Release Magazine (R88) November/December 2015

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Voice of persecuted Christians

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NOV / DEC 2015 |

Help bring healing to Christians in Nigeria

News, stories and prayer requests from persecuted Christians worldwide

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2 Release November / December 2015

Editorial Paul Robinson

Join us and help to: Show God’s compassion providing for the needs of the families of Christians who are being persecuted or have been imprisoned or killed

Serve God’s church enabling believers to survive persecution and its effects

Share God’s love helping persecuted Christians bring to Christ those who are opposed to the gospel

Spread God’s Word supplying Bibles and literature to meet the need for growth and evangelism

Speak as God’s advocates being the voice of the oppressed and persecuted

‘Right back to the time of the early church persecution has always been part and parcel of church growth’

Where is God? P retty much every day we receive texts from our partner in Nigeria reporting another brutal attack on Christian communities. Villagers are killed and homes burned. The story is all too familiar.

If you were just to read this you might be thinking, where is God in all this? How can He let this happen seemingly without end? How many more Christians have to die before the violence stops?

These questions on suffering are valid questions and ones we are all challenged with in one form or another at some time in our Christian walk.

However we may struggle to come up with the answer, there is another aspect that needs to be considered: despite all the horrific violence in central and northern Nigeria, believers remain strong and we even have reports of Muslims coming to faith in Christ and cultural Christians being led to saving faith in camps set up for internally displaced people.

In Iran, where some 90 Christians are currently imprisoned for their faith and sometimes brutally mistreated, an estimated one million Muslims have come to faith in Christ since the Islamic Revolution (watch the video from our partner online at: releaseinternational. org/prisoners).

It is easy for us in the West to detach the suffering from the growth, but right back to the time of the early church persecution has been part and parcel of church growth.

As our partner Lazarus says in the video, when people were free under the Shah they never gave a thought about Christ; since the oppressive regime of the Islamic clerics, many have come to faith.

The one thing that should never change, however, is our response to the suffering of our brothers and sisters.

There is no excuse not to help them. On page 6 you can read about our Christmas project, which will help Christians in Nigeria find healing from the trauma of violent persecution. Regina Bitrus, who is now still only 15, witnessed the murder of her father. Thanks to a trauma-healing workshop run by our partner, Regina has been able to find healing from the psychological and emotional damage.

A couple whose daughter was abducted

by Boko Haram also took part in one workshop. They said, ‘Thank you for giving us this platform to come and carry our pains to God, and to share what has happened to us.’

These workshops, which help to restore the broken, would not have been possible without your gifts and prayers.

Because of the ongoing violence these workshops remain vital, and with your help our partner can hold more of them and so help many more Christians who are suffering in Nigeria. Please consider how you can respond to our Christmas appeal. Thank you.

Paul Chief Executive

November / December 2015 Release 3

CONTENTS 4 Thank you for collecting more than 22,000 signatures to support Christians in Egypt

6 Help bring healing This Christmas please help our suffering family in Nigeria

10 Saved from Satan Yousef is set free by the gospel

Your support can help bring healing and restoration to Nigerian believers

12 Sowing the Word

6

Your gifts have helped hundreds fleeing violence

inside brutal North Korea

14 Under attack Release Potential visits persecuted Christians in Sri Lanka

15 Love in Action

10

15

Making a difference in Iraq and Nigeria

17 IDOP 2015 It’s not too late to take part

Cover: Regina, 15, received healing from trauma thanks to your support.

12 17

Release helps Christians in the UK and Ireland to actively engage with their persecuted brothers and sisters around the world: praying with them, standing with them, helping them, and learning lessons of true Christian discipleship with them.

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CAMPAIGN

Egypt EVERY RIGHT Thanks to your efforts we have collected more than 22,000 signatures for our petition calling on the Egyptian Government to uphold the rights of Christians. hen we launched the ‘Every Right’ campaign we knew there was good reason to highlight the issues facing Christians in Egypt. You have taken this on board as you have signed the petition and prayed for our Egyptian family members.

W

As the campaign draws to a close we are convinced of the need to continue to pray and take action to support our brothers and sisters.

Throughout 2015 we have received reports of Christians being discriminated against by the legal system in Egypt.

In May we heard that convert Bishoy Boulos, in jail for reporting attacks on churches and trying to change his religious ID, was being beaten regularly by prison guards to make him recant his faith. It was reported in September that Bishoy

Thank was not one of the 100 prisoners to be pardoned by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and so remains in jail.

Following a visit to Egypt in May we reported on the oppression faced

by Christians beyond the reach of the security forces in Cairo, with many facing physical attack and being forced to relocate their families to safer locations.

In July prosecutors in Upper Egypt dropped all charges against a Muslim who, according to many eyewitnesses, had gunned down a Christian with the aim of intimidating his family into withdrawing charges in another religiously motivated killing.

