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.

Blythswood, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions

Blythswood Update – December 05th 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

Blythswood – December Update 1  

Talita Kum & Daniel Centre

Thank God for all those who have put together and checked the shoeboxes for this year’s appeal for Eastern Europe.

Thank God for all those involved in the logistical work of getting those boxes over to the target countries.

Thank God for all those who will be involved within the target countries in selecting the families who should receive the boxes and in making sure that they get to the designated families safely.

Pray that those who receive the boxes will not simply be touched materially but also touched deep within their spirits.

Barnabas, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions

Barnabas Update – November 20th 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

Algerian authorities seal village church

Barnabas Fund, 13 November 2018

Authorities in the village of Azaghar, south-east of Algiers, sealed a church building in October, falsely claiming that it failed to comply with health and safety regulations.

It was sealed despite the 300-strong congregation installing fire exits and fire extinguishers in response to an earlier request. The church has a powerful ministry to local Muslims.

In practice, authorities have typically allowed churches registered with official religious organisations and even non-registered Christian groups to meet without needing specific permission. However, some churches have been closed in 2018, for alleged breaches of health and safety, or because authorities claim they are not properly registered.

The church in Azaghar is thought to be the fourth Christian place of worship shut down in 2018.

Jacksons, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions

Jacksons Update – November 20th 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

Dawn has finished studies on “Forgiveness” and “Doing no harm to others” at Drakenstein prison. Pray that men will hear and apply what God is saying to them.

 Pray for humility, a realistic godly outlook and good communication in the leaders of the prison ministry, that decisions will be made in a timely fashion, and that many inmates and prison staff will be impacted for eternity.

 Hugenote have appointed a staff member responsible for their e-learning system and library catalogue to work closely with Fraser.  Pray for good working relations.

The NetACT server has been delivered and installed.  Fraser is now transferring his platforms on to it.  A few more tests to be performed and then “live” testing!

Blythswood, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions

Blythswood Update – November 20th 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

Talita Kum & Daniel Centre

The British Humanist Association recently urged people not to continue supporting the group Samaritans Purse in the UK which, like Blythswood, send shoe-boxes to various countries in Eastern Europe, because Christian literature is distributed with the boxes.

It is sad to see increasingly aggressive secular humanist attempts to deprive children in those countries of food for the spirit as well as material help delivered through these shoe-boxes.

Thank God for the wonderful efforts of the Samaritan’s Purse and Blythswood each year to see children and parents transformed by shoe-boxes of love.

Pray that these efforts will not be deflected by what is essentially mean-minded materialism.

Barnabas, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions

Barnabas Update – November 7th 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

Turkey arrests another foreign church worker

Barnabas Fund, 30 October 2018

David Byle, who has lived for the past 18 years in Turkey, was arrested on 13 October during a routine ID check at an Ankara train station. After interrogation David was released the next day but ordered to leave the country within 15 days by Turkish officials. It is not yet known if David has left Turkey.

Over a period of eleven years, this is the fourth time that David has been arrested. The first occasion was in 2007 when police accused him of “missionary activity, disturbing the police, and insulting Islam”. The charges were dropped, but he was arrested again in 2009 and 2016.

Protestant Christians in Turkey report a rise in recent years in hate crimes and hate speech. Other Christians have suffered though incidents such as the confiscation of many church-owned properties.  In February 2018, the European parliament expressed serious concern about the lack of freedom of religion in Turkey “including the increased discrimination against Christians and other religious minorities”.

Jacksons, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions

Jacksons Update – November 7th 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

The South African gangs outside and inside the prisons try to control body, mind and spirit and there is literally no escape from gang influence 24/7.  Pray for new prisoners who don’t want to get involved and that correctional officers already in the pay of the gangs will be removed.

A church in Wellington is to have a “Drugs and Crime Awareness Film Festival” in December, for both young people and their parents, with a large pool of reformed offenders to draw upon for testimonies and insight.  Pray.

Gus, a gang leader in Wellington, is starting to be convicted by the Holy Spirit.  Maxwell and Ashley, ex-drug dealers and gangsters, with lives completely turned around by Jesus, have visited Gus (Maxwell was once his gang leader).  Gus can’t deny the change that Jesus has made in their lives, so pray. There hasn’t been a shooting in Wellington since we started praying about the gang situation two weeks ago.

 Brian is worried that his son Dylan is getting entangled with gangs in Stellenbosch. Brian is keen to lead a godly life when released in a few weeks but is worried about how to react if gangs hurt his son.  Pray for wisdom.

Barnabas, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions

Barnabas Update – October 19th 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

One Scotland’s “hate crime” posters

Barnabas Fund, 9 October 2018

Barnabas Fund called on the Scottish police to withdraw billboard posters launched by One Scotland on 26 September targeting “hate crime”; the posters appear to incite religious prejudice.

On 7 October the Sunday Times reported Barnabas Fund’s criticism of the campaign as a form of “state-sponsored hatred” that unfairly accuses people of religious faith.

A One Scotland poster reads: “Dear Bigots, you can’t spread your religious hatred here. End of sermon. Yours, Scotland.”

Using the word “sermon” seems to target religious groups including Christians, Jews and Muslims. Even the lettering used in one poster reinforces this association, being very similar to well-known typefaces used in some historic Bible imprints.

Barnabas had received complaints from Christians that the posters, “single out religious believers and call them out as ‘bigots’ without any real qualification”.

Barnabas Fund has never before felt it necessary to make a formal complaint of this kind in the UK. This form of state-sponsored prejudice is something that Barnabas is more used to encountering in countries where Christians are marginalised and persecuted minorities.

Jacksons, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions

Jacksons Update – October 19th 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

Fraser attended a two-day conference in Cape Town last week, getting practical ideas on how to make the NetACT portal mobile-friendly since many students have smartphones rather than PCs.  He may also be allowed to attend an “in-house” conference at Stellenbosch University later this month if the university accept his ‘visitor’ status as equivalent to staff.

 This past week Dawn was to go to Pollsmoor prison on Tuesday and Wednesday for a training course on the Victim/Offender dialogue.

 During the last few weeks, Stellenbosch University played host to the Director of the Barnabas Fund and members of the Oxford Centre for Religion and Public Life who are very interested in what NetACT is doing.  They are keen to collaborate with us on the current project of producing a book on public theology in Africa.