to the religious history, I had great internal conflict: does this prophet deserve to be followed? As a result of this I thought about atheism, for I started to lose faith in Islam – it calls for hatred and malice, so where is the true God?
Finding Grace
The secret preacher On one occasion one of my friends who was an atheist handed me the Bible and said read and see how the Jews killed many nations and kicked them out of their homes to usurp them, in addition to the fables found in the Bible. I took the Bible in 1999, and started reading it from Genesis. I enjoyed the chronology of events, which does not resemble the Quran that was written haphazardly.
I had great internal conflict: does this prophet deserve to be followed? For a while I stopped reading the Bible, but then I had a recurrent dream of a person sitting on my chest trying to strangle me and I used to wake up scared and shaken. When I started reading the Bible again that terrifying dream stopped and I felt peace. I don’t know where the peace came from. I read the whole book but I had many queries and I prayed in my heart: “O Lord, if this book is not fake, send me means by which to understand, and especially the verses that speak about the deity of Christ.” Soon after, God answered my prayer and by chance I met a preacher, who ran a school bookstore. Actually he was trying to secretly distribute the Bible. I entered the bookstore to buy a few resources and we became friends and after a while he gave me the Bible and I told him that I had read it twice but I had questions. He introduced me to a doctor who helped me answer these questions; I used to visit him daily, asking him questions about the crucifixion, sin and Christ’s deity. These visits continued for one year, during which I used to compare between the Quran and the Bible. After long research and comparison I made my decision to secretly follow Christ as my Lord and Saviour.
Barnabas Aid November/December 2017 9
“I will not give up Jesus Christ, nor will I give you up” In the year 2000 I married Sherin who was from a very religious family. She wore the hijab, and went to the mosque during Ramadan. I said to myself I will tell her later about the true God, the one revealed in Jesus Christ. Later on I started to declare to my wife that I follow Jesus and attend church. She could not understand me initially, and she would ask me, “Don’t you fear going to hell?” And here many problems started. Three months after telling my wife about Jesus she asked me for a divorce, or to give up my new faith in Christ. I told her I will not give up Jesus Christ, nor will I give you up, for Jesus loved you and me, and He died for us. I did not stop telling her how Islam and Muhammad disfigured the image of the true God. I told her how I accepted Jesus after a long search and finding evidence. I had given her the books and asked her to compare for herself and she started reading and researching. In 2001 she fell pregnant and decided to go with me to church. When her family heard about that they came to our house and assaulted her for going to church and they insulted me with swearing and they ripped all the Bibles and threw them on the street. As a result of the assault, Sherin miscarried. Later, when she understood the facts of Islam, she decided to become a Christian.
Outcasts for Christ, facing death My father-in-law brought the cleric from the mosque to convince us to renounce our new faith and come back to Islam or otherwise he will have to apply the religious law of the death penalty. We spent three hours in a vicious discussion: he speaking about Islam and me trying to explain to him that this religion is not from God, and that Christ is God who appeared in the flesh, who died on the cross and rose from death to give us eternal life. He was trying to prove to me that Muhammad is the prophet of God and that I have to return to Islam
or as an apostate I would be killed according to sharia law. At the end of the discussion he could not convince me because I had a great sum of information and evidence and I told him I do not fear death, and I trust my God to protect me. He was furious and left the house and told others that they should be wary of me as an apostate. He also warned them not to accept me in their homes or society, and to give me a short time to return to Islam or be killed. Our families started to pressure us and they kicked us out of our home. We moved to another place in the same city, but the threats continued. We became socially rejected and they cut all ties with us; they would not allow my wife to attend her mother’s funeral when she died. I also used to endure threats from my colleagues at work because they heard of my faith and they would neither listen nor sit with me. As a result I used to change from school to school, from one living place to another, because our lives were threatened, for society had rejected our faith. My children also used to fear at school because their fellow students used to call them apostates and told them “you will end up in hell.”
Fleeing through the flames of war During the Syrian civil war my father-in-law joined these terrorist groups and he started sending us threats that he would slaughter us and our children, according to Islamic law, if we do not come back to Islam. Once, he attacked our home set it on fire, but we managed to escape. Then he sent us a message saying that he would capture us wherever we are and cut our throats as an example for anyone who would commit apostasy. As my wife’s uncle was looking for us, no other option remained but to leave Syria for another safe territory. My wife wore Islamic dress and we escaped that way to another country. No matter what happens to us, and no matter how much we suffer, we will never renounce our faith in Christ because we found grace and are sure of eternity.
In brief
10 November/December 2017 Barnabas Aid
Christian convert released after four years behind bars IRAN
Maryam Naghash Zargaran, an Iranian convert from Islam to Christianity, was finally released from prison in August, four years after she had been jailed for “propagating against the Islamic regime, and colluding to undermine national security.” Maryam suffers from a heart condition, which was so seriously exacerbated during her time behind bars that she required hospital treatment. The authorities were reluctant to allow her to be hospitalised and when, after treatment, she was forced to return to prison they postponed her release date due to her “absenteeism.” The years of being incarcerated have also affected Maryam’s mental health.
Another Pakistani Christian girl kidnapped, raped and forced to convert to Islam PAKISTAN
On Tuesday 22 August, police found Sameera, a 16-year-old Christian girl who had been kidnapped the month before. She had been raped, forcibly married to her captor, and forced to convert to Islam. She is one of an estimated 700 Christian and 300 Hindu girls and young women who are thought to suffer similar abuse every year in Pakistan. Many abductors escape justice. So great is the problem that in November 2016 the provincial assembly in Pakistan’s Sindh province unanimously passed a bill to make forced conversion
illegal. However, in January this year the assembly was told to “think again,” after Pakistan’s Council on Sameera is one of an estimated 700 Christian and 300 Hindu girls and young women who are thought to suffer similar abuse every year in Pakistan Islamic Ideology objected to the legislation and the state governor has subsequently refused to ratify the bill.
