Blythswood, Missions

Blythswood Update Dec 5th 2017

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Blythswood – December Update 1

Talita Kum

Talita Kum has the full support of the school and town mayor. Local teachers volunteer their time to help. Talita Kum has made basic improvements to the housing of some of the poorest families, benefiting the children and their parents.

We now have a charity shop in Jimbolia which is very successful. The profits from the shop go towards the costs of running the after-school club with the aim of making it self-sufficient in time.

Daniel Centre

Since 2000, the Daniel Centre, near Cluj-Napoca in Romania, has offered a home to almost 100 abandoned young men.

Young people leaving state care often end up living on the streets.  Growing up, they receive very little education or training in life skills and struggle to find work and somewhere to live. 

Up to 18 young men can be accommodated in a Christian environment, learning to cook, wash and iron their clothes, to keep their rooms clean and tidy and to help with jobs around the Centre. They then progress to semi- independent living in on-site apartments. 

Those who have achieved independence still regard the Daniel Centre as home, knowing that there is always an open door.

Barnabas, Missions

Barnabas Update Dec 5th 2017

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Myanmar – December Update 1

Christians hope Pope will speak for them

 

November 27, 2017 By World Watch Monitor 

 

The Pope landed in Myanmar today to start his six-day visit to Southeast Asia.

 

Among those welcoming him were more than 7,000 ethnic Kachin from northern Myanmar.

 

The predominantly Christian Kachin, together with the Karen ethnic minority, live along the country’s borders and have faced years of government oppression.

 

Myanmar’s Catholic Cardinal Bo said that the “Rohingya situation is a great tragedy but at least 66 churches in Kachin state have been destroyed since the conflict reignited in 2011.”

 

AP journalist Julhas Alam writes that “Christianity is viewed by many as a colonial belief after the country was ruled by the British for a century until its independence in 1948”.

 

A human rights activist adds that Myanmar has seen a “rise of religious intolerance, which has come from within society, although there’s evidence that elements of the military-backed political parties are also involved in this.”

Blythswood, Missions

Blythswood Update 22nd Nov 2017

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Blythswood – November Update 2

Talita Kum

Please continue to pray for the children at Talita Kum as they progress in their new term.  The impact of these months of constant contact for the children with Romanian Christians cannot be over-estimated.

Pray for the two Blythswood Banat charity shops in south west Romania.  Pray that this work would continue to make a valuable contribution towards the costs of Talita Kum.

Daniel Centre

Pray for this year’s new boys at the Daniel Centre as they settle in.

Pray that they settle in well and have a good time with over over the coming months.

Barnabas, Missions

Barnabas Update 22nd Nov 2017

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Barnabas Fund – November Update 2

Despite the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and her winning a parliamentary seat in April 2012, little has changed for Burma’s Christians. The military continues to pursue its agenda of intimidation, violence, rape and trafficking against ethnic minority groups, many of whom are majority Christian.

 

Aung San Suu Kyi has been coming under worldwide pressure in relation to the Muslims Rohingya and this has continued to dominate the news from Burma.  But in other ethnic minority regions the Burmese military has continued to intimidate and harass pastors and Christian workers, disrupt worship services and destroy churches.

 

Barnabas Fund assists with projects that help Christians in Burma (Myanmar), including:

  •  
  • Bible distribution,
  • support for orphans,
  • widows and refugees,

the construction of churches and Christian schools.

Jacksons, Missions

Jacksons Update 22nd Nov 2017

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Jacksons – November Update 2

 

There was great rejoicing at Fraser’s first meeting with some of the NetAct people last week and thanks to God for a dream come true. He also has important meetings with the NetAct webmaster, with the College IT man and with the rector and dean of theology.  Please pray that these meetings will be productive

 

Thank God that we found a suitable little car in Cape Town on Monday.  We were flabbergasted at the efficiency of the SA police when getting proof of address before we could buy the car. It took a matter of minutes and didn’t cost a thing!

 

Another member of staff is currently living in the house where we’ll stay more permanently. He had hoped to move out weeks ago, but officialdom is not co-operating – a little frustrating for all of us. Please pray that we’ll all be able to settle in our respective houses as soon as possible.  

 

This area’s suffering its worst drought in decades, so please pray with us for some rain.

 

We shall probably settle in St George’s Presbyterian church. They do outreach work with Somalis near Cape Town and I see areas I could get involved in.

Jacksons, Missions

Jackson’s Update 7th Nov 2017

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Jacksons – November Update 1

 

Our little flat in Wellington, near Cape Town, is basic but well equipped and comfortable and our welcome has been very warm and caring.  Many people connected to NetAct and the college see our coming as an answer to prayer. May nothing thwart God’s purposes for us here. 

 

It was incredibly difficult to leave Ruth in England. The early days are always the worst so pray for all of us involved, and recovery for Ruth with her health issues.

 

Fraser sees more of his past experiences becoming relevant to his work with NetAct.

 

We have found a friendly church with a good mixture of colours and ages and are now looking for a reliable, economical car before the rand rises against the pound.

 

Some news from Nigeria: The young woman who did InReach and whose Muslim friends became believers, feels threatened in her village. She hasn’t been able to see her friends or the imam who’d been doing InReach.  She feels she’s being watched and being told to keep away from them. Pray for safety for them all (including Paul, the InReach leader), and the assurance that nothing is worth giving up the joy and salvation they’ve found in Christ.

Blythswood, Missions

Blythswood Update 7th Nov 2017

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Blythswood – November Update 1

 

Talita Kum

 

Two years ago, Flore was enrolled in Talita Kum.  She proved to be one of the most challenging children the staff had ever encountered.  “Flore was a little wild at first,” says Flavia, one of Talita Kum’s social workers.  “But now she has made more progress than any other child at Talita Kum.”

 

She will now sit quietly and do her maths homework by herself.  Skilled teachers are helping her to read both Romanian and, the language of her family, Hungarian.  She has successfully completed the first two years at school and is now in grade three.  She has also learned how to socialise, and the other children accept her well.

 

 

Daniel Centre

 

The Life Transformer programme is up and running, offering supporters the opportunity to make a commitment to partner with Blythswood Care for at least a year in giving a regular amount.  Donors will follow the story of Adrian, a young man at Daniel Centre, through regular updates.

 

A group of 9 folk from the UK took part in the Charity Challenge Trek to the 4600 metre Machu Picchu in Peru in October to raise funds for Blythswood Care.  The £15,000 raised will be split between Talita Kum and Daniel Centre.

Barnabas, Missions

Barnabas Update 7th Nov 2017

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Two Pastors in Burma Sentenced to Prison 

October 29, 2017 YANGON, Burma (Morning Star News)

Two pastors arrested by the Myanmar army last December were sentenced to prison on Oct. 27 on false charges of unlawful association, defaming the military and spying.

 

Pastor Dom Dawng Nawng Latt, 65, received a prison term of 4 years and 3 months, and La Jaw Gam Hseng, 35, received 2 years and 3 months.

 

The pastors, members of the Kachin Baptist Convention, were charged for alleged connections with an ethnic armed group, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO. They deny the charges, which colleagues say are baseless.

 

A spokesman for the Kachin Baptist Convention said there is no evidence that the two pastors work for the KIO. “If they were to help an armed group, that is a different story.”

 

The U.S. Embassy in Yangon has raised concern over the legal action against the two Christian leaders.  The Human Rights Watch group has called for their immediate release.

Blythswood, Missions

Blythswood Update 18th Oct 2017

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Blythswood – October Update 2

 

Talita Kum

 

Continue to pray for the Romanian believers who work each week with the children now enrolled in Blythswood’s after-school programme for children from low-income homes.  They may well be the only Christians that these young people meet during their school years.

 

Pray that relationships will be formed in Talita Kum that the children will look back on and remember with love and gratitude, relationships that may extend into their adult years for the glory of God.

 

 

Daniel Centre

 

Continue to pray also for the Romanian believers who work with the young men who are currently part of the Daniel Centre.  This kind of work is costly, requiring a commitment and dedication to model the true life of Christ on a daily basis.

 

Pray for the young men who pass through the Centre that their adult lives will make an increasing impact on the Romania of the future.

Jacksons, Missions

Jackson’s Update 18th Oct 2017

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Jacksons – October Update 2

 

We received our visas for South Africa on Saturday, so have booked flights to Cape Town for the 1st of November. Suddenly it all seems real!

 

Thank God for the way he continues to use InReach to change lives and attitudes in Nigeria.  Paul, a church youth leader in Jos went through InReach then started up a group some distance away, covering his own transport costs.  

 

One of the participants started to text Dawn’s colleague Toby in Jos with thoughtful questions arising from her experience of InReach. Two of her friends went through InReach with her. They were Muslim but in the 5th week of the course they accepted Christ and are now attending church regularly.

 

Pray for these two women, for Paul, the groups he runs and the witness his life is being, and for the imam who has been asking questions and meeting with Paul every week