Barnabas Aid November/December 2008

BARNABAS AID NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2008

India: anti-Christian violence flares again in OrissaMuslim population growth in Europe: what of the future?Ethiopian famine: food aid for our brothers and sisters

november/december 2008

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18 In Touch From Kazakhstan

12TestimonyA former Hamas activist speaks of his new faith in Christ

11MartyrsFive Christians who gave their life for Jesus this year

8 NewsroomMore mob violence targets Christians in India

Immanuel – God with us. This precious Name sums up the heart of the Christmas message, when God Himself came down to earth as a human being to live among us. Deity clothed itself in human flesh and lived out, before our eyes, divine love and compassion.

But when the Lord Jesus healed a man with a shrivelled hand on the Sabbath, His compassionate action was not welcomed by the Pharisees and the Herodians; they walked out of the synagogue and began to plot how to kill him (Mark 3:1-6). The religious and the political combined in their hatred for Jesus. Jesus too was angry – angry with the legalistic and merciless attitude of those who did not want him to restore the man’s hand – and distressed at their stubborn hearts.

Islam acknowledges the virgin birth of

Jesus or, as He is called in the Qur’an, Isa.

But Isa, revered though he is by Muslims,

is considered a mere prophet and healer.

Muslims are angry at any suggestion of His

divinity, which to them is blasphemy. Isa is

not Immanuel. He is not God incarnate.

Anger against Immanuel led to the death

of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. As

Stephen was about to die he saw heaven

opened and Jesus waiting for him. When

Saul, who had been involved in the stoning

of Stephen, had the blinding vision which

led to his conversion, Jesus asked, “Saul,

Saul, why do you persecute me?”

The death of Stephen was an act of

persecution against Stephen’s Master,

Jesus. And Jesus continues to be

persecuted in His people today. Just as

the religious coupled with the political

combined to kill Jesus, so, in many

contexts around the world today, the

religious combines with the political to continue to kill Jesus as His followers are persecuted and martyred. Religious extremism allied to political nationalism makes a deadly enemy of the Christian Church.

Having celebrated Immanuel’s birth on 25 December, many Christians move on the next day to remember the cost of following Him. For 26 December is traditionally a day to commemorate the martyrdom of Stephen. Even as we remember Jesus this Christmas time, and celebrate His incarnation and the coming of Immanuel, let us remember the price He paid and that His Church still pays today.

Dr Patrick Sookhdeo International Director

Turn to pages 8-10 to read news of the persecuted Church, and to page 11 to read about some martyrs of 2008.

FROM THE DIRECTOR

Immanuel

These are the pages where we bring you news of some of Barnabas Fund’s recent grants to help

Christians suffering because of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are so grateful for the generous giving

of Barnabas Fund supporters, which enables us to send this aid to our brothers and sisters in their time

of need. Thank you, and please pray as you read.

The Karen people of Burma (Myanmar), who include many Christians, are severely persecuted by the military junta.

The army attacks their mountain villages, shooting the inhabitants as they run for their lives, or capturing them to work as slaves. The army may then burn the village or plant landmines around the homes and the dead bodies to kill anyone who tries to return. Many of those who flee to the surrounding jungle die there, from disease or snake-bites.

A grant of £2,439 (US$4,268; €3,073) provided 1,700 blankets for Karen people hiding in the jungle, without shelter. The cost per blanket was £1.44 (US$2.50; €1.80).

n Project reference 00-345 (Victims of Violence Fund)

Project newsTo guard the safety of Christians in hostile environments, names have often been changed or omitted. Thank you for your understanding.

Front cover: Lydia was widowed when her husband, a pastor, was killed in anti-Christian violence in Orissa, India. Turn to page 8 to read more. Barnabas Fund is helping the victims (project reference 21-723).

Contents

Burma: blankets in the jungle

Blankets to be distributed to Karen people hiding in the jungle after persecution by the Burmese army. Bibles in the Karen language were also distributed

Barnabas Fund is continuing to provide significant amounts of aid to help Christians affected by Cyclone Nargis in May 2008. (See Barnabas Aid, September/October 2008, page 3.) A September 2008 newsletter is available by email or hard copy from your national office.

n Project reference 75-745

Burma: Cyclone Victims

�ProjectsFood, blankets, houses, Scriptures, TV testimonies

At

the time of

writing 37,545

have signed our

Save Iraqi

Christians

petition

6 FocusFamine in Ethiopia: helping our brothers and sisters

Information Pull-OutThe implications of Muslim population growth in Europe

14Campaign Update Making a difference for Iraqi Christian refugees

AdvocacyWrite a letter to help David Shestakov in Uzbekistan

15ResourcesBooks, DVDs and other materials for you and your church

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The areas worst affected by the current famine include many of the Muslim-majority areas of Ethiopia. In these parts Christians are a vulnerable minority, who could be neglected in general aid distribution. Barnabas Fund is therefore helping through feeding schemes, working with local Christian organisations to take food to some of the affected areas, including where anti-Christian violence has recently occurred.

