Barnabas Aid May June 2012

MAY/JUNE 2012

THE AID AGENCY FOR THE PERSECUTED CHURCH www.barnabasfund.org

IN THIS ISSUE

The Trinity: one God in three Persons

Partnership with the persecuted: lessons from Philippians

New threat to Nigeria’s Christians: “eradication” from the North

NON W PUBLISHED!Who is the Real Jesus? UnUncoveering the Truth

HH Deeermrmoto MMcDononalalddFoFoF rererewowoworddr bbby y PaP trick k SoSookokhdhdeoeo

In this addapted version of his classic book, H. Dermot McDonald uncovers the truth about the real Jesus by presenting the Biblical teaching on tht e humaninitty aandd deity of Chhrists . Thiss rigororous iintroroduductction will sstrtreengthehennanndd dedeeppenen your fafaitithh inin Him. .

To order these books, please visitwww.barnabasfund.org/shop. Alternatively, please contact your nearest Barnabas Fund offi ce (addresses on back cover). Cheques for the UK should be made payable to “Barnabas Fund”.

In this issue, we promote a new devotional resource featuring the moving stories of Christians who have been martyred for their faith, a new booklet about the Muslim “Isa” (Jesus), and a collection of essays that explores ideological confl icts.

FiF ghhtitingng tthe Idedeolologgogicicalal War:Winnn inngg Strategieses ffrrorom mCoCommmmununisism to Islammissism m mEdEdititoro s: Katharinene GGorka and Patrick SoS okokhdhdeoe

Isslalamismm is s a a growing anndd popowewerfrful ideoeolology thaat t totolelerates nono ddisssesentnt or rivvalalryry. YeY t inn rece ent decades ththee United SStatatetes hass respponded onlyy to the violelencnce e ththatat IIslslamamissm has generated, nnoto to ththe beeliefefs s ana dideas that ddririveve iit.t. AAss aa resultlt oof f this failure, Islamist numumbebers andconfi dence have grown, aand IIslamisi t regimes have taken powwerer iin ththe e

Middle East and North Africa. So the United States is less safe than it was before 9/11, as is everyone else outside the Islamist fold.

Until the United States understands and confronts Islamist ideology, it will not be able to slow the Islamist revolution and its destructive effects.This collection of essays proposes aneffective strategy for countering and defeating the beliefs that motivateIslamists. It examines those beliefs in detail, considers their strengths ana d wew aknessses, and draws on ththe e lelesssono s s ofof ppasast ideoeolologig cacal conflfliiccts.s. TThuhus itit pproroviv dedes ininvavaluuabable equipmenent ffor the wawar r of ideas inwhwhich we must now engage.

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Is the MMususlilim m IIsa thhee Biblical JJesusus??Patrtricickk SoSooko hdeo

Those whho seseek common ggrouundnd between Chririststiaianity and Isllamm tend to ignore oor r sus ppp ress the real differences bbettweween them.m. They may even say y tthat the IIsa of the Quran is thhe e sasamem as the e Lord Jesus Christ t ofof tthehe New Testament. But this viewew strips Jesus of His uniquenesesss, wwhich is based on His deitity,y iincncarnation,passion, crucifi xion, reesusurrr ection,redemptive mission andnd uuniversal Lordship. All that is leftft iiss tthe human Jesus, not thehe ddivivine, and thus the very foundatiionon of the Christian faith is undnderermiminned.

Although Muslims cclalaim Isa (Jesus) as one of ththeie r prophetss, , it is important toto kknonoww what theeyy teach about himm. This bookletexplores whaat t ththe Quran ananddHadith ssayay aabobout Isa, his bibirth,h, crucifi xioon annd death, andnd tthhe relatitiononshship between Isaa and MuMuhahammm ad. It wwililll hehelplp you ununderstand the wwidide e didifffferenencce bebetwt een the e ChChririststian n ana dd Muslim views ofof JJessusus.

OtOtheherr bobookkleletst inn ththisis popular series are: WhW atat is Islam?, Islam and TrTrututhh,, WWhat is Sharia? and ?IsIslalam m annd Slavery.

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Every yearar hhunundreds of Christians are calleded ttoo mam ke the ultimatesacrificce e fofor the sake of our Lord Jesus Chhririst. Their stories provideinspirattioion n and strength to believers todaay y asa we seek to follow Him throougughh our own hardships and sufferiingsgs..

You can spspene d a yeearar iin thecoc mpmpanany ofof tthehe ggrereattesst t heheroroeses ofof oour ffaith with ththis exceptiionnal ded votional resource, which contains 366 stories of brave and dedicated Christians who gave up their lives for Christ. Through their deaths these martyrs still speak, to encourage us to live more wholeheartedly for our Lord and Saviour.

Why not allow God to touch your life, as He touched and transformedtheirs for His glory? Bible quotations, prayers and short readings are provided to help you respond.

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WELCOME FROM THE DIRECTOR

“Esther”, the 16-year-old daughter of a Christian pastor in Uzbekistan, was brutally beaten by the police

until she was unconscious because she tried to prevent them from harassing her father. She suffered appalling injuries and is now in a wheelchair.

A small Brethren assembly in north-east Kenya has seen two of its members murdered in a three-month period, not long after a Brethren church-planter in Uganda had been killed.

Ugandan Pastor Umar Mulinde, who sought to stand up for his faith, was brutally attacked with acid in the face, and his eye was badly damaged.

These recent stories are but a few examples of the growing catalogue of death, injury and sheer brutality that is being meted out to Christians in many parts of the world. They raise a question: why? Why does God allow His people to suffer to such a degree? Why does He not intervene? Why is He silent?

The prophet Habakkuk in chapter 1 of his book raises a similar question. In verse 1 he is described as a person who “saw” a burden (NKJV). The Hebrew word for God’s “oracles”, which was often used by the prophets, also means “burdens”. The burden that God caused Habakkuk to see was that of his people being crushed by a brutal invading force. Their sufferings would be appalling. He cries to God, but God seems to be silent (1:2). This is all the more diffi cult for Habakkuk to comprehend since he knows that God loves His people. So how can a loving God bring or allow such brutality for those He loves?

Habakkuk’s question is natural, for he loves his God and he loves his people. Many have raised the disturbing issue of suffering, whether it be the prophet Job or Jesus our Saviour dying on the cross with the cry, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46). The apostle Paul and his companions were “burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of

life” (2 Corinthians 1:8, NKJV). Burden equals pressure, and the pressure can be so heavy that one’s very life is squeezed out by it.

Christians today who suffer pressures that seem beyond their ability to bear seldom question their circumstances. It is those of us watching from the outside who ask why. It would be easy to shut our eyes to what is taking place simply because we cannot bear to see the suffering of our brothers and sisters. But if it is God who causes us to see these events and if it is He who places these burdens upon us, then can we rightly evade them? In 2 Corinthians 1 Paul uses his experience of immense, life-crushing pressure to communicate to others in order to encourage their prayer and support.

Is God really silent? In chapter 2 Habakkuk decides that he will watch to see what God will say to him (2:1). Before long he is ready to speak of God being in His holy temple with all the earth in silence before Him (2:20). In chapter 3 Habakkuk describes God as a marching army that will vanquish those who have persecuted and brutalised His people and deliver His people in the ultimate victory. In chapter 2 he had already seen the remarkable vision of the day when the earth shall be “fi lled with knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (2:14).

But what of now? Now we must live with uncertainty and potential diffi culties: the barren fi g tree and vine, the empty cattle stall (3:17-18). But though the Lord may seem silent, He is working His purposes out, both among the persecuted churches and among us, for His own glory, in which we shall share one day.

In the words of the ancient Liturgy of St James:

Let all mortal fl esh keep silence, and with fear and trembling stand;

Ponder nothing earthly-minded, for with blessing in his hand,

Christ our God to earth descendeth our full homage to demand.*

Dr Patrick SookhdeoInternational Director

To guard the safety of Christians in hostile environments, names may have been changed or omitted. Thank you for your understanding.Front cover: These Afghan Christian refugees are assisted in another country by Barnabas Fund

Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations are taken from the New International Version®.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.© Barnabas Fund 2012

ContentsBuilding up faith through Bibles and books; care for pastor’s daughter beaten by police

4 Compassion in Action

Genocidal anti-Christian violence in Nigeria; shadow of sharia in Tunisia

8 Newsdesk

What does the Bible say about the Trinity?PULL-OUT Equipping the Church

Petition makes strong start; schools receive Christian resources from Barnabas Fund11 Campaigns

Qatar: key player in the Arab Spring

12 Analysis

Partnership in Philippi and with Barnabas14 Biblical Refl ection

Barnabas UK Supporters’ Days, June16 In Touch

Imprisoned and intimidated in Iran18 Learning from the Persecuted Church

The paper used in this publication comes from sustainable forests and can be 100% recycled

The Silence of God

* translated by Gerard Moultrie

3BARNABAS AID MAY/JUNE 2012

how barnabas COMPASSIONIN ACTION

“I’m feeling a little bit better than the way I came in. The doctors are doing very hard to make me improve every day.” Ugandan pastor Umar Mulinde said this during the fi rst weeks of his stay in an Israeli medical centre where, with help from Barnabas, he was receiving acute and rehabilitative care for the burns he suffered in an acid attack.

Over half of the skin grafts that burn specialists have placed on to the burned tissue have been successful. At the time of writing eye doctors have delayed a decision on whether to remove his right eye, because Umar has started to see some light and shade through it.

Last Christmas a man fl ung the burning liquid on his face, neck and face, severely damaging his right eye. The attacker ran away shouting “Allah Akbar” [“god is great”]. Umar, who came from a strict Muslim family and was a sheikh before he dedicated his life to Christ, thinks that the attack was prompted by his outspoken warnings against the introduction of sharia to Uganda.

“We have seen livelihoods improved as families who were previously unable to feed themselves now have surplus to sell.” Thanks to our latest training grant to Christians in Zimbabwe, over 4,800 throughout the country have learnt a simple but innovative farming method. By applying it, they were able to provide for their families, thus helping 20,000 Christians break free from hunger and poverty.

They learnt the method from 24 trainers, who travelled many miles throughout all ten provinces of Zimbabwe to share their knowledge and help their suffering compatriots. Barnabas Fund paid their salaries for one year. The agricultural training is combined with sound teaching in Christian principles of discipleship.

Through a recent grant Barnabas is also helping to feed 1,500 orphans, who live at fi ve orphanages. We also support many widows through on-going feeding programmes.

“You came at just the right time for us. You arrived at 4pm and my family had no food to eat for dinner. Thank you for coming at the right time.” A grateful Christian mother said this to a local church member, who had brought them sustenance.