Displaced Christians fleeing Boko Haram targeted in Muslim-dominated camps NIGERIA
Egyptian authorities bow to extremist pressure and close church EGYPT
A church in Egypt’s Minya province was closed down by authorities in early August, after Muslim extremists threatened to riot. At least 15 other churches in Minya province remain closed after the government voiced similar “security concerns” in recent years. Islamists have repeatedly tried to either close down or destroy church buildings in Minya. After President Morsi’s strongly Islamist government was ousted in 2013, more than 1,000 Muslim Brotherhood supporters attacked and set fire to churches there. In 2015, after 21 Christians were beheaded by Islamic State in Libya, Islamists attacked and set fire to the church to which 13 of those killed had belonged.
Barnabas Fund supports Nigerian Christians forced to flee their homes Christians displaced as a result of attacks by Islamist militants from the Boko Haram group in north-east Nigeria are not safe in governmentrun camps. One Christian, Margaret, described what Christians face: “Whenever supplies come, the sharing is chaotic. The officials would make us queue and usually fights break out as people struggle to jump queues and if you are a Christian, you are harassed and insulted. ‘Get out infidel!’ is usually
what you hear all the time … Muslim men come in their cars every evening and women are ‘arranged’ for them by some camp officials ... our young, vulnerable Christian teenage girls are being destroyed by men. They deceive the girls, get them pregnant and divorce them. Many times the Muslims come to meet us (women) and say they want to marry us and take us away from the suffering. They say we should simply convert to Islam and all will be okay.”
Pull-Out
A History of
Christian Persecution 3
Through this small hole, a Christian palace servant dropped bread down to Gregory, during his 13-year imprisonment by the pagan king of Armenia in this deep underground pit. It was because of Gregory’s witness and prayers that Armenia became the first Christian nation in AD 301
Persecution outside the Roman Empire Beyond the boundaries of the vast Roman Empire lay many other nations and empires to which the Christian faith spread in the first half millennium after Christ. ARMENIA
In about AD 301 Armenia, neighbouring the Roman Empire on its north-east border, became the first Christian nation. Across the country, idols were destroyed, pagan temples cleansed and then consecrated as churches, and thousands of people were baptised. The conversion of the Armenian king, and hence the adoption of Christianity as the national religion, was brought about by a remarkable believer called Gregory (see box on page ii). It followed three centuries of revival movements, particularly in Asia Minor (modern Turkey, where Gregory grew up) and in Armenia. For even in these early times, there were numerous groups of Christians distressed by the worldliness that was developing in the Church. At this period, Asia Minor and Armenia were “the refuge of churches that had from the first, in varying degree, maintained purity of doctrine and godliness of life”. (E.H. Broadbent) Although Christianity was by now spreading fast in the Roman Empire, a decade of severe persecution at the hands of a series of Roman emperors began in 303.¹ After only ten years as a Christian nation, the Armenians lost their longterm protector, the Roman Empire, when in 311 the Romans went to war against the Armenians because of their new Christian identity. This is recorded by the Bishop of Caesarea and church historian Eusebius (c. 260 – c. 339).
They [the Armenians] were Christians and zealous adherents of the Deity; so the Godhater [Roman Emperor Maximin] attempted to force them to sacrifice to idols and demons, thereby turning them from friends into foes and from allies into enemies. (Eusebius, The History of the Church, Book IX, chapter 8, translated by G. A. Williamson.)
GEORGIA To the north of Armenia lies Georgia, which declared Christianity as its state religion in the early fourth century, soon after Armenia and the Roman Empire had done so. Tradition records that the faith was brought to Georgia in the first century by the residents of Pontus who were present on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:9). Pontus, an area to the south of the Black Sea, included parts of what is now Georgia. But it was a young Christian woman from Cappadocia whose preaching led to Georgia becoming a Christian nation. Nino had a vision in which she was commanded to preach the Gospel in Georgia, so she set out with around 50 other Christian women to obey her calling. They travelled through Armenia at a time when its King Trdat was still violently persecuting Christians, and all of the women except Nino were executed on his command. Nino continued alone to Georgia, arriving in about 319, where her preaching converted the royal family and the whole nation.
Pull-Out ...
ii November/December 2017 Barnabas Aid
Gregory – persecution by pagans
Gregory was an Armenian brought up as a Christian in Caesarea2 in the Roman province of Cappadocia (modern Kayseri in Turkey). He had been carried off to Cappadocia as a child, when all the rest of his family were executed because his father had assassinated the king of Armenia as part of a Persian plot. The Persians seized the rest of the Armenian royal family but one son escaped, called Trdat. In 286, with the help of the Romans, Trdat regained his father’s throne. Gregory, now aged about 30, returned to Armenia too, and became one of the most trusted officials of the new King Trdat (Tiridates III). But, as a Christian, Gregory refused to worship Armenia’s guardian goddess, and spoke openly about his faith in Christ. To make matters worse, the king discovered that Gregory’s father had murdered his father. He had Gregory tortured and thrown into a deep underground pit where he was expected to starve to death. But a Christian woman working at the palace dropped bread down to Gregory every day and enabled him to survive for 13 years. During this time King Trdat persecuted the Christians of Armenia, and also became insane. Gregory was finally brought up from the pit again when the king’s sister dreamed that Gregory was the only person who could bring healing. Gregory prayed for the king and healed him, the king became a Christian, and Christianity became the nation’s official religion. King Trdat and Gregory worked together to make the Gospel known across the country.
