barnabasaid

barnabasfund.org

BARNABAS FUND - AID AGENCY FOR THE PERSECUTED CHURCH

January/February 2015

Pakistan

Dawa

Changing lives of bomb victims

Hope

Gods grace to the persecuted

Understanding Islams
outreach strategy

Pushed to
The edge

Christians in iraq have to resort

to living in unfinished buildings
as they flee their persecutors

What helps make Barnabas Fund distinctive from other

Christian organisations that deal with persecution?

The Barnabas Fund Distinctive

We work by:

directing our aid only to Christians, although its

benefits may not be exclusive to them (As we

have opportunity, let us do good to all people,
especially to those who belong to the family
of believers. Galatians 6:10, emphasis added)

aiming the majority of our aid at Christians

living in Muslim environments

channelling money from Christians through

Christians to Christians

channelling money through existing structures

in the countries where funds are sent (e.g.
local churches or Christian organisations)

using the money to fund projects that have

been developed by local Christians in their own

communities, countries or regions

considering any request, however small

acting as equal partners with the persecuted
Church, whose leaders often help shape our
overall direction

How to find us

acting on behalf of the persecuted Church, to

be their voice making their needs known to

Christians around the world and the injustice of
their persecution known to governments and
international bodies

We seek to:

meet both practical and spiritual needs

encourage, strengthen and enable the existing
local Church and Christian communities so
they can maintain their presence and witness
rather than setting up our own structures or
sending out missionaries

the persecuted Church by providing

comprehensive prayer materials

We believe:

we are called to address both religious and

secular ideologies that deny full religious
liberty to Christian minorities while
continuing to show Gods love to all people

in the clear Biblical teaching that Christians

should treat all people of all faiths with love

and compassion, even those who seek to
persecute them

tackle persecution at its root by making

in the power of prayer to change peoples lives

inform and enable Christians in the West

Whatever you did for one of

the least of these brothers of
mine, you did for me.

known the aspects of the Islamic faith and

other ideologies that result in injustice and
oppression of non-believers
to respond to the growing challenge of
Islam to Church, society and mission in their
own countries

and situations, either through grace to endure

or through deliverance from suffering

(Matthew 25:40)

You may contact Barnabas Fund at the following addresses

UK
9 Priory Row, Coventry CV1 5EX
Telephone 024 7623 1923
Fax 024 7683 4718
From outside the UK
Telephone +44 24 7623 1923
Fax +44 24 7683 4718
Email info@barnabasfund.org
Registered charity number 1092935
Company registered in England
number 4029536
For a list of all trustees, please contact
Barnabas Fund UK at the Coventry
address above.

Germany
German supporters may send gifts for
Barnabas Fund via Hilfe fr Brder who
will provide you with a tax-deductible
receipt. Please mention that the
donation is for SPC 20 Barnabas Fund.
If you would like your donation to go
to a specific project of Barnabas Fund,
please inform the Barnabas Fund office
in Pewsey, UK.
Account holder: Hilfe fr Brder e.V.
Account number: 415 600
Bank: Evang Kreditgenossenschaft
Stuttgart Bankcode (BLZ): 520 604 10

Australia
PO BOX 3527,
LOGANHOLME, QLD 4129
Telephone (07) 3806 1076
or 1300 365 799
Fax (07) 3806 4076
Email bfaustralia@barnabasfund.org

New Zealand
PO Box 27 6018, Manukau City,
Auckland, 2241
Telephone (09) 280 4385
or 0800 008 805
Email office@barnabasfund.org.nz

barnabasaid the magazine

of Barnabas Fund

To guard the safety of Christians in

hostile environments, names may
have been changed or omitted.
Thank you for your understanding.

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 565030
Email info@barnabasfund.org

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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 2015

Northern Ireland and

Republic of Ireland
PO Box 354, Bangor, BT20 9EQ
Telephone 028 91 455 246
or 07867 854604
Email ireland@barnabasfund.org

USA
6731 Curran St, McLean, VA 22101
Telephone (703) 288-1681
or toll-free 1-866-936-2525
Fax (703) 288-1682
Email usa@barnabasaid.org

Scotland
Barnabas Fund Scotland, PO Box 2084,
Livingston, EH54 0EZ
Telephone 07722 484 742
Email scotland@barnabasfund.org

International Headquarters
The Old Rectory, River Street, Pewsey,
Wiltshire SN9 5DB, UK
Telephone 01672 564938
Fax 01672 565030
From outside UK:
Telephone +44 1672 564938
Fax +44 1672 565030
Email info@barnabasfund.org

Singapore
Cheques in Singapore dollars payable
to Barnabas Fund may be sent to:
Kay Poh Road Baptist Church, 7 Kay
Poh Road, Singapore 248963

To donate by credit/debit card, please visit the website

www.barnabasfund.org or phone 0800 587 4006
(from outside the UK phone +44 1672 565031).
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture
quotations are taken from the
New International Version.

The paper used in this publication

comes from sustainable forests
and can be 100% recycled. The paper
used is produced using wood fibre at a

Front cover: Displaced Iraqi

Christians living in unfinished
buildings in Iraqi Kurdistan

Barnabas Fund 2015. For permission

to reproduce articles from this magazine,
please contact the International
Headquarters address above.

mill that has been awarded the ISO14001

certificate for environmental management.

Contents

Let justice
roll on like a river
Dr Patrick Sookhdeo International Director

he day after the departure of our missionaries

from Urmi, that is the 3rd January (1915), the
Kurds and Turks, and with them a great
number of Moslems of Urmi, began to raid
and kill and to make captives from a large part
of the Christian villages. Thus wrote Rev. Y.M. Nisan from Urmia
on 25 May 1915 to the Organising Secretary of the Archbishop of
Canterburys Assyrian Mission.
Urmia (on the modern Iran-Iraq border) was a spiritual
centre for Assyrian Christians. Rev. Nisan describes how
25,000 Christians sought refuge in American, French and
British premises. There was not enough food and many died.
Rev. Nisan put the causes of death in this order: fear, inadequate
shelter, cold, hunger, typhoid. He estimates that 6,000 Christian
villagers were killed during the attacks, and at least another
3,000 who fled the slaughter died of other causes.
The year 2015 will be marked as the 100th anniversary of the
Armenian and Assyrian Genocide, an episodic killing spree
spread over decades, in which 3.5 million Christians died. 1915
was not the first year or the last year, but it was the worst year
with the highest death toll.
With horrifying irony, we now see the same events being
played out in the same part of the world, with Assyrian,
Armenian and other Christians fleeing
for their lives before radical Islamic
forces. And looking further afield, as
I write, there is Aasia Bibi, a Pakistani
Christian mother whose appeal against
the death sentence has just been rejected.
A Pakistani couple were beaten and then
burnt alive in a brick kiln furnace. In
Mosul a slave market has been established
selling Christian and Yazidi women and
girls. In Northern Nigeria Christian
mothers weep for their daughters, as Boko Haram announced
that 270 captured schoolgirls have been converted to Islam
and married.
For the prophet Amos, justice is a fundamental characteristic
of God. He records Gods own words in response to violence and
exploitation: Let justice roll on like a river and righteousness
like a never-failing stream (Amos 5:24). There will be a day
when the oppressed are vindicated, when the almighty and
ever-loving God will establish His reign.
As he neared the end of his account for the Archbishop of
Canterbury, Rev. Nisan wrote, Today we are very confused
and fearful. How many of our brothers and sisters would echo
those words now! Let us pray to the God of justice for their
deliverance and vindication.

Patrick
Sookhdeo

is the International
Director of Barnabas
Fund. Dr Sookhdeo
is a spokesman for
persecuted Christian
minorities around the
world. He is an advocate
for human rights and
freedom of religion.