Barnabas stepped up our feeding programmes in Egypt after the Arab Spring of 2011. Sadly, the uprising has brought deepening poverty resulting from high infl ation, as well as increased political power for Islamists and greater violence against Christians. In one of the additional programmes added since the Arab Spring, Barnabas sent £51,000 (US$80,000; €61,000) to help Egyptian churches provide food to over 3,000 vulnerable Christian families who are living in areas that have been particularly affected by the revolution.

The total sent for feeding in Egypt in 2011 was £186,000 (US$294,000; €222,000).

Specialist care for Ugandan convert pastor after acid attack

Zimbabwe: long-term and immediate food

Relieving hunger of beleaguered Christians in Egypt

Pastor Mulinde on his hospitalbed

One of the trainers in front of tilled land

Egyptian Christian couple with their food parcel

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20£3,311 for medical expenses (US$5,200; €4,000)

£38,109 for feeding orphans (US$60,300; €45,700)£49,800 for teaching farming methods (US$78,700; €59,700)

£51,000 for food (US$80,600; €61,100)

4 BARNABAS AID MAY/JUNE 2012

is helpingCOMPASSIONIN ACTION

Some rare good news has come out of Indonesia! Horale, a beleaguered Christian village, has won an important legal battle. Barnabas Fund is supporting them by paying the legal costs.

We reported in 2008 on the destruction of this remote community by a Muslim mob from a neighbouring village, who burnt down 120 houses and torched three churches, killed four Christians and wounded another 56. Our supporters generously helped at the time with the rebuilding of the gutted Christian homes and other buildings.

Soon after the attack, the Christian villagers faced more opposition in the form of a lawsuit brought by the other village that contested their ownership of the land. The case eventually went to the Supreme Court and in early 2012, almost four years after the assault, Indonesia’s highest court ruled that the land belongs to the Christian inhabitants. Since Horale’s villagers are mainly impoverished farmers who earn about £150-200 (US$240-310; €180-230) per year, Barnabas Fund has covered the balance of the legal fees.

Twelve converts from Islam (fi ve of them ministry leaders) are now supporting themselves through a translation agency in St. Petersburg that Barnabas helped them to start. All have emigrated from Central Asian countries where the pressure on Christians, especially those from a Muslim background, can be severe. Using the languages of their homelands, they have a skill that enables them to support themselves.

The group plans to use some of the profi ts from the agency to enable other Christian migrants in their church set up a new business.

Studying at university level is an unheard of achievement for many young, talented Christians around the world. Their families are so poor, often due to discrimination, that they have no possibly of paying the fees. Sometimes Christian applicants are unjustly blocked from entrance because of their faith (see details of a recent case in Pakistan on page 10).

This is why Barnabas helps Christians living in contexts of persecution to attend university; by helping some to obtain professional skills we can strengthen an entire Christian community. In 2011, we supported 142 students in Indonesia, Iraq, Pakistan and Syria to study subjects such as engineering, accountancy, business and medicine.

“The entire time at the medical school and hospital has really helped me learn the clinical skills and … to be a true ambassador [for Christ] being a doctor,” said Ambrose, about to graduate from university in Pakistan. Also an active worship and youth leader, he gave thanks to God for using him for His glory “in the specifi c capacities and duties and places He has assigned”.

Christian village wins lawsuit

Russia: self-suffi ciency for converts in ministry

Helping victimised Christians graduate

New homes in Horale village, built with the help of Barnabas

Ambrose (front) with his family

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Our brothers and sisters in Christ tell us time and again how encouraged they are by the help they have received from Barnabas Fund. Through your support you are sending them a message of love in their time of need. Thank you! These and the following pages present just a sample of the many ways you are helping persecuted Christians. Please pray as you read.

£12,224 for legal fees (US$19,300; €14,600)

£3,427 for translation agency start-up costs (US$5,400; €4,100)


COMPASSIONIN ACTION bringing hope,

Medical help for Christian teenager beaten by police in Uzbekistan

“Esther’s” family were not at home on 21 May 2011 when three policemen arrived on their doorstep. Both her brother and her father, a pastor, had recently been arrested and held in custody for several days. Their house had also been searched and all literature confi scated, a frequent occurrence for Christians in Uzbekistan.

The 16 year-old schoolgirl told them nobody was at home. When one of the offi cers tried to break into their car, Esther attempted to stop him, because she knew that the police often plant drugs or illegal literature in the property of Christians to provide a pretext for arresting them. The offi cer bent her arms, grabbed her by the hair and repeatedly smashed her head against a wall and on the car until she lost consciousness. Her mother found her lying alone beside the car.

When the medical staff at a local hospital heard she had been beaten by police they were reluctant to help her and even more so when they

heard she was a Christian. That same night the police came to the hospital, and soon afterwards the doctors asked Esther to leave. After being turned away from another state hospital, months of fruitless visits to private hospitals followed; although she was diagnosed with severe injuries to the brain, the medical treatment she received was inadequate. Her parents decided to take her to Russia for an operation. The Russian medical staff were horrifi ed by her condition and said it was a miracle she could still move parts of her body.

Esther has now started on the long road back to recovery. Although she is only starting to regain refl exes in her hands or feet, she is learning to walk again. Barnabas Fund is helping pay the medical bills, which her parents could not afford even after selling their car, computer and other appliances. The family are standing strong in faith despite continued harassment from authorities.

“The church brings us great comfort and solace.” Mrs Chandrakala, a Sri Lankan Christian

Five newly constructed church buildings in the north of Sri Lanka now contain fl ourishing congregations. Their original buildings had been destroyed during the civil war. Christians tell of joyfully gathering in their simple but beautiful churches to praise and worship the Lord. Each church also has a new pastor’s house built alongside it.

After returning to their war-torn villages in 2009, some Christians gathered for worship in homes, while others were reduced to meeting in wattle and daub huts or in small groups under trees. During heavy rains, those worshipping in huts had to break off their services as the fl oors got too muddy for them to sit on mats.

Ananthan Yalini’s congregation is in a Hindu-majority area. She told us, “We prayed in earnest to God as we did not have a church to worship in our area. Even though we resettled in our own areas after being displaced, we were still worshipping in a temporary structure. The present church constructed brings much joy and refuge. This church is a great blessing in our village.” Christians in Sri Lanka regularly experience discrimination, harassment and even violence, but the involvement of the Christians in community life in this village is drawing new believers to the church.

Barnabas has funded 75% of the construction costs of seven churches with attached pastor’s houses, two of which are still being built. A further grant is helping to build another ten churches. Altogether there is an estimated need for at least 100 churches.

Project reference 00-345 (Victims of Violence Fund)

Project reference 85-927

£3,600 for medical costs (US$5,683; €4,300)

Sri Lanka: new churches reunite shattered congregations

£74,022 for seven church buildings with attached pastor’s houses (US$117,000; €88,700)

Dedication of a new church in northernSri Lanka

The parliament building in Uzbekistan.Christians experience much harassment from the authorities(Source: Wikimedia Commons)


COMPASSIONIN ACTION transforming lives

Own-language resources: lifelines for persecuted Christians

Christian literature:

• £10,000 in Burma (US$15,800; €12,000)

• £43,021 in Kyrgyzstan (US$68,000; €51,580)

• £3,500 in Turkey (US$5,500; €4,200)

• £17,824 in Kenya and Tanzania (US$28,200; €21,400)

Project references 00-360 (Christian Literature Fund)00-362 (Bibles and Scriptures Fund)

Christian Children in Kyrgyzstan are delighted to get a copy of a Kyrgyz-language Christianmagazine

Until recently Lhaovo Christians in Burma did not have a Bible they could read in their own language and unique writing system. The very few that had owned a foreign-language Bible lost them when the Burmese army came to their villages, destroying and burning. Last year Barnabas Fund enabled the printing of God’s Word in Lhaovo. At the time a partner let us know that Lhaovo “pastors are thrilled that these Bibles are being printed and are higly anticipating their arrival into Burma”. Early this year Barnabas’ partner brought them a truck full of the Bibles.

A children’s magazine is written, translated and made available in three Central Asian countries in their own languages. In Kyrgyzstan, where it is forbidden to distribute Christian resources in public places, this is the only Christian magazine available in the Kyrgyz language. Although intended for children and full of pictures, riddles and crossword puzzles, many parents are just as excited to get a copy as their children. Particularly in remote areas the bi-monthly magazine is read out loud to the whole family and entire church groups. A grandmother wrote to the editors, “I’d like to receive a new issue every month. I’m

reading it also for my own. But sometimes my grandchildren are taking it out of my hands in order to read it for their own. This magazine is very helpful to grow in faith.”

In Kenya and Tanzania Barnabas helped provide a pastor’s book pack to 500 pastors and other Christian leaders. Each pack contained over 60 books and booklets. Many of the leaders are ministering in isolation in the Muslim-majority coastal and north-eastern areas of Kenya where Christian resources are scarce. One of the distributors wrote, “The tremendous response to the project by the pastors and church leaders has been overwhelming. More and more pastors are calling in wanting to know when the next book distribution will be held.”

“This book will be a great encouragement to the believers and it will take them deeper and deeper in Christ,” wrote our Christian partner in Turkey about the devotional My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. Last year it was translated into Turkish and handed out free to believers. Barnabas is paying for a reprint.

Persecuted Christians are often starved of good Christian resources in their own language. This is why Barnabas Fund is active in translating, printing and distributing Christian books and DVDs. We provided 1,480,834 pieces of Christian literature, including Bibles, New Testaments and other Scriptures, to persecuted Christians in the past two years.


NEWSDESK

SHARIA LAW TO GOVERN TUNISIA

UNDER DRAFT CONSTITUTION

TUNISIA: Post-revolution Tunisia is moving in an increasingly Islamist direction with a draft constitution that denotes sharia as “the principal source of legislation”.

Popular List, a party in coalition with the main Islamist party, Ennahda, which took the largest share of the vote in the elections for the National Constituent Assembly in October, has been tasked with drawing up the country’s new constitution.

Shortly after Ennahda’s election victory, in an apparent attempt to reassure secularists, leader Rachid Ghannouchi said that the first article of the Tunisian constitution should remain unchanged, and in November 2011 he said, “There will be no other references to religion in the constitution.” But Popular List founder Hachmi Hamdi said that the

draft was more Islamic than expected because “the public that voted for us is a conservative public that wants sharia as the principal source of the constitution”.