THE PARTHIAN EMPIRE The Parthian homeland was south-east of the Caspian Sea, but by AD 225, after nearly 500 years of conquests, they controlled a large empire whose most important religion was Zoroastrianism. There were Christians in the Parthian Empire from the first century onwards, as recorded in the Chronicle of Arbil. Arbil (Erbil) is now the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, but then it was the capital of a kingdom called Adiabene, which had been conquered by the Parthians and brought into their empire.
Persecution by Zoroastrians
One of the first converts was Paqida, the son of a slave belonging to a Zoroastrian priest. When he became a Christian in AD 99 he was severely persecuted by his family. Despite it all, he refused to deny Christ, so finally his parents imprisoned him a dark room. He escaped and became a missionary amongst the mountain villages of Adiabene; later he was made a bishop.
The first martyr of the Parthian Empire was Paqida’s successor as Bishop of Adiabene, called Samsun. He preached among the Zoroastrian villages, bringing many to Christ and baptising them. This infuriated the Zoroastrian priests (Magi) and the Adiabene nobility. Samsun was captured, tortured and beheaded in AD 123. Persecution of Christians by Zoroastrians continued for the next century. In 160 the Bishop of Arbil travelled to the Parthian winter capital, Ctesiphon (near modern Baghdad), hoping to get an edict from the emperor to protect the Christians from abuse by the Zoroastrian priests. But the Parthian Empire was preparing for imminent war with the Roman Empire, and there was no opportunity for the bishop to present his case.
THE PERSIAN EMPIRE In AD 225 the Persian provinces of the Parthian Empire rebelled against their Parthian rulers and speedily overthrew them. So the Parthian Empire became the Persian Empire, with Ctesiphon as its capital, and a dynasty of emperors was established called the Sassanids (after their family name). Zoroastrianism became the official religion of the empire. Rome became its permanent enemy, as the two empires vied with each other for territory. By 225 there were 17 Christian dioceses, mostly within the area of modern Iraq but two of them in modern Iran. Even though Christians did not follow the official religion of the Persian Empire, they were well treated. Indeed, many Christians fled from persecution in the Roman Empire to safety in the Persian Empire.
Constantine’s good intentions backfire
But all this changed in 312 when the Roman emperor Constantine himself became a Christian. The next year he established religious liberty in his empire, and then increasingly favoured Christianity. This was to have disastrous consequences for the Christians in the Persian Empire, who were now coreligionists of Persia’s arch-enemy. In about 315 the Roman Emperor Constantine wrote to the Persian Emperor Shapur II, telling his former enemy (who was now apparently reaching out to Rome offering peace and friendship) how the God of the Christians had helped him in all his enterprises. He went on: Imagine, then, with what joy I heard news, so much in line with my desire, that the fairest provinces of Persia are to a great extent adorned by the presence of that class of men on whose behalf alone I am at present speaking – I mean the Christians. I pray, therefore, that both you and they may enjoy abundant prosperity, and that you and they may be equally blessed, for in this way you will experience the mercy and favour of that God who is the Lord and Father of us all. And now, because your power is great, I commend these people to your protection; because your piety is outstanding, I commit
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Caucasus Mountains
Black Sea
GEORGIA
A
A SI
M
I N O R PONTUS
ARMENIA
Caesarea
CAPPADOCIA Antioch
PALEST INE
Edessa
Caesarea Gaza Alexandria Jerusalem
Eu p
ADIABENE
hr at
ris Tig
Mediterranean Sea
Caspian Sea
es
Arbil (Erbil)
PARTHIA
Ctesiphon
PERSIA
EGYPT
ARABIA
Empires and Nations in the Early Christian Era Brown text refers to the early Christian centuries. Blue lines show modern national borders, for comparison.
Najran
YEMEN
them to your care. Care for them with your accustomed humanity and kindness. (Eusebius, Life of Constantine Book 4, chapter 13) Constantine’s letter was surely well meant, encouraging Emperor Shapur to continue to treat well the Christians in the Persian Empire. But to Shapur it seemed a threat, an indication of a possible “fifth column” in his empire. Even if it had not occurred to Shapur before, the letter must have now brought forcibly to his notice that that his empire was riddled with people identified with a foreign power, which was often an enemy power – Rome. But still anti-Christian persecution did not begin in Persia. Then in 337 Constantine began to plan a great military campaign against the Persians. He died before it got underway, but the planning itself was enough to seal the fate of Christians in the Persian Empire and in 339 the Great Persecution began.
The 40-year Great Persecution
Axum
ETHIOPIA
Zoroastrian priests and Jewish leaders accused Shimon, Bishop of Ctesiphon, of spying for Rome. The emperor ordered him to be arrested and held until a double poll-tax had been paid by the Christians (or Nazarenes as he called them), “for our Divine Majesty has nothing but troubles of war, and they have nothing but rest and pleasure! They live in our territory, but their sympathies are with Caesar, our enemy.” Shimon declared the Christians could not pay the extra tax
Aden
because they were too poor, but it was extracted from them anyway, with great cruelty; many clergy were killed and church buildings destroyed. Emperor Shamur was enraged. “Shimun wants to arouse his disciples and his people to rebel against my Empire. He wants to make them slaves of Caesar, who has the same religion as they have; that is why he disobeys my order!” Bishop Shimun was brought in chains before the emperor, who commanded him to worship the sun, saying that, if he did not, “I will destroy not only you but the whole body of Christians.” Shimun refused and was led away to be tortured. The next day, Good Friday, Shimun was brought before the emperor again; he reasoned with the emperor on Christian doctrine and declared he would never worship either the emperor or the sun. The same day, a hundred prisoners were ordered to be executed, including many bishops and other clergy. Shimun was forced to watch and finally he himself was killed too. Severe persecution continued for 40 years. The Gaza-born church historian Sozomen, writing in about 425, records the efforts of Christians in Syria, Persia and Edessa to calculate how many were killed during this period. He says that 16,000 had been listed by name but that in addition there was a multitude of other martyrs too great to be counted. Another serious bout of persecution took place in 420-422. Then in 424 the Persian Church declared itself completely independent of any control from the bishops of the Roman Empire. This made Persia’s Christian minority much less of a threat to the
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Persian authorities. The Christians were recognised as a community and achieved a settled position within society with minimal harassment.