In one project, Barnabas Fund assists with providing direct food aid, including grains and oil, to 200 families. Additionally we have sent money to fund a community programme run by a local church, providing them with teff (a traditional food plant in Ethiopia), salt, onions, beans and spices. Another project provides 1,200 people with basic staple foods such as wheat and oil, covering needs for about two months.


Barnabas Fund is helping

Anti-Christian violence is increasing. In 2007 several churches and Christian homes were set on fire or bombed, and church leaders and other Christian full-time workers were attacked and beaten by Muslim extremists. In February 2008 a Christian couple, who had both converted recently from Islam, were beaten during a meeting with Muslim leaders in Addis Ababa when they refused to deny Christ. The following month Muslim extremists attacked two churches in the village of Nensebo Chebi in the Oromiya region during Sunday worship. One man was killed and several people had their hands or arms severed as they tried to protect their necks from the machetes of their attackers.

Ethiopian famineFocus Focus

Drought, poor harvest and large increases in food prices have left millions of people in five East African countries in desperate need of emergency food aid. While the famine is also threatening the surrounding countries Somalia, Kenya, Djibouti and Uganda, Ethiopia finds itself at the epicentre of this impending catastrophe. The United Nations estimates that about 4.6 million Ethiopians are affected, and around 75,000 children are at immediate risk of starvation as rains failed earlier this year, leading to one of the worst drought in years. Fears of another famine like the one that struck the country in 1984-85 and killed around a million people are emerging; also, many Ethiopians are still recovering from the last crisis in 2003 when about 13.2 million Ethiopians were dependent on foreign food aid.

Helping our Christian brothers and sisters

Ethiopia has considered itself a Christian country since the fourth century, and in recent centuries has been very conscious of its position as an “island” of Christianity surrounded by a “sea” of Islam. In fact, the percentage of the population calling themselves Christian is now only about 60% with Muslims estimated at anything from 32% to 45%.

The increasing influence of Islam, especially of Saudi-funded Wahhabi extremism, is very noticeable. Many

new mosques and Muslim schools are

being built, even in remote villages.

Because of the government’s policy of

regional administration, it is easy for

Muslims to gain local political power.

Foreign Islamists from countries such as

Afghanistan and Somalia have come to

Ethiopia to spread anti-Christian teaching

and to discourage Ethiopian Muslims

from having any contact with Christians.

This is challenging the relatively

harmonious Christian-Muslim relations,

which existed in Ethiopia not so long ago.

Baptising new believers in Ethiopia

These two Ethiopian Christians, Dereba, a student aged 20, and Noru, a farmer and father of seven children, were severely injured when Muslims attacked their churches during Sunday service on 2 March 2008

Grain has become especially important as droughts this year have once again led to a poor harvest in hunger-stricken Ethiopia

Food is being unloaded from trucks to help feed those affected by the famine in Ethiopia

Facts and figures: • Ethiopia is one of the

poorest countries in the world, ranking among the bottom 10 in the 2007/2008 Human Development Index.

• 78% of its population lives on less than $2 a day, with 23% living on less than $1 a day.

• Nearly half the population is under 14 years old, and life expectancy is at about 49 years.

• The infant mortality rate is about 10%. Poor agricultural practices, the uncertain status of Ethiopia’s main export product coffee, frequent droughts, wars with neighbouring countries and internal conflicts all contribute to the struggles of this country.

Children receive their much-needed food in one of the churches that Barnabas Fund supports

Areas worst affected by the famine include many Muslim-majority areas

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High death-toll after new outbreak of anti-Christian violence in Orissa, IndiaOnly eight months after the large-scale Christmas attacks on the Christian community in Orissa State, India, renewed mob violence led to the death of at least 20 Christians, though other estimates are as high as 70 Christians killed, many of them burned alive. Tens of thousands of Christians had to flee their homes and many were severely injured as Hindu activists started attacking Christians, churches and Christian homes after the assassination of Hindu leader Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his associates on 23 August.

Saraswati, who was a senior figure in the nationalist VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad), had called for India to become a Hindu nation, and strongly opposed the conversion of Hindus to Christianity. While the police and state officials blamed the attack on suspected Maoist rebels, who allegedly admitted responsibility one week after the start of the anti-Christian attacks, the VHP and its allies claimed that

This house, which belonged to a Christian, was torched by Hindu extremists

Ratification of new constitution puts harsh end to religious freedom in the Maldives

Most people think of the Maldives as a beautiful holiday destination. Yet since August, it has become one of the world’s worst places in terms of religious freedom

Christians were responsible and called a protest that rapidly escalated into violence.

In numerous attacks happening over several weeks, Hindu activists demolished scores of church buildings and destroyed hundreds of Christian homes. Other Christian institutions, including schools, offices and prayer houses, were vandalised, looted or burned. Buses and other vehicles were torched. Many Christians were attacked, especially in rural areas where mobs attacked whole villages. Church leaders were beaten up and women raped, and thousands of believers had to flee into the jungle for safety, without food or protection from the monsoon rains. A paralysed man in another village was unable to escape from a fire and was burned to death. A pastor was killed and his body cut in pieces.