There will be
a day when
the oppressed
are vindicated

4 Compassion in Action
Support for a Syrian
Christian family in their
darkest hour

5
8

Newsdesk

Aasia Bibis death sentence

confirmed

Pull-out

Editorial

Dawa

Islams original outreach

strategy applied today

11

Advocacy

Speak out for suffering

Christians in the Middle East

11
12

Project Update

14

Grace upon Grace

16

Biblical Reflection

18

In Touch

How your gifts have

helped Peshawar bomb victims
in Pakistan

Giving thanks for Gods

faithfulness to the
persecuted Church

Learning from the

suffering of Job

Apple party and harvest

supper for Barnabas

how barnabas is helping

Affordable,
loving school
The Christian parents of over 100
youngsters in Pakistan are overjoyed
with the Christian school that
Barnabas Fund built, and continues to
sponsor, in the Hindu-majority local
community where they live.
Before, only 10% of their children
were receiving an education, because
the majority of parents were unable to
pay the fees levied by the local Hindu
establishments. The few children
who could attend local Hindu schools
experienced discrimination. And
Zaki, who went to an Islamic school,
was forced to learn Naat, Islamic
poetry that praises Muhammad.
Now, 80% of children from the
Christian community are going
to school. Zakis father, who is
impoverished and unable to pay
for school fees, is thankful that as
the Christian school charges only
minimal fees. This means he does not
have to take out loans to pay for his
childrens education.

New church amid

persecution
A Barnabas-funded church-planting
couple in Kazakhstan have started a
small but resilient congregation in the
city they moved to.
After just one year, 25 converts
from Islam come together for weekly
Sunday worship.
As an unregistered church, they face
many problems. The government had
warned the public against Christian
house groups in televised campaigns
in the previous year, providing a
designated phone number for reporting
suspected Christian activities.
The congregation was previously
able to worship in a registered
congregations building. But after a
police raid, they were banned from
meeting there any longer.
Thanks to their pastors patient
discipling, all this oppression has not
deterred the church members from
witnessing to non-believers.

Converts enriched
by training
Sixty converts from Islam in
Burundi found hearing each others
testimonies during Barnabas-funded
workshops especially encouraging.
Sharing their experiences helped
them know that as converts they
can stand strong, even when facing
violence and rejection from their
Muslim families and communities.
The five-day training sessions, held
last year in three north-western
provinces of Burundi, provided
them with the opportunity to build
up friendships and explore the
Scriptures further.

Barnabas Fund paid for 50% of the

couples living costs for nine months.

Barnabas Fund pays for the teachers

salaries as well as the schools books
and equipment

18,695 for construction of

Christian school
(US$29,863; 23,925)
1,241 for schools
yearly costs
(US$1,982; 1,588)
Project reference 41-893

The new converts enjoy meeting together

on Sunday

2,929 for pastor support

(US$4,679; 3,749)
Project reference 00-478

The participants enjoyed getting to

know each other

4,000 for training

new converts
(US$6,389; 5,119)
Project reference: 67-682

Compassion in Action

Barnabas Aid January/February 2015 5

Growing up
in safety
Lifted up out of
financial mire
Timely food
revives youngsters
While waiting for the food truck to
arrive at their church in faminestricken western Kenya, some of the
children were lying on the ground
because of their weakness and hunger.
But the youngsters already looked
more revived after drinking the milk
packets handed out to them during the
distribution. And the 16kg of maize,
3.3kg of beans, cooking oil and table
salt that each of the 2,000 Christian
families received from Barnabas Fund
helped them survive the drought.
Our partner said, The Christians were
very happy, giving glory to God.

Barnabas Fund has greatly alleviated

the financial struggles of 100
Christian widows in Sri Lanka by
providing them with training and
tools to start up small businesses.
Now their children have enough to eat
and are going back to school.
The widows lost their husbands in the
violent civil war, during which many
of their children were also forced
to drop out of school. After the war
ended in 2009, the families were left
in great financial distress. Sadly, many
times village leaders and government
officers rejected them from getting
assistance because of their faith.
The training in bookkeeping,
advertising and other small-business
skills has helped the widows to start
successful businesses producing
and selling chilli powder, rearing
livestock, sewing, and other areas.

I feel safe and love to sing songs to

Jesus, said San Da Weh about her
life at a Barnabas-funded Christian
childrens home.
When I lived in Burma, my mother
stepped on a landmine [and died],
San Da recalls. I remember that
day so well, because the Burmese
soldiers came, and we needed to
run. We all panicked and fled into
different directions.
At the home, San Da and many of the
other 104 children from the abused
Christian-majority Karen people are
experiencing Gods healing from past
horrific events in Burma (Myanmar)
during daily Bible studies and
worship times.
The fresh and abundant food and
loving care from the five members
of staff, all paid for by Barnabas
Fund, are also immensely improving
their lives.

Christian children drink milk provided by

Barnabas Fund

This widow in Sri Lanka now runs a

grocery shop

A visiting partner was struck by how

healthy and alert the children looked

45,046 for famine relief

(US$71,951; 57,652)

23,594 for small businesses

(US$37,686; 30,196)

5,242 for childrens home

(US$8,375; 6,709)

Project reference 25-608

Project reference 85-1063

Project reference 75-821

Work in progress on a church building for a needy Bangladeshi congregation

A displaced Iraqi Christian boy holds a pack of hygiene articles

The congregation in Bangladesh feels a new sense of unity now that they
can all worship together in the finished building

Compassion in Action

Barnabas Aid January/February 2015 7

bringing hope, transforming lives

God no stranger
to suffering

A Christian grandmother in Syria,

who is receiving regular aid from
Barnabas Fund, told her pastor what
is helping her deal with the enormous
loss she has endured: she is comforted
knowing that her God is no stranger
to suffering.
Just five months earlier her three
young grandchildren were still living
safely with their parents Bassam
and Noha in Mhardeh, one of Syrias
last unviolated Christian towns. The
civil war was causing the family to
struggle financially, but they were just
managing to make ends meet.
But then jihadist groups attacked
the town with mortar bombs and
killed Bassam, the childrens father.
Overcome with grief and in need of
help to provide for the family, his wife
Noha turned to her church. Through
the church, her family started receiving
regular support from Barnabas Fund.
Tragically, the familys suffering did
not end there. In August last year,
fighters from the al-Nusra Front,
which is linked to al-Qaeda, launched
a full-blown attack on Mhardeh,
bombing it with artillery. At the time
of writing, the Christian town is still
under siege.

displaced by IS, providing over 1.3

million (US$2 million; 1.6 million) in
aid from June to December 2014. And
these past months, we provided them
with warm clothes, heaters and fuel
to help them survive the winter cold.
We are also providing a fully equipped
and insulated tented village. Grants
sent to Syria between 1 January and 1
October 2014 totalled over 1.6 million
(US$2.5 million; 2 million ).

1,608,859 for Christians in Syria

(US$2,570,038; 2,059,087)
1,305,132 for Christians in Iraq
(US$2,043,046; 1,640,434)
Project reference: 00-1032 Syria,
20-246 Iraq basic needs, 20-1200 Iraq tented village

Camp transforms
families

and even Muslim families about

godly family relationships.
Barnabas Fund also paid for camps
for three other groups of Christians:
teenagers, mothers-in-law and
single mothers.

4,117 for four Christian camps

(US$6,578; 5,270)
Project reference: 00-113 (Convert Care Fund)

Worshipping with
heart and soul

A new church building in rural

Bangladesh, erected with help
from Barnabas Fund, has brought
the congregation a precious place
of worship and has improved many
relationships.

Ten Christian couples, all converts

from Islam, acquired a fresh
understanding of Christian family life
at a Barnabas-funded camp in Central
Asia last year. Three days at the camp
revolutionised their home situations.

Our local partner wrote that the 85

Christians living in the village all
members of the church feel that
they are now communicating better
with one another and that there is a
sense of unity.

Although they had accepted Jesus,

many participants had unwittingly
continued in their Muslim customs
and mind-sets, which created tension
in the families.

Besides using the church for a

host of Christian activities such
as family and womens prayer
meetings, Sunday school and worship
sessions the congregation also hosts
community activities in the building
such as pre-school classes, vaccination
programmes and government
schemes. This has improved relations
with the community.

A few weeks into the blockade, while

Noha was out buying bread for the
family, a rocket landed near her. A
piece of metal hit her head, wounding
her gravely. She was rushed to the
hospital, but after 18 hours in intensive
care, she passed away.