ARABIA AND YEMEN Christianity came early to the tribal mishmash that was Arabia, and by 364 was well enough established for a “Bishop of the Arabs” to attend the Synod of Antioch. Down in the south of the Arabian peninsula was Yemen, known in ancient times as “Happy Arabia”. Compared with the rest of Arabia, Yemen was wetter, more fertile, wealthier and more orderly, being ruled by a king. Christianity was bought to Yemen in 354 by the Roman ambassador, who was a bishop called “Theophilus the Indian” who probably grew up in the Maldives. Sent with lavish gifts from the Roman emperor, Theophilus’s task was to ask the pagan king of Yemen for permission to build churches for Romans visiting Yemen and for any local people who wanted to become Christians. However, he went beyond this and managed to convert the king to Christianity. This development was strongly opposed by the Jewish community in Yemen. But the king was not dissuaded and went on to construct three church buildings, one in his capital, one in Aden and one in another port city, paid for by himself.
Persecution by Jews
Christians in Yemen later suffered fierce persecution at Jewish hands, especially those of King Dhu Nuwas (also called Masruq), who had seized the throne in a coup d’etat. He was zealous in propagating Judaism and persecuting Christians. The worst single incident occurred in 523 when King Dhu Nuwas blockaded the oasis town of Najran, which finally surrendered after he promised that its inhabitants would be spared. But they were not spared. Instead, all the Christian men were killed and the church building burned. The king then ordered his general Zu-Yazan, who was also Jewish, to round up all the widows of the Christian men just killed, and tell them to deny Christ or they would die like their husbands. The troops (probably mainly pagans) found 177 wives and daughters of the martyred men, plus their many young children, who were all brought together to hear the general address
them. Jesus had done their husbands no good and would do them no good either, Zu-Yazan told them, so “spit on his cross and become Jews with us.” The women replied, “God forbid that we should spit on His cross or that we should treat it with contempt for by it He has prepared for us redemption from all error . . . We pray that, as our husbands died, we may be deemed worthy to die, we also for the sake of Christ, God.” The women’s prayer for martyrdom was granted. They and the children with them were taken to the place where their husbands had been killed and General Zu-Yazan ordered the Jews amongst the troops to start firing arrows at them. The women put their little children on the ground and covered them with clothing, then stood with their hands lifted to heaven, praying, as the arrows showered down on them: Christ, God, come to our help! O, our Lord Jesus Christ, behold our oppression in this moment and turn not away from us, but grant in us the power to accomplish this our way by martyrdom for Thy sake, that we may also go and reach our brethren who died for Thy sake. And forgive us our sins and receive the sacrifice of our lives as acceptable before Thee. One by one, the women fell to the ground, as their wounds overpowered them. The children too were wounded and crying out. When there was no woman left standing, General Zu-Yazan ordered his troops to take their swords and finish off the women and “their evil children”. A sixth century Syriac work called The Book of the Himyarites, which records the women’s words, gives a partial list of the names of the martyrs that day; all the children mentioned are girls. 1 See “A History of Christian Persecution: Part 2 AD 33-312 Hated by the World” in Barnabas Aid (July-August 2017) p.iv. 2 This is a different Caesarea from the one where Gregory’s contemporary, the historian Eusebius, was bishop. Eusebius’s bishopric was the Caesarea on the coast of modern Israel.
BARNABAS FUND HOPE AND AID FOR THE PERSECUTED CHURCH 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 Published by Barnabas Aid Inc. 6731 Curran St, McLean, Virginia 22101, USA © Barnabas Aid Inc. 2017
Australia PO Box 3527 Loganholme QLD 4129 Telephone (07) 3806 1076 or 1300 365799 Fax (07) 3806 4076 Email bfaustralia@barnabasfund.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 UK 9 Priory Row, Coventry CV1 5EX Telephone 024 7623 1923 Fax 024 7683 4718
Registered Charity Number 1092935 Company Registered in England Number 4029536
From outside the UK Telephone +44 24 7623 1923 Fax +44 24 7683 4718 Email info@barnabasfund.org 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
In brief
Barnabas Aid November/December 2017 11
Authorities ban children from attending church CHINA
Authorities in several provinces have banned children from attending church. More than one hundred churches in Zhejiang province have been notified that minors will not be permitted to participate in religious activities, including Sunday School or summer camps, even if they accompany their parents. The ban on children attending church is targeted at state-recognised churches, which are required to be registered with the authorities and are only allowed to operate under close supervision. All the activities of believers, old and young, who are part of China’s flourishing “house church” movement are already illegal.