In addition, a self-appointed “committee for the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice” has been given legal status by the Tunisian government, further frustrating Western hopes that the revolution would lead to the establishment of a secular democracy in Tunisia. The committee, called “Centrist Association for Awareness and Reform” (CAAR), states that its objective is to call on citizens to be righteous and follow sharia. The name of the newly-formed organisation relates to a Quranic verse commanding good and forbidding evil, which is enshrined in sharia as the basic duty of an Islamic society.

BOKO HARAM DECLARES IT WILL “ERADICATE” CHRISTIANS FROM PARTS OF NIGERIA

NIGERIA: Militant Islamist group Boko Haram has declared “war” on Christians in Nigeria, saying that they are planning coordinated attacks to “eradicate Christians from certain parts of the country”.

On Sunday 4 March a spokesman for Boko Haram said, “We will create so much effort to end the Christian presence in our push to have a proper Islamic state that the Christians won’t be able to stay.”

Boko Haram’s actions over recent months indicate that this is no idle threat, with churches in Jos being targeted by suicide bombers. At least ten people were killed after explosives were detonated at the gates of a

church on Sunday 11 March, while on 26 February two women and an 18-month-old child were killed and around 50 people were injured as a vehicle exploded three metres from the Church of Christ headquarters.

On 6 March, two days after issuing the threat to eradicate Christians as part of their “campaign of terror”, the spokesman also said that the group would “put into action new efforts to strike fear into the Christians of the power of Islam by kidnapping their women”. He said that they would not harm or sexually assault the women but would “demand as ransom that the families leave our Islamic areas”.

PASTOR FREED AFTER 13 YEARS

LAOS: Bounchan Kanthavong, a pastor in Laos, was set free on 2 February after being locked up for nearly 13 years because of his Christian activities.

Bounchan had been introduced to Christianity in January 1997 when he spent the night with a Christian family while away on business. When he returned to his home in Vanghai village, Udomsai province, he began to spread his new faith. People came to his clothing shop from other villages, keen to hear and embrace the Gospel. Bounchan’s witness led to around 70 people accepting Christ.

The Lao authorities repeatedly warned him to stop believing, practising and spreading the Christian faith and ordered him to cease all worship activities at the shop. They were concerned about people

leaving the traditional Lao religion (spirit worship), embracing a “foreign religion” and becoming loyal to a power other than the Lao authorities. Bounchan’s actions were perceived as a threat to national security, and in June 1999 he was arrested. He was then sentenced to twelve years in jail for “treason and sedition”.

Bounchan is married with fi ve children. Following his detention, his wife Sengkham took over the

leadership of their Christian community, which has grown to more than 3,000 believers today. In April 2011, the authorities told Bounchan that they were willing to release him if he renounced

Christ and separated from Sengkham, but he clearly did not as his detention was prolonged.

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NEWSDESK

CHURCHES TARGETED, CHRISTIANS ARRESTED

IRAN: Christians have been targeted in a recent wave of arrests and persecution in Iran. During the early months of 2012, a number of Christians were rounded up and

held in custody, including a 78-year-old woman. House churches and registered churches have been

raided, and Christians were seized in their homes and workplaces.

In addition, two registered churches that hold Friday services in Farsi in Tehran have been ordered

to stop doing so. The pastors of Emmanuel Protestant Church and St Peter Evangelical Church were

issued with the order by the Ministry of Intelligence and Security and announced it to their congregations on 10 February. It is thought that this is the latest attempt to prevent Muslims from hearing the Gospel in their own language, as Farsi is spoken by the Muslim majority in Iran.

There are now no Christian services in Farsi on Fridays in any offi cially registered church in the capital. The order was not applied to Sundays, but Friday is the main weekly holiday in Iran, and it can be diffi cult for people to attend church

on any other day because of work commitments.

In a separate case, the Iranian authorities have given an unprecedented penalty to a Christian convert from Islam. Fatemeh Nouri, an art student at a university in Tehran, was given a sentence of “deprivation of education” for one year following charges of “attending a house church, insulting sacred fi gures and activities against national security”. She had been arrested at her home in September 2011 and spent nearly three months behind bars.

CHRISTIANS SUFFERING IN SYRIA

SYRIA: Christians in Syria continue to suffer grievously in the confl ict between President Assad’s troops and anti-government forces. On Sunday 18 March a violent explosion rocked the Christian quarter of Aleppo, Syria’s second city, killing three people and causing devastation. This attack was one of two bombings in the Christian area, though otherwise there has been little violence in Aleppo, and another bomb was detonated in the Christian sector of Damascus. A Christian leader said, “We pray to God that Christians would not be targeted and become a victim

and scapegoat of what is going on.”At the height of the fi ghting in

Homs in February, Barnabas Fund received reports of Christians being used as “human shields” by the anti-government Free Syrian Army (FSA). Around 70 homes belonging to Christians were invaded and pillaged by the opposition forces; they also occupied an evangelical school and home for the elderly, which were

then shelled by the army. Christians in Homs have suffered kidnappings and gruesome murders., Almost the entire Christian population of the city, some 60,000 people, have fl ed and are now homeless and jobless.

Following the announcement on 1 March that the FSA would pull out of Homs, a major humanitarian relief effort got underway to help residents who were without power in freezing

weather and in desperate need of food and basics. Prices had rocketed, supplies were running low, and often it was too dangerous to go out.

On Wednesday 29 February, a bomb fell on the roof of an 81-year-old female church worker. She was not in the room at the time.

Barnabas Fund is working directly with Christian partners in the country to get emergency aid to needy Christians throughout Syria, especially in and around Homs. Please send donations to the Middle East Fund (project reference 00-1032).

“We pray to God that Christians would not be targeted and become a victim and scapegoat of what is going on.”

House churches and registered churches have been raided, and Christians were seized in their homes and workplaces.

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NEWSDESK

PASTOR RELEASED FROM LABOUR CAMPTURKMENISTAN: Pastor Ilmurad Nurliev (46) was unexpectedly set free from a labour camp in Turkmenistan along with around 230 other detainees in a presidentially decreed amnesty to mark Flag Day on 19 February.

Pastor Nurliev was arrested in August 2010 and given a four-year sentence on charges of swindling. His congregation insisted that these charges were fabricated to punish him for leading the unregistered church. Barnabas Fund sent fi nancial support to buy food, clothes and medicine for the pastor, who is diabetic, and help with legal costs when he was

imprisoned. His wife Maya said, “His release was so unexpected… It is such a joy I can’t tell you.” However, Pastor Nurliev must still report to the police every Saturday evening.

Despite this good news, Begjan Shirmedov (77) was detained on 3 February by a religious affairs offi cial and questioned for six hours by police after he tried to print copies of a small book of his Christian poetry. He was forced to write a statement and banned from travelling outside his home region of Dashoguz in northern Turkmenistan while the case is investigated.

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PRESSURE ON CHRISTIAN GROUPS

KAZAKHSTAN: Hundreds of small religious groups have recently been stripped of their registration in Kazakhstan as a senior religious affairs offi cial says that their activity is “now banned” under new rules intended further to restrict religious freedom in the country.

Kairat Lama Sharif, chair of the Agency of Religious Affairs, described the 13% fall in the number of officially-recognised religious groups as “a positive dynamic in the systematisation of the total number of religious associations”. He said that the number would probably decrease further as the new Religion Law is enforced.

A number of local congregations from a range of Christian denominations are among the 579 religious groups that have been deregistered. A religious group must now have at least 50 adult members to be registered, and leaders of small churches have received offi cial warnings to stop their activity and hand back their registration certifi cates. For many it will not be possible to collect

the 50 signatures required, because they do not have suffi cient members or at least not enough willing to give their personal details to the authorities.

Small churches are still meeting for services, but they face harassment from the state. A representative of one church said, “Now our believers are afraid each time they gather for worship… We are worried about possible punishments from the authorities.”

In addition, churches have been raided, leaders fi ned and Christian literature confiscated in recent months. In just one example from February 2012, Aleksei Asetov, a father of ten, was fi ned 485,400 tenge (£2,060; US$3,300; €2,440) – an estimated average local wage for 18 months – for leading a small unregistered church that meets in his home in Ekibastuz in Pavlodar Region. Aleksei is the fourth Christian known to have been fi ned since the harsh new Religion Law and changes to another associated law came into force in October 2011.

CHRISTIAN STUDENT DENIED EXTRA MARKS AWARDED TO MUSLIMSPAKISTAN: A Christian student missed out on a place at state medical school under the discriminatory system in Pakistan that awards an extra 20 marks to Muslims who have memorised the Quran.

Haroon Arif, from Dera Ghazi Khan in Punjab, got A grades in both his matriculation and intermediate exams but was just 0.0255% off the mark required in his fi nal aggregate to attend a government-run medical university. He argued that his knowledge of the Bible was equivalent to that of a Muslim who had memorised the Quran, and that he should therefore qualify for the extra 20 marks they receive; this would boost his fi nal result by about 2%.

Haroon tried to show the university his three certifi cates in Bible education, but the authorities said they had no policy to accept them. Mohammad Atif, head of public affairs at the University of Health

Sciences, which conducts the medical tests, said, “We realise this is against human rights and have debated a lot on this policy, since minorities are being marginalised – but we follow government orders.”

Haroon took the case to court with the help of a human rights organisation, arguing that his rights had been violated. He submitted a letter from the Church of Pakistan and one from

the Bishop of Islamabad, stating that Haroon’s religious education was on a par with any Islamic education. But the court did not acknowledge that this was a human rights issue. Punjab’s education minister said, “We cannot change the system because of a nominal amount of people.”

A state-run medical school, which charges only 10% of the cost of a private university education, was Haroon’s only hope of training to become a doctor. His parents are low-paid health workers.

“We realise this is against

human rights ... but we follow government

orders.”


EQUIPPING THE CHURCH

Introduction

Christians and Muslims both believe in one God, and many people today think this means that Christianity and Islam are basically the same. After all (they say), our beliefs about God are

the foundation of everything else that we believe, and if we have these in common, then we must be agreed on all essential matters. On this view, if there are differences between Christians and Muslims, these must be about sec-ondary issues that do not matter very much.

In fact, however, there is a fundamental and vital difference in what Christianity and Islam teach about God. Muslims believe not only that there is one god, but also in that god’s absolute unity. He has no equals, partners or associates, and to connect him with others is the worst of sins (known as shirk). Thus Muslims deny that their god has a son, or that it is possible for him to have one.

Christians, on the other hand, believe that the one God is a Trinity of persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Each of these persons is fully God, and each is distinct from the others, yet they are one God and not three. This understanding of God marks Christianity out decisively from both Islam and Judaism (the other reli-gions that believe in one god) and shapes every aspect of Christian theology in a distinctive way. Far from giving us common ground with Muslims, the Christian view of God puts an ocean of clear water between us.