Reports from the area commented on the lack of effective intervention from the state government. Curfews were imposed, but not consistently enforced. Additional protection was provided in the towns, but not in the countryside. Christian

schools, which closed in a nationwide protest on 29 August, even earned the criticism of the Minister for Primary and Secondary Education in Karnataka State for closing without getting permission from the government. He directed his officials to take action against the schools that took part in the protest.

At the time of writing violence and attacks are still ongoing and the number of missing people and refugees continues to rise. While the situation seemed to calm down in urban areas by the first week of September, assaults on Christians and Christian homes and churches continued in the more remote areas of Orissa.

Barnabas Fund is assisting the victims of the Orissa violence.


Orissa Christians seeking to escape from the violence in a relief camp

On 7 August Maldives president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom ratified a new constitution that will bring key democratic reforms to the country, including a bill of rights and freedoms and provisions for independent commissions over the elections period.

However, the constitution also states that “a non-Muslim may not become a citizen of the Maldives” and that “no law contrary to any tenet of Islam shall be enacted in the Maldives”. As a consequence of this clause, around 3,000 Maldivians will lose their citizenship, and it will also affect anyone who converts from Islam. While they are allowed to stay in the country and work, they will be stripped of citizen rights such as freedom of speech, freedom of movement and habeas

corpus. The Maldives’ previous constitution required individuals to be Muslims only in order to vote in elections.

Persecution of Christians in the Maldives is not a new phenomenon. In one incident in 1998 the government cracked down on Christians, both Maldivian and foreign, and expelled several foreign Christians from the country. Maldivian nationals who were suspected of being Christian believers or sympathetic to Christianity were arrested and interrogated. Fifteen Maldivian women, Christians and friends of Christians, were detained at a political prison on Dhoonidhoo, a small island close to the capital Male. This happened after a young boy betrayed his mother, who was a Christian, to the authorities, also identifying those who were in touch

with her. The boy had been encouraged at school to mention anyone he knew whose belief was different from the government’s teachings.

At least 17 injured in Muslim attack against Setia Bible College in Jakarta, IndonesiaStudents and staff of Setia Bible College in Jakarta, Indonesia, had to evacuate the college on Sunday 27 July following two nights of disturbances by hundreds of armed Muslim protestors. At least 17 Christians were injured.

The attacks were triggered by a seemingly harmless incident. Two students at the Bible college, Junius Kily and Jony Gontho, were returning to their dormitory on the Friday evening when they saw a large rat in the street. Junius threw his sandal at it, and the sandal landed on a neighbour’s property. When Junius went to retrieve it, the owner of the house cried out that he was a thief.

The local mosque began urging the residents to attack the school, and by midnight mobs were attacking the dormitories, shouting Allahu Akhbar (“God is great”). Stones were thrown at the main campus building, and the protestors tried unsuccessfully to burn down one of the dormitories. They were armed with knives and sharpened bamboo.

The female students were evacuated, but the next night a crowd besieged a women’s dormitory, where some of the male students had been transferred. The violence continued through the night, and the police began evacuating the remaining students. As they left, some of the students and staff were

slashed with swords, and acid was thrown over others. They suffered head, shoulder, stomach and hand wounds. The assaults took place in front of the police, but they neither intervened nor arrested the attackers.

The students were evacuated to camp grounds and transmigration facilities, and at the time of writing, they are still waiting to return to their college. Around 600 female students are staying in tents at a camp ground in East Jakarta, and classes are held with megaphones under trees or the tarpaulins. There is concern that the rainy season might begin soon and turn the camp ground into a swamp.

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Zimbabwe: God’s hand of protectionWhile the political, economic and humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe is still extremely volatile and the danger of starvation and violence, is an everyday reality for many Zimbabweans, God’s hand is on His people in that country.

One Zimbabwean farmer, who was attacked and severely beaten by supporters of President Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party, told how his wife managed to escape with their children: “When they got to the northern fence line, she did not have wire cutters. They said a prayer and out of the bush, almost like an angel, walked a man with a dog. Laura explained the situation and he pulled out some wire cutters from his pocket and cut the fence for her. She got through to safety.”

God’s wonderful protection is also being experienced by South African Christian volunteers who demonstrate the love of Christ by using their own cars to travel into Zimbabwe in these difficult and dangerous times to take food to people who are literally starving to death. Barnabas Fund is covering the costs of the food, which works out at £9 (US$16; €11) for a monthly food parcel for one family. A Barnabas Fund representative, who accompanied a trip earlier this year, writes:

“We arrived at the Zimbabwe border two days after the June 27 elections. The border was absolutely deserted. Because of the pre- and post-election government- sponsored violence no one was willing to travel into Zimbabwe – except us it would seem. Usually the border is a hive of activity. We don’t mind the border being chaotic and busy and having to wait in long queues. The busier the border the easier it is to pass through unseen. This is especially important when we are trying to get food through

unnoticed to those who are starving in the rural areas.