Christian army recruit murdered four days after joining up
Parliament passes new anti-conversion bill and potential “blasphemy” law NEPAL
Nepal’s parliament passed a bill restricting religious conversion and criminalising “hurting religious sentiment” in August. The new legislation will mean anyone convicted of encouraging someone to convert could be sentenced to up to five years imprisonment. Under a clause introduced into Nepal’s constitution in 2015, actions to “convert another person from one religion to another” are already illegal and have resulted in Christians facing prosecution. However, the new laws could in effect be used to make all evangelism illegal. The second part of the legislation, which criminalises “hurting religious sentiment.” The vaguely-worded clause states: “Nobody should hurt the religious sentiment of any caste, ethnic community or class by writing, through voice/talk or by a shape or symbol or in any other such manner.” Those found guilty will face a fine and two years in prison.
EGYPT
A 22-year-old Christian Egyptian army recruit was beaten to death on 20 July, hours after arriving at a new camp near Cairo, only four days into his mandatory military service. Joseph Reda Helmy’s body was found with serious bruises and signs of torture, according to a lawyer representing the family. Joseph had been planning to get married in October. At the time of writing, there are no reports that anyone has been charged for his murder. Immediately following his death, military police detained three non-commissioned officers who claimed that an officer ordered them to beat up Joseph; the family’s lawyer believes he was targeted because of his faith. Following his murder, Joseph’s death was announced from the loudspeakers in mosques in his village, where he is said to have been well loved by both Christians and Muslims.
Schoolboy beaten to death by Muslim classmates PAKISTAN
Sharoon Masih was the only Christian in his year group at a government high school in Punjab. On 30 August, shortly after starting at the school, the 17-year-old was beaten death by Muslim classmates while teachers reportedly looked on. The Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS), an organisation supported by Barnabas Fund which provides legal aid to Pakistani Christians, commented, “A lthough antiChristian violence is common in the Muslim nation, the youthfulness of the mob, in this case, marks an ugly first for the country.”
Christian man sentenced to death for WhatsApp “blasphemy” PAKISTAN
On 14 September, Nadeem James, a Christian tailor, was sentenced to death by a local court for “blasphemy”, after a Muslim friend accused him of ridiculing Muhammad via WhatsApp. Police registered the case against Nadeem, after a Muslim mob gathered outside his house and threatened to attack his family. Nadeem was sentenced by a court in the town of Gujrat, northern Pakistan, after being found guilty under Section 295-C and 298-A of the Pakistani Penal Code – part of the country’s infamous “blasphemy” laws. Nadeem’s trial was held in prison because of death threats. Muslim judges in lower courts in Pakistan typically give greater weight to the word of Muslim accusers – a discriminatory stance which reflects the devalued testimony of Christians in court according to sharia law. Nadeem James now joins other Christians, including Aasia Bibi, on death row, awaiting the High Court’s decision on his case. Although there are a number of people of various religions on death row, no one has yet been executed under Pakistan’s “blasphemy” law, but few of those accused are ever able to safely return to normal life, even if acquitted.
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Water
12 November/December 2017 Barnabas Aid
Barnabas makes water flow
for thirsty Christian communities
In three years Barnabas funded 64 pumps and 16 wells for Christian communities in Syria, Pakistan, Ukraine, Sri Lanka, Cameroon and Guinea anning Christians from using the communal water supply is a persecution method used in some rural communities. The victims are often new converts from the majority religion. This forces believers to walk great distances to fetch water that is safe to drink, or perhaps even to drink from unsafe water sources. Christians in three villages in Guinea, West Africa, have suffered like this for refusing to join the other villagers in offering ritual sacrifices to set up supernatural bulletproof protection. The Christians declared to the Muslims and followers of African traditional religions that God was their protector.
B
Bore wells bring relief for persecuted Christians in Guinea The bore well pictured here was 93% funded by Barnabas and was completed in August 2017 at a total cost of $6,970. The well is in a church compound in the village where the nonChristian majority had boycotted the Christians for a year, refusing to speak to them or trade with them because the Christians had refused to join in their rituals. Even after the boycott was lifted, hostility towards the Christians continued and this included preventing them from using the village water source. The new well, which is used by everyone in the village, has already changed the attitude of local nonChristians. One of the village leaders said, “We never knew that the thing (Christianity) we were fighting could be a blessing to our village today.” He expressed regret for how badly
Villagers' joy at the completion of the well in Guinea
“We [Muslims] never knew that the thing (Christianity) we were fighting could be a blessing to our village today.” village leader, Guinea his community had treated the Christians previously. Two further wells are planned for the other two villages in the same situation.
Safe, secure water for embattled Christian communities Persecution is not the only reason for Christians lacking safe water. Water infrastructure may be destroyed by war. In Aleppo, Syria, over 400,000 people are being served daily by 41 wells dug or restored recently in church compounds or on land owned by other Christian institutions. Twenty-seven of these were funded by Barnabas. In Ukraine, project partners dug five wells as part of the aid package to Christians in dire straits in the war-torn eastern regions of the country, since the infrastructure for water supply has been destroyed. (See page 16.)
Citizens in war-damaged Aleppo filling containers with water. To date, Barnabas has funded 27 wells on church or Christian-controlled property
Water for impoverished Christian communities In poor rural areas, getting access to clean water can be very difficult. Barnabas-funded projects have installed hand pumps for impoverished Christian communities in rural parts of countries such as Pakistan and Bangladesh. In a range of contexts where access to water presents a challenge – whether through persecution, conflict or poverty – Barnabas Fund works with local Christian communities to overcome the difficulties and find a solution.
