Blythswood, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions, Whats On

Blythswood Update – March 4th 2020

by Robert MacNaughton

Daniel Centre

Balazs is meeting with a retired Christian investment banker to discuss the funding to refurbish a large depot they have owned for 20 years.  Once funding was in place, it would take them about a year to be up and running and ready for potential renters.

Alix is apprehensive about leaving the Daniel Centre and needs a nudge out of the nest.  Florin has lost his job at Carrefour and has no concern for fire prevention measures – he probably needs to be sent away from the Daniel Centre for a week or two as a wake-up call.  Istvan has been moved to the meat department at Carrefour and is doing well.

 Talita Kum

Adrian Poppa is now in position for a meeting with the authorities to discuss documentation and technical plans for TK3 and TK4.  The EU funding line which was refused in December (because salary projections for staff were too low) is possibly being re-opened by the authorities. 

It is possible that the Talita Kum salaries are set too low and therefore hampering the recruitment of qualified teachers.

A Nokia representative who was at one of their recent quiz nights has offered to supply them with second-hand laptops and perhaps extend this offer to the Blythswood work in Serbia as well.

Barnabas, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions, Whats On

Barnabas Update – March 4th 2020

by Robert MacNaughton

Forcing Christian converts to declare their faith

Barnabas Fund, 24 February 2020

Christian converts from Islam no longer have the choice of keeping their faith secret in Iran after the “other religions” option was removed from the application form for ID cards.

The choices available to new applicants are only the four religions recognised under the Iranian constitution: Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Zoroastrianism.

The new rule reflects the strategy of harassing Christian converts from Islam and pressurising them to emigrate – Muslim-born converts to Christianity now have to reveal they are Christian or lie about their faith.

The ID cards, which are compulsory for every citizen aged 15 and above, are a necessary part of daily life in Iran and are required to access basic government services or to make bank transactions. The holder’s religion is then easily accessed by the state’s computer network.

Converts are frequently arrested and then released to drive them to leave the country, meaning that many leaders of convert groups have little Biblical education.”

The removal of the “other religions” option marginalises other religious groups including Bahais and Hindus.

Jacksons, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions, Whats On

Jacksons Update – March 4th 2020

by Robert MacNaughton

Fraser has completed the setup for the library catalogue for Namibia Evangelical Theological Seminary, and the USB has now arrived safely in Namibia.  The new Hugenote College Good Citizenship course (mentioned in the last  update) is now complete and the new online Theology Degree is gathering steam.  Some IT systems at Hugenote College are less than satisfactory and Fraser needs wisdom as he determines how much effort he should invest in them.

It’s hard to resist siren voices of a past life when not in prison – to men inside it sometimes seems impossible.  Cecil in Medium committed his life to Christ about 18 months ago but is sliding back into behaviour he’d broken from months ago.  His old gangster cellmates indulgently say they knew it was just a phase. He worries that he didn’t count the cost beforehand and the way is harder than he expected.  God is shaking Cecil up and not letting him back to his old ways.

Another man in Medium is an active believer, changed from the person he was when a murder conviction brought him to prison. The victim’s family have forgiven him and wish him well; he knows God forgives him but is frequently haunted by the memory of what he did nearly 20 years ago.

Blythswood, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions, Whats On

Blythswood Update – February 18th 2020

by Robert MacNaughton

Daniel Centre

Balazs is hoping to have Blythswood funding to refurbish a large depot they have owned for 20 years.  When this work is complete, they will be able to rent out sections of the refurbished depot to businesses.  This will give them sustainable income for their various Romanian projects.

Gaby is still not back but his younger brother, a regular church attender, should be joining the Daniel Centre towards the end of March.  Alix needs to earn and save enough to be able to get a mortgage for himself before moving out.  His attitude is problematical for the other young men.  Florin has quit his job at Carrefour but Istvan and Ciprian seem to be hanging in there.

Talita Kum

EU funding has now been released for TK3 and TK4 with a second tranche to come. 

A flu epidemic has been raging in Romania and many of the pupils who attend TK1 and TK2 have not been well enough to come.  They are still critically short of teachers.

Fortnightly English quizzes that Talita Kum runs for the public have been doing well and bring in around £500 per time.

Barnabas, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions, Whats On

Barnabas Update – February 18th 2020

by Robert MacNaughton

Five million people march in Nigeria

Barnabas Fund, 10 February 2020

Five million people took part in protest marches across Nigeria on Sunday 2 February against the murder of Pastor Lawn Andimi by Boko Haram.

The peaceful demonstrations, organised by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) as the final event of a three-day fast, took place in 28 of the country’s 36 states.

CAN president Samson Ayokunle said, “Though we have protested before, this event took a new dimension … With one voice we said ‘no’ to killings, ‘no’ to security negligence, and ‘no’ to the persecution of Christians in Nigeria. It is a wake-up call to the government.”

Pastor Andimi, a local chairman of CAN in Adamawa State, was murdered by Boko Haram on 20 January, after being kidnapped on 2 January.

Jacksons, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions, Whats On

Jacksons Update – February 18th 2020

by Robert MacNaughton

Fraser is marrying up the normal Hugenote registration process with a free online course on good citizenship and also creating an offline library system for Namibia Evangelical Theological Seminary.