“We must have been the only people passing through the border for some hours and we caught the attention of the Zimbabwe officials who were obviously very bored. We were stopped and the vehicle and trailer were thoroughly searched. We were carrying more than one and half tonnes of food in food packs. One official noticed the packs and we had to start unloading them. I prayed while the South African church leader I was travelling with unloaded them. I noticed one official hide a bag, obviously for himself. The officials had decided that we were not allowed to proceed and that our food would be confiscated. More officials were called over and we were worried that we would be arrested. I prayed that that we would pass through without any trouble and with all the bags - even the one that the official had taken. A church friend from South Africa had been prompted to pray for us at that exact time too. She sent me a text message that read: ‘God is with you. Man cannot stop you. God has given you favour.’ Less than a minute later the officials inexplicably let us go. We quickly piled the bags back into the truck and were just about to head off when one official stopped us again. My heart sank until I noticed him holding the bag that had been hidden. ‘You forgot this,’ he said, ‘Enjoy your time in Zimbabwe.’

“On our way to this particular food drop we were stopped and searched eleven times. Each time we prayed and smiled and were friendly and even asked those who were stopping us if we could pray for them. Most agreed. Each time we were waved on without much trouble. At one stop a Central Intelligence Officer made us unload the whole vehicle and unpack every single bag

we had. Even our clothes had to be laid out individually on the road. He was being extremely difficult and belligerent. He wanted to know why we had the food and who we were taking it to. I told him that the food was for a church. I continued to pray and smile and joke as we had done before. He asked me what I did and I said that I was a Christian who helped other Christians. The South African with me then said, ‘Hey, Shamari (Shona for friend), do you know Jesus?’ The moment the name of Jesus was uttered his attitude changed. He looked me in the eyes and I smiled back. After a long pause he said ‘Ah this Jesus of yours! Yes I know of him. I can see that you are good people. You may proceed.’”

Attack by Muslim extremists in AngolaOn 20 July about 100 young Muslim extremists attacked the Christian community in the town of Andulo, Angola. One woman was seriously injured, and Leti Raimundo, the school-age daughter of a deacon at one of the churches, was decapitated. Three church buildings were burned and stones were thrown at the headquarters of a local Christian project, causing some damage. The Muslims

forced their way into the houses of several believers and assaulted them with sticks, beating and also stoning them with bricks. Seven Christians had to be taken to hospital for treatment.

Commenting to Barnabas Fund, an Angolan Christian leader said that the local police were unable to stop the attack and fled the scene, and the government seemed reluctant to take action against the Muslims.

The Gospel is advancing strongly in Andulo. Twenty pastors supported by Barnabas Fund are active in evangelism among the people. The Christian project has a bookshop, also assisted by Barnabas Fund, which is having a great impact in the community, and it has also opened a small chemist’s shop for basic health care. The work of the project is greatly appreciated by the Angolan government. The attack is believed to be a reaction against its success.

A truck full of food parcels for needy Zimbabwean Christians

Zimbabwean Christians are in dire need of food help from outside the country. Barnabas Fund continues to support courageous South African Christians who drive into Zimbabwe to deliver food parcels to the neediest there

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Muslim Demographics and Europe

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Muslim commentsA wide variety of Muslim leaders have expressed their vision of an Islamic Europe in the foreseeable future. Some of them see the continent being won for Islam primarily by demographic means.

As long ago as 1974 Algerian President Houari Boumedienne (1976-1978) stated in the General Assembly of the United Nations:

One day millions of men will leave the southern hemisphere of this planet to burst into the northern one. But not as friends. Because they will burst in to conquer, and they will conquer by populating it with their children. Victory will come to us from the wombs of our women.3

Mullah Krekar, a Kurdish Islamist radical linked to terrorist groups in Iraq and granted asylum in Norway, recently claimed that Europe would be 30% Muslim by 2050:

We’re the ones who will change you . . . Just look at the development within Europe, where the number of Muslims is expanding like mosquitoes. Every western woman in the EU is producing an average of 1.4 children. Every Muslim woman in the same countries are producing 3.5 children. By 2050, 30 percent of the population in Europe will be Muslim.4

Earlier this year the popular Egyptian Muslim preacher, ‘Amr Khalid, claimed that Muslims would form a majority in Europe within 20 years:

The Muslims keep having children, while the Europeans do not – this means that within 20 years the Muslims will be the majority.5

Libya’s leader, Colonel Qaddafi, had a similar message in 2006:

We have 50 million Muslims in Europe. There are signs that Allah will grant Islam victory in Europe - without swords, without guns, without conquests. The 50 million Muslims of

Europe will turn it into a Muslim continent within a few decades.6

Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a leading Sunni cleric, looks to Islamic mission activity (da‘wa) to accomplish the change. Thinking no doubt of the Muslim conquest of Spain (711-1492) and the later Ottoman conquests including Constantinople (1452), finally bringing the Ottoman armies to the gates of Vienna in 1529 and 1683, al-Qaradawi stated in 1999:

Islam entered Europe twice and left it … Perhaps the next conquest, Allah willing, will be by means of preaching and ideology. The conquest need not necessarily be by the sword … [The conquest of Mecca] was not by the sword or by war, but by a [Hudabiyya] treaty, and by peace … Perhaps we will conquer these lands without armies. We want an army of preachers and teachers who will present Islam in all languages and in all dialects …7

The inexorable trend to growth of the Muslim community in Europe is illustrated by Nabil Shabeeb, a Muslim freelance writer and analyst based in Germany, in the popular Muslim website IslamOnline:

The ratio of Muslims to the total population of the EU countries ranges between 3.5 and 5.5%. However, the ratio of Muslim youth (between 45 and 50% of the Muslims) to EU youth is between 16 and 20%. In other words, in a few years Muslims will constitute 16 to 20% of the European workforce, and could therefore influence policies and decision-making.8

Many Muslims who predict an Islamic Europe do not support their claims with objective data. It is unclear whether their comments are wishful thinking, encouragement for their fellow-Muslims, intimidation of non-Muslims or reliable statistical projections. Clearly, however, the growth of Muslim populations in Europe is dramatic.