As unregistered home churches are

forbidden to gather together openly,
it is always a struggle for leaders to
find opportunities to foster a better
understanding. So the retreat in the
countryside far away from the eyes
of the police provided a unique and
precious time for teaching.

The grandmother is now taking care

of the orphaned children, the oldest of
whom is six years old. She asked the
pastor to send a message of gratitude
to all who are alleviating the suffering
of her fellow Christians in Syria.

The ten couples, who had gathered

together from home churches all over
the country, learnt about Gods plan
for families, the value of marriage,
the roles of husbands and wives,
budgeting and conflict resolution.

Barnabas Fund continues to help tens

of thousands of Christians in Syria and
Iraq. We are helping Iraqi Christians

Afterwards, they felt so empowered by

what they had learnt that they started
teaching other Christian families

Before the construction, the

Christians, who are mainly
impoverished fishermen, met together
in front of each others houses. And in
the rainy season they could not meet.
The partner added, People are very
happy and they are worshipping with
their heart and soul.

3,309 for church building

(US$5,287; 4,236)
Project reference: 00-637 (Church Building Fund)

Newsdesk

Barnabas Aid January/February 2015 8

Meriam
Ibrahims lawyers
to challenge
Sudanese
apostasy law
Sudan

Lawyers in Sudan representing

Meriam Ibrahim, the Christian
mother whose death sentence for
apostasy was overturned in June
2014, intend to take her case to the
countrys Constitutional Court.
Meriams lawyers will challenge
the constitutionality of convictions
for apostasy (leaving Islam), a crime
that originates from the countrys
main source of legislation, Islamic
sharia law. Criminalising apostasy
contradicts Article 38 of Sudans
constitution, which states that no
person shall be coerced to adopt such
faith, that he/she does not believe in.
If the Constitutional Court were
to decide that penalising apostasy is
unconstitutional, this could possibly
open the way to full freedom of
religion for Sudanese Muslims who
wish to change their religion.

If the Constitutional
Court were to decide that
penalising apostasy is
unconstitutional, this could
possibly open the way to
full freedom of religion
Since taking Meriams case,
lawyer Mohaned Mustafa and his
colleagues have been threatened by
Muslim extremists and intimidated
by Sudans National Intelligence and
Security Services.
Meriam Ibrahim received the
death sentence for apostasy in May
2014 after she refused to renounce
her Christian faith. Despite having
always been a practising Christian,
under sharia law Meriam is viewed as
having been born a Muslim because
her estranged father was a Muslim. She
is now living in the United States and is
launching a campaign against religious
persecution with the aim of supporting
others imprisoned for their faith.

Many Christians have been displaced by violence wreaked by Boko Haram in

Cameroon and Nigeria

Twenty-six Christians die

in Boko Haram attacks
Cameroon

At least 26 Christians were killed by

the Islamist group Boko Haram in
several raids in northern Cameroon
in September.
Seventeen believers were killed in
assaults that took place on Tourou
and Ladamang villages, near the
Nigerian border, on 21 September.
A Christian worker, the son of a
pastor and 15 other Christians were
among 40 civilians who died. Eight
churches have been unable to re-open
for worship at the time of writing, and
displaced believers who escaped the
attack have been sheltering in Mayo
Moskota district, where conditions are
difficult and resources insufficient.
At least nine Christians, among
other civilians, were killed in an
earlier attack in mid-September on
Tourou village and the surrounding

area. One church building was burned

down, two others were looted and five
believers homes were set on fire.
Boko Haram has increasingly
been attacking north Cameroonian
villages as well as towns and villages
in Nigeria, where the group is
predominantly based. It is estimated
that the militants have abducted
over 2,000 people, including boys
and girls, and since January 2014
have killed more than 5,100 people.
Attacks on villages occur almost
every day; 300 villages have been
burned in Taraba State alone. In the
summer of 2014, the terrorist group
declared a caliphate (Islamic state
under sharia law) covering around 25
towns in north-east Nigeria, which
has resulted in the severe persecution
of believers.

Pastor attacked by masked men

Sri Lanka

A Christian pastor has suffered

repeated persecution by Buddhist
extremists. On 7 September, a mob of
approximately 80 people surrounded
the pastors church in Batticaloa
District during a Sunday worship
service. The assailants threatened to
beat up the pastor unless he stopped
the service immediately.
This attack followed an earlier
incident on 31 August in which eight

masked men assaulted the pastor,

his family and another Christian
with nail-studded wooden clubs,
cricket stumps and iron rods as
they returned home from visiting
a Christian neighbour. The pastors
15 year-old son was able to break
away from the attackers and inform
police. The attackers fled when police
arrived; they have not been brought
to justice.

In Brief

Barnabas Aid January/February 2015 9

IS destroy
Armenian
Genocide
memorial church
Syria

Prime Minister
makes freedom
of religion
pledge
Nepal

On 6 October the Prime Minister

of Nepal, Sushil Koirala, pledged
to uphold religious freedom
in the countrys long-awaited
constitution. He made the assurance
when addressing Muslims in the
Hindu-majority country. This is
a particularly welcome move for
Christians as the new constitution,
which is currently under discussion,
contains a proposed anticonversion clause that could limit
their freedom to evangelise.

Holy Martyrs Church before it was

destroyed by IS militants last year
(Ashnag, Wikimedia Commons)
After seizing the city of Deir al-Zour
in mid-September, IS (Islamic State)
militants laid mines around Holy
Martyrs Church and blasted the
important site. The church, which
opened in 1991, marks the trek
made by hundreds of thousands of
Armenians and Assyrians to the city
after they were expelled from their
homes under the Ottoman Empire
a century ago. The remains of many
victims of the genocide were buried in
the church compound.

Progress made
to overturn ban
on non-Hindu
evangelists
India

In a positive move for believers,

the Bilaspur High Court in India
has been persuaded by Christian
organisations to oppose a ban that
prevents non-Hindu missionaries
from entering villages in Bastar
district. Christians in Bastar,
Chhattisgarh state, are currently
prohibited from taking part in nonHindu religious activities following a
resolution passed in May 2014.

Displaced
Christians return
home to find
homes looted

Police raid
homes in search
of religious
literature
UZBEKISTAN

MALI

Believers have begun returning to

their communities in northern Mali
after they were driven from their
homes in 2012 when Islamists took
over the region. Many churches have
been looted and desecrated, and the
cities of Timbuktu and Gao were left
with no churches intact. Properties
and vehicles belonging to Christians
were also damaged.
French troops liberated Malis north
in February 2013 , and civilian rule was
re-established. This has enabled the
displaced Christians, many of whom
had been living in difficult conditions
in Bamako, to make the journey home.

Six Christians
released following
arrest after
worship service
Laos

It can be costly to own religious literature

in Uzbekistan
Christians in Uzbekistan have been
subject to numerous raids by police,
incurring extortionate fines if they
are found to be keeping religious
literature at home. On 5 September,
Artur Alpayev was fined 50 times
the minimum monthly wage in
Uzbekistan for storing religious
literature at his home in Navoi.
Christian literature, including
Bibles, is banned from being stored
anywhere apart from licensed church
buildings and is liable to confiscation
by the authorities.

Six Christians detained after a

worship meeting, including a threeyear-old girl, were freed on 3 October.
It was reported that Pastor Sompong
Supatto, who was arrested with them,
remained in custody, handcuffed and
held in leg stocks.
The believers had been held in
custody since 28 September, when
the Boukham village chief, security
officials and police officers arrived at
Pastor Sompongs home and arrested
the Christians, who were having
lunch following a worship service. A
week before the arrests, officials in
Boukham, which is in Savannakhet
province, had announced that
Christians were no longer allowed to
meet for worship.