In this article we shall consider what the Bible tells us about the nature of the one God who is three persons. We shall also look at some of the Muslim objections to its teaching and how we can respond to them.

We can fi nd all the building blocks for a clear and coherent doctrine of the Trinity in the Bible. It is grounded in three key statements, which we will examine in turn:

The Trinity in the Bible1. There is only one God

The belief that there is only one God is fundamental to Old Testament (OT) teaching and faith. The basic Jewish confession of faith, the Shema, affi rms it unambiguously:

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5).

So although the OT acknowledges the existence of various heavenly or spiritual beings, such as angels (Gen-esis 28:12; Psalm 148:2), it does not put them on a level with Yahweh, the God of Israel, who is the one true God. He is the everlasting God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1; Isaiah 40:28). He is the King of the whole world (Psalm 47:2; 97:5), who rules over all things as the sovereign Lord (Psalm 9:8; 103:19). He is the Redeemer and Saviour of His people (Deuteronomy 32:15; Isaiah 60:16). In all these ways He is unique (Isaiah 44:6-8; 45:5-6).

The implication of this robust confession of the one God is that the gods worshipped by the other nations have no real existence. The OT not only insists that there is no other god apart from Yahweh (Deuteronomy 4:35, 39; Isaiah 45:18-25); it also mocks the powerlessness of other objects of worship, whether idols of wood and metal (Isaiah 44:9-20) or pseudo-deities such as the Canaanite god Baal (1 Kings 18:25-29). Thus the God of Israel is not only in-comparable; He is absolutely unique.

The belief in one God was one of the basic and core convictions of the Jews in the period between the Testa-ments and into New Testament (NT) times. The NT writers never challenge it, but affi rm it explicitly in several places (e.g. 1 Corinthians 8:6; 1 Timothy 2:5; James 2:19), and elsewhere simply take it for granted. It is an important ba-sis for other NT teachings, such as Paul’s understanding of justifi cation by faith for Jews and Gentiles alike (Ro-mans 3:29-30) and the unity of the Christian congregation (Ephesians 4:3-6).

So whatever the NT writers say about Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, it is clearly not their intention to un-dermine the consistent Biblical testimony that there is only one God. Their teaching must be understood within this framework, even if it also develops it in new and unex-pected ways.

Our series on key teachings of the Christian faith continues with a discussion of the triune nature of God.

What does the Bible say about the Trinity?

1. There is only one God.

2. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God.

3. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct persons.

IBARNABAS AID MAY/JUNE 2012



2a. The Father is GodThe OT refers to God as Father (Deuteronomy 32:6;

Isaiah 63:16; 64:8), and in the NT this becomes a frequent designation for Him. In the Gospels Jesus both speaks and refers to God as Father (Matthew 11:25-27; John 16:31 – 17:1), and He tells His disciples to address their prayers to God in the same way (Luke 11:2). There are also many references to God as the Father in the epistles (e.g. Ro-mans 6:4; Ephesians 3:14). The deity of “the Father” is assumed throughout the NT; the title is a way of referring to the one God.

In one passage all people are said to be the offspring of God because He is their creator (Acts 17:26-28), but the name “Father” is used especially to denote His fatherly rela-tion to His own people. So for Christians He is not only “the Father” who made us and all things, but “our Father” who has given us new birth and adopted us into His family as His children. The Lord’s Prayer invites us to address Him as “our Father” (Matthew 6:9), and both Paul (in Romans 1:7 and many other of his greetings) and James (James 1:27) use the same description for Him.

But it is signifi cant that God is also identifi ed re-peatedly in the NT as the Father of Jesus, and that this relationship is presented as unique. Thus Jesus Himself frequently refers to God as “my Father” (e.g. Matthew 7:21; John 5:17), and in the letters God is sometimes called “the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (e.g. Colossians 1:3; 1 Peter 1:3). Except in the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus never uses the phrase “our Father”, only “my Father” (see above) and

“your Father” (Matthew 5:16), and He refers to Himself just as “the Son” (John 5:19-23). Also the message sent by the risen Christ to His disciples in John’s Gospel says,

“I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God;” it marks out His relationship with God as Father from that of His disciples (John 20:17).

Considered by itself, this usage could refl ect noth-ing more than Jesus’ special relationship with God as His anointed king (Christ) and representative on earth (son of God). But when it is put together with other NT evidence it points to something even greater than this: an eternal rela-tionship between a Father and a Son who are both fully God.

2b. The Son is God 1The NT writers present Jesus Christ as a unique

human being, far greater than any other. He is given the exalted titles of the prophet (John 6:14), Christ (Romans 9:5), Son of God (Luke 3:22) and Son of Man (Matthew 20:28), and in His resurrection and exaltation He has also become the Lord (Acts 2:32-36). Paul shows that He now shares many of the roles fulfi lled by God Himself: He is the object of faith (Galatians 2:20); He gives salvation and eternal life (1 Thessalonians 5:9; Romans 6:23); and He will come as judge to gather His people (2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).

But Paul’s letters and John’s Gospel in particular go much further than this. In Philippians 2:6-7 Paul indicates that Christ existed before the world was created (see also Galatians 4:4) and that He was equal with God. Colossians 1:15-20 says that Christ refl ects the very image of God, and

that He is God’s agent in creation as well as reconciliation. In Him God’s pre-existent Wisdom has become a human being, in whom the fullness of deity dwells bodily (Colos-sians 2:3, 9). So Christ has a heavenly origin before time began, and He is Himself divine; he may even be called

“God” (Romans 9:5).For John, Jesus is the Word, who is to be identifi ed

with God Himself (John 1:1). This Word, who was with God in the beginning and is His agent in creation and rev-elation (John 1:2-5), has now become fl esh among us (John 1:14). As the incarnate Word, Jesus is the supreme and fi nal revelation of the Father (John 14:7, 9) and His principal agent on earth, performing the full range of divine tasks (e.g. John 3:17; 17:2), speaking the Father’s words (John 14:10) and performing His works (John 10:25). Thomas confesses Him as his Lord and God (John 20:28), and the fi rst letter of John calls Him “the true God” (1 John 5:20).

Other NT writings develop these ideas in various ways. For example, the letter to the Hebrews presents Christ as the exalted and unique divine Son (Hebrews 1:2-3) who is superior even to the angels (Hebrews 1:4-14). And in the book of Revelation the exalted Christ receives worship along with God (Revelation 5:8-14), to whom alone it is said to be due (Revelation 19:10).

So the NT affi rms the deity of Christ, both explicitly and in the characteristics and roles ascribed to Him. Its presentation of Jesus clearly shows that the divine Father has an equally divine Son.

2c. The Holy Spirit is GodIn the OT the Holy Spirit is usually known as the

Spirit of God or the Spirit of the LORD (Yahweh). He is God’s agent in creation (Genesis 1:2). He comes in pow-er on Israel’s judges for the performance of great deeds (Judges 6:34; 14:6), and on Saul and David for the task of kingship (1 Samuel 10:6; 16:13). He is even reputed to catch people up and take them elsewhere (1 Kings 18:12; 2 Kings 2:16). In short, He is God’s power in action.

The Spirit is associated with the divine gifts of wis-dom, understanding and skill (Genesis 41:38; Exodus 31:3). He is also the Spirit of prophecy, who inspires people to speak God’s word (Numbers 24:2-3; 2 Chronicles 20:14-17; Ezekiel 11:5). He is identifi ed so closely with God that rebellion against the Spirit of God amounts to rebellion against God Himself (Psalm 106:33).

In the NT the Spirit descends on Jesus for the ful-fi lment of His divine mission (Mark 1:10-11), which in-cludes the proclaiming of the Gospel and the performance of powerful works (Matthew 4:23). In the book of Acts the coming of the Spirit on the disciples at Pentecost is seen as the promised outpouring of the Spirit of prophecy on God’s people (Acts 2:17-18), and He fi lls them to speak God’s word (Acts 4:8; 13:9).

Because the Spirit is the vehicle of God’s power and God’s word, He is equated directly with God. Like God, He is eternal (Hebrews 9:14) and all-powerful (Luke 1:35); He knows everything (1 Corinthians 2:10-11) and gives new birth (John 3:5-7). Where the Spirit lives, God

II BARNABAS AID MAY/JUNE 2012



lives (1 Corinthians 3:16), and to lie to the Spirit is to lie to God (Acts 5:3-4).

Both Paul and John affi rm that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God (Romans 15:19; John 3:34), but they also identify Him closely with Jesus. For Paul He is nothing less than the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:19), while for John He is a replacement for Jesus of the same kind (John 14:16). This connection is a further indication of the deity of both the Son and the Spirit.

So the Bible bears a clear and consistent witness that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God the Father, and the NT adds that He is the Spirit of God the Son. His own deity follows naturally from these premises.

3. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct persons

The Bible teaches that there is only one God, and that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all God. How are these statements to be reconciled? The easiest solution is to see the Father, the Son and the Spirit as no more than different ways in which the one God operates and reveals Himself, either at different points in history or at the same time. On this view there is no real distinction between the three; they are just alternative names for the same God.

However, this simple idea is fi rmly denied by the New Testament, which maintains that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct persons. The Father is not the Son or the Spirit, the Son is not the Spirit, and the three are in relationship with one another.

There is plenty of NT evidence that the Father is dis-tinct from the Son. In the same place where John says that the Word “was God”, he also says that the Word was “with God” (John 1:1), thus differentiating Him from God the Father. Jesus is also said to be our advocate and priest be-fore the Father (1 John 2:1; Hebrews 7:24), which implies a distinction between them. Moreover, Jesus’ experience of the Father and prayer to the Father (e.g. John 12:28) makes no sense if they are not different individuals; in effect He would be conversing with Himself.

In the OT the Spirit is not seen as a person in His own right, distinct from the Father. But in the NT the Spirit is distinguished from the Father (Romans 8:27), and He is said to engage in a range of personal activities, includ-ing speaking (Acts 8:29), bearing witness (Romans 8:16), forbidding certain actions (Acts 16:6-7) and approving others (Acts 15:28), being grieved (Ephesians 4:30), and deciding the distribution of gifts (1 Corinthians 12:11). And although the Greek word for “Spirit” is neuter, He is denoted by masculine pronouns in John 15:26 and 16:13-14, which also point to His personal nature.

The Son and the Spirit are also explicitly distin-guished from each other (John 14:26; 16:7). Jesus is anointed by the Spirit (Luke 4:18), speaks about the Spirit as someone distinct from Himself (Matthew 12:32) and breathes the Spirit on the disciples (John 20:22).

