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

Barnabas Update – November 6th 2019

by Robert MacNaughton

Christians flee “soft ethnic cleansing” in Syria

4 November 2019

Pro-Turkish forces are reportedly carrying out a “soft ethnic cleansing” of Christians in north-east Syria by terrorising them into fleeing, despite assurances from Turkey’s President Erdogan that his forces would not persecute religious minorities.

Syrian armed groups allied with Turkey are preventing Christians from accessing their land during the current cotton harvest.

“We were told, ‘We have orders not to physically touch the Christians but know that you have no land here anymore’,” said Ishak of the Syrian Democratic Council.

He said the armed groups are “repeating what they did in Afrin”, referring to the Turkish invasion in 2018, backed by Syrian rebels and Islamist extremists. “In Afrin, they took the harvest of the Kurds who lived there and now they are doing it to the Christians.  The Christians then ask why should they stay and live under the Islamists.” said Ishak.

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

Jacksons Update – November 6th 2019

by Robert MacNaughton

We need new ideas and resources to offer honest jobs to recently released prisoners so that they won’t return to crime when they’re out as they find it difficult to get work.

Edward, released in August, has no employment but has registered as a bricklayer, is helping others voluntarily and is trusting God to make things happen in the right time.

Marius in maximum is challenged to know how to deal with four “brothers” who try to outdo each other in speaking in tongues. Others in his room who had followed Christ are distancing themselves as a result of the four’s behaviour.

Howard in maximum wants to learn to apply God’s word more deeply to his life.  Though he left the prison gang some time ago, he is finding that some gang members in his room are interested in the way he now lives.

One man in Stellenbosch had his Jordan trainers stolen while he was in hospital.  The Bible classes have helped him forgive the unknown perpetrators.

The last NetACT training session now looks as if it will be the first week of December.  Pray for Fraser as he puts together funding proposals to help some of the smaller colleges with IT infrastructure next year.

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

Blythswood Update – October 17th 2019

by Robert MacNaughton

Daniel Centre

Most of the residents at the Daniel Centre have various issues to cope with in their lives, which creates major challenges for the staff.

They are encouraged, however, by the changes that do take place in most of these young men over the years that they spend there.

Florin’s mental issues are more severe than the staff first realised when he joined the Centre this summer.  Gabi, on the other hand, is more educated than most of the other lads and is writing a novel.  He is generally a quieter and more positive influence on the Centre.

The Christianity Explored course continues to have an encouraging attendance with a core group of regular attenders.  

Talita Kum

The major problem facing the Talita Kum projects stems from government inertia which delays the release of EU funds which are necessary for the ongoing running of Talita 1 and Talita 2.

The missing consultant for the Talita Kum 3 and 4 project has now re-appeared as mysteriously as she first disappeared, and they hope to be ready to claim their first tranche of EU funding for this new project by November 20th.

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

Barnabas Update – October 17th 2019

by Robert MacNaughton

Christian family murdered in Burkina Faso

Barnabas Fund, 1 October 2019

An elderly Christian man and four of his sons were killed in one of five murderous attacks that took place in little more than a week in northern Burkina Faso, where Islamist extremists have already struck against Christian targets at least seven times this year.

A total of 41 people were killed in Bam Province, beginning on 21 September, where assaults on three villages left nine dead. Around 20 gunmen, aged between 17 and 25, roared into the villages on motorcycles.

On 23 September a further nine people died, including the Christian father and his four sons.

Barnabas Fund is providing food, healthcare and trauma counselling for Christian women and children who fled attacks in Burkina Faso earlier this year.

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

Jacksons Update – October 17th 2019

by Robert MacNaughton

We held our nerve in the Bible study in Stellenbosch Prison and continued to work through the Gospels. Now more men are attending and saying they want to follow Jesus.

Into day 2 of the Restorative Justice course at Drakenstein prison, barriers were being overcome and strongholds brought down.  

Faiek in Maximum, sentenced to 23 years, is struggling with the thought of his many years behind bars.  He is now in a “Brothers” (Christian) room where he’s finding some support but is greatly exercised over the divisions and stresses in the family he has left outside.