IntroductionMuslims are currently a minority in numerical terms in Europe. Demographic studies, however, indicate that Muslim populations are growing much faster than others. This is due to continued immigration, conversion and the higher birth rate of Muslim families.

All Europe is experiencing a drastic reduction in the birth rate of indigenous populations, while most Muslims in Europe hold to their tradition of large families. In 1900 there were some 50,000 Muslims in Western Europe. By 1970 the number had grown to 3-4 million, and by 2008 to over 25 million.1 If present trends in birth rates continue for the next 30 years it could be as high as 65 million.2

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Muslim population growth and its implicationsThe population of most Muslim states has doubled in the last 25 years and continues to expand quickly. It is projected that by 2050 the population of Turkey will number 100 million, that of Egypt 114 million, that of Algeria and Morocco 45 million each, that of Yemen over 100 million.9

Many Muslims migrated into European states as welcome and much-needed workers for manual jobs that Europeans are reluctant to do, as political refugees, as illegal migrants or in other ways. Furthermore, climate change is now emerging as a potent driving force of further Muslim immigration. The growing desertification of North Africa has resulted in a major decline in its capacity to sustain population, causing migration north to Europe. Initially this was mainly from the Maghreb countries such as Morocco, but it now includes countries south of the Sahara such as Niger. The populations of these regions are predominantly Muslim.

In addition the constant bringing of marriage partners from Muslim home-countries continues to supplement the European Muslim populations. As a result there are already areas in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Britain where Muslim children constitute the majority of the school population.10

Because the Muslim population in Europe is far younger than the indigenous population, the Muslim minority is set to continue to grow in numbers for some decades at least while the indigenous population faces further decline. In France Muslims compose 30% of those under 20, although only 10% of the total population. In some European cities the percentage of Muslim youth and children has reached 45%.11

In Britain, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith admitted in April 2008 that the number of Muslims in the UK may now number 2 million, or 3.3% of the total population. Official sources had been using the 2001 census figure of 1.6 million.12 The real figure might well be over 3 million, based on estimates drawn from Muslim embassies in the UK. Islam is certainly the fastest growing religion in the UK.

In Austria a recent projection, based on conservative estimates of immigration and fertility, predicted that Muslims would make up between 14% and 26% of the population in 2050, up from 4% today.13 For Western Europe as a whole, observers estimate that by 2050 a quarter of the population will be Muslim.14

It is facts such as these that cause some non-Muslim observers to believe, like the Muslim leaders quoted above, that Europe will be an Islamic continent within the foreseeable future. The highly respected academic Bernard Lewis predicted in July 2004 that Muslims would form a majority in Europe by the end of the twenty-first century:

Current trends show Europe will have a Moslem majority by the end of the 21st century at the latest . . . Europe will be part of the Arabic West, of the Maghreb.15

Lewis repeated his warning in 2007, arguing that Europe is experiencing a dramatic shift as it is being taken over by Muslims. The Islamisation process, he said, is being helped by immigration and misapplied democratic freedoms. Europeans,

having lost pride in their own traditions and culture, have surrendered to this process in an atmosphere of political correctness and multiculturalism. The growing support within the Islamic world for extremist and terrorist movements was of special concern, given the growing sway of Islam in Europe:

[The Muslims] seem to be about to take over Europe . . . Will it be an Islamized Europe or Europeanized Islam?16

The demographic decline in Europe and its implicationsKeeping the population stable requires 2.1 live births per woman. Western European women had an average of 2.4 children each in 1970, but that figure had fallen to 1.38 by 2005. The population of the European Union is expected to drop from some 482 million today to 454 million by 2050, unless replenished by immigration.17

In Germany, the birth rate is so low (1.35) that its population could fall from 82 million to 24 million by the end of the century. In Italy and Spain the birth rate is as low as 1.29.18 Britain (1.6) and France (1.89) were somewhat higher because of their large Muslim populations, with Muslim women tending to have more children.19 The current ratio of Muslim to non-Muslim birth rates in Western Europe is estimated at 3:1.20

To keep its working population at present numbers, the EU needs 1.6 million immigrants a year. In order, however, to sustain the present ratio of workers to retired people (and thus enable the retired to live comfortably), the EU requires some 13.5 million immigrants annually.21 With the indigenous population apparently becoming reluctant to have children, with easy abortion, and with the emigration of many white Europeans to North America or Australasia, it seems that only massive immigration can fill this void and thus maintain the lifestyles to which Europeans have become accustomed. Migration patterns within the EU, for example of Poles to the UK, do not solve the problem as the sending countries themselves then need to have their depleted populations boosted.