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Barnabas Aid January/February 2015 10

Behind the Headlines

Image Source: creationc, freeimages

Court confirms
death sentence

for Christian blasphemy

victim Aasia Bibi

Pakistan

he f ut ure of
Christian mother
Aasia Bibi hangs
in the balance after
the Lahore High
Court rejected her
appeal against the
death sentence for blasphemy on 16
October 2014. Aasia was given 30 days
to appeal the ruling; her lawyers said
they would take her case to Pakistans
Supreme Court.
Aasia has been languishing on death
row, waiting for her original appeal to
be heard, since she was convicted in
November 2010 of making derogatory
remarks about Muhammad. The
appeal hearing was postponed five
times before it finally took place.
Christian lawyers present at the
proceedings reported that the court
appeared to be under pressure from
Islamic extremists who attended the

two prominent
Pakistani politicians
who spoke out on her
behalf were murdered
hearing. Islamists have long been
calling for the death penalty to be
immediately carried out; one Islamic
leader has put a price on Aasias
head, and two prominent Pakistani
politicians who spoke out on her behalf
were murdered in 2011.
Aasia, a farm worker from Punjab,
was falsely accused of blasphemy in
2009. The accusation apparently arose
after a heated discussion with Muslim
women in her village who attacked her
Christian beliefs.

Analysiss

Digging deeper on Pakistans

blasphemy laws
Aasia was convicted under section 295-C of Pakistans penal code, which
prescribes the death penalty (now treated as mandatory) for insulting
Muhammad. This law and section 295-B, which carries a sentence of life
imprisonment for desecrating the Quran, have caused much suffering for
innocent, falsely-accused Christians and others in Muslim-majority Pakistan.
Before the 1980s, blasphemy carried only a two-year sentence, and only
a handful of cases were brought. But since 1986, when section 295-C was
introduced, at least 1335 people have been accused of blasphemy, 187 of them
Christians. Seventeen are currently on death row, including five Christians.
The blasphemy laws have created an atmosphere of extreme vulnerability
among Christians. Although members of all communities are vulnerable to
false accusations made to settle personal scores, as members of a despised
minority Christians are particularly at risk.
Although no-one accused of blasphemy has been executed, 53 accused
people have been extra-judicially murdered since 1997. Even though blasphemy
is not a hudud crime (those that Muslims believe have punishments laid down
by Allah himself), and the Hanafi school of sharia law dominant in Pakistan
prescribes no punishment for a non-Muslim who blasphemes, some extremist
Muslims see it as their duty to kill those who are accused of blasphemy, even
if the courts have cleared them.
Therefore, an accusation of blasphemy can effectively mean a death sentence,
or at best a life-long state of vulnerability, even for those found innocent.
Enraged, violent Muslim mobs may also force whole Christian communities
to flee their homes following an accusation against a believer.
There seems little earthly hope that the blasphemy laws will be made more
lenient in the near future . A 2004 procedural reform stating that no police
officer with a rank lower than superintendent can investigate 295-C cases
is often ignored. Those who oppose the laws in Pakistan are at risk of being
threatened or murdered. And in a disturbing move towards greater severity,
the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) in early 2014 demanded the option of life
imprisonment for those convicted under section 295-C be formally removed.
Although it remains enshrined in law, the option of life imprisonment has not
been implemented since the FSC first demanded its removal in 1991.

...Pull-out

DAWA
The Islamic Strategy for
Reshaping the Modern World

1
an Introduction to Dawa
Patrick Sookhdeo
Over 5,000 Britons are converting to Islam every year. But the impact of Islam in the early 21st
century goes far beyond numbers, for it is visibly permeating societies across the globe, even
those where Muslims are few. It is affecting the attitudes, behaviour, beliefs and even the
vocabulary of non-Muslims as well as the structures of society. Why and how is this happening?
In a series of pull-out supplements based on his latest book, Dawa: The Islamic Strategy for
Reshaping the Modern World, Dr Patrick Sookhdeo explains how Islams original missionary
outreach strategy, dawa, is being applied today across the globe, the Islamist theology and
ideology that undergird it, and the process of worldwide Islamisation.
This first, introductory instalment looks at some features of dawa, its role during the history of
Islam and how it is organised today.

Pull-out

Barnabas Aid January/February 2015 ii

Some
features of
dawa

Dawa based on Quran, hadith

and what Muhammad did

Islam is a missionary religion, and its followers are

required to spread their faith to non-Muslims and
persuade them to convert to Islam. Islamic theology
teaches that all Muslims must engage in Islamic
outreach or mission, known as dawa. The Arabic
term dawa, meaning a call or invitation (to Islam),
is used more than a dozen times in the Quran and
is understood by Muslims as a divine command.
One such verse proclaims:
Invite [all] to the way of thy Lord with
wisdom and beautiful preaching; and
argue with them in ways that are best and
most gracious: for thy Lord knoweth best
who have strayed from His Path and who
receive guidance. (Q 16:125)
Dawa is also based on references in Islams second
most important written source, the hadith, as
well as on the example of Muhammad, which
is normative for Muslims, and on early Islamic
history. Although not traditionally listed amongst
the pillars of Islam (its five compulsory duties),
many Muslim scholars stress that all Muslims must
engage in dawa.

The scope of dawa

One aspect of dawa aims externally at non-Muslims

who are invited to accept Islam as the true and final
religion. A non-Muslim is converted when he/she
recites the Islamic creed (shahada): There is no
god but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger
of Allah. The other aspect of dawa is internal,
targeting Muslims in order to strengthen and revive
their faith and commitment.
While Islamic missionary methods bear some
resemblance to Christian mission, there is an
important difference. Most Christians are happy
to see mission as a two-way process, with each
faith having the freedom to propagate its message.
Muslims, however, see dawa as a one-way street;
only Islam has the right to propagate itself. They
reject Christian mission endeavours and seek to
suppress them and smear them as aggressive,
deceitful and evil.
But dawa is more than just the call to an
individual to accept Islam. It includes the Quranic
principle of commanding of good and forbidding
of wrong, both in Islamic societies and in nonMuslim-majority contexts, as expressed in the verse:

Let there arise out of you a band of people

inviting to all that is good, enjoining what
is right, and forbidding what is wrong; they
are the ones to attain felicity. (Q 3:104)
This key Quranic verse is interpreted as meaning
that the scope of dawa includes not only preaching
the Islamic message but also establishing the rule of
Islam and its law, sharia, thus changing the structures
of society. This duty includes the domination of nonMuslim communities and nations so as to bring
them under command of the good, which is Islam.

The crucial importance

of sharia

An important goal of dawa is the subjugation of

individuals and societies to the rule of sharia. Most
Muslims see sharia as the divine law code that
defines their faith and is their ultimate point of
reference. In Islam there is no separation between
state and religion. Sharia is therefore intended to
govern every aspect of life including personal prayer,
family, politics, economics, crime and punishment,
slavery and war.
Under sharia the individual is subordinated
to the community, non-Muslim communities are
subordinated to the Islamic community and women
are subordinated to men. The concept of individual
rights is subordinated to the concept of duty within
the sharia framework. Human rights, religious
freedom, pluralism and tolerance are all limited
by sharia.
In a 2003 case, the European Court of Human
Rights stated that sharia law is incompatible with the
fundamental principles of democracy as set forth in
the European Convention on Human Rights. Many
aspects of sharia also contradict the principles of
human rights laid down in the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights (UDHR). The UDHR specifies that
all humans are equal before the law while sharia
discriminates against women, non-Muslims and
Muslims accused of heresy. Sharia is designed to
safeguard Islam, Muhammad and the Quran from
any criticism, a principle that effectively stifles
freedom of speech.

The
history of
dawa

Dawa under Muhammad

Muhammad saw Islam as the true religion and

mission of all earlier prophets. He believed that their
call had been limited to their own people but that his
was universal. His mission as the final prophet was
to repeat to the whole world this call and invitation

Pull-out

Barnabas Aid January/February 2015 iii

(dawa) to Allahs true religion of Islam. Muhammad

wrote to various non-Muslim rulers inviting them
to convert. The Byzantine Emperor Heraclius and
the Persian Sassanid Emperor Chosroes were said
to have refused his invitation, which, from a Muslim
point of view, explains why Muslim forces invaded
their lands after Muhammads death.
When Muhammad began
his rule over the first Islamic
state in Medina, new converts
to Islam were incorporated
into the umma (the Islamic
nation; the whole body of
Muslims worldwide). Those
who refused to convert were
treated in different ways
according to their religion.
Jews and Christians who
submitted to Islamic rule but
did not convert to Islam were
treated as conquered peoples
(dhimmis) and allowed to follow their own religions,
but under strict and humiliating conditions. Pagans,
however, were fought and killed, their wives and
children enslaved and their property taken by
the Muslims.