In August a Christian brother, Medhat Ishak, was arrested for allegedly evangelising Muslims in a Cairo suburb. The day after his arrest, a judge amended the charge to ‘defamation of a revealed religion’

and ordered him to be detained for a fortnight.

This was extended for a further 15 days, with the possibility of further extensions. ‘Muslim extremists are pressuring judges to crack down on Christian evangelists,’ said Medhat Ishak’s lawyer, ‘while Muslims in Egypt are allowed free rein to hand out religious literature in public.’

These and other cases remind us that we need to keep on highlighting the issues and to pray that the Egyptian Government will indeed enforce the rights of the Christian minority.

We are planning to present the petition to the Egyptian Ambassador in London in November: details will be given on our website releaseinternational. org/events. •

November / December 2015 Release 5

Praying for Egypt Thanks to everyone who took part in our special days of prayer for Egypt in September.

One Egyptian Christian leader who took part told us: ‘You have done a great thing and come to us, to pray with us and to send messages back of our situation, to write our stories. For that we thank you.

You!

‘I walk down the street and as I’m dressed as a priest people spit at me across my path,’ he said.

‘If I walk too fast and they don’t notice me at first they turn around and follow me in order to spit. Unveiled Christian women face the same. They are now having acid sprayed on their clothes as a new form of harassment.

‘Every day we face hostilities, irritations and intolerance.’

LIVING TOGETHER IN PEACE During our visit to Minya in Upper Egypt we met church worker ‘Youssef’ (not his real name) who lives in an outlying Christian village.

He told us that many families had fled to his community as a result of attacks in their own villages, and how they had found security and help as they felt they were among family.

Although the displaced families are now in a better situation, he told us: ‘They are still afraid, they are still threatened.’

We asked him whether he thought Christians and

Muslims will always have to live separately. He told us: ‘We hope to have them live together again, but this will not happen unless the Government itself treats citizens equally, without any distinguishing according to their religion, colour or background.’

Please pray that people of all faiths will be treated equally in Egypt, and that Youssef’s hope that Christians and Muslims can once more live together in peace will become a reality.

A Release staff member who attended the prayer event in Egypt said: ‘It was wonderful to see Egyptian Christians praying with such passion for unity in the church and for revival in their land.’

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Help release the power of healing into the lives of Ni Christians continue to suffer while Boko Haram militants wage a war of terror in Nigeria. Photo: Reuters.

NIGERIA

CHRISTMAS

PROJECT

Boko Haram’s murders and kidnappings are inflicting untold pain and suffering on the lives of Nigerian Christians. But your generous gift and prayers today can bring healing and hope to them.

November / December 2015 Release 7

God’s gerian Christians How bad is life for Christians in central and northern Nigeria?

Here are some of their stories

The simple answer is that it is getting worse. An estimated 650,000 people have fled northern Nigeria to escape the violence of Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram. Some 1,600 Nigerian Christians died at the hands of Boko Haram in 2014 and the numbers are even higher this year. Hundreds of Christians have also been killed by Fulani militants, and many thousands displaced.

Many Christian children have been kidnapped or killed and hundreds

Pastors have been murdered in their houses or at prayer services. of churches have been destroyed.

One church and ministry has been built seven times and destroyed seven times.

Children and young people like Regina desperately need to unlock the power of God’s love and forgiveness in their lives.

Meet Daniel and Lydia. Every night

they go to bed thinking about their beautiful daughter Mary. And every morning they wake up hoping that this will be the day she will come home to them.

Mary is one of the girls who were abducted from their school in Chibok, Borno state, by Boko Haram terrorists in April 2014.

When Daniel heard the news of his daughter’s abduction he collapsed and broke both his hands. His wife Lydia cannot stop crying and she barely eats anything. She is dying slowly of a broken heart.

Regina, 15, saw her father murdered.

Meet Regina Bitrus. She is a 15-year-old Nigerian girl who has already experienced first-hand the pain and trauma of violent persecution.

‘I have been on drugs [since the abduction] because I don’t eat well.

There is no improvement because I can’t stop thinking about my daughter,’ she said.

Every day Lydia prays that God will bring their daughter back and that she will see Mary again before she dies.

Regina saw her father shot dead

by Fulani militants in Plateau State, simply because he was a Christian.

There are no words to describe the gruelling pain and suffering of Christian parents like Lydia and Daniel whose children have been abducted, raped or even killed by Islamist terrorists.

‘They shot my father many times,’ she recalls.

They are heart-broken and in desperate need of God’s healing touch.

Another has been built three times The sound of successive gunshots and destroyed three times. Pastors and seeing her father’s face twisted have been murdered in their houses or by pain left a deep impression. ‘I was at prayer services. only little, but I remember it all. I was The situation is worse further north there.’ in Yobe and Borno states, where Boko For years Regina carried her pain Haram has its base. People have fled and sadness in her heart. She hardly their homes and their villages where opened up to anyone. It was such a their forefathers lived for generations. huge burden to bear by someone who was just a little girl.