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II

Estimated Muslim populations in Western European countries

The hijra (migration) model and Muhammad’s conquestsMost Muslims who have migrated to the West did so for economic reasons or because of persecution in their home countries. Most want simply to live a peaceful life enjoying democratic freedoms and opportunities as well as economic wellbeing.

In the wider Muslim world, however, the dominant forces are theological and ideological. In Islamic theology, Muhammad’s migration from Mecca (where he was being persecuted) to Medina in 622 AD is a model to be followed by Muslims down the centuries – a model of escaping from a problematic region to a new safe haven that is to be infiltrated and won for Islam. This place of safety then serves as a launching pad for Islam’s further expansion and ultimate victory. Migration is thus seen by many contemporary Muslims as a stage in the political quest for the establishment of the ideal Islamic state according to classical Islam.

It is taught that the first Muslim community developed in clearly defined stages that must be copied today: the stage of weakness in which the message of Islam was proclaimed (da‘wa) to an unbelieving society, the stage of migration (hijra) to a safe place where Muslim strength could be built up, and finally the stage of the jihad to reconquer lost territory, extend Muslim political dominion and implement God’s ideal state on earth.

Classical Islam further teaches that all lands belong to God, who has given them to the Muslims. Some lands the Muslims already possess, while the rest are theirs in theory and will gradually become theirs in practice. Lands taken from non-Muslims are viewed as being restored by God to the Muslims.22 Since the original hijra the gaining of territory has been an integral part of Islam. New territory must be Islamised, cleansed from defiling non-Muslim influence and ruled by Islamic law.

The population explosion in Muslim countries, coupled to the growth in Muslim migration into Western states and the biological growth of these minorities, is seen by many Muslims as being in God’s providence, tilting the balance decisively in favour of Islam. These Muslims believe that this is part of a new hijra, restoring Islam’s glory and power as it achieves dominance in world affairs. Numerical growth in the West will give Muslims a more effective

political lobby that will bring with it legal changes in favour of Muslims. All this they hope will lead to state recognition of the Muslim population as an autonomous community. The final goal is the full Islamisation of the host countries and the establishment of Islamic states under shari‘a.

Many Muslim governments, Islamists and other Muslims regard demography as a political tool and are glad for their excess population to move to Europe (and other Western nations such as the USA, Canada and Australia). They know that the larger the Muslim diaspora in the West, the greater the political influence it will exert, and the more concessions the Islamic world will be able to gain from the West.23

ConclusionWhat are the likely implications of these demographic changes for the future of Europe? Some might see nothing to fear. David Miliband, the British Foreign Secretary, has predicted “a bleak scenario for 2030” of threats, terrorism, a clash between the West and the Islamic world, and growing hostility to the West. His solution is to enlarge the European Union to include North Africa and the Middle East.24 It appears that for him peace and stability can be achieved only by integrating Europe with the Islamic world, never mind the likely loss of its historic freedoms and Judaeo-Christian values.

Others have said that is was Judaeo-Christian Europe, despite all its shortcomings, that gave rise to modern concepts of equality, liberty, tolerance, human rights etc. Will such a massive transformation of European demographics bring stability or lead to conflict? Will it create more tolerant societies or follow the pattern of Muslim-majority countries in other continents?

One recent Christian claim that there is no danger of a Muslim takeover of Britain is based on the argument that, as the British Muslim community becomes more prosperous, its birth rate will drop. A prosperous community with small families will be less tempted, so it is argued, to embrace radical Islam. Muslims in the West will integrate peacefully into their societies and contribute to the formation of a more moderate Islam.25 But this viewpoint does not seem to take seriously enough the current demographic trends highlighted by so many sources, including the United Nations, and is therefore over-optimistic. Islamic radicalism is not simply a product of poverty, but is a theological and ideological movement with deep roots in classical Islam; it is resulting in Muslim individuals, organisations and governments moving increasingly into an ultra-conservative position. The optimistic argument also seems to ignore the Islamist infiltration of many Muslim institutions in the UK and the growing radicalisation of many well-off British Muslims, and it overlooks the hijra model and its contemporary implementation.

Christians who are sceptical about predictions of the complete Islamisation of Europe by 2100 should recall that all of the Middle East and North Africa, as well as parts of Central Asia and the region that is now Pakistan and Afghanistan, were once Christian. The Church there was either completely eradicated by the advance of Islam or reduced to a powerless and despised minority. It would be arrogant to think that this could never happen to the Church in Europe. Furthermore, it is unnecessary for Islam to be a statistical majority in order to function as one. In the eighth century, at the height of its power, the Islamic world

Comparison of total populations: 25 EU countries and 25 neighbouring countries of Asia and Africa

Newsroom


Martyrs

“ Be faithful to death, and I will give you the crown of life” Revelation 2:10

Funeral of Iraqi church leader Youssef Adel, killed in a drive-by shooting after receiving several death threats

On 26 December many churches commemorate Stephen, the first recorded Christian martyr (see Acts 7:54-60). So in this November-December edition we recognise and honour some of those who have given their lives for Christ this year.