Islamic expansion into sub-Saharan Africa was

enabled by both war and trade. Islam was spread
from North Africa southward to West Africa by
Berber Muslim conquerors and traders moving along
the Sahara caravan routes. Muslim Arab traders and
conquerors arrived by sea from Yemen, Oman and
the Hadramaut on the coasts of East Africa and
spread Islam westwards.
India endured successive
waves of Muslim invasion and
conquest over many centuries.
Turco-Afghan Mongol slave
soldier groups displaced from
Central Asia consolidated
Muslim rule in North India
in intermittent invasions over
a long period. The first largescale invasion was under the
Arab Umayyads in the 7th and
8th centuries. The second wave
of Muslim invasion occurred in
the 11th century when Mahmud of Ghazni (997-1030)
conducted 17 raids in northern India over the course
of his 33-year reign. The Ghaznavids captured Lahore
in 1030 and plundered north India. The third invasion
was by Muhammad Ghuri (died 1206), who led his
first expedition (to Multan and Gujarat) in 1175.
The Ghurids began a systematic conquest of India,
taking Delhi where they founded the Delhi Sultanate
(1206-1526). The fourth wave of Islamic invasion was
by the Turkic-Mongol ruler Timurlane (1336-1405),
who crossed the Indus River in 1398 and marched
toward Delhi, ravaging the country as he went and
massacring many of its Hindu inhabitants. The fifth
wave of Islamic invasion was led by Babur, founder
of the Mughal Empire, and continued under his
successors. Some Hindus were forcibly converted
to Islam following the main battles, while others
gradually converted to Islam through the efforts of
the mystical Sufi orders.

The Islamic state

would issue a call
(dawa) to its nonMuslim neighbours
to submit to Islam

Dawa in early Islamic history

The rashidun caliphs (the first four rulers of the

Muslims after Muhammad) followed Muhammads
example and teaching. The Islamic state would issue a
call (dawa) to its non-Muslim neighbours to submit to
Islam, either by converting to Islam or (if they were of
an eligible religion) by accepting humiliating dhimmi
status. If they refused both options, war (jihad) was
waged against them. Successful jihad then created the
conditions in which conversion to Islam could easily
take place, supported by newly created Islamic state
institutions and unopposed by enemy forces. This
practice was continued under the Umayyad caliphate
(661-750) and the Abbasid caliphate (750-1258).

Dawa in later centuries

Following the great early military conquests

that had opened up huge areas to Islamic dawa,
the dissemination of Islam was often carried
forward by Muslim traders and Sufis (followers of
mystical Islam).
In Central Asia, Sufis were influential in
converting Turkic tribes to Islam. The conversion of
the Mongol conquerors to Islam in the Central Asian
steppes (the Golden Horde) served as a catalyst for
further conversions, as did the Ottoman conquests
of Byzantium in Anatolia and the Balkans. Jihad and
dawa thus continued hand in hand.
Islam was introduced into south-east Asia
mainly by traders and Sufis who engaged in dawa.
In contrast to other regions, where Muslim states
were founded by invading Muslim military elites,
in south-east Asia existing dynasties converted to
Islam, gradually converting the vast majority of the
population to Islam.

The
organisation
of dawa

A personal or communal duty?

Muslim scholars over the centuries have argued about

whether dawa is a communal duty (fard kifaya) or
a personal duty (fard ayn). Some traditional Quran
expositors saw dawa as a communal obligation,
meaning that either the Islamic state or a selected
group of scholarly Muslims undertook to do dawa on
behalf of all Muslims. The late Sheikh Abdul Azeez
ibn Abdullah ibn Baaz, who was Grand Mufti of
Saudi Arabia, argued that the obligation of dawa
is both a collective duty of the Muslim community

Pull-out

Barnabas Aid January/February 2015 iv

and a personal duty of each individual Muslim.

Most contemporary dawa activists stress that it is
a personal duty incumbent on every Muslim.
According to Rashid Rida (1865-1935), the
command to perform dawa implies establishing
a special association of Muslims chosen to be
professional missionaries. These must be suitable
individuals possessing special skills and knowledge
including knowledge of the Quran and sunna. They
must also know the culture, history, geography
and psychology as well as the political and social
affairs, religion and legal system of the non-Muslim
people they aim at converting. Utilising their
profound knowledge of the habits and territory of
non-Muslims, he argued, was the method the early
Muslims had used to conquer other nations.

Institutionalisation

In the early 1970s many conferences were held and

many new organisations created to encourage dawa.
Particularly significant was a conference held in
Mecca in 1975 by the Muslim World League (MWL),
which proposed a total reorganisation of international
dawa activities. As a result, many more institutions
and organisations specialising in dawa were founded.
All over the world there is now an extensive network of
dawa organisations drawn from all streams of Islam,
which is seeking to win converts and to make societies
and states more Islamic. Dawa organisations join
forces to create larger cooperative alliances, supported
by various governments and intergovernmental
Islamic bodies. Funding generally comes from the
oil-rich Arab world and is therefore plentiful.
Especially influential among these organisations
are Saudi-based and Saudi-funded international
umbrella groups such as the Muslim World League
and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
(OIC, formerly the Organisation of the Islamic
Conference). Some of the dawa organisations have
studied the methods of Christian missionaries and
replicated all that seemed effective while adding their
own methods.

The Organisation of Islamic

Cooperation (OIC)

The OIC is a coalition of 57 member states that sees itself

as the collective voice of the Muslim world. It is very
influential in the United Nations and in world politics.

In its summit meetings, the OIC has emphasised

the need to strengthen and systematise the work of
dawa in the world. Amongst its recommendations
has been the establishment of educational and cultural
centres to propagate the Arabic language and Islamic
culture, as part of intensive dawa efforts that use all
modern methods of propagating Islam, appropriately
contextualised for various societies. Another
recommendation was the creation of institutes to train
daees (Islamic missionaries) who would be sent to all
corners of the globe. The OIC has overseen the setting
up of structures that coordinate the many institutions
working in the field of dawa.

National governments

The Islamic concept of non-separation between

religion and state means that governments of Muslimmajority nations see dawa as part of their foreign
policy and are willing to create and finance dawa
organisations and institutions on a large scale, using
their considerable resources and influence. Dawa is
thus part of the way Muslim-majority states relate
to non-Muslim states in their efforts to Islamise the
world. Saudi Arabia for example has spent tens of
billions of dollars on global dawa, funding Islamic
outreach activities, the building of mosques and
Islamic centres, and the distribution of millions
of Qurans and other Muslim literature in many
languages. It also maintains special outreach centres
in Saudi Arabia that work to convert non-Muslim
residents (mainly expatriate workers) to Islam.

Dawa education and training

Many academic dawa institutions have been

founded, as dawa has now become an academic
subject. In addition to formal and institutional
training, many self-help handbooks for the training
of daees have been published. These stress the moral
characteristics necessary for the missionary and
provide instruction on the practical and contextual
skills needed for reaching out to non-Muslims.
To order this book, visit www.barnabasfund.org/shop.
Alternatively, please contact your nearest Barnabas
Fund office (addresses below). Cheques for the UK
should be made payable to Barnabas Books.