Often Christians are the main victims of such violent persecution.

Regina is one of thousands of Christian children and teenagers in And, many of those who survive Nigeria whose lives and childhood end up struggling until someone memories are marred by death, loss, like our ministry partner reaches anger, violence and fear. out to help them.

Continued overleaf

Lydia and Daniel have not seen their daughter Mary since she was abducted by Boko Haram in April 2014.

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CHRISTMAS PROJECT Help is on the way for Christian teenagers like Regina and parents like Daniel and Lydia For over 15 years, Release’s partner in Nigeria has helped hundreds, even thousands of Christian families in central and northern Nigeria, providing medical assistance, pastoral care and practical support for those suffering violent loss.

But, traumatised teenagers like Regina and parents like Daniel and Lydia whose anguish and pain go deeper than visible wounds, need more than physical help.

That is why our partner is helping the victims of violent persecution and their families to deal with the pain that is locked in their hearts through Bible-based trauma-healing workshops.

These workshops are free and are run over several days in various

safe locations. Often our partner provides food and accommodation for individuals and families who participate in them.

Every workshop is attended by 30 to 70 believers who are given many opportunities to listen to God’s Word, to share their stories, to pray and to experience God’s healing power.

A healing workshop unlocked God’s forgiveness in Regina’s life Just a while ago Regina attended one of the workshops specially designed for young people. And, what happened in those five days of the workshop changed the course of her life.

CHRISTMAS

PROJECT

A mother receives prayer during a workshop.

Regina had been angry and sad for so long that she had forgotten what it was like to feel peace and joy.

She wore her pain daily like a dress.

But going to the trauma-healing workshop changed all that.

She joyfully shared how helpful it had been. One of the characters in the youth workbook suffers in a way that Regina could identify with very closely. She also found the study of the story of Joseph from the book of Genesis very inspiring and helpful.

Slowly God opened her eyes. ‘Now I can see how important I am to Him,’ she said.

‘Before I went I didn’t really know about the importance of forgiveness, but it made me realise that I needed to forgive my father’s killers.’

God gave her the strength and courage to do so.

A healing workshop helped Daniel and Lydia to trust God as they wait

The workshops provide a safe environment for believers to talk about the violent attacks they have suffered or witnessed.

In May this year Daniel and Lydia also came to a trauma-healing workshop. They really appreciated the opportunity to meet other Christian parents whose girls are still missing, to share their grief and to comfort each other.

November / December 2015 Release 9

Photo: Reuters/Afolabi Sotunde.

They cried and prayed together, and were deeply grateful for the support and the opportunity to learn how to hold on to their faith in this season of pain.

Another couple, Yohanna Lawan and his wife Rebecca, also came to the workshop. Their daughter Naomi, now 19 years old, was also abducted

by Boko Haram.

This is what they said to our partner: ‘Thank you for giving us this platform to come and carry our pains to God, and to share what has happened to us.

‘Please pray for our families – we still have hope that we will see our daughters one day.’

HERE IS HOW YOU CAN HELP

Will you help traumatised Christians in Nigeria to experience God’s healing and forgiveness by sending a gift to Release today?

Please will you make a special Christmas gift to Release today and help touch the lives of traumatised teenagers such as Regina and parents such as Daniel and Lydia?

Regina’s story and the stories of many other Christians like Lydia and Daniel testify to the power of God’s grace and healing – and to the huge difference you and our partners can make in the lives of persecuted Christians.

While Boko Haram and Fulani militants continue mercilessly to attack Christian communities in Nigeria, the need for these healing workshops remains.

In 2016, hundreds of Christian individuals and families who are likely to witness untold horrors in their homes and communities will turn to us for help.

We cannot reach out and help them to come to terms with their brokenness, their pain and their anger without the generosity of Christians like you. •

£5

can feed a child or an adult for a day at a workshop

£15

can pay for a facilitator to help a traumatised child or adult

£25

can feed a person attending a 5-day workshop

£50

can provide accommodation for a Christian couple

£80

can cover the cost of the whole workshop for one individual

• Give using the attached response card • Call 01689 823491 to give over the phone • Give at: releaseinternational.org/donate

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PRISONERS

HELPING CHRISTIANS IMPRISONED FOR THE FAITH

IRAN

was born into a devout, religious and fanatical Muslim family. Each day my father would make us wake up early to pray. In my heart I had a deep, but unsatisfied, desire to know God.

‘I

During military service I met a group of people who had spiritual power. Their power was evil and Satanic which intrigued me and soon I became a practising member of the group.

On one occasion I felt something enter my body and from then on I was aware of voices speaking to me. I had the ability to foresee things and the power to frighten or even hurt people.

I began to self-harm. I hated myself and everyone else. Increasingly, pain lost its meaning to me. I was disillusioned with life and people and convinced that there was no God.