Derryk in medium is still struggling with depression but felt his burden lift after people prayed for him.   He is concerned that his two children (31 and 18) are no longer responding to his phone calls.

Fraser had a good meeting with the NetACT staff last week.  There is enough money left in the budget for a ‘catch-up’ training session here in Wellington for those who were unable to attend the regional training, but Fraser has to arrange it all.

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

Blythswood Update – October 3rd 2019

by Robert MacNaughton

Daniel Centre

The new resident Florin is currently in hospital to set up treatment for his mental issues.  Another new resident Alin has found work at a petrol station along with 3 former Daniel Centre residents.

Ionuz now has the keys, but not yet the contract, for his new apartment.  He is struggling in his nursing course because of having had an epileptic seizure in one of his lectures.

The young couple, the first Daniel Centre resident and his wife to have got a mortgage on a home, are now moving out of their temporary stay in the Centre into their new home.

The Christianity Explored course has started for past and current residents with an encouraging attendance of a dozen at the weekly Sunday sessions.

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

Barnabas Update – October 3rd 2019

by Robert MacNaughton

Persecuted turns persecutor in Bangladesh

Barnabas Fund, 24 September 2019

A tiny group of Christians amongst the 750,000 mainly-Muslim Rohingya people, who fled genocide at the hands of the Myanmar Army as refugees, are now doubly persecuted from Muslims within refugee camps in Bangladesh.

Already belonging to what some have called the “most persecuted people on earth”, the small community of Rohingya believers are now subjected to anti-Christian violence from extremist Muslim Rohingya in the camps in Cox’s Bazaar district.

In May 2019, a group of 17 families living in simple shacks were violently attacked on at least three consecutive nights by a Muslim mob of several hundred men armed with knives, swords, iron rods, stones and catapults.

No security personnel attempted to protect the Christians and there has been no investigation into the attacks.

The rise in persecution against Rohingya Christians follows on from calls by Rohingya Muslims for the Bangladeshi government to expel Christians from the camps.

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

Jacksons Update – October 3rd 2019

by Robert MacNaughton

The fourth NetACT regional workshop took place in Nigeria last week.  and went well, despite Fraser’s absence (he and the other South Africans couldn’t get visas for it).  Dr Peter Gichiri, senior librarian from St Paul’s University in Kenya with a doctorate in digital repositories, did the training. 

Fraser was able to make videos of their presentations available on YouTube for the attendees to download.

Pray for the prisoners with whom Dawn is doing Bible studies at Drakenstein and Stellenbosch prisons and for the day-to-day running of restorative justice ministries.

Now that librarians from most of the partner colleges have been trained, pray that Fraser will find a cost-effective way for a final ‘catch-all’ training session for all who didn’t make it to the regional workshops.

Pray for more people to answer the call to bring restorative justice and a deeper knowledge of God into the nation’s correctional centres.

The latest RJ course began on Monday in Drakenstein prison. Pray for protection over our families and that God will be glorified through changed lives.

Barnabas, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions

Barnabas Update – December 5th 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

An Iraqi television network has uncovered the fact that least 350 homes of Christians who fled the country have been occupied or seized, particularly around the northern city of Mosul.

Properties have been transferred under false names and sold on. Many Christian properties had already been seized by Islamic State terrorists when they overran Mosul and the Nineveh Plains in 2014.

The Iraqi government is now rebuilding and restoring churches destroyed and damaged during the group’s three-year occupation of Mosul – around 40 churches were damaged and 15 destroyed – but even if Christians brave enough to return have a place to worship, many no longer have a home to go back to.

Jacksons, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions

Jacksons Update – December 5th 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

Ruth is now safely with us in Wellington.

Pray for wisdom for Dawn and Maxwell from Hope Prison Ministry as they try to support Brian, who has now been released from prison, without him becoming too dependent on them. 

Give thanks that Fraser has found solutions for several small snagging issues with the Portal. Pray for insight into the problems that remain and for opportunity to establish a forum for help and advice with people working in similar situations. 

Scheduled power cuts are expected to last into the new year and Fraser cannot get work done without the internet when the power is off.  We are grateful for having had over a year of uninterrupted electricity. 

Pray for peace of mind, security and safety on the roads.