Iran: Beaten to deathOn 17 July the evening gathering of a house church in Isfahan was visited by security officers, and everyone was arrested. Abbas Amiri, the host, was attacked and savagely beaten, and he died of his injuries in hospital on 30 July. Sakineh Rahnama, Abbas’s wife, was also physically assaulted by the officers, and she died on 3 August from her injuries and stress-related causes. The couple were both in their 60s.

The officers were angry with Abbas for making his home available to the church for their meetings, and they were further enraged to discover his personal history. Formerly a practising Muslim, he had been on pilgrimage to Mecca and had also fought bravely in the Iran-Iraq war; yet now he had become not only a Christian, but even a church leader.

Somalia: Family tragedyOn 8 July two Muslim men approached Sayid Ali Sheik Luqman Hussein and asked him whether he faced Mecca when praying, as Muhammad instructed his followers to do. Sayid answered that as a Christian he did not have to face in a specific direction as God is present everywhere. The two Muslims returned two days later armed with a rifle and shot Sayid dead. He was 28 years old. On hearing the news of her husband’s death, his pregnant wife went into premature labour, and tragically the baby was stillborn.

Sayid, a former Muslim, converted to Christianity in 2004. He was active in

sharing his faith with people in the town of Afgyoye (eighteen miles from the capital, Mogadishu), where he was working as a teacher.

Iraq: Drive-by shootingOn 5 April Youssef Adel had just left his home to drive to a church when gunmen in another car sped past him and opened fire.

Youssef was an Iraqi church leader based in Karradah, the central district of Baghdad. He was aged 47, married, and employed as the director of a mixed high school, attended by both Christians and Muslims. He had received several death threats. His funeral was attended by senior representatives of various Christian denominations.

Saudi Arabia: Father kills daughterIn August a Saudi man cut out the tongue of his daughter and burned her to death for converting from Islam to Christianity.

Fatima al-Mutairi learned about Jesus Christ through the internet, and used to write on various blogs under assumed names. Her family became suspicious following a discussion with her, and her

brother found some Christian articles she had written and a cross sign on her computer screen. Her life then became an ordeal, and she was killed after a further, heated debate on religion.

Fatima’s father works for the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the government agency that enforces Islamic religious purity. He is now in custody being investigated for his daughter’s murder. The killing sent shockwaves through the online community: some of the websites allocated space to Fatima’s memory, while others closed temporarily in protest.

India: Pregnant woman murderedIn late August, in Orissa State, Kamalini Naik was ordered by a baying mob to denounce Christianity and convert to Hinduism. When she strongly maintained her faith in Christ, she and her 18-month-old son were cut into pieces in front of her husband and some other Christians. Kamalini was seven months pregnant at the time of her death.

This killing was one of many in the recent severe upsurge of anti-Christian violence in Orissa. At least 36 people are thought to have died at the hands of Hindu extremists.

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stretched from Spain to India, yet only a minority of the population was Muslim.

Yet whatever the future brings – and as Christians we recognise that God is God of the past, present and future, directing the course of history – the Muslim presence in Europe provides a wonderful opportunity for Christians to demonstrate the love and compassion of Christ and to make their Saviour known. Furthermore, it may be in God’s providence that this Muslim presence will spur Europeans to rediscover their Christian faith, just as Israel in the desperation of exile rediscovered their faith.

Where dialogue and cooperation with Muslims are called for, Christians must ensure that it is a two-way street, and press for Christian minorities in Muslim countries to be given the same

rights as Muslim minorities in Europe. They should vigorously resist pressures to stop evangelism among Muslims. They must ask Muslims to reform Islam, annul the Islamic apostasy law and condemn the persecution of Christians and converts from Islam.

Within wider society, indigenous Europeans must hold fast to all that is good in the values and traditions of their society, yet without moving to a far right response, which is totally unacceptable and unchristian.

Governments must plan strategies not for short-term affluence but for true social cohesion; they must not sacrifice the essential values of their societies for short-term expediency and gain.