Water pump at a Christian Girls Hostel, Patoki - one of 20 hand pumps installed in Punjab province, Pakistan in 2014, ensuring water supplies continue when power cuts mean that the mains water supply also fails Project reference 00-635 Water Fund
Leave a legacy
Barnabas Aid November/December 2017 13
unique role as a channel of hope and aid from Christians, through Christians, to Christians means that your legacy will be used for the greatest impact. Barnabas Fund works through local Christian partners around the world to meet the needs of believers directly and cost-effectively.
A legacy of faith for the future
By leaving a gift in your will, you will help us reach out to forsaken Christians in desperate need, in some of the most dangerous places, where because of their faith they are the targets of violence and persecution. Your gift will also bring hope to impoverished believers – who are trapped in vicious cycles of discrimination that condemn them and their children to lives of misery – through schooling, adult literacy classes and debt relief. Because of your loving legacy, year after year, your Christian brothers and sisters can have hope and faith for the future.
A legacy of love for generations
Y
ou can bring restoration to believers who have suffered violence; save Christian brothers and sisters facing starvation; encourage embattled Christian communities; train up young children in their faith; and bring transformation to the lives of impoverished believers. As co-workers with God, we are invited to join with Him to accomplish His purposes – to partner with Heaven’s invasion of earth to bring physical, as well as spiritual salvation. You can do this through leaving a legacy to Barnabas Fund. After your pilgrimage on this earth has ended, your legacy can live on for generations – a witness to Christ’s love and an honouring affirmation
After your pilgrimage on this earth has ended, your legacy can live on for generations of the connection of the Body of believers to one another. Your gift can save future generations from poverty and hardship, inspire them to hold firm to the faith in the midst of trial, and know the hope that springs from the encouragement that they do not suffer alone and unknown.
Once your loved ones have been taken care of, what will be your legacy?
Your gift will go a long way to bless other believers. Barnabas Fund’s
If you would like more information about how to leave a gift to Barnabas Fund through your will, please contact: bfaustralia@barnabasfund.org or phone (07) 3806 1076 or 1300 365 799 or fill out the form below and send it to: PO BOX 3527, LOGANHOLME, QLD 4129 Title ................ Name ...................................................... .................................................................. Address.................................................... .................................................................. .................................................................. Postcode.................................................. Phone ...................................................... E-mail ....................................................... Please send me .......... copies of the free booklet A Christian guide to making and changing your will I would like you to contact me about making a lifetime legacy I would like to donate shares/other investments to the Barnabas Fund. Please contact me regarding this
how barnabas is helping “It would be good if everyone lived as it is written in these books!” Reading Bible portions in her own language transformed a Muslim bazaar worker’s opinion about Christian literature and Christian people. When Christians in Kabardino-Balkaria first gave out booklets from the Bible in the Balkar language for free, this woman had cursed them. Others at the bazaar had said the Christians should be killed. But after reading the booklets, which were the books of Proverbs and Job, she voiced her opinion that everyone should live by them. Barnabas contributed nearly half the printing costs of the booklets, which are now available to Christians in their mother tongue and to their 33,000 fellow Balkar-speakers in this troubled region of the North Caucasus. The bazaar is not the only place where Christians are distributing the booklets; they also hand them out at railway stations, newspaper offices and other places. One non-Christian journalist said she uses thoughts from these “books of wisdom” in her work.
“From nowhere to somewhere” – child victims of violence given hope and a future Since 2014, more than two million people have fled the murderous attacks of Boko Haram Islamist militants and ethnic Fulani Muslim herdsmen in northern Nigeria. Monday (aged 7) and his sister Talatu (aged 4) escaped with their mother when Fulanis, targeting Christian villages in the North Central states, killed their father and all the other men in their community. The Fulanis have taken over the farm land the family used to live off. A Barnabas grant of $34,000 has helped with food, accommodation and education costs for 90 orphaned or displaced children including Monday and Talatu. It is a life-changing work. David, displaced from Adamawa state but now attending school, with help from Barnabas Fund, wrote, “I want to thank you once again for generating my life from nowhere to somewhere.”
Discussing the Scriptures in the market place
Monday and his sister Talatu
$7,780 towards the cost of printing 5,000 each of “Job” and “Proverbs” in Balkar
$34,000 education and food for 90 orphaned and displaced children
Project reference 00-362 Bibles and Scriptures Fund
Project reference 39-772 Victims of violence in Nigeria
Feeding the hungry, creating livelihoods Widowed during the fighting in Deir al-Zour, Syria, in 2015, “Sara” fled with her three children to Hassake. Having no income, she then went south-west to Damascus, wanting to support her children and seeking the dignity of work. Barnabas Fund is feeding many thousands of needy and displaced Christians across Syria, as well as others who have fled beyond its borders. We are also enabling people like Sara to set up small businesses so they can provide for their own basic needs. Sara and some other women now earn a living by cooking and selling food. Sara thanks God, and Barnabas Fund, for enabling her to live in “God’s given dignity.”
This small food business enables Sara and other women to support their families
$1,193,700 for food and other basic needs for Christians in Syria for one year Project reference 00-1032 Middle East fund to help Christians in Syria
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.
“Opportunities for better jobs and a better life” through seven schools Shumaila is 13 years old, but has only been going to school for a few years. “My father died … my mother is a psychiatric patient … it is difficult for us to pay household expenses. I am thankful to Barnabas Fund for supporting our school … I would like to get more education and become a teacher.” She is also determined to read the Word of God. Education provides “opportunities for better jobs and a better life,” for impoverished and largely illiterate Christian communities, our project partner says. This project supports a group of seven schools in poor areas of Pakistan with books, staff salaries and other running costs. The seven schools now have 633 pupils aged from 3 upwards, and employ 28 staff. All staff and children are Christians. Overall, Barnabas currently supports 101 Christian schools in Pakistan.