Barnabas fund hope and aid for the persecuted church

UK
9 Priory Row, Coventry CV1 5EX
Telephone 024 7623 1923
Fax 024 7683 4718
From outside the UK
Telephone +44 24 7623 1923
Fax +44 24 7683 4718
Email info@barnabasfund.org
Registered Charity Number 1092935
Company Registered in England
Number 4029536

New Zealand
PO Box 27 6018, Manukau City,
Auckland, 2241
Telephone (09) 280 4385 or 0800 008 805
Email office@barnabasfund.org.nz

Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland

PO Box 354, Bangor, BT20 9EQ
Telephone 028 91 455 246
or 07867 854604
Email ireland@barnabasfund.org

Australia
PO Box 3527 Loganholme QLD 4129
Telephone (07) 3806 1076 or
1300 365799
Fax (07) 3806 4076
Email bfaustralia@barnabasfund.org

USA
6731 Curran St, McLean, VA 22101
Telephone (703) 288-1681
or toll-free 1-866-936-2525
Fax (703) 288-1682
Email usa@barnabasaid.org

International Headquarters
The Old Rectory, River Street, Pewsey,
Wiltshire SN9 5DB, UK
Telephone 01672 564938
Fax 01672 565030
From outside UK
Telephone +44 1672 564938
Fax +44 1672 565030
Email info@barnabasfund.org
Scotland
Barnabas Fund Scotland, PO Box 2084,
Livingston, EH54 0EZ
Telephone 07722 484 742
Email scotland@barnabasfund.org

Advocacy

Barnabas Aid January/February 2015 11

Letter-writing
campaign
for persecuted Christians
in the Middle East
What do I say?

Here is a model for you to use as a guide. Your letter will be most
effective, however, if you express your concern for Christians in the
Middle East in your own words.
Dear [your elected representatives name here],
I am writing to you concerning the situation of
persecuted Christians and other minorities in
northern Iraq and in Syria. As Islamists seize territory
and target members of religious minorities, these
Christian communities are facing extinction.
I am asking you to advocate on their behalf.

In the UK,
you can write
to your MP at:
House of Commons
Westminster
London, SW1A 0AA

Please bring this concern before the appropriate department, and

encourage the government to:
intervene actively to protect Christians
and other minorities in Iraq from
ethnic-religious cleansing, persecution
and terror;

he future of the
Church in Iraq is
greatly under threat.
Up to 200,000
Christians were
displaced last
summer by the
Islamist group Islamic State (IS),
which has seized swathes of territory
in northern Iraq. Forced to flee
from IS militants, many Christians
left with nothing but the clothes on
their backs; others were robbed of
their possessions at IS checkpoints.
Homeless, helpless and starving,
Christians in Iraq are facing
potential extinction.
Christians in Syria are also the
targets of violence by Islamist militants.
Church leaders and church buildings
have been particularly targeted, and
many Christians have been displaced
from their homes. For example, IS
controls Hassake, once a main centre
of Christianity in northern Syria. The
group is imposing sharia law and
is committed to extinguishing the
Christian presence in the area.
The UN and many national
governments have condemned what they
describe as the systematic persecution
of Christians. As a part of our Save the
Christians of the Middle East campaign,
Barnabas Fund is asking supporters to
write to their elected representatives to
urge them to intervene on behalf of our
suffering brothers and sisters.

allow Christian refugees into our

country and take active steps to
promote humanitarian asylum and a
positive welcome;

Writing to your elected

representative

support and give humanitarian aid to

Christians in the Middle East and to
provide assistance to those fleeing
as refugees.

Be polite, brief and clear.

Letters are much more effective than
emails.
Urge your representative to advocate
on behalf of suffering Christians in
Iraq and Syria.
Ask them to bring your concerns
before the appropriate governmental
department and to reply to you
telling you what he or she has done.
Please let us know their response.

Please respond to this letter letting me

know what you have done to promote
measures to support persecuted
Christians in the Middle East. Thank
you for your time. I look forward to
hearing from you soon.
Yours sincerely,
[Your name here]

Here are a few tips for writing to your

elected representative:

A displaced Christian family in

northern Iraq

You can find your local MPs details at the following website:
www.parliament.uk/get-involved/contact-your-mp/contacting-your-mp

Please remember to submit your

Save the Christians of the Middle
East petition forms by 30 April
2015. Forms can be ordered from
your nearest Barnabas office or
downloaded from
www.barnabasfund.org/MEpetition.

Peshawar church
bombing
survivors...
This is the floor where one of the bombers detonated his bomb

Tragedy struck the congregation of All

Saints Church in Peshawar, Pakistan,
on 22 September 2013, when Pakistani
Taliban suicide bombers blew
themselves up in the churchs courtyard,
killing at least 96 Christians and
injuring hundreds more.
Soon after, Barnabas Fund began helping
50 to 60 affected Christian families. How
are they now, 16 months later?

Project Update

I can continue my
education

[Before the bombing] I had no

worries about my daily expenses
because my parents were doing
everything for me, said Adrees,
who lost both parents that day.
After their martyrdom, I was
worried, but God blessed me
through Barnabas Fund, which
made a big difference in my life.
Barnabas Fund established a
grocery store for me. The business
is running very well, the teenager
added. He now lives with his aunt
and has continued his education.

He knows my pain and He

answers my prayers

I have a strong faith in Jesus,

because He said, I will not leave
you as orphans; I will come to you
(John 14:18), explained Christina.
This verse encouraged me that
the Lord is always with me.
Christinas husband was
martyred and her four-year-old
daughter Mehak injured on 22
September. Barnabas Fund paid
for Mehaks school fees and
for tailoring items, which are
providing an income for Christina
and her three young children.

Barnabas Aid January/February 2015 13

You are like angels who

helped Peshawar
victims a lot

[In the months after] when

there was no job and I was
bed-bound, it was difficult to
pay my childrens school fees,
remembered Jonathan, who was
severely injured. The help from
Barnabas Fund was a blessing to
continue my childrens education.
They are getting over the loss they
experienced last year.
Psalm 91 encouraged me in
all my difficulties, Jonathan
said. I am back on my job now.
We are doing well.

We are meeting
our daily needs

Psalm 23 encouraged me

We are doing well. I am not

working because my wife Khalida
is still bedridden, said Sajad. At
the time of the attack his wife was
eight months pregnant. Tragically,
the ball bearings that the bombs
were packed with hit Khalida and
killed her unborn baby boy. Soon
after, Sajad lost his job because
he had to stay at home to take
care of his wife. An operation on
Khalidas legs in July 2014 has
made a difference, although more
treatment is needed.
Sajad said that during the
familys trials, he has been
encouraged by the words of Psalm
23. Thank you for the help,
he added. Barnabas Fund paid
for his daughters school fees,
uniform, books and bag.

God never lets

His people down

Thanks to God and the help of

Barnabas Fund, I could start a
beauty parlour and earn my daily
bread, said 19-year-old Mehvish,
who lost her mother. As their
father had died years earlier,
Mehvish and her four siblings were
orphaned. She added, It was very
sad and we felt that everything
from our lives was gone.
But now after a year with the
help and prayers of believers we
are living a normal life. I am doing
good business. I can also pay the
school fees of my younger brother
and sister. They are doing well in
their classes.

Even if our worldly provider is

no longer with us, our spiritual
Provider is always with us, said
Shakeela. Besides losing her
husband, Shakeela was injured by
ball bearings from the bombs that
lodged into her legs, leaving her
unable to work.
Barnabas Fund paid for her
four childrens college and school
fees that year and included the
family in its feeding programme.
Shakeela added, Our faith was
strengthened because tests are a
part of life, and God never lets His
people down.

Barnabas Aid January/February 2015 14

Grace upon Grace

The Lord is doing

amazing things in the lives of
persecuted Christians, despite
the difficulties they face. Here are
just a few of the ways in which
He has blessed our brothers
and sisters recently.

