ACN Faith ALIVE issue 2

ISSUE No 2

FAITH ALIVE

WORLD REFUGEE DAY

A call for URGENT ACTION

Helping the suffering Church today www.acnmalta.org

A lifesaving mission

Prayer Information Action

The Face of Christian Girls in Pakistan

HOW TO use this magazine Read Inspiring stories

…of faith-strong men and women around the world who are shining the light of Christ even in the darkest parts of the world.

A word from the National Director

PLAY VIDEO Catch a quick glimpse

Click on “play video” to catch a quick glimpse of the reach and impact of ACN’s work around the world.

Help us support those in need

We invite you to consider making a donation to help us fund key projects which provide essential aid to Christians in need around the world.

39b, Mdina Road, Attard, ATD 9038 Call 00356 21487818 Email info@acnmalta.org Twitter @acn_malta

Addressing members and benefactors of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) at a General Audience in Rome on 2nd October 2013, Pope Francis prayed: “May the Lord make your commitment to the mission of the Church always nurture more fruit throughout the world, especially where it is suffering from spiritual and material needs or is discriminated against and persecuted.”

In our work, year in year out, we see answers to this prayer. As we review our activity as a Charity for the past year, I invite you in this month’s issue to read inspiring stories of our faith-strong persecuted brothers and sisters around the world and the fruits of generous efforts made to bring relief to them in their situation.

Together with hundreds of thousands of benefactors and project partners, we continue to support Christians around the world under our guiding principle “prayer, information and action”.

Our long-standing experience and belief in the power of Charity encourage us to continue on this path and to inspire people around the globe through our work. It is my hope that, as you read this issue, the enduring Faith of our persecuted brothers and sisters will challenge and inspire you in your own journey of Faith and life’s work. Your prayers and gifts make a vital difference, and I invite you to make a commitment of love towards our projects in aid of many needy Christians around the world.

As an international Catholic charitable foundation which primarily strives to help nurture the faith and well-being of persecuted and suffering Christians worldwide, ACN (Malta) supports important projects undertaken by the local Church (Bishops, Priests, Sisters and lay people) in over 140 countries.

Yours in Christ,

Facebook Aid to the Church in Need Malta Instagram acn_malta

www.acnmalta.org Aid to the Church in Need is a Pontifical Foundation of the Catholic Church and registered in Malta Reg. No. LPF-212, as a Foundation regulated by the second schedule of the Civil Code Chapter (16) of the Laws of Malta.

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Stephen Axisa National Director Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) Malta

MESSAGE TO MALTESE/GOZITANS LIVING ABROAD

Please “Help us support those in Need” thank you Any kind gift you offer will support these and other similar projects around the world

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A LIFE-SAVING MISSION

A Sister of the Daughters of Resurrection taking care of a malnourished child in Bukavu-Mirh, Congo

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In the Democratic Republic of Congo, 174 religious women supported by Aid to the Church in Need are involved in the valuable work of literally saving lives, every passing day.

Co-founded by ACN’s Founder, Fr Werenfried van Straaten, the Sisters of the Daughters of the Resurrection congregation are saving malnourished children and sick people who arrive from war zones every day.

As some of the Sisters are also nurses, they care for those who are sick and also run an education centre to offer the chance of a better future for children.

Congo is a nation experiencing one of the worst rates of child mortality and malnutrition.

To sustain the mission of the Daughters of the Resurrection and other Sisters of various congregations ministering in the Congolese ecclesiastical province of Bukavu, ACN is providing emergency aid packages for these religious Sisters to enable them to continue with this noble work.

Will you assist these devoted women to continue with their valuable work? The love in our hearts is limitless and can help alleviate so many of the hurts afflicting the world right now.

According to UNICEF 2020 Global Report on Food Crises, almost half of the country’s children under Sisters of the Daughters of the Resurrection preparing food for malnourished children the age of five are malnourished. The situation has become even worse at this time when the world is battling the coronavirus pandemic.

Christine du Coudray, ACN head of projects in Congo, said: “While all of the non-governmental organisations have fled because of the ongoing conflict, the Church and in particular the religious are still there, close to the most severely disadvantaged groups, like good souls, unrecognised but fully in the spirit of Mother Teresa.”