Healing Once, while walking alone, I felt a voice telling me to turn on my pocket radio. I turned the radio on and began listening. The person speaking talked about discerning between the voice of God and Satan. I was shocked.

Yousef was saved from demonic powers after hearing a gospel broadcast in Iran.

Saved from Satan Iranian Muslim Yousef (not his real name) was bound by demonic powers until he heard the liberating gospel of Jesus Christ.

The next night I tuned in again.

This time it was much harder to find the station but again I listened as the speaker shared about the power of Jesus Christ. He invited people to give their lives to God and said that when you give your heart to Jesus all these demonic powers will leave you and you will be healed and cleansed.

I began listening regularly to the broadcasts and committed my life to Jesus. Everything changed! Instead of bitterness, anger and hopelessness, I now had hope, love and joy. I didn’t have a Bible at that time, so I wrote down all the verses I heard on the radio.

After a while I began to share what had happened with my father.

This caused a lot of problems for me. He beat me, threw me out of the

November / December 2015 Release 11

house and my relatives rejected me.

However, as time passed, they could see the change in me and several of them gave their hearts to Christ – including my aunt who had been a hardline Muslim.

The church is growing in Iran.

Eventually I joined a house church in Iran where I grew and learned to serve God. Because of security concerns we were split into small cell groups, one of which I led. However, two years later a number of house churches were raided by state police and several of us were taken into custody.

Despite the interrogations and the harsh conditions in prison, I experienced the amazing presence of God! One time I saw a blinding light in the corridor and the cells.

Following my release on bail I was constantly under surveillance. My life was under threat and several church leaders felt it would be best if I left the country.

Today I am part of a church of Iranian brothers and sisters in Turkey which is supported by Release’s partner.

I know that God loves me, that Jesus is my Saviour and I want to continue serving Him joyfully and building His kingdom.

’

Call 01689 823491 to request a free copy of our 10-minute DVD Scattered which reports on how God is powerfully at work in the lives of Iranian Christians now living in Turkey. It is also available for purchase for £5 from: releaseinternational.org/scattered.

IRAN: A BEACON OF HOPE God is building His church and many Iranians are coming to faith in Christ. Like the Apostle Paul many of our brothers and sisters testify to God’s gracious intervention and revelation that prompted them to surrender their lives to Jesus.

Yousef’s story is typical of so many who in choosing to follow Christ must embrace suffering.

• Watch a new video from our partner 222 Ministries about the growing church in Iran at: releaseinternational.org/prisoners.

• G et the latest information on Christian prisoners of faith by subscribing to our free monthly email alert by calling 01689 823491 or at: releaseinternational.org/signup.

Help Iranian Christian prisoners Currently 90 Christians are reported to be detained in Iran for their faith, most of them from a Muslim background. Most face harsh conditions in prison, and some have been interrogated and tortured to make them give up the names of other believers.

Release works with trusted Iranian partners who can provide pastoral care, practical support and legal help to prisoners and their families. In addition, where necessary, they can also help former prisoners, like Yousef, to leave Iran and settle in a new country.

Please stand with courageous persecuted Christians in Iran by making a gift using the card attached to this magazine, or by calling 01689 823491.

Thank you.

12 Release November / December 2015

WOMEN

ENCOURAGING OUR SISTERS – INSPIRED BY THEIR FAITH

NORTH KOREA

SOWING THE WORD Thanks to your support the Scriptures are bearing fruit – even inside brutal North Korea. ould you ever imagine that something you did could have a direct effect on the government of one of the harshest regimes in the world?

C

Helen, one of our volunteers for Release Women, shared about her trip to visit North Korean refugees in Seoul, South Korea, in the last edition of Release.

‘One day we stuffed large, helium balloons with Bibles to be sent across the border into North Korea,’ she said.

‘Even without a common language we were still able to make friends with those we worked alongside.’

Helen was joined by Muriel, Jenny, Margaret and Ruth – all from the UK. They prayed quietly as they counted 20 Bibles and two memory sticks with Scriptures into each large weather balloon. They prayed for those who dared to pick one up on landing inside North Korea.

penalties if they take them. In some cases whole families, from children to grandparents, have been arrested and incarcerated. Can you imagine that happening to you and your family for the sake of Scripture?

So who takes that risk? Those whose hearts are already warmed by the Spirit of God.

Over the following weeks, having informed the local police, the balloons were launched near the border high into the wind so as to land in the nearest third of North Korea.

Some estimate that the North Korean church numbers at least 100,000 people – but there could be many more. The people are hungry to read God’s word and to understand a life and faith beyond what they endure in North Korea.

So what happens when these packages fall to the ground? Every North Korean knows that they are Bibles, and that they risk the severest

Later, thanks to satellite tracking, we heard that the balloons had landed inside North Korea. The North Korean Government also reported that our

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November / December 2015 Release 13

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Thanks to your support, helium-filled weather balloons carry the Scriptures from South Korea into North Korea to bring life and hope to those who read them.

Regional heart2heart conference for women

Take Heart

Saturday, November 21, 2015 10am to 3.30pm (arrival and coffee from 9.30am)

Croxley Green Baptist Church, 223 Baldwins Lane, Croxley Green, Rickmansworth WD3 3LH Cost £5 (payable on the door)

So what does this mean for us?

Would you have still packed those balloons knowing that such opposition and hostility might take place?

Isn’t this a real-life example of the parable of the sower? The seeds or the Scriptures are scattered and fall into all kinds of situations or ‘soil’. Surely the fruit of such literal sowing of Scripture is the building of the Kingdom of God in North Korea. As Jesus teaches, the Word of God is designed to be fruitful: ‘The seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown’ (Matthew 13:23). partner (described as a ‘puppet force’) had been ‘zealous in scattering antiDPRK [North Korean Government] leaflets and various kinds of undesirable emedia’.

This in turn led to a reaction from the South Korean Government which included them requesting the balloon launches be stopped.

Let’s pray that the same courage that North Koreans have to take Scripture into their homes is given to us in the church in the UK and Ireland to speak out for the sake of the Kingdom.

Let’s also pray that the Word is sown so deeply that one day we will all be able to see the result of such planting that transforms the so-called ‘Hermit Kingdom’ into the Kingdom of God. •

For more information and to book your place please call our office on 01689 823491 or email: info@releaseinternational.org.

Download a flyer to promote the conference from releaseinternational.org/events.

National Release Women heart2heart conference Saturday, June 25, 2016 10am to 4pm (arrival and coffee from 9.30am)

Emmanuel Centre, 9-23 Marsham Street, London SW1P 3DW Cost £10 (payable on the door)

Be inspired Request a free copy of our latest Embrace newsletter and be inspired by the testimonies of courageous sisters in Christ.

Please call 01689 823491 or use the attached card.

Newsletter of Release Women Summer 2015

In this edition of Embrace, we will be sharing stories of families – husbands and fathers, wives and mothers, and their children – who all know the reality of living amid persecution, with the effects this has on daily life.

A young believer A few months ago one of our Release colleagues travelled to Sri Lanka, where she met a young pastor and his family. Here she shares their story: I had met this pastor on a previous visit, where I heard how he and his mother were beaten by a mob during Sunday morning worship. Both had been hospitalised and then arrested for disturbing the peace. At the time one of his boys had said, ‘When I grow up I will punch the men who hurt my daddy.’ The pastor’s desire though was to teach his son how to learn forgiveness. On my second visit I was shocked by the pastor’s changed physical appearance: he was thinner, very drawn and his eyes showed much sadness.

As we entered his home and church, I met his lovely wife with two of their three children. Her four-year-old son, Ron (not his real name) looked traumatised and his eyes were blank. Ron clung to his father’s legs and had to be persuaded to leave by his mother, as she and Ron went to make tea for us. As his father told the remainder of their story, Ron looked through the hole in the wall, and watched us carefully.

The pastor told us that three weeks after being attacked, his home was fire-bombed during the night and the family escaped with their lives. He said, ‘I trust God, and know he will

‘

take care of my ministry, and I am willing to die for him.’ But as a loving father and a husband he was concerned that he could not Ron’s father, alongside protect his family. The reason their burnt for Ron’s trauma was clear and home and church our partner assured me that Ron was receiving counselling to deal with the effects of the attack.

Ron is not allowed to go to the local nursery school as the other parents objected, in case he ‘infected’ their children with Christianity, although the eldest son is able to attend school in a neighbouring village. The pastor’s wife is no longer allowed to shop locally and has to travel some distance without a car to do so.

During our visit it became apparent that Ron thought that we had come to take his daddy away. I reassured Ron that we were not there to take his daddy away but to bring his mummy a small gift of a cross, which I handed to him to give to his mother. When we were leaving Ron held hands with us and prayed. This little traumatised boy, who at present can’t even cry, knows what it means to believe in Jesus.

’

Connecting Christian women in the UK and Ireland with their suffering sisters around the world.

APHIC ELEMENTS

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14 Release November / December 2015

BE THE CHANGE

RELEASE POTENTIAL

R E D UN K C A T AT

Picturesque Sri Lanka: but Christians are being persecuted by militant Buddhists.

PRIYA, 16, LIVES IN SRI LANKA WHICH ATTRACTS VISITORS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD. YET AWAY FROM THE TOURISTS, CHRISTIANS ARE BEING TARGETED BY MILITANT BUDDHISTS. HER FATHER, A PASTOR, WAS RECENTLY ABDUCTED AND NARROWLY ESCAPED WITH HIS LIFE … riya’s father pastors a small church in a rural village in the south of Sri Lanka. In 2000 their church was destroyed by Buddhist monks, and Bibles and hymn books were defaced.

P

Since then their church has suffered many attacks. A few months ago Priya’s Dad was taken by two unknown people in a Jeep and driven almost eight kilometres away. His assailants tried to

Priya

strangle him and made threats to kill him.

However, he was eventually released and managed to find his way home. He was in hospital for four days.

In Sri Lanka many churches in rural areas have been forced to close down, forcing members to gather together secretly in homes in small numbers. This has affected the finances of many churches – and pastors often find it difficult to provide for their families.

In response Release’s partners are helping the children of pastors through their Evangel Care programme. This provides school fees, books, school uniforms, special tuition classes and food. In addition, children have access to counselling and prayer and can take part in special children’s camps.

Change Maker Molly

Please pray for: • protection for Priya’s father and their church • Priya as she takes her ‘O’ levels.

Your financial gift could make a real difference to the children of persecuted pastors in Sri Lanka, enabling them to go to school and also to receive counselling and further help where necessary.

• Please make a gift using the card attached to this magazine • Text EDUC71 £3 to 70070 to donate £3 GRAPHIC ELEMENTS Watch a video of Change Maker Molly in Sri Lanka at: releasepotential. org/change-makers.

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Priya feels frightened for her Dad most of the time, but ‘God protects us,’ she said.

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A team from Release Potential, including our Change Maker Molly, recently visited Sri Lanka and had the privilege of joining one of these camps where they helped to organise the icebreakers, Bible sessions and games.

Molly, who spent most of the past year fundraising for this visit, said: ‘Many pastors and church workers live on just 500 rupees a day (around £2) – the cost of a few chocolate bars in the UK. So receiving support from Evangel Care for their children can change their lives completely.’

November / December 2015 Release 15

IRAQ

Impact Report

Project: Support for displaced families £43,030

Love in action M Your prayers and gifts have recently helped hundreds of Christian families fleeing violence in both northern Iraq and Nigeria.

Your support helped 200 displaced families in northern Nigeria to return to their homes.

any thousands of Iraqi Christians have fled for their lives to Kurdistan in the north of the country, following the advances of the brutal Islamic State.

Release’s partner responded by working with local churches to distribute emergency food packages to 1,000 Christian and Yazidi families. Each package included rice, sugar, oil, milk, beans, lentils and tea. Needy families also received nappies, blankets, mattresses and gas heaters.

In addition children received toys last Christmas, and our partner distributed 2,000 Bibles and Christian books to the families, with the permission of the Government.

NIGERIA Project: Support for displaced families £4,500 ur partner was able to help 200 displaced families when they returned to their homes in Mubi in the north-eastern state of Adamawa after the Nigerian army recaptured the city from Boko Haram terrorists.

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The families received food, clothing, bedding and toiletries donated by churches in Jos, Plateau state, which were driven to Mubi by our partner using a truck provided by Release.

‘During the attacks by Boko Haram a lot suffered in different ways, but through His grace, God protected us,’ said one pastor who had been displaced.

‘Your support will help us to build our faith in Jesus Christ.

Thank you to everyone who contributed in any way.’ •

‘Your support will help us to build our faith in Jesus Christ. Thank you to everyone who contributed in any way.’

GIVE Healing from trauma While our Nigerian partner has been able to provide vital supplies for displaced Christian families, many need further care and specialist help to deal with the traumatic experiences they have suffered.

To make a donation to support this muchneeded ministry, please use the attached card. You can read more on page 6.

‘The project had a tremendous spiritual impact on people’s lives and on the community, especially the Yazidis,’ said our partner. ‘When we distributed food in the Yazidi camp they told us: “We see your love as God’s love to us”. Many were able to hear the Gospel, and the church is growing.’

One young Syrian man, Ez, had fled with his parents, brothers and sisters from heavy bombing. They walked for days to reach the Turkish border where they spent several weeks with little food. Eventually they made their way to Kurdistan.

Through the ministry of one of the local church partners Ez gave his life to Jesus, was baptised and discipled in the church, and is now reaching out to his friends and community. •

16 Release November / December 2015

illegally providing state secrets and intelligence to overseas organisations’.

PERSECUTION WATCH

China Aid fears he may be tortured into making a false confession.

There is a strong Christian presence in Zhejiang province. The communist authorities there have been demolishing churches and have pulled down some 1,200 crosses.

International observers believe the clampdown against visible signs of Christianity is intended to slow the rapid growth of the faith in China.

IRAN

New charges feared as pastor ‘tortured’

Watch an interview with Zhang at: releaseinternational.org/zhang.

Reports have emerged that Iranian prisoner Pastor Saeed Abedini is being tortured in jail – and could face further charges.

A relative who visited Pastor Saeed in Rajai Shahr Prison near Karaj in September reported that intelligence officers repeatedly used a taser gun on him during interrogation and that he is in need of medical treatment.

It is believed that he continues to suffer abuse at the hands of other inmates too.

Interrogators told Saeed that he could face new charges, alleging that he has connections with groups opposed to the Government – claims that Saeed denies.