An amazing outpouring of support

for Iraqi Christians

Thanks to our supporters, Barnabas can make sure Iraqi Christians are not left out in the cold
In June last year, Barnabas Fund
reported that Christians were
being forced to flee Mosul, Iraq,
by Islamic State militants who had
seized the city. As the plight of our
displaced brothers and sisters in Iraq
intensified, we stepped in to provide
them with urgent practical support.
In order to make this possible we
reached out to you, our supporters,
for the funds we needed.
By the grace of God, your
generous response enabled us to
send over 1,305,000 (1,640,000;
US$2,043,000) between June and
December 2014 to help Christians
in Iraq.
Thank you so much to all who
have given for reaching out to our
brothers and sisters at their time of
desperate need. Barnabas has used
your donations to provide thousands
of Iraqi Christians with food parcels,
water, hygiene kits, blankets,
mattresses, warm clothes and heaters.
You made it possible for us to commit
confidently to looking after 20,000
needy Iraqi Christians between
November and February, the four
coldest months of winter.
Thanks to your open-hearted
giving, we are also purchasing a
camp of state of-the-art British
army tents that were no longer
required in Afghanistan. They are
being transported to Dohuk, in Iraqi
Kurdistan, to create a village where
approximately 1,000 displaced
Christians will be sheltered in
safety, warmth and comfort. It will

be called Sawra village, from the

Assyrian word for hope.
One Iraqi Christian man, who
underwent a terrifying flight
with his family from their home in
Mosul, said:
We were in a very hard condition
when we arrived with children,
elderly and women The aid we
received from Barnabas Fund was a
great help and support to us to meet
our basic needs.
And Araas Yaqoub, another
displaced Iraqi Christian, told a
Barnabas partner organisation in
Iraq, The help we received had a
great impact to ease our suffering
after we left our house in the
Nineveh plain.
With your continued help and
Gods help, we will continue to assist
our Iraqi brothers and sisters with
their ongoing needs in 2105.

We are providing accommodation

for displaced Christians in state-of-theart tents

Grace

Barnabas Aid January/February 2015 15

Abducted, forcibly married and converted

to Islam but clinging to the cross
Zeba Masihs story is one of
unshakeable faith in the face of
intense pressure. Zeba, a 15-year-old
Pakistani Christian, was abducted two
years ago from outside her school by
radical Muslim men from her village.
Like hundreds of other non-Muslim
girls in Pakistan each year, she was

She bravely took

them to court and
made a public
stand for her faith
forcibly converted to Islam and
married to her captor against her will.
By the grace of God, Zeba was able
to escape from her captors. Even as
her abductors threatened Zeba and her
family, she bravely took them to court
and made a public stand for her faith.
I didnt want to be a Muslim,
Zeba told the BBC. I like my religion.
But I didnt know if I could still

Christian women and girls in Pakistan are at risk of abduction, forced conversion to
Islam and forced marriage
be a Christian. My uncle told me
that if I said in court that I had not
converted willingly, then I could stay
a Christian. And so, even though it
can be very difficult for Christians in
Pakistan to obtain justice, Zeba stood
up for her faith in court.
This was a very brave stand to
take. The captured daughters of
non-Muslim families in Pakistan are
often forced to say that they converted
willingly, out of fear for their safety
and that of their families.

Life has not been easy for Zeba

since her court appearance. Because
of the threats against her family, she
has been forced to go into hiding in
her sisters village. There is no school
there, so her days are filled with
chores instead.
But despite all she has gone
through, Zeba finds comfort in
reading her Bible. Her steadfast
faith and God-given strength in the
face of a horrifying ordeal are truly
inspirational.

Blessings making headlines

Were giving thanks that
Four of the around 270 mainly
Christian schoolgirls kidnapped
in Chibok, Nigeria by Islamist
militants managed to escape
a Boko Haram camp in
Cameroon. The girls, who were
helped to escape by a fellow
prisoner, walked west for three
weeks before finally arriving
exhausted and traumatised but safe
in a village in Nigeria.
At least seven Christian villages in
Iraq were freed from Islamic
State militants in September.
The villages, which are located
north-east of the city of Mosul, were
liberated following a push by Iraqi
and Kurdish forces.

Indonesias new president is a

political outsider known for his
tolerance. Joko Widodo, who was
inaugurated in October 2014, has
previously appointed and worked
with Christian politicians. His
election has been welcomed by
the countrys believers.

The Prime Minister of Nepal has

promised that religious freedom
will be protected in the countrys
long-debated new constitution.
Sushil Koirala made the assurance
during a speech in October 2014,
helping to assuage fears that a
proposed anti-conversion clause
could lead to increased oppression.

The kidnapping of around 270 schoolgirls in Nigeria caused an international outcry

Suffering
and its
Blessings J
Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him
(Job 13:15)

Rev. Ian McNaughton

Chairman of the Board of
Barnabas Fund UK

ob was a godly man with a godly way of life; he

feared God and shunned evil (1:8b) and like
Noah, he had found grace in the eyes of the Lord
(Gen. 6:8), and through the process of his trials
he was helped with the doctrine of God and the
difficult problem of human suffering.

Life is hard for everyone, but Gods people need always to

remember that they live in a fallen world and that suffering
is part of the fallen order in the universe. It is a reality just as
much as are love and joy. It was not so in the Garden of Eden,
but it is so now and will continue to be so until this present
order is ended and the new order begun (Rom. 8:20-23).

Biblical Reflection
...
Gods plan

Suffering is intended to bring us to God through Jesus Christ

and to connect us through repentance and faith into a prayer
life with God. Perhaps this is why so many of Christ Jesus
greatest saints have suffered more than most. This is not cruel,
as some would contend, but mercy and grace calculated to deal
with the problems of indwelling sin, i.e. pride, stubbornness,
foolishness, hardness of heart, etc.
Through his trials and pains, Job found what the renewed inner
man longs for: a clearer view of God and deeper fellowship
with Him. Believers often ask God to draw them closer to
Him, or to humble them (not recommended), or to take them
deeper in the Christian life, only to complain when He does
so! Job now knows what he could not have known except in
the furnace of sufferings, I have heard of You by the hearing
of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself,
and repent in dust and ashes (Job 42:5-6). Jobs religious
experience reminds the people of God that God intends them
to move on with Him and not remain as babes in Christ
(Eph. 4:15). The finite minds of men are not able to understand
all the ways of God. However, believing in the greatness and
goodness of God led to a greater spiritual awareness for Job.
This was a major solution to Jobs anger and lack of inner
peace, and it continued the work of sanctification in his life.
It is only the Christian who can really know what is going on
through suffering. Suffering is not useless, but rather it is the
indication of the love of Christ to us (Heb. 12:5-6).

The sufferings of Christ

Was Job experiencing the fellowship of Christs sufferings?

This is a truth spoken about in the New Testament; For as
the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also
abounds through Christ (2 Cor.1:5). This suffering is ordained
because of the believers mystical union with Jesus Christ (Eph.
1:3, 4, 6). To suffer on behalf of Christ is to share in reproach,
rejection, hostility, hatred, martyrdom for His sake. Christians
can and do suffer reproach today, simply because they are in
Christ. Thus believers are to look to Christ for sanctification as
well as for justification. Suffering is part of Gods plan for His
people, and their mystical union with Christ makes it inevitable.

Suffering for Gods glory

Suffering is something Gods people are to be happy about!

This is counter-intuitive; however, Peter makes this plain:
Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial
which is to try you but rejoice to the extent that you partake
of Christs sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may
also be glad with exceeding joy (1 Peter 4:12-13).
All that the people of God go through, put up with and endure
on earth comes to them in fellowship with their Saviour and
is to be a matter of joyfulness. C. H. Spurgeon says, Trials
do not come by chance (1 Peter 1:6-7). Trials are sent because
God judges them necessary (James 1:2). Trials are weighed out
with discretion and are given by cautious wisdom. Trials is
a beautiful name for affliction. These fiery trials work for
our good, being much more precious than gold, and through
them God is refining and perfecting His people in order that
they will bring Him praise, honour, and glory at the revelation
of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:7).

Barnabas Aid January/February 2015 17

Suffering and comfort

Christian suffering never comes alone, as it is always

accompanied by the comforts of Christ (2 Cor. 1:3-5). Our
Lord Jesus Christs suffering preceded His glorification, and
so it will be in the life of the children of God. The servant is not
greater than his Master. Burdens are made lighter when Gods
children accept His help, co-operate in their sanctification
and let the peace of God fill their souls. The children of God
are called to trust in the living God no matter what they go

The children of God are

called to trust in the living
God no matter what they go
through or why they suffer
through or why they suffer. Trust in Him at all times, you
people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for
us. (Ps. 62:8). This has always been the best advice. Trusting
God sometimes is common; trusting him most times is often
achieved; but trusting God at all times is the victory that can
be ours through Jesus.