One of ACN’s most important missions is precisely to help those who have no one to turn to.

Please “Help us support those in Need” thank you May God bless you for taking part in this vital mission.

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PRAYER INFORMATION ACTION

Thanks to the generosity of our benefactors, the 23 national offices of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) funded a total of 5,230 projects across 139 countries during 2019.

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Under the Charity’s guiding theme “Prayer, Information, Action”, the following success stories prove once again how practical Charity grows out of a lived Faith.

Some of the projects include:

peru

project No.1

ACN helped the diocesan seminary Nuestra Señora del Carmen in Huaura, on the Pacific coast of Peru to purchase 50 prayer books

venezuela

project No.2

Emergency aid for Venezuelan Parishes to sustain food kitchens for the poor and the elderly

Any kind gift you offer will support these and other similar projects around the world

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peru

project No.3

brazil

project No.4

mauritius

project No.5

Support for the parishes in Piura in north western Peru with 3,700 copies of the Latin American Bible

ACN supports the lay missionaries of Mission Bethlehem in Brazil to care for the city’s homeless in an effort to get them out of the quagmire of drug addiction, violence and hopelessness

In Mauritania, ACN supported 27 nuns who care for pregnant women, the sick, migrants, prisoners, people with special needs, and about 40,000 malnourished children

philippines

syria

lebanon

project No.9

ACN supports the interfaith initiative “Youth for Peace”, in which Christian and Muslim students work together to help refugees who fled the city of Marawi, in the Philippines, after major attacks by Islamists

project No.10 10,885 primary school children in Syria were provided with learning materials

project No.11 Thanks to ACN, many Syrian and Iraqi refugee children can attend the Saint Rita School in Zahlé in Lebanon

Thank you for your solidarity with the Church in need around the world. Together, we can 8

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madagascar

philippines

sri lanka

project No.6

project No.7 ACN funded the restoration of the bombed Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Jolo, the Philippines

ACN supported the local Church in Sri Lanka in the training of 300 counsellors to provide trauma therapy and counselling for severely upset families affected by the 2019 Easter bombings

syria

lithuania

ukraine

In mid-western Madagascar, ACN provided financial support to the diocese of Maintirano to purchase a motorboat that is used for pastoral care along the rivers and coastline

project No.12

Under the programme “Praying plus studying” 7,340 students in Aleppo, Syria, received €20 per month for eight months (one academic year) together with student counselling and spiritual guidance

project No.13 ACN supported the Catholic radio station Mažoji Studija in Vilnius, Lithuania. The station makes an important contribution to Evangelisation

do more to preserve their Faith, hope and love.

project No.8

project No.14 At the interdiocesan seminary of “Sv. Yosafat” in IvanoFrankivsk, Ukraine, 213 Seminarians were supported

by ACN in their priestly training

Please “Help us support those in Need” thank you 9

WORLD REFUGEE DAY:

A CALL FOR URGENT ACTION For Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), which was founded at a time when Europe was recovering from the devastating effects of World War II to help refugees and displaced people, emergency and pastoral care for refugees is an identifying element of its mission.

Photo taken at UNHCR Refugee camp of Zahle in Lebanon during ACN’s Communication Trip to the Middle East

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ACN is working with Church partners in Lebanon and neighbouring countries to offer essential assistance to all refugees who come to them

The bitter truth is that today there are more refugees worldwide than ever before. Currently, 70.8 million people are fleeing war and violence around the world: of these, 16 million alone are in the Middle East. Our great financial commitment to refugees and displaced persons in the Middle East is not only a response to their pressing needs, but also a contribution to stop the wave of Christian emigration and thus ensure the continuity of Christianity in the region.

Tanzania, Cameroon and Ethiopia.

On this year’s World Refugee Day, ACN’s International Projects Director, Regina Lynch, highlights the importance of the Charity’s work throughout the world, in supporting refugees and internally displaced persons; a work that, so often, has only been possible thanks to the generosity of our benefactors.