Pastor Saeed Abedini

He is currently serving an eightyear sentence for his involvement in Iran’s house church movement.

Iran’s President Rouhani visited the United Nations in New York in October, but declined to meet Saeed’s wife Naghmeh.

• Please pray for God’s protection for Pastor Saeed and that he is released soon.

• Pray that Zhang Kai will be freed from jail soon Christian lawyer Zhang Kai. Photo: Andrew Boyd

CHINA

Christian lawyer detained Release is calling for the release of a leading Chinese human rights lawyer, amid growing concern that he could be tortured into making a false confession to spying.

Zhang Kai, a Christian lawyer based in Beijing, has been defending churches in the courts against moves to tear down their crosses. A Release partner says officials in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, are charging him with spying.

According to China Aid, Zhang has been accused of ‘gathering a mob to disturb public order and stealing, collecting, purchasing and

PAKISTAN APPEAL

STAMP AID

Supporter Paul White is continuing his marvellous work of selling used UK and foreign stamps to help persecuted Christians through Release. Please send your used stamps to: Paul White, 5 Raasay Gardens, Newton Mearns, Glasgow G77 6TH, making sure that you use the correct postage. If you include your email address Paul will acknowledge safe receipt of your stamps.

Thank you to the many supporters who have given generously to our recent appeal to help persecuted Christians in Pakistan. If you would like to make a donation to support our suffering family in Christ, you can still do so by calling 01689 823491 or at our secure web page releaseinternational.org/donate.

November / December 2015 Release 17

IN BRIEF INDIA: Hindu extremists launched a

IDOP 2015 It’s not too late to take part in this year’s International Day of Prayer for persecuted Christians (IDOP) on Sunday, November 15 (or another day of your choice).

Our free resources for IDOP include a new prayer for persecuted Christians for corporate use and topical prayer points for the Middle East, Egypt and East Africa (also available as PowerPoint).

In addition we have made a new three-minute video for IDOP which includes the amazing story of Nigerian Christian Habila who survived being shot by extremists.

Don’t miss this opportunity to make a difference with your prayers!

• Download the prayer materials at: releaseinternational.org/idop.

• Watch Habila’s story at: releaseinternational.org/habila.

This Christmas: Spend and Give! spendandgive.org/release If you buy Christmas presents online, why not use the SpendandGive website – and benefit persecuted Christians at the same time?

You make orders as usual, but by accessing online retailers through the SpendandGive website, a small donation is made to Release for every purchase you make at no extra cost to you.

SpendandGive is a portal to more than 200 well-known online retailers including Amazon, Currys, John Lewis, Lands’ End, Marks & Spencer, Mothercare, New Look, PC World, Sainsbury’s, Thorntons and Waterstones.

Please note that you need to access your chosen online shops through this web page in order for the donation to be made: the system does not work if you go direct.

So far more than £2,700 has been raised for persecuted Christians.

Please help us to raise even more by adding SpendandGive to your browser Favourites, and by telling your friends.

vicious attack on a prayer meeting in Jharkhand state in September which left six Christians needing hospital treatment.

One woman aged in her 60s was beaten unconscious. The extremists were armed with guns, axes, spades and clubs.

LAOS: Two Christians have been

detained on charges of ‘spreading the faith’. Bountheung Phetsomphone, 43, and Neuy, 40, who are both married with three children each, are being held in jail in Khounkham in Khammouane province.

They were arrested in September during a visit to a family in Nong-hang village. Five police agents raided the home, apparently after a tip-off from local officials.

PAKISTAN: Police in Kasur district

detained Christian Pervaiz Masih, 35, after he was accused of ‘blasphemy’ by business rivals. Allegations arose after he won a contract to supply sand in Garra village. Hundreds of people took to the streets, threatening to burn him alive.

SUDAN: Thank God that a court in Sudan has ruled that the Sudanese Government acted illegally in helping Muslim investors in their bid to take over a north Khartoum church. This is being hailed as a partial victory in Khartoum Bahri Evangelical Church’s four-year battle to retain ownership of its property.

TANZANIA: Three church buildings in

Kashfa village, Bukoba district, were set ablaze following threats by extremists.

Pastor Vedasto Athanas of Living Water International church said that Christians are worried as such attacks have increased in recent years. Also burned were the buildings of the Pentecostal Assemblies of God and the Evangelical Assemblies of God. Sources: Morning Star News and Release International.

18 Release November / December 2015

RELEASE SPEAKERS Why not invite one of Release’s team of development managers to speak in your church or small group?