The big why?

When it comes to suffering there are some things we just do

not understand, so perhaps to ask the question, Why me? is
the most common response. Surely, it would be better to ask,
What now? Perhaps things have changed, and we must take
stock. To ask, What now? breaks the cycle of anger, depression
and self-pity that Job felt. What now? ushers in new hope and
shifts our focus from ourselves to God and what He is up to in
our lives. This approach to our sufferings will help Gods people
persevere to the end and not turn back (Lam. 3:22-23).

Beside Still Waters, ed. R.H. Clarke, (Thomas Nelson, 1999), p.337.
Scripture references taken from the New King James Version.

Ian McNaughtons new book Opening Up Job

looks in more detail at Jobs spiritual journey
through tragic bereavement and illness. It helps us
to find answers to the questions he wrestled with
and the questions many of us wrestle with today:
Why do bad things happen to good people? Why
me? Can suffering serve any good purpose?
For more details, turn to the back cover of
this magazine.

...

In Touch

Barnabas Aid January/February 2015 18

An apple a day for

Barnabas Fund
Barnabas Fund received a very encouraging letter
on behalf of the members of St Marys Church in
Nottingham, UK. The church members were able to
raise a total of 588.57 ($940.64; 752.63) for displaced
Christians in northern Iraq by holding an unusual
event on 20 September 2014.
Judy Andrews, a member at St Marys, chose to
organise an apple-themed party at the church. Guests
took part in various activities such as guessing the
weight of an apple, naming all the varieties of apples
and guessing how many apples were in a large basket. A
number of delicious apple dishes were served including
chutneys, jams, cakes, pies and flapjacks. A table was
set up with information from Barnabas Fund about the
situation in Iraq, and the church was opened for prayer.
Barnabas Fund would like to thank everyone
involved on behalf of our persecuted
brothers and sisters. Thank you for your
time, prayers and donations. They
are greatly appreciated.

The harvest was plentiful

to help persecuted
Barnabas Fund supporters are hungry
gelical Church,
Evan
don
Swin
Christians, as members of
er fundraiser
Supp
vest
Har
a
UK, showed when they held
the Middle East.
for our suffering brothers and sisters in
e, with a
The evening was themed around the caus
facing Gods
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presentation and quiz abou
for the dinner;
ge
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people in the region. Ther
abas
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instead donations were requ
Middle East Fund.
22.25
Barnabas Fund received a cheque for 3,0
h will
whic
ch,
chur
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($4,829.92; 3,863.92), from
s in the
stian
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ed
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be used to provide aid for
ately
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ide
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Middle East. This amount
stian
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disp
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88 monthly food parcels
d are grateful
families in Iraq. We here at Barnabas Fun
who
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to all those at Swindon Evan
ey for the
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invested their time and effor
.
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persecuted Church in the

Scores of people
signed Barnabas
Funds solidarity wa
ll

Showing solidarity:
Barnabas Fund at
Christian Resources
Exhibition in Manchester
We would like to say a big thank you to all who signed
our solidarity wall at the Christian Resources Exhibition
in Manchester. Those who signed our Save the
Christians of the Middle East petition were invited to
sign the wall also, which shows the painted Arabic letter
noon (equivalent to N), in solidarity with persecuted
Christians across the Middle East. Noon is the mark
that Islamic State militants painted on Christian homes
that they planned to seize in Iraq; it stands for Nisrani
(in English, Nazarene i.e. Christian).

Changing circumstances?
There is certainly a lot to do if you are moving house,
retiring or changing your name. But if your circumstances
change, please do keep us in the loop. Whether your
personal details have changed, or you no longer pay enough
tax for your donations to qualify under the Gift Aid scheme,
we would love to hear from you. It is a legal requirement for
you to inform the charities to which you donate if you no
longer pay sufficient tax to cover your gifts.

est Supper
o served the Harv
wh
ch
ur
Ch
al
lic
ge
indon Evan
Volunteers from Sw

YES, I WOULD LIKE TO HELP THE PERSECUTED CHURCH

Title................ Full Name......................................................................................................

www.barnabasfund.org
0800 587 4006

Address..................................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................................................
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MAG 01/15

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Other..........................................*(give reference number of project to be supported)

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A direct debit can be set up either by completing the form below, by
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....................................
(amount in words) .....................................................................................

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account (Sort Code: 20-26-46) Account Number: 50133299

or issue date

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Please start on 7th/11th/15th/21st of ........................................(month) and

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Please fill in the whole form using a ball point pen and send it to:
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(Please tick all boxes you wish to apply)
this gift and if applicable
in the past 4 years
in the future
I confirm I have paid or will pay an amount of Income Tax and/or Capital Gains
Tax for each tax year (6 April to 5 April) that is at least equal to the amount of
tax that all the charities or Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs) that
I donate to will reclaim on my gifts for that tax year. I understand that other
taxes such as VAT and Council Tax do not qualify. I understand the charity will
reclaim 25p of tax on every 1 that I give.

Signature................................................................ Date .......................................

Please inform us if you want to cancel this declaration, change your name or home address
or no longer pay sufficient tax on your income and/or capital gains. If you pay Income Tax at
the higher or additional rate and want to receive the additional tax relief due to you, you must
include all your Gift Aid donations on your Self-Assessment tax return or ask HM Revenue
and Customs to adjust your tax code.

ALTERNATIVE GIFT CARD

If you would like to make a donation as an alternative gift for a

friend or relative, we can supply you with an attractive Thank you
card, which you can send to the person for whom you have made
A the donation. Please fill in the details as you would like them to
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*If the project chosen is sufficiently funded, we reserve the right to use designated gifts
either for another project of a similar type or for another project in the same country.
Registered Charity number 1092935 Company registered in England number 4029536

from........................................................................................
This gift will assist Christians who are persecuted for their faith.
With many thanks on behalf of the persecuted Church
Tick here if you do not want the amount to be stated on
the card
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included on the card

Please return this form to Barnabas Fund at your national office or to the UK office. Addresses
are on the inside front cover. Barnabas Fund will not give your address, telephone number
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Fund. Phone 0800 587 4006 or visit our website at www.barnabasfund.org to make a
donation by Direct Debit, credit or debit card. From outside UK phone +44 1672 565031.

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If you have a special occasion coming up and would like to ask your
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giving you a gift, you could pass on to them the details in this section

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This Guarantee is offered by all Banks and Building Societies that accept instructions to pay Direct Debits. If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your
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Opening Up Job
Ian McNaughton
Why do bad things happen to good people? Why me?
Can suffering serve any good purpose?
These are real questions that many wrestle with today
and that Job wrestled with thousands of years ago.
The Book of Job is a historical biography of Job, a
blameless and upright man, one justified by faith in the
sight of God.
As it traces his spiritual journey through tragic
bereavement and illness, it helps us find solutions to
these and other hot potato questions and shows us that
sickness and suffering are not always inevitably linked
to personal sin.

5.50
(includes

P&P)

ISBN: 9781846254383
No. of pages: 176
Paperback
RRP: 7.00

Gifts to bless each day

through 2015

7.00
(includes

P&P)

My Devotional
Journal

Heroes of
Our Faith

Patrick Sookhdeo

Patrick Sookhdeo

My Devotional Journal
will encourage your own
spiritual walk, while
journeying with Christians,
suffering for their faith
in Jesus Christ and yet
experiencing the joy of
remaining faithful to Him.

Begin the new year

spending time each day
in the company of these
great heroes of our faith
and allow God to touch
your life, as He touched
and transformed theirs
for His glory.

ISBN: 9780982521823
No. of pages: 96
Hardback
RRP: 7.99

ISBN: 9780982521892
No. of pages: 386
Hardback
RRP: 11.99

11.99

To order these books, visit

www.barnabasfund.org/shop. Alternatively,
please contact your nearest Barnabas Fund office
(addresses on inside front cover). Cheques for the
UK should be made payable to Barnabas Books.

barnabasfund.org

(includes

P&P)