© Barnabas Fund, 2008

www.barnabasfund.org

BarnaBas fund hope and aid for the persecuted church

1 Philip Jenkins, “Islam and Muslims In Europe Today: Some Key Issues”, The Cambridge Interfaith Programme, www.divinity.cam.ac.uk/cip/documents/IslamandMuslimInEuropeToday.pdf (viewed 13 August 2008).2 “Islam is and will be a European religion”, Today’s Zaman, 14 August 2008.3 Oriana Fallaci, The Force of Reason, Rizzoli, 2006, quoted in Brendan Bernhard, “The Fallaci Code”, LA Weekly, 15 March 2006, http://www.laweekly.com/index.php?option=com_lawcontent&task=view&id=12921&Itemid=47 (viewed 15 August 2008). 4 “Krekar claims Islam will win”, Aftenposten, 13 March 2006.5 ‘Amr Khalid, in an interview on Dream 2 TV, 10 May 2008, quoted in MEMRI Special Dispatch Series, No. 2003, 27 July 2008.6 Mu‘ammar al-Qaddafi in a speech aired by Al-Jazeera TV on 10 April 2006, quoted in MEMRI Special Dispatch Series, No. 1152, 2 May 2006.7 Yusuf al-Qaradawi on Al-Jazeera Television (Qatar), 24 January 1999, http://www.aljazeera.net/programs/shareea/articles/2001/7/7-6-2.htm, quoted in MEMRI Special Dispatch Series, No. 447, 6 December 2002.8 Nabil Shabeeb, “Muslims in Greater Europe”, IslamOnline, 1 July 2004, http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1156077742293&pagename=Zone-English-Muslim_Affairs%2FMAELayout , viewed 13 August 2008.9 Walter Laqueur, The Last Days of Europe. New York: Thomas Dunne Books / St. Martin’s Press, 2007, pp25-26.10 Rafael Israeli, “The new demographic balance in Europe and its consequences”, Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs, 1 March 2007. 11 Mark Steyn, “It’s the demography, stupid”, The Spectator, 16 November 2005.12 “Officials think UK’s Muslim population has risen to 2m”, The Guardian, 8 April 2008.13 Eric Kaufman, “Breeding for God”, Prospect Magazine, Issue 128, November 2006.

14 Evan Osnos, “Islam shaping a new Europe”, Chicago Tribune, 19 December 2004.

15 “Islamic Europe?”, The Weekly Standard, 4 October 2004; “Europe Will Be Islamic By End Of This Century Says Princeton Prof”, Free Republic, 28 July 2008.

16 David Machlis and Tovah Lazaroff, “Muslims are ‘about to take over Europe’”, Jerusalem Post, 29 Jan 2007.

17 James Graff, “We Need More Babies!”, TIME Europe Magazine, Vol. 164, No. 21, 29 November 2004; Ruth Dudley Edwards, “Will Britain one day be Muslim?”, Daily Mail, 4 May 2007.

18 James Graff, “We Need More Babies!”, TIME Europe Magazine, Vol. 164, No. 21, 29 November 2004.

19 Ruth Dudley Edwards, “Will Britain one day be Muslim?”, Daily Mail, 4 May 2007.

20 Nabil Shabeeb, “Muslims in Greater Europe”, IslamOnline, 1 July 2004, http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1156077742293&pagename=Zone-English-Muslim_Affairs%2FMAELayout (viewed 13 August 2008); “Islam is and will be a European religion”, Today’s Zaman, 14 August 2008.

21 Daniel Pipes, “Muslim Europe”, New York Sun, 11 November 2004.

22 Ibn Taymiyya, Majmu‘at al-fatawa li-Sheikh al-Islam Taq al-Din Ahmad Bin Taymiyya al-Hurani, (al-Mansourah: dar al-wafa’ wal nashr wal tawzi‘, 1997), p308. English translation from Bat Yeor, Islam and Dhimmitude: Where Civilizations Collide. Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2001, p59.

23 Serge Trifkovic, “Islam’s Immigrant Invasion of Europe”, FrontPageMagazine, 6 January 2003.

24 David Miliband’s speech to the College of Europe, Bruges, 15 November 2007, http://www.publicpolitics.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=84959 (viewed 16 November 2007).

25 “Christians do not need to fear Islamic takeover in UK, says Interserve

head”, Christianity Today, 18 July 2008.

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BARNABAS AID NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2008 BARNABAS AID NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2008

Testimony

The streets of Ramallah are no longer safe for Joseph since he converted from Islam to Christianity

Testimony

Hamas leader’s son announces conversion to ChristianityThe son of a prominent Hamas leader in the West Bank has left Islam and become a Christian. Masab Hassan Yousef, now called Joseph, has told his story in a number of recent interviews.

Joseph’s father, Sheikh Hassan Yousef, is a Hamas MP and one of the founders of the organisation in the West Bank. Joseph assisted his father for years, but in 2004 he decided to convert to Christianity, and has since left his home in Ramallah to live in the United States.

This testimony is a compilation of edited excerpts from several interviews that Joseph has given.

As a child I grew up in a very religious family, on the principle of hatred of Israelis. The first time I encountered them was at about the age of ten, when soldiers entered our home and arrested my father. We didn’t know anything about the circumstances of his arrest. His membership in Hamas was a secret matter, and we certainly didn’t think he was one of its founders.

I didn’t understand anything about

politics or religion. I only knew that the

Israeli army had arrested my father

repeatedly, and for me he was everything:

a good, loving man who would do

anything for me. In high school I studied

shari‘a, Islamic law. In 1996, when I was

only eighteen, I was arrested by the Israel

Defence Forces because I was the head

of the Islamic Society in my high school.

And my process of awakening began.

Until then I knew Hamas through my

father, who lived a very modest and loving

life. At first I really admired the

organisation, mainly because I admired

my father so much. But during the sixteen

months I spent in prison I was exposed to

the true face of Hamas. It’s a negative

organisation. As simple as that. A

fundamentally bad organisation. These

people have no morals; they have no

integrity. They receive money in dishonest

ways, invest it in secret places, and

outwardly maintain a simple lifestyle.

I remember how the family of Saleh

Talahmeