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.

Missions, The Persecuted Church Across the World

Egypt: 7 dead as Coptic pilgrims targeted – November 7th 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

World Watch Monitor, November 2, 2018

At least seven people have been killed and 14 injured in another attack on Coptic Christians in Egypt.

The attack reportedly took place at almost exactly the same location as the May 2017 attack by Islamist militants which left 28 dead. This latest attack again targeted a bus full of Copts heading back from St. Samuel’s monastery in Minya.  Local contacts confirmed that two church-owned buses were targeted – one big, one small.

“The driver of the big bus managed to escape the scene and no-one in that bus got hurt. The second, smaller bus, did not manage to escape. The terrorists stopped the bus and opened fire on the passengers,” said a priest in Minya.  

The injured have been taken to different hospitals in the area.

Hanaa Youssef Mikhael, who lost her husband in the 2017 bus attack, said: “I am very sad about what happened. And I am startled: How is it possible that this happened again?”

“Why were they not protected?” asked Emad Nasif, a deacon in a church in Minya. “There seems to be an indifference to the safety of the Christian minority.”

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.

Missions, The Persecuted Church Across the World

Christians in Indonesia Sing Praises – October 19th 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

Open Doors, 11 October 2018

 As our workers walked through a village in Indonesia, surrounded by the rubble and destruction left behind by the recent earthquake, they could hear voices singing ‘Hallelujah’.  Coming round the corner they found a group of believers, under a tent, singing their praises to God.

 It’s incredible to see the faith of our brothers and sisters in Indonesia, even in the most difficult circumstances. The toll of dead and missing following the earthquake and tsunami now approaches 5,000, and thousands more are homeless.

On top of that, Christians are facing discrimination because of their faith as aid is distributed.

 One of the Open Doors workers shared that, when military tents and other relief aid were sent to the Muslim victims of Petobo, only a small amount of instant noodles were given to the Christians of a neighbouring village. The worker says that such discrimination is widespread.

 And yet, our brothers and sisters still choose to sing ‘Hallelujah’.

Missions, The Persecuted Church Across the World

Iran “threatened by rampant growth of Christianity” – October 19th 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

Morning Star News, October 12, 2018

Rights groups learned last week that two Christians in Iran have been sentenced to prison.

Saheb Fadaei, already serving a 10-year prison sentence in Tehran, and Fatimeh Bakherti, both converts from Islam, were sentenced to 18 months and 12 months respectively for “spreading propaganda against the regime,” a common charge, according to Miles Windsor of Middle East Concern (MEC).

“It is essentially used along with charges such as ‘acting against national security’ as a broad charge against Christians,” Windsor said. “And it will relate to innocent activities as members of a house church.”

The verdict, which is being appealed, stated that house church discussions of Christian doctrine regarding the ascendancy of Christ and the ultimate authority of the Bible were interpreted as attacks on Islam.

Such a statement reveals the true religious-based motives behind the arrests, Windsor said.

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.

Blythswood, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions

Blythswood Update – October 19th 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

Talita Kum

The time is fast approaching for the many shoe-boxes prepared by a multitude of volunteers for Blythswood to be distributed to families in countries like Romania.

 Children who attend Talita Kum for school-day meals, showers and educational help will probably belong to families who will shortly receive these shoe-boxes.

 Some of these children will also have attended summer camps.

 Pray that the combined impact of these different factors will have a lasting, positive and powerful influence on the lives of both the children and their parents

 

Daniel Centre

Continue to pray for Balazs Csiszer and his team at the Daniel Centre, refurbished over the summer by the Go Relief team from Northern and Southern Ireland.

 Pray that the young men in the Centre will go on to become a positive and formative Christian influence in the Romania of the future.

Missions, The Persecuted Church Across the World

Christians in Sudan Arrested during Worship – October 19th 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

Morning Star News, October 17, 2018

Security officials in Sudan last week arrested 13 Christians during a worship service in the Darfur Region.

Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) gave no reason for arresting the Christians, except to say that they were all converts from Islam.  Authorities are targeting Christian converts from Islam in Darfur.

One source said that “the Christians gathered as one body of Christ from different denominations.”

NISS, widely regarded as an agency staffed by hard-line Islamists, may hold people in detention for up to four and a half months without charges.

Sudan since 2012 has expelled foreign Christians and bulldozed church buildings. Besides raiding Christian bookstores and arresting Christians, authorities threatened to kill South Sudanese Christians who do not leave or cooperate with them in their effort to find other Christians.

Due to its treatment of Christians and other human rights violations, Sudan has been designated a Country of Particular Concern by the U.S. State Department since 1999.

Sudan ranked fourth on Open Doors’ 2018 World Watch List of countries where Christians face most persecution.

Barnabas, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions

Barnabas Update – October 1st 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

Home Office stance on Syrian Christian refugees

Barnabas Fund, 25 September 2018

The Home Office may be responding to calls to recognise the plight of Syrian Christian refugees.

After a Barnabas Fund Freedom of Information request, the Home Office revealed that in the second quarter of 2018, ten Syrian Christians were resettled in the UK, an improving situation compared to last year, when only eleven Syrian Christians were resettled for the whole of 2017.

In the first quarter of 2018, the UN recommended 1,358 Syrian refugees for resettlement in the UK – only four were Christians.  The Home Office refused all the Christians.

Christians constituted around 10% of Syria’s pre-war population and have been singled out for attack by jihadist rebel groups. Christians still make up less than 1% of the Syrian nationals resettled in the UK to date.

Missions, The Persecuted Church Across the World

27 Nigerian Christians Drown in Fulani Attack – October 1st 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

World Watch Monitor, September 26, 2018

Around 30 people have died following attacks by Fulani militants on five predominantly Christian communities in northeast Nigeria.

Between September 13 and 16, the villages of Gon, Bolki, Ndumusu, Yotti and Yanga were under attack by Fulani militants who pillaged, murdered, chased, kidnapped, and burned down the houses of villagers.

3,000 homes were destroyed last December after fighter jets, sent by the Nigerian Air Force, allegedly fired rockets at villages where Fulani herdsmen were attacking Christians.

In the current attack, 27 people had been confirmed dead.  When residents heard gunshots, many fled into the bush or the river. Many who fled to the river drowned because they could not swim.