Shumaila, grateful for her education, wants to become a teacher
$32,790 for running costs and books for 7 schools for 1 year to educate 633 children in Pakistan Project reference 41-1253
Biblical training for ministry in contexts of persecution “We thank God and your Fund for your support.” – Kyrgyz church leader Eighteen Kyrgyz church leaders are studying together, with help from Barnabas Fund. The church leaders are all Muslimbackground believers from remote areas of the country where persecution is greater than in the cities and they have less opportunity to meet with other leaders. Some travel over 1,000 km (625 miles) to attend. They meet three times a year for five-day sessions to study the Bible, Christian doctrine, leadership, discipleship, missiology, church-planting, preaching, marriage and family relationships. This equips them for their pastoral and evangelistic ministries. Kyrgyzstan is becoming increasingly Islamised. At the same time, many Muslims are turning to Christ and often face persecution from relatives and their local Muslim community, especially in rural village situations. Most congregations are unregistered “underground” churches. Persecution is inflicted not only during life but also after death, when the issue of the burial of Christians becomes very important.
Kyrgyz church leaders during one of the five-day study sessions
$3,785 for one year (three sessions) of Bible training for 18 church leaders Project reference 00-430 (Training Fund)
Barnabas Aid November/December 2017 15
Drought Relief: “Everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35) After a 14-hour journey by bus and 100 km by motorbike, transporting much-needed aid, the church worker only dared spend 30 minutes in each place praying with the families he had travelled so far to visit. Discovery by police would mean trouble for them all. In addition to persecution, 600 Christians (155 families) in three villages of this mountainous area of south-east Asia suffered because of drought. Hunger and illness followed. In August 2017, Barnabas funded packages of basic food and medical support; enough to help families through this hard time. A local church leader wrote, “[The villagers] don’t feel lonely … they know that there are many Christian brothers and sisters around the world praying for them and helping them … When non-Christians see that we love and care for one another in the Body of Christ then they become attracted to Him.”
Villagers receive their aid packages with a smile of gratitude
$14,360 for food and medical support for 155 Christian families in SouthEast Asia Project reference xx-1339
16 November/December 2017 Barnabas Aid
Winter Aid for Christians Caught in Ukraine’s Conflict Zone “I want to praise my Lord for His mercy sent through you and for your sacrificial hearts.”
Ukraine
Eastern Ukraine has been wracked by conflict for nearly four years. The young and able-bodied have left the region, including some pastors, and church congregations are now mainly comprised of pensioners, the chronically sick and disabled. Most of the factories and mines have closed and there is no other work available. Infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed and even travelling on the roads is now very hard. Before 2014 there were 7.2 million people in this part of Ukraine but the current estimated figure is just two to three million.
Ukraine
Barnabas Aid November/December 2017 17
Barnabas provides food parcels to needy Christians in eastern Ukraine
Winter temperatures plummet to -20C (-4°F). Barnabas provides coal and gas to save lives
“We are grateful to the Lord for your help and we pray also that God will bless the ministry.”
T
he remaining pastors worry as to how their weak and vulnerable church members will survive the coming winter. Pensions are about $51-$60 per month, enough for either gas and electricity or bread and water, but not both. But they also need coal for heating – a problem never before encountered by miners’ families – and medication for the many who are ill. All this occurs within a context of shelling, shooting and general lawlessness.
Aid for the poorest Working through local churches, Barnabas Fund has already helped more than 9,400 of the poorest Christians since 2015 with coal, gas, medicines and warm clothes, some still in the conflict zone and some who had fled elsewhere. We also paid for two wells in areas where there is no longer any piped water. (See page 12.) We have recently sent another gift of €100,000 ($150,270) for winter aid in 2017/18. Temperatures can fall as low as -20C and the harsh winter conditions endure for about four months.
Some of those you have helped Lyudmilla describes what she experienced in 2014, the year the conflict began. “All the summer we stayed indoors because of military operations in our territory. We slept in cellars, cooked food on a fire because there was neither water, nor light, nor gas. We prayed much to know God’s will. Until the end of 2014 we were in occupied territory. But with God’s help we could leave the conflict zone.” Her family managed to find somewhere to live in a village in west Ukraine. Having left everything behind in the east, Lyudmilla says, “We are grateful to the Lord for your help and we pray also that God will bless the ministry.” Dmitri and Victoria have three children. Barnabas Fund has helped them to get winter clothes and to obtain vital medicines. They have lost their income because of the war. Victoria, who has to have a serious operation on a tumour, said, “I want to praise my Lord for His mercy sent through you and for your sacrificial hearts.” Denis and Vita have four children. Their youngest daughter was born after the family fled the conflict zone. Denis is a Baptist church leader and
relocated to Kharkov together with members of his church. Last winter (2016/17) prices of utilities, food and all other necessities kept rising and life was very hard for the family. “When they got to know about financial assistance [through Barnabas] they knelt to give prayerful thanks,” says a local project worker. Vasily’s house was hit by a missile and destroyed on 14 October 2014. Thankfully none of the family were injured. He is the minster of a Baptist church in the “grey zone”, a strip of disputed territory between east and west Ukraine, only a few tens of kilometres wide but where the conflict rages strongly. Vasily, his nine children and ten grandchildren moved into the basement of the church building, which was already home to many other people with nowhere else to go. This was how the family lived for two years, until the city administration gave construction materials to rebuild their home. Barnabas Fund provided $6,340 to provide the heating system, electrical work and plumbing, as Vasily, having helped so many needy people from his own pocket did not have the funds for this. Project reference 96-1196
18 Novembe r/December 20 17 Barnabas Aid
In Touch Barnabas Regional Coordinators Rudolf and Trevor see Project Joseph in action
Could your church ble ss persecuted Christians this Christmas?
l Coordinators from In June 2017, two Barnabas Regiona Trevor Sobey, joined a Australia, Rudolf Van Noppen and Uganda to see first hand Barnabas delegation to Kenya and d’s Project Joseph. the continuing work of Barnabas Fun
Soon, Christians the wo rld over, whatever their circumstances, will be celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus.
r 2,250 tonnes of food Barnabas Fund has distributed ove since February 2017. Marsabit Diocese, we Rudolf told us,“During our visit to the which one of the from visited the Ngaremara village church ies of hardship and stor rd food distributions was done. We hea ple for the food peo the desperation but also gratitude from d.” Fun as God had provided through Barnab
For some Christians, the ir joy will be in stark con trast to the suffering they fac e every day for His Name . In the Middle East, confl ict rages on, adding danger and impoverish ment to the persecution that Christians endure. In Af rica, millions are facing the misery of hunger and thi rst brought on by drough t and poor harvests. This is compounded for som e by having to flee the ru thless anti-Christian att acks of Muslim militants. In many countries, Christia ns face a daily struggle ag ainst discrimination, harassment and violen ce. At Christmas time, our thoughts and prayers tur n naturally to our brothers and sisters in Christ wh o are less fortunate than ourse lves. Could your church take up a special Christmas offering to make a differe nc e for persecuted Christians who need our help?
Trevor (left) and Rudolf, during their Project Joseph visit
n goes io t a n o d r u o y e r e Wh Ot , advocacy he Education, prayer r gether to n io at tr is in m and ad l income. are only 12% of al Projects ur donation We send 88% of yo rs and to bless our brothe r pressure sisters living unde r their faith. and persecution fo at e used 100% for th ar ts ec oj pr c ifi ec cacy and Donations to sp ation, prayer, advo uc ed of s st co e . project. Th to our General Fund fts gi m fro e m co administration
rnment funding We receive no gove
aremara, The village church at Ng of the ny Ma shrouded in dust. 3 to up vel tra women would eds ne ter wa for y da r hours pe
South Sudanese refugee childre n in Camp Rhino, northern Uganda. “We were told that the y are looking much better now than when they first arrived,” Rudolf said, “Their clothes ma y not look great but they now hav e food daily and go to school .”
18
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science petition Please note that our Freedom of Con so please join closes at the end of November 2017, completed with us by signing and returning the olme Qld. Please forms asap to PO Box 3527 Loganh or (07) 3806 1076 contact the office on 1300 365 799 if you require additional forms.
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from................................................................................ This gift will assist Christians who are persecuted for their faith. With many thanks on behalf of the persecuted Church” Tick here if you do not want the amount to be stated on the card Tick here if you do wish details about the project to be included on the card If you would like to have the card sent directly to the recipient, or if you would prefer to receive blank cards and fill them out yourself, please contact your national office (address details on inside front cover). If you would like more cards, please photocopy the form or attach a separate piece of paper with the details for extra cards and send it with your donation. You can also call your nearest Barnabas Fund office with the details and pay by credit/debit card over the phone. If you have a special occasion coming up and would like to ask your friends and relatives to make a donation on your behalf instead of giving you a gift, you could pass on to them the details in this section
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It’s not too late for your church to get involved in Suffering Church Action Week (SCAW).
29 OCTOBER – 5 NOVEMBER 2017 Suffering Church Action Week
Contact your local Barnabas office (see inside front cover) to order a free SCAW pack, or you can download resources and find out more about SCAW by going to www.barnabasfund.org/scaw Resources can be used at any time, not just during SCAW week.
Barnabas Fund International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church SATURDAY 4 NOVEMBER Please join with us as we pray for our suffering brothers and sisters. There is a Prayer Guide to aid your prayers in each SCAW pack and available to download via the SCAW website.
“This is a disturbing book. Many will not want to read it because they honestly know that it speaks truth to all Christians as we face the future. However, it is a book we MUST read if we want our churches to be visible, viable and vibrant places of hope and renewal . . . this is a prophetic book.” – Foreword by Lord Carey, former Archbishop of Canterbury THE DEATH OF WESTERN CHRISTIANITY DRINKING FROM THE POISONED WELLS OF THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION Patrick Sookhdeo The Church in the West, from which a vast missionary movement once went out across the world, is now in a state of decline which could be terminal, unless God intervenes. Pockets of living, thriving Christian faith may give a sense of confidence to some, but overall the fire of Western faith is growing dim. The Death of Western Christianity surveys the current state of Christianity in the West, looking in particular at how Western culture has influenced and weakened the Church. It looks also at how Christianity is increasingly under attack in Western society, and becoming despised and marginalised. It points out how faithful Christians are being targeted by legal and other means and advises how they should prepare themselves for greater persecution to come.
ST JU
This book is not only for Christians in the West. It is also for Christians in the non-Western world. Globalisation means that the tragic and alarming decline of Western Christianity could come to them as well before long. But if they take note of the way in which this disaster has crept up on the Western Church, catching Western Christians unawares, they may be able to avoid the same chain of events afflicting their Church too.
D HE IS BL PU
$20
To order this book, please contact your nearest Barnabas Fund office (addresses on inside front cover). sales@barnabasbooks.org
barnabasfund.org
Isaac Publishing. ISBN: 978-0-9977033-4-4 Number of Pages: 224 Cover: Paperback. Postage and handling: $8.50