The relationship between the three persons is one of activity and agency. The Father carries out the work of creation and redemption in the Son and by the Spirit (Co-lossians 1:15-20; Romans 8:3-4). Thus He can be said to

“send” the Son (Galatians 4:4) and the Spirit (John 14:26) to accomplish His purposes. The Son also fulfi ls His work through the Spirit (Acts 10:38), and He too is said to “send” the Spirit (John 16:7).

So the NT brings together its confession of one God with its affi rmation that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all God in terms of three distinct divine persons in relationship with one another. It is this understanding that allows the writers to link the three so closely together, both directly (Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14) and more obliquely (1 Corinthians 12:4-6; Ephesians 4:4-6; 1 Peter 1:2). And it is this that provided the foundation for later Christians to construct the full-orbed doctrine of the Trinity.

The Trinity and Christian missionThis Biblical understanding of God provides an ef-

fective response to Muslim objections to the Christian doc-trine of the Trinity. In this section we will look at three of these objections: that Christians deny the unity of God; that we believe in a trinity of God, Mary and Jesus; and that the claim that Jesus is God’s Son amounts to blasphemy.

Three gods?The Quran speaks out strongly against associating

partners with the one god. Q 4:116 says, “Allah forgiveth not [the sin of] joining other gods with him.” Those who teach the doctrine of the Trinity are said to be sacrilegious and will be punished most severely for their offence: “They do blaspheme who say: Allah is one of three in a Trinity: for there is no god except one god. If they desist not from their word [of blasphemy] verily a grievous penalty will befall the blasphemers among them” (Q 5:73).

So in Islam the unity of the one god is absolute, and Muslims criticise Christians severely for supposedly deny-ing this unity and asserting that there are three gods. They condemn this belief categorically, as no better than pagan polytheism (belief in many gods) and idolatry. They also suggest that the Trinity is not a Biblical doctrine, but that it was invented by the Christian councils in the 4th and 5th centuries.

Some of Muhammad’s early advisers were Ebionites, members of a sect that confessed Jesus as the Messiah but denied the doctrine of the Trinity as incompatible with the OT belief in one god. So it is perhaps unsurprising that early Islam came to understand the doctrine as involving belief in three gods.

But our review of the evidence shows that the Bible is clear and consistent in its own teaching that there is only one God. This is not only one of the basics of OT faith; it is both assumed and asserted by the NT writers too. We have also seen that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are personal distinctions within the one God, not names for three separate gods.

It is true that the systematisation of the doctrine of the Trinity was not fully developed until some centuries after the NT was written, but it was created by the churches based on the Scriptures. Indeed, it was thoroughly and solidly grounded on Biblical testimony, and was intended

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as a coherent and systematic expression of that testimony in the language and concepts of the time.

God, Mary and Jesus?Some Muslims believe that Christians worship a

Trinity composed of Father, Mother (Mary the mother of Jesus), and Son (Jesus Himself). Q 5:116 says, “And be-hold! Allah will say: ‘O Jesus the son of Mary! Didst thou say unto men, “Worship me and my mother as gods in derogation of Allah”?’ He will say, ‘Glory to Thee! Never could I say what I had no right to say.’”

It appears that Muhammad thought Christians believed that God had had a physical relation-ship with Mary, which resulted in the birth of Jesus. The Quran suggests that this follows necessarily from the view that the one god has a son: “How can he have a son when he hath no consort?” (Q 6:101).

It is possible that there was an extreme sect in the time of Muhammad that did worship a trinity of God, Mary and Christ. But more probably the misunderstanding arose only from the great veneration accorded to Mary by some of the Christians whom Muhammad met. The view that Mary is one of the persons of the Trinity is not found in the Bible; in fact it is a crude caricature of Biblical teaching, which is that the Trinity is comprised of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Although Scripture presents Mary as highly favoured by God, it never comes close to suggesting that she is di-vine. She is portrayed as just a human being, while each person of the Trinity is shown to be fully God. Nor do the conception and birth of Jesus arise from any kind of sexual encounter between God and Mary. Instead the angel tells her that the Holy Spirit will come upon her and the power of the Most High will overshadow her (Luke 1:35). Nor, for that matter, does God the Son begin to exist only when Jesus is conceived; as we have seen, He existed as God even before creation.

God can have no son?For Muslims it follows from the absolute unity of the

one god that he can have no son. Q 112 insists, “Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not nor is he begotten; and there is none like unto Him.” And in Q 19:35 we read that “It is not befi tting to (the majesty of) Allah that he should beget a son”. In Islam Jesus is only one prophet among many and much inferior to Muhammad. To claim that he is the son of god, or that the one god can have a son at all, is blasphemous: “They

say: ‘(God) Most Gracious has begotten a son!’ Indeed ye have put forward a thing most monstrous!” (Q 19:88-89).

The Quran does not deny the existence of God’s Spirit as it denies that of his Son, but it also does not present the Spirit as a distinct person; to do so would also contradict its teaching on the unity of the one god. As in the OT, “spirit” seems to be only a name for divine power; for example,

Q 58:22 says, “He has written faith in their hearts and strength-ened them with a spirit from him-self.”

But the Biblical teaching that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct persons, who relate to one another within the life of the one God, under-mines the Muslim view. As we

have seen, this is how the NT reconciles the certain truth that there is only one God with the equally sure fact that the Father, Son and Spirit is each fully God. It affi rms that the Father can have a Son, and a (personal) Spirit too, with-out the divine unity being compromised in any way. The divine Sonship of Jesus follows naturally from His deity, but in Scripture it does not then follow that there must be more than one God.

ConclusionSo each of the three key statements that make up

Biblical teaching on the triune nature of God can be used to address one of the Muslim objections to the Trinity. Chris-tians do not believe in three gods; there is only one God. We do not worship a trinity of God, Mary and Jesus; it is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit who are each fully God. And no blasphemy is involved in our confession that God the Father has a Son or a personal Spirit; these three are distinct persons related within the one God.

Yet the nature of God is a profound mystery that can never be fully understood by fi nite human beings. The Bible is clear that God is Three-in-One, and it tells us something about what this means. But exactly how that is possible can never be completely explained, and ultimately our proper response to the triune God is to fall down before Him in worship and adoration and to offer our lives to Him in worship and sacrifi ce.

So it is not only for the sake of our mission to Mus-lims and others that we should understand and uphold this doctrine. It sets out to us the nature of the God whom we worship and serve, who calls us to acknowledge and honour Him as one God in three persons, the blessed Trinity. May we know Him and confess Him as nothing less than this.

1 The person of the Lord Jesus Christ was discussed in detail in the pull-out supplement of the March-April 2012 edition of Barnabas Aid. The conclusions of that article regarding His deity are summarised here; please refer to it for further information and Bible references.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!

All thy works shall praise thy name, in earth and sky and sea;

Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty!

God in three persons, blessed Trinity!

IV BARNABAS AID MAY/JUNE 2012

Reaching our Muslim neighbours for Christ

The rapid growth of the Muslim population in Western countries is both a challenge and an opportunity for churches. Although

there are thousands of Muslim converts to Christ, many more Muslims need to hear the saving message of the Gospel. Muslims are generally much more willing to discuss their religion than many Christians, so there are great opportunities to share Christ with them.

How do the churches respond to this challenge? Is your fellowship prepared to engage with the growing Muslim community? Perhaps you have Muslim friends, neighbours or work colleagues and would like to know more about what they believe and how you can best explain your faith to them? Operation Nehemiah has produced a special Evangelism Pack with resources that aim to equip Christians with what they need to engage with Muslims.

TOWARDS THE SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION OF OUR SOCIETIES

Schools across UK receive Christian resources:“Thank you so much for the superb resources you delivered to school last week. The teachers have looked at them and are very pleased with the contents. I am sure they will be a very useful addition to our R.E. resources.” A headteacher from West Sussex

Owing to the kind generosity of churches and individual Christians, over 85 primary schools in the UK have now been provided with a free resource pack on Christianity. ACTS (Assisting Christianity Teaching in Schools) contains over £450 worth of material. As Religious Education is often one of the fi rst areas to be affected by budget cuts, it is no surprise that the resources are being very well received. Each pack contains high-quality books, posters and DVDs that are rich in Christ-centred content, providing a valuable investment in our children’s classrooms.

In Llandudno, Wales, eight schools received an ACTS pack after a consortium of seven churches in the town rallied together to raise funds. And 13 schools in Aberdeenshire have received packs.

The complete packs are available for a donation of £250. For more information please visit www.barnabasfund.org/operation_nehemiah

Operation Nehemiah

The pack contains:• Unveiled: A Christian Study Guide to

IslamThis is an invaluable resource for personal and group study. It will help you understand what the religion of Islam teaches, and how it impacts the thinking and culture of Muslims across the world. Each chapter includes a Bible study and questions for refl ection and discussion. The last chapter explains how to witness to Muslims.

• Breaking through the Barriers: Leading Muslims to Christ This popular book lifts the veil on Muslim culture, practices and faith to fi nd the points of contact that will help Muslims to respond to the Christian Gospel.

• A selection of tracts and booklets addressing some of the key issues and questions that Muslims have:

Can I know God? Has the Bible been changed?How can God have a Son?Love my enemies? Is it possible?Who is the God of Abraham?Sure of going to Paradise?Did someone else die in Jesus’ place?

• And more, including the background booklets What is Islam?, What is Sharia?, Islam and Truth, Islam and Slavery.

The packs can be ordered at a cost of only £10 each. Please contact your local Barnabas Fund offi ce or visit www.barnabasfund.org/operation_nehemiah to reserve your copy.

The Proclaim Freedom campaign and petition have got off to a very encouraging start with people enthusiastically

promoting the petition among family, friends, churches and neighbourhoods. One supporter in Glasgow asked for 100 copies of the petition form for distribution among local churches, then came back twice for further batches of 100 copies.

Within just the fi rst four weeks of the campaign’s offi cial launch, 6,754 people had already

signed the petition. We thank the Lord that at present there does seem to be more concern among media and politicians about the issues of anti-Christian persecution and minority rights, so now is the perfect time to build on this, make our voices heard and “proclaim freedom”.

For more copies of the petition form please contact your local Barnabas offi ce (addresses on back cover) or download them from www.barnabasfund.org/proclaim-freedom-petition.

You can also encourage people to sign the petition online, and it is also available in German, Russian and Spanish from the non-English sections of our website.

The Proclaim Freedom campaign calls for Western governments to use their infl uence with other governments to promote global human rights, religious freedom and justice for all minorities, especially Christians.


PROCLAIM FREEDOM

Shaping the region

Q atar is a tiny, thumb-shaped, former pearl and fi shing settlement which is now at the forefront of gas and energy supplies, with Western Europe increasingly

dependent on Qatar’s gas. In a £2 billion deal announced in April 2011 Qatar agreed to supply Liquefi ed Natural Gas (LNG) to the UK for the next three years. In 2010, Qatar supplied the UK with 15 per cent of its total gas demand. Qatar lies on the eastern border of Saudi Arabia, just to the north of the United Arab Emirates, and is itself an

Emirate, ruled by the Al Thani royal family. Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani is its supreme ruler. It is a non-democratic monarchy, usually regarded as absolute, that practises the Wahhabi form of Sunni Islam as the state religion.

Despite its small stature, Qatar is playing a signifi cant part in shaping the region through religion, politics and economics. During the Arab uprisings Qatar has sought to assert its infl uence by channelling fi nance and weapons to opposition forces in Libya, and it has led calls for the same to be done in Syria. In 2011-2012 alone Qatar has also been engaged in the following initiatives:

• Opening of a political offi ce for the Taliban in the capital, Doha (January 2012)

• Brokering of a peace deal between Hamas and Fatah (February 2012)

• Leadership of the international effort for regime change in Syria

• Leadership in the Libyan opposition’s ground assault and in reconstruction post-Gaddafi

• Hosting of a very large American airbase just outside Doha

Qatar also exercises crucial infl uence through the Al Jazeera television network. Al Jazeera is the

The Middle East has seen a wave of uprisings over the last year. It has been a time of tumultuous change, and the region is likely to be unsettled for quite some time. In the midst of this chaos, who are the key players?

Qatar An infl uential force

Picture sources: West Bay buildings: Wikipedia.org, Kangxi emperor6868. Aeroplane: Flickr.com, Peter Russell. Television studio: Flickr.com, Laika


ANALYSIS

leading Arab and (more recently) international news provider focused on the Middle East. It has been incredibly successful, exercising a huge infl uence over opinions and events, and it has helped to re-shape Arab broadcasting both regionally and internationally. The network arguably helped to make the Syrian uprising into an international event, as it did those in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen.

Why Qatar?So why is Qatar seeking to proclaim its power? What motives lie behind its efforts to gain infl uence and shape events, and what groups are involved with it?

Islamic Groups: The role of Islamic groups is central to the whole region and is considered to be particularly relevant to the agenda of the Qatari regime. Qatar has played host to infl uential Islamists, such as Yusuf al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian who regularly preaches on Al Jazeera, Ali Salibi, a prominent Libyan Islamist, and Khaled Meshal, the political leader of Hamas. Qatar has acted as a broker in discussions with Palestinian groups and also enjoys close ties with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. In the 1960s and 1970s many Islamists fl ed from Syria and Egypt to Qatar for refuge, and from these beginnings Qatar has built a network of relationships with political Islam, which are proving valuable to it today. By maintaining close relations with the leadership of the main Islamist groups in the region, the regime hopes to avoid a terrorist threat within Qatar and also to promote a stable environment for Qatari investment abroad. The Qatari emir recently said, “We will spare no effort to continue carrying the message and spreading the tolerant teachings of Islam in the whole world.”

Libya: During the military campaign to overthrow Gaddafi , Qatar armed and trained the Libyan opposition forces. At the time the head of the National Transitional Council (NTC) acknowledged that success was as a result of Qatari engagement. However, in recent months the NTC has been highly critical of Qatar’s continued engagement with Libyan Islamist groups. Although the council is committed to making sharia the main source of law in the new Libyan Constitution, it is also broadly secular and views the Islamist groups as an obstacle to Libya’s economic progress.

Syria: Within the Middle East Qatar has sought to build tactical regional alliances aimed at establishing infl uence over the next generation of political leaders. Their motivation is both religious and political. In Syria Qatar is supporting

what is primarily a Sunni revolt against a state dominated by an Alawi Shi’ite minority. But it is also attempting to realign the region by helping to turn a state friendly to Iran into one more favourable to other, competing, regional powers i.e. the Sunni Gulf states. Qatar has led calls for action on behalf of the anti-government forces both within the Arab League, where its infl uence is increasing, and more widely. For example, in a recent visit to Norway the Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani said, “I think we should do whatever is necessary to help them, including giving them weapons to defend themselves.” Many suspect that Qatar is already helping covertly to arm the Free Syrian Army.

Balancing East and West: Qatar appears to be increasingly adept at balancing different and at times confl icting perspectives. For example, the recent opening of an Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan offi ce that will serve as a diplomatic mission for the Taliban in Qatar may seem to confl ict with Qatar’s good relationships with the West. However, by doing this Qatar is both keeping itself in favour with the Taliban and other extremist groups and positioning the country as a mediator between the West and groups with whom the West is reluctant to engage or at least have direct dialogue. The Taliban have stated that the purpose of the Qatar offi ce is to “come to an understanding with other nations” and that they have ruled out negotiations with the Karzai government. One analyst has noted, “By seeming reasonable, Taliban leaders may hope to encourage the United States to leave more promptly while they harbour plans to go for the Afghan democratic leadership’s jugular later on down the road.”

Qatar in EuropeQatar’s enormous wealth has also enabled it to fund many initiatives in Europe. In the UK Qatar’s investments include stakes in Barclays, Sainsbury’s, Harrods, the Shard complex in London, Canary Wharf and the 2012 Olympic athletes’ village, as well as energy investments in Wales. Qatar also has interests in France. In 2011 the country was encouraged to buy a majority stake in the French football team Paris-St-Germain, and Al Jazeera, the Qatari owned news channel, also bought the rights to Ligue 1, the French equivalent of the English Premier League.

In December 2011 Qatar announced the creation of a €50 million (US$67 million) investment fund aimed at supporting entrepreneurs from France’s deprived suburbs. According to reports, these relatively poor communities are already being exploited by Muslim preachers in an attempt

to create separate Islamic societies or further to marginalise and possibly radicalise existing Muslim-majority areas. Concerns have been raised at the motives that lie behind these large international investments. Qatar is clearly keen to promote its own interest and seek to gain infl uence where it can; however, this investment may be driven by a desire to promote Islamic ideologies and strengthen Muslim-majority communities abroad.

Qatar and ChristianityThere are small groups of Christians, Jews, Baha’is and Hindus from the international community within Qatar, but non-Muslim public worship is prohibited as it is considered to disturb the public order. Converting to another religion from Islam is technically a capital offence, although there has been no recorded punishment for such an act since the country gained independence in 1971.

The future of Qatari infl uence Qatar’s political strategy appears to have given it the edge over the traditional power holder (Saudi Arabia) in the Middle East in the context of the current seismic political shifts. As the region moves into a new era, Qatar is likely to emerge as the regional power broker, backed by its enormous wealth.

Many are concerned that the Church in the Middle East is being put at further risk owing to Qatar’s infl uence over the Arab uprisings. The exporting of its ideology has contributed to the pressure and attacks experienced by Christians and churches during the last year, in Egypt and especially in Syria, which have increased to the point where the very existence of the Syrian churches is now in question. Many fear a future where Islamist groups dominate their countries’ governments, leading to further restrictions on Christians. Qatar’s infl uence in Europe may also lead to the radicalising of Muslim communities there (for example, in France), thus posing new dangers to individual countries and to the continent as a whole.

Qatar will probably be the enabling power behind a number of Islamist groups within the Middle East for as long as such groups have the potential to affect its stability. Many analysts believe that Qatar is investing in the Islamists to ensure its own survival in the medium term. The strategy that Qatar has adopted towards Libya and Syria testifi es to its emerging position in the international community as the most important player in the Middle East.


ANALYSIS

Partnership is a New Testament idea, derived partly from the Greek word koinōnia, which means “participation, fellowship, association”. It refl ects the fact that the Christian life is not meant to be lived in isolation from others, but in connection with them. This partnership between Christians takes many forms, and several of these are identifi ed by the apostle Paul in his letter to the church in Philippi. They help us better to understand how we can all work together to sustain our Lord’s persecuted people in their distress.

Partnership in the Gospel (1:5)At the beginning of his letter Paul expresses his affection for his Philippian readers, and his confi dence in them, by saying that he always prays for them with joy. The reason for his gladness is their “partnership in the gospel from the fi rst day until now”. This partnership is the Christians’ active participation, with Paul, in sharing and furthering the Good News of Christ, as they both live it out in Philippi and support Paul’s wider ministry. Through their collaboration with him, God’s power is at work as the Lord Jesus is proclaimed in word and deed. And this association is a long one: it dates from the time of Paul’s preaching to them and their conversion, and has lasted to the present.

All Christians are called by the Lord to be partners with one another in the work of the Gospel. This involves both consistent Christian living where God has placed us, and providing assistance to those who are making Christ known elsewhere. In doing this, we have the immense privilege of experiencing God’s power at work through us, and of seeing lives transformed through the wonderful message of the Lord Jesus. And as with Paul and the Philippians, it is meant to be a long-term commitment.

Barnabas Fund and our many co-workers and supporters are dedicated to this “partnership in the Gospel”. We seek to live out the Good News

through our prayers, concern and gifts for our persecuted Christian family, and by supporting local believers who provide them with practical and spiritual resources in their need. We rejoice to see the great difference that this help so often makes to them, as individuals, churches and communities. And we are in this partnership for the long haul – as long, in fact, as our work is needed.

Partnership in the Spirit (2:1)At the beginning of chapter 2, Paul appeals for unity among the Philippian Christians, over against the self-centred attitudes that so easily disrupt it. One basis of his appeal is the believers’ sharing – or “partnership” – in the Holy Spirit of God. God Himself has shared His Spirit with the Philippians, and by their partnership in that Spirit they are united to Christ, to Paul and to one another. Therefore they must express that unity in their relations with one another and their engagement with those outside the congregation.

The Spirit also empowers all that God is doing among the Philippians and all that they are doing in the Name of the Lord Jesus. It is in and by the Spirit that they are able to stand, to contend for the faith of the Gospel, and not to be intimidated by their opponents (1:27-28). But this steadfastness is also grounded in the unity that the Spirit brings, in the common life that is theirs through their sharing in Him.

For Barnabas Fund our partnership in the Spirit, with persecuted Christians and those who help us to help them, is at the heart of our ministry. United with each other by the Spirit, we all take responsibility for supporting one another, and we stand together against the destructive forces and ideologies that threaten and oppress our Christian family. This unity in the Spirit also enables all of us, and especially our suffering brothers and sisters, to remain faithful to Christ in the face of great pressure to compromise our commitment to Him.

Barnabas Fund works in partnership with many others in

our work of bringing hope and aid to persecuted Christians. We partner with our brothers and sisters in contexts of pressure and hostility, and their leaders often help to shape our strategies. We partner with the many churches and Christian organisations that work tirelessly to channel our funds to suffering believers. And we partner with our supporters and local representatives (church and area partners), whose warm generosity and unstinting commitment are essential to our ministry.

Partnership in Philippi

BIBLICAL REFLECTION


Partnership in Christ’s sufferings (3:10)In chapter 3 Paul explains to his readers what he has gained in becoming a Christian, beyond and instead of his former privileges as a Jew. This gain is to know Christ and to be united to Him, and it involves both experiencing the power of His resurrection and sharing – or “partnership” – in His sufferings.

This teaching implies that suffering on behalf of Christ is part of our normal Christian experience. It may range from the social pressure and hostility that the Philippian church was probably having to endure, to the imprisonment and possible martyrdom faced by Paul. But remarkably, whatever form it takes, it is a partnership in Christ’s sufferings. It is the channel through which the effects of Christ’s passion and death are applied to us and to others; it is the way in which His risen power is released in and through us.

Persecuted Christians throughout the world know very well what it is to be partners in Christ’s sufferings, and their faithfulness and fruitfulness in trying and even tragic circumstances bears witness to the power of His resurrection at work among them. In the West the experience of suffering for Christ is generally much less severe, but in our commitment to our Lord’s persecuted family, Barnabas Fund tries to identify with their pain and thus to relieve their anguish. The often sacrifi cial giving of our supporters, and the costly and selfl ess service of our project partners, are also a sharing in the sufferings of Christ, and they bring His life-giving power to believers in distress.

Partnership in giving and receiving (4:15)In the last main section of his letter, Paul affi rms his happy relationship with the Philippian church and indirectly thanks them for it. This relationship

has included their “partnering” with him in giving and receiving; this includes their sharing their material means with him, but it also involves much more.

In the early days of Paul’s mission in Macedonia, when he was preaching in Thessalonica, the Philippian church gave him aid more than once. Now, in his imprisonment for the Gospel, they have sent him another gift. But this is not a one-sided relationship, in which they do all the giving and he the receiving. He is their apostle, through whom they have received the word of the Lord; and both they and he are in Christ, in whom they are related as equals.

Barnabas Fund’s network of associates and supporters, and the persecuted Christians to whom we bring assistance, also form a partnership in giving and receiving. Like Paul in his Roman prison, our suffering brothers and sisters are deeply grateful to the fellow-Christians who share and relieve their burden through generous fi nancial gifts. Yet this relationship too is not one-sided: through their example of patient endurance and infectious joy in the midst of intense grief, these believers also give to us: through them we receive encouragement, inspiration and guidance for our own discipleship. We are all equal in Christ, and that equality is expressed in a genuinely mutual exchange.

ConclusionChristian living and Christian ministry involve partnership: in the Gospel, in which God’s power is mightily at work; in the Spirit, who unites us to each other and enables us to stand fi rm in our faith; in the sufferings of Christ that convey to us His resurrection life; and in giving and receiving in an equal and mutual relationship with one another. It is this partnership that Barnabas Fund seeks to create and maintain, and in which we invite our supporters to share.

Questions for personal study or group discussion

1. Why should the Christian life not be lived in isolation? What benefi ts do you experience through partnership with other Christians?

2. We are called to be partners in the Gospel. What does it mean to live out that Gospel where you are? How can you and your church help those who are making Christ known elsewhere?

3. How should we express the unity that results from our partnership in the Spirit? How does it help us to stand fi rm for Christ under pressure?

4. What experiences do you have of partnership in Christ’s sufferings? In what ways did they help you to know and share His life-giving power?

5. How do you partner with other Christians in giving and receiving? How costly is that partnership to you, and how benefi cial?

6. Think of one action you can take to express your partnership with persecuted Christians.

BIBLICAL REFLECTION


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IN TOUCH

Barnabas Fund Mobile App gives iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Android phone users easy access to information and updates from Barnabas Fund.

Using the App, Barnabas supporters will have access to:• Latest news about persecuted Christians around the world• Emergency appeals• Daily prayer point for our suffering brothers and sisters• Quick link to donate to Barnabas Fund• Information about Barnabas Fund’s work with the persecuted Church

The App can be downloaded from the Apple iTunes store. There is also an App for Android phones; this can be downloaded from the Android App store.

An App for Barnabas Fund

Below, Mr SB, a supporter from the UK, shares his thoughts on what prompted him and his family to support Barnabas Fund:

“When our three daughters were young we felt a burden to make a difference to God’s Kingdom worldwide by supporting people connected with the areas of ‘poverty’, ‘persecution’ and ‘proclamation’ of the Gospel. It was then that we fi rst contacted Barnabas who connected our burden with their ‘persecution’ specialism. We specifi cally asked to support people in areas of the world where we were not supporting anyone else.

“Our praying has not been so much in terms of quantity, but quality. We have tried to be specifi c, either about things we know, or things we feel God’s Spirit telling us. It was so exciting recently after praying for several years for one specifi c Christian worker to fi nd a wife, to hear that he is now married with a small baby.

“Our fi nancial giving has been small, but regular (monthly). It was especially diffi cult when several times we have gone through our own fi nancial crisis, living on almost nothing, but even in these tough times our principle was to keep our monthly support going.

“It has been our privilege to partner with Barnabas knowing that a normal family in a normal home really can make a signifi cant difference to God’s Kingdom worldwide.”

An ordinary family making a difference

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Drawing up a will is a good way to have a fi nal say about the things that matter to you the most: your loved ones, the causes you support, and honouring the Lord by helping to provide for your wider family in Christ.

Enclosed with this magazine is a leafl et setting out some advice on writing a will and the advantages of leaving a legacy to a charity of your choice. Bequeathing a portion of your estate to Barnabas Fund, for example, enables us to use it for the support of our persecuted brothers and sisters. The leafl et also provides valuable information on British Inheritance Tax.

Please take time to read through this leafl et and prayerfully consider if you can leave money to Barnabas Fund in your will. We have pr epared a booklet to explain how important it is for Christians to make a will and to offer advice on how to go about it. A Christian Guide to Making and

Changing your Will is available free from your nearest Barnabas offi ce or as a download from www.barnabasfund.org/resources.

Could you leave a legacy to support your persecuted brothers and sisters?

We are always grateful to receive your donations and learn of the imaginative ways in which you have raised money for our persecuted brothers and sisters. Here we share stories from several British supporters about their fundraising for Barnabas.

Peter Bell and his wife Joan raised £143 for Barnabas Fund by selling delicious cakes, coffee and other items at their Christmas Café organised by Elim Pentecostal Church, Huddersfi eld in December 2011.

In January 2012, Trinity Church, Stafford, raised £200 for Iraqi Christians by selling apples in their church coffee bar.

And Nathan McStay, aged 12, from Carlisle, donated part of his pocket money to Barnabas Fund and requested that we use the money (£10) to buy a sack of wheat fl our for a Christian family in Ethiopia who are starving because of the famine.

Cakes, apples and pocket money: fundraising for Barnabas

Peter and Joan Bell raised money for Barnabas Fund at their church Christmas cafe


IN TOUCH

Canon John Bowers from Cheshire has been a faithful supporter of Barnabas Fund for a number of years. Since hearing about the Cana Girls Refuge Centre that we support in Kenya, John has undertaken an annual long-distance cycling pilgrimage for his own devotional benefi t, and to raise funds for this work of Christian compassion. His daughter Ruth has accompanied him on the last three pilgrimages.

The home is a refuge for Christian girls who seek help to escape from the abusive customs associated with African Traditional Religions. More than 70 girls and young women have been rescued to date, and they have been looked after in the hostel, where they are protected, fed, clothed and

educated in a loving Christian environment. Barnabas Fund helps with running costs for this growing ministry.

We would like to give thanks to John, who raised approximately £16,000 in 2011 through the generosity of many of his friends and churches, and ask that you support him with your prayers as this year he undertakes his seventh cycle ride to raise money for Barnabas.

Project reference 25-663

Canon on wheels

Canon John and his daughter Ruth getting ready to raise money for Barnabas Fund

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Internet banking is a quick, cost-effective and secure way of donating money to Barnabas Fund, as it reduces administrative and banking costs. If you donate via internet banking and you are a UK resident, please give your postcode as a reference, and if the money is meant for a particular project, please also give the project reference number, as this will make identifi cation much easier. If you would like to receive a thank you please include TY in your reference. E.g. SN95DB/1032/TY.

Gifts in British pounds sterling may be made using the following details: Account Name: Barnabas Fund; Account No: 50133299; Sort Code: 202646. This is a new Barclays Bank account we have opened specifi cally to receive one-off donations made either via internet banking or by paying in at a branch of Barclays. Our existing accounts into which standing orders and direct debits are received will continue unchanged.

For supporters in Europe: we now have a euro account with HSBC. Please provide your surname and initials as a reference and the project reference number if relevant. Please use the following references to make gifts in euros:Swift/BIC: MIDLGB22IBAN: GB37 MIDL 4005 1571 3530 52

If you make an internet donation please email fi [email protected] with details so that we can allocate your gift correctly. For any fi nance-related queries, please use the same email address.

Donate to Barnabas via Internet Banking

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. Isaiah 61:1

This year, Barnabas Fund’s Supporters’ Days will focus on the Proclaim Freedom campaign, which seeks to raise the profi le of our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world. This is a critical time for the suffering Church, and we invite you to stand with us as we call upon governments to engage with issues of anti-Christian persecution.

• Overview from the International Director, Dr Patrick Sookhdeo• Reports from the fi eld• Information about new developments at Barnabas Fund• Insights into Proclaim Freedom: How can we remain silent while

Christians are being persecuted?• Meet Barnabas Fund staff members• View the latest resources

Saturday 9 June 1 - 4pm: St Andrew’s Church, Quickley Lane, Chorleywood, WD3 5AE

Saturday 23 June 2 - 4:30pm: Central Baptist Church, 9A Ward Road, Dundee, DD1 1LP

Free TicketsThis event is by ticket only and places are limited, so please contact us to book your place and get your free admission ticket. We also have a poster available if you would like to advertise this event at your church.

To get tickets and copies of the poster, please call 024 7623 1923 or email [email protected]. You may also write to us at the UK offi ce: 9 Priory Row, Coventry, CV1 5EX. Tickets can also be ordered online at www.barnabasfund.org/events.

Please be sure to indicate which date and venue you would like.

For more information, please contact Alastair Kirk at the Pewsey offi ce.