“True to its roots, ACN as an international pastoral agency works with local Churches that are often unable to find the funds for social and pastoral assistance to displaced communities and to meet their spiritual needs,” explained Regina.

In 2019 alone, ACN funded more than 90 refugee projects.

This made it possible to directly assist refugees, internally displaced persons and returned refugees, especially in the Middle East (Lebanon, Iraq and Syria), Turkey, Sudan,

Please “Help us support those in Need” thank you

ACN helps refugees in Lebanon

1,000 refugees receive a hot meal every day at the St John the Merciful Table – men, women, children and the elderly are all welcome at the relief kitchen

Help for Christian families with rent, food baskets, and other essentials to help them survive

Education for refugee children at Church schools to give them the chance of a brighter future

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MAIRA SHAHBAZ: The Face of Christian Girls in Pakistan Maira Shahbaz (14)

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Young Christians living in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan which is 97% Muslim, are often insulted and excluded, or else pressured to convert to Islam. For Christian girls it is even worse, as they face a very real danger of being abducted and forcibly married to their abductors, which at the same time means being forcibly converted to Islam.

While Pakistan like many other countries was in lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, at about 2pm on 28th April 2020, Mohammed Nakash and two accomplices

I am frightened that I will never see her again.” Maira’s older sister, Saira, 16, added: “Maira is still a child and has been taken advantage of.”

ACN also spoke to Lala Robin Daniel, a human rights activist, friend and neighbour of Maira and her family, who said: “The Shahbaz family is one of the poorest in Madina Town. What little they earn is from their work as cleaners. The father has left them and in our society, this poor Christian family is very vulnerable.” Lawyer Khalil confirmed to ACN that on 2nd June he submitted a petition to Lahore High Court to appeal the case and to overturn the ruling of Faisalabad Magistrates’ Court which on 5th

The mother and siblings of the kidnapped girl, Maira Shahbaz.

bearing arms bundled a 14-year-old Pakistani Christian girl, Maira Shahbaz, into a car near her home, firing shots into the air as they drove off.

The family’s lawyer, Khalil Tahir Sandhu, said that Mr Nakash is already married with two children and came across Maira as he lives not far from her home near Madina Town, where he works as a barber.

Speaking to Aid to the Church in Need, Maira’s mother Nighat who was rushed to hospital for suffering shock after two witnesses described how her daughter was kidnapped, said: “I beg that my daughter be returned to us.

May ruled in favour of Mohamad Nakash, who claimed that Maira is 19 in spite of evidence being produced to show she is five years younger, including a birth certificate, as well as official church and school documents.

In an interview with ACN last year, Archbishop Sebastian Shaw of Lahore, Pakistan, lamented the surge in such abductions especially of under-age Christian and Hindu girls. They are being raped and forced to marry and convert to Islam.

Please “Help us support those in Need” thank you 13

Kiddies Corner Matching & Writing

Question:

Five Finger Prayer

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Pope Francis has given us a simple way to pray using our 5 fingers! Just read the texts in the text boxes and assign them to the corresponding fingers above. Afterwards you can write your own prayer in the empty box below.

Pointer

Ring

Pinkie

Thumb

Middle

Pray for those who teach you, instruct you and heal you. They need the support and wisdom to show direction to others. Always keep them in your prayers.

Even though it may surprise you, it is our weakest finger.

It should remind us to pray for the weakest, the sick or those plagued by problems.

They need your prayers.

When you are done praying for the other four groups, you will be able to see your own needs, but in the proper perspective, and you will also be able to pray for your own needs in a better way.

The thumb is the closest finger to you, so start praying for those who are closest to you. They are the easiest people to remember.

To pray for our dear ones is a "Sweet Obligation."

This finger is the longest. It reminds us of our leaders, our governors and others who have authority. They need God's guidance.

Write your own prayer:

Bonus Materials 14

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Any kind gift you offer will support these and other similar projects around the world You may wish to offer a donation by visiting www.acnmalta.org/donate or through APS Bank: Name: Aid to the Church in Need Malta Foundation Bank Name: APS Bank, Attard Branch IBAN MT72APSB77057008577220001771733 Swift /BIC Code: APS BMT MT | Sort Code 77057

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