North Tel 07969 361557 Central England & Wales Tel 01234 271855 South of England Tel 07540 530153 Ireland Tel 028 9334 0014 Scotland Tel 01382 553879 Chief Executive: Paul Robinson Council of Reference: Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali Rt Rev Wallace and Lindsay Benn Lyndon Bowring David Coffey Martin Goldsmith Frog and Amy Orr-Ewing Board of Trustees: Robert Ashurst (Chairman) Geoffrey L. Alexander (Vice-Chairman) Peter C. Ewins ACA (Vice-Chairman and Acting Treasurer) David Adeney, Ian R. Frith, William J. Hanna, Wachuku Johnson, Mary Print, Susan V. Rand, Geoffrey A. Seaton Release International PO Box 54, Orpington BR5 4RT Telephone 01689 823491 email info@releaseinternational.org website www.releaseinternational.org

RELEASE MAGAZINE Design: Design Chapel Ltd © 2015 Release International Registered Charity 280577. The ministry of Christian Mission to the Communist World, a company limited by guarantee in England, No. 1506576. Registered office: Times House, Throwley Way, Sutton SM1 4JQ.

All personal data/sensitive personal data herein are processed in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998.

Further details are available from Release International.

The Word on persecution

Be specific in prayer

n the first recorded case of persecution after Christ’s ascension, the Apostles Peter and John were arrested and imprisoned overnight for preaching that Christ had risen from the dead. The next morning they were questioned, and then warned not to speak any more in the name of Jesus.

I

What happens next is very instructive – and challenging – for us when it comes to praying for persecuted Christians today. Luke tells us: ‘When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them’ (Acts 4:23; ESV).

Luke adds: ‘And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God…’ (v24).

The disciples’ prayer was a response to the information they had received. This point is driven home when we note what they actually asked for. Peter and John had been warned

not to preach about Jesus. Clearly the disciples couldn’t cave in on this one, so they prayed: ‘Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness’ (v29).

Prayer needs to be informed. As Release’s recent book, Jars of Clay puts it (page 116): ‘If our prayers are to move beyond the bland and general, if we are going to pray specifically for real people with real needs, we need to acquire the information, and we need to do so regularly. It is as simple as that.’

The Prayer Shield diary that is included with this magazine is a great resource for praying in an informed way. The magazine articles themselves, and other resources such as our DVDs, serve the same end. Are you committed to praying? If so, are you committed to praying in an informed way? •

For reflection

• H ow do you pray for persecuted Christians?

In what way do you allow information and prayer requests to shape your prayers?

(You might like to read the whole account referred to above: Acts 3:11 – 4:31) • A s you prepare for the International Day of Prayer for persecuted Christians (IDOP) on November 15 (see page 17), how can you ensure your church is well informed, in order to know what to pray for?

JARS OF CLAY Be inspired and challenged by what the Bible says about persecution in our new book (£8 including p&p).

Call 01689 823491 or visit: releaseinternational.org/ estore.

FOUNDATIONS ‘In the Lord’s Prayer the word “I” is missing completely, although it is one of the most frequently spoken words in the prayers of men... Christians should not be I-centred, but God-centred.’

Pastor Richard Wurmbrand was imprisoned for 14 years in communist Romania in the 1950s and 1960s. He inspired the founding of Release International in 1968 to serve persecuted Christians and to make the church in the West aware of their suffering.

FIVE REASONS

TO MAKE A GENEROUS GIFT TO RELEASE INTERNATIONAL TODAY B ecause the Bible 1 encourages us to see Jesus in the faces of those who are persecuted, those who are hungry or in prison.

2

B ecause often persecuted

Christians have lost everything.

B ecause without our support many persecuted Christians and their families will continue to suffer.

Christians in Pakistan have been attacked by militants.

3

B ecause through your generosity you are encouraging God’s people.

4

5

Because Release promises to use your

gift effectively to change the lives of those who need help the most.

• Give using the attached response card • Call 01689 823491 to give over the phone • Give at releaseinternational.org/donate

‘Before I went [to the workshop] I didn’t really know about the importance of forgiveness, but it made me realise that I needed to forgive my father’s killers.’

Regina, 15, who witnessed the brutal death of her father Bitrus by militants.

CHRISTMAS

PROJECT

This Christmas season you can help release the power of God’s forgiveness and healing into the lives of traumatised Christians like Regina.

As a young child Regina saw her father being brutally killed just because he was a Christian.

She wore her pain like a dress until the day she attended a youth trauma-healing workshop run by our partner in Nigeria.

During the workshop Regina learnt about the power of forgiveness and sought God’s forgiveness for the men who killed her father.

For Regina and other Christians like her, the trauma-healing workshops have been truly life-changing!

In 2016, hundreds of Christian individuals and families who are likely to witness untold horrors in their homes and communities will turn to us for support. And, we can’t help them to come to terms with their pain, sadness or anger without the generosity of Christians like you.

Will you make a special Christmas gift to Release today and help touch the lives of traumatised teenagers like Regina?

• Use the attached response card • Call 01689 823491 to give over the phone • Give online at: releaseinternational.org/donate

Please make this Christmas special for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ!

www.releaseinternational.org R88

Release International, PO Box 54, Orpington BR5 4RT Tel: 01689 823491 Email: info@releaseinternational.org Registered Charity 280577