UK Supporters’ Days 2012


EXPERIENCING

GOD’S POWER

A young Christian couple in Iran were imprisoned for their faith. Arash Kermanjani and his wife Arezoo

Teymouri told of their inner struggles in prison, their release and their subsequent fl ight from Iran.

“The fi rst few days were the most diffi cult,” said Arash. “I was afraid of what may happen to Arezoo and prayed for her all the time, asking my Lord to protect and save her.” On the day of their arrest the couple were at the house of Christian friends, Vahik Abrahamian and Sonia Keshish Avanesian, in Hamedan when plain-clothes agents broke into the house, arresting both couples without charges and bringing them to a secret prison of the Ministry of State Security.

The husband and wife, both in their late twenties, were put in solitary confi nement for days on end. During this time alone Arash prayed continuously for his wife. Soon he received an answer from God. “He gave me His calm and assurance concerning her fate and I was able to accept His decision in humility; I realised that God’s power is far greater than my fears. From then on my mind was at peace and could clearly see the hand of God protecting us.”

Mockery and accusationAfter eleven solitary days, Arezoo was transferred to Hamedan’s main female prison. The wardens harassed her incessantly because of her Christian faith. Arash, who suffered a total of 43 days of solitary confi nement, experienced the same mockery. “My Christian beliefs were questioned and it was denigrated to the level of childish thoughts and a passing trend.”

Before giving their lives to Christ, the couple had both led turbulent lives, which the guards used as a weapon of attack. Arezoo said, “Well aware of my past life, they used it to crush me psychologically and reduce me to confessing to what they demanded.” But their attacks did not have any effect on her resolve to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. She stood fi rm in the truth that He will protect His fl ock. “Our Lord Jesus Christ, who upon the Cross took our sins unto Himself is standing right by me, Alive, Comforting and Protective, proving their falsehood.”

During their captivity the couple heard that they had been accused of being “ideological thieves and members of a Zionist group opposing the Islamic Regime”. Arash was also put under constant pressure to confess to having helped foreigners against his country. He said that in response to these accusations “we only spoke of our own personal experience with Jesus Christ. After eight months I guess they realised they were wrong about us and caught on the fact that we are but simple witnesses to Christ.”

Set freeOne day without notice the couple and Sonia Keshish Avanesian, one of their Christian friends who was arrested at the same time, were peremptorily ordered to leave the prison. Thrown out without any form of transport, they had to walk a long way before reaching a main road. As soon as they got into a hired car, three motor-cyclists surrounded it screaming obscenities and hurling bricks. All the way to Tehran the three Christians feared for their safety and their lives.

But although Arash and Arezoo were out of prison, they were still not safe. Arash said, “We feared attack by Islamic vigilantes and agents of the Islamic regime. All venues of work and employment were closed to us and we were constantly under surveillance.” Fleeing the Islamic Republic was the only way forward for them. At the time of the interview Arash and Arezoo were in a neighbouring country awaiting relocation

by the UNHCR. They would prefer not to have been forced to leave the country of their birth, but hope to be able to serve the Lord wherever they are sent.

Iranian Christian couple Arash and Arezoowere imprisoned for their faith

Based on an interview from the Farsi Christian News Network

“Our Lord Jesus Christ, who upon the Cross took our sins unto Himself is standing right by me, Alive, Comforting and Protective, proving their falsehood.”

LEARNING FROM THE PERSECUTED CHURCH


Yes, I would like to help the persecuted ChurchHere is my gift of ______________________

Please use my gift for

Wherever the need is greatest (General Fund)

Other ___________________________________________*

I enclose a cheque/voucher payable to “Barnabas Fund”.

Please debit my

Visa Mastercard American Express

Maestro CAF card /other charity card

Number

Maestro issue number or issue date /

Expiry date / Signature ____________________________

I do not require an acknowledgement of this gift.

I would like to give regularly through my bank. Please send me the appropriate form. (UK supporters may use the Direct Debit form below.)

Alternative Gift Card To make an alternative gift for a loved one, please contact your national Barnabas offi ce.

DIRECT DEBIT for UK supporters who would like to give regularly I/We want to bring hope and aid to the persecuted Church by a regular gift, to be used

where it is most needed (General Fund) or for ________________________________*(give reference number of project to be supported)

Gift Aid Declaration (Applicable to UK tax payers only)I authorise Barnabas Fund, registered charity no. 1092935, to treat all donations I have made since 6 April 2007 and all subsequent donations as Gift Aid donations until I notify you otherwise. Signature ___________________________________ Date ____________If you have previously signed a Gift Aid Declaration for Barnabas Fund, you do not need to sign again. To qualify for Gift Aid, what you pay in income tax or capital gains tax must at least equal the amount of tax reclaimed on donations to registered charities in the tax year. Please inform us if you change your name or address or stop paying tax.

Name (Mr,Mrs,Miss,Ms,Rev,Dr)

Address

Postcode TelephoneEmail

Please return this form to Barnabas Fund at your national offi ce or to the UK offi ce. Addresses are on the back cover. Barnabas Fund will not give your address or email to anyone else. Phone 0800 587 4006 or visit our website at www.barnabasfund.org to make a credit card donation. From outside UK phone +44 1672 565031.Registered Charity number 1092935 Company registered in England number 4029536*If the project chosen is suffi ciently funded, we reserve the right to use designated gifts either for another project of a similar type or for another project in the same country.Supporters in Germany: please turn to back cover for how to send gifts to Barnabas Fund. Mag 05/12 Mag 05/12

Name (Mr,Mrs,Miss,Ms,Rev,Dr)

Address Postcode

I would like to give a regular gift of £_______________________________(amount in words) _____________________________________________

Starting on 1st / 11th / 21st _________________ and then every month/quarter/year (delete as applicable) until further notice.

This Direct Debit is a new one / in addition to / replaces an earlier Standing Order / Direct Debit in favour of Barnabas Fund. (delete as applicable).

THE DIRECT DEBIT GUARANTEEThis Guarantee is offered by all Banks and Building Societies that accept instructions to pay Direct Debits. If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your Direct Debit Barnabas Fund will notify you 14 days in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed. If you request Barnabas Fund to collect a payment, confi rmation of the amount and date will be given to you at the time of the request. If an error is made in the payment of your Direct Debit by Barnabas Fund or your bank or building society, you are guaranteed a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from from your bank or building society. If you receive a refund you are not entitled to, you must pay it back when Barnabas Fund asks you to. You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by simply contacting your bank or building society. Written confi rmation may be required. Please also notify us.

*If the project chosen is suffi ciently funded, we reserve the right to use designated gifts either for another project of a similar type or for another project in the same country. Mag 05/12

Instruction to your bank or building society to pay by Direct Debit

Please fi ll in the whole form including offi cial use box using a ball point pen and send it to: Barnabas Fund, 9 Priory Row, Coventry CV1 5EXName and full postal address of your bank or building society

Name(s) of account holder(s)

Bank/building society account number Branch sort code

Service User Number 2 5 3 6 4 5Reference (Barnabas Fund to complete)

Signature(s)Date

Instruction to your bank or building society: Please pay Barnabas Fund Direct Debits from the account detailed in this instruction subject to the safeguards assured to by the Direct Debit Guarantee. I understand that this instruction may remain with Barnabas Fund and, if so, details will be passed electronically to my bank/building society. DD18

Please send the following free resources (indicate quantity required):• Proclaim Freedom petition forms ___• A Christian guide to making and changing your will ___


How to Find UsYou may contact Barnabas Fund at the following addresses:

UK9 Priory Row, Coventry CV1 5EXTelephone 024 7623 1923 Fax 024 7683 4718

From outside the UKTelephone +44 24 7623 1923 Fax +44 24 7683 4718Email [email protected] charity number 1092935Company registered in England number 4029536For a list of all trustees, please contact Barnabas Fund UK at the Coventry address above.

AustraliaPostal Suite 107, 236 Hyperdome, Loganholme QLD 4129Telephone (07) 3806 1076 or 1300 365 799 Fax (07) 3806 4076 Email [email protected]

GermanyGerman 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 specifi c project of Barnabas Fund, please inform the Barnabas Fund offi ce in Pewsey, UK. Account holder: Hilfe für Brüder e.V. Account number: 415 600 Bank: Evang. Kreditgenossenschaft Stuttgart Bankcode (BLZ): 520 604 10

JerseyLe Jardin, La Rue A Don, Grouville, Jersey, Channel Islands JE3 9GBTelephone 700600 Fax 700601 Email [email protected]

New ZealandPO Box 27 6018, Manukau City, Auckland, 2241 Telephone (09) 280 4385 or 0800 008 805Email offi [email protected]

USA6731 Curran St, McLean, VA 22101Telephone (703) 288-1681 or toll-free 1-866-936-2525 Fax (703) 288-1682 Email [email protected]

International HeadquartersThe Old Rectory, River Street, Pewsey,Wiltshire SN9 5DB, UK Telephone 01672 564938 Fax 01672 565030 From outside UK: Telephone +44 1672 564938Fax +44 1672 565030Email [email protected]

www.barnabasfund.org To donate by credit card, please visit the website or phone 0800 587 4006 (from outside the UK phone +44 1672 565031).

© Barnabas Fund 2012. For permission to reproduce articles from this magazine, please contact the International Headquarters address above. The paper used is produced using wood fi bre at a mill that has been awarded the ISO14001 certifi cate for environmental management.

barnabasaid the magazine of Barnabas FundExecutive Editor Steve Carter Published by Barnabas Fund The Old Rectory, River Street, Pewsey, Wiltshire SN9 5DB, UK Telephone 01672 564938 Fax 01672 565030 From outside UK: Telephone +44 1672 564938 Fax +44 1672 565030Email [email protected]

Barnabas Fund staff and volunteers will be happy to welcome you at Stand S70 at the 2012 International Christian Resources Exhibition at Sandown Park, Esher, 8-11 May.

A special Barnabas Fund seminar will be led by our Deputy Director, Mark Green, on Friday 11 May at 3:30pm in the Park View Suite.

Complimentary ticketsCRE organisers have kindly provided access for Barnabas Fund supporters to register for free tickets. To obtain, go to the “Buy Tickets” section of www.creonline.co.uk and enter SANDNAT into the complimentary ticket reference.

UK Supporters’ Days 2012

“Proclaim Freedom for persecuted Christians”

Please contact us to book your place. Turn to page 17 for more information!

Come and visit Barnabas Fund at CRE

Saturday 9 June, 1 - 4pm

St Andrew’s Church, Chorleywood

Saturday 23 June, 2 - 4.30pm

Central Baptist Church,Dundee

Barnabas Aid May June 2012

Documents

Transcript of Barnabas Aid May June 2012