None of the NetACT partner representatives has passed on the received training yet, being too low in their college hierarchies to organise training sessions for other staff.

NetACT is exploring setting up an online theological journal to allow scholars in Africa to be published without paying western journal prices. 

As Dawn went into Drakenstein prison today there were TV cameras and new banners commemorating thirty years since Nelson Mandela walked out of the gates. The “rainbow nation” hasn’t lived up to the hope that day brought.

Some of the prisoners revealed their experiences today, but self-discipline and perseverance are hard.

Hope Prison Ministry’s new Boland Field Director, Chantelle, was appointed after much prayer and many months’ deliberation. Pray that she will remember she felt called to the role as the enormity of the task hits home.

Blythswood, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions, Whats On

Blythswood Update – February 5th 2020

by Robert MacNaughton

Daniel Centre

Balazs has been having negatives and positives with the lads in the Daniel Centre.

On the negative side, Gaby, who had joined the Centre recently, has left in disappointment after verbal conflicts with another resident Alix.  Since Alix has worked well and saved enough money to soon move on, however, Gaby may well return after Alix’s departure.

On the positive side, Florin has been able to hold down a job for the first time and has been excited about stacking shelves at the local supermarket.  István has also been excited about lasting an afternoon at washing dishes in a local restaurant.  He now hopes to join Florin at the supermarket.

Talita Kum

Blythswood Romania have been helping Blythswood Serbia to develop a Christianity Explored course for Serbia and were encouraged by their visit to Talita Kum last month for this reason, and also to see how Talita Kum currently deal with primary school children in the hope that they will be able to develop their similar but embryonic programme in Serbia.

Barnabas, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions, Whats On

Barnabas Update – February 5th 2020

by Robert MacNaughton

“Lord, forgive our persecutors” say Rohingyas

Barnabas Fund, 28 January 2020

There have been multiple attacks by Rohingya Muslim mobs on the Rohingya Christian community in Cox’s Bazar refugee camp, Bangladesh, thought to be a backlash in the wake of a UN rapporteur’s raising of specific concerns over anti-Christian persecution in the camp.

An extremist mob, in gangs of at least 100, swarmed into the vulnerable Christian community on 27 January, four days after the expert’s report was released.

One individual went missing in the onslaught and is presumed dead at the time of writing.

The Muslim mobs ransacked the community’s church and looted and destroyed the Christians’ houses.

Camp security forces reportedly turned on the Christians, rather than protecting them, and confiscated mobile phones containing evidence of the attacks.

A Rohingya Christian leader posted a prayer for the attackers on Facebook. “O Lord please forgive our persecutors,” he said, recalling the stoning of Stephen.

This now doubly-persecuted group of a few hundred Rohingya Christians live among 750,000 mainly-Muslim Rohingya who fled their homeland to escape genocide at the hands of the Myanmar Army.  The formerly persecuted Rohingya Muslim refugees have now turned persecutors. 

Jacksons, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions, Whats On

Jacksons Update – February 5th 2020

by Robert MacNaughton

Edward (released from Drakenstein in August) didn’t get a promised job but still trusts God and wants to honour him.

Stephen’s children have been removed from their neglectful and alcohol abusing mother and his sister, with a much more stable home, has now been granted full custody.

In sharp contrast, Sylvester, released only in January, was returned to prison this week for tying up and raping two women in a hostel despite being been seen as trustworthy while in Drakenstein.  Dawn was encouraged to hear the disgust and disappointment amongst the men about his behaviour. He will likely never be released again.

More women need to press charges to make men face the consequences of their sexual violence.

Hugenote college has been welcoming new students. One of the students was so proud last year to have had his highest exam mark ever – 30% – showing that some of the students have not had a great start in life but are trying. The college sees its role as a mission to walk with such students through education and into a job. The college survives by faith and Fraser is endeavouring to provide good support and ideas for its IT and distance learning systems.

Blythswood, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions, Whats On

Blythswood Update – January 22nd 2020

by Robert MacNaughton

Daniel Centre

 Balazs was not at the Daniel Centre in this week, but down at Talita Kum in Jimbolia.  Two Blythswood partners had come over from Serbia to see what they could learn from Adrian Poppa’s work at Talita Kum, and Balazs was there as part of the discussions. 

 There was nothing new to report from the Daniel Centre this month, but I was able to have some time with the four gentlemen in Jimbolia.

 Talita Kum

The Blythswood partners from Serbia currently deal with a dozen primary school children on a daily basis and were encouraged to see the set-up at Talita Kum.

 Talita Kum 1 has 48 children each day and Talita Kum 2 has 33.  They are still short of teachers and could use 4 new ones immediately as a lot of the homework assistance is on a one-to-one basis with Special Needs children.

 There have been past funding issues with the local government, and though these are being gradually addressed, the delay in new funding being released is having a negative impact on finding new teachers. 

Adrian is confident that lessons have been learned and that EU funding for TK3 and TK4 will be on a more secure basis.  They hope to be working  with 15 students in Talita Kum 3 and 10 students in Talita Kum 4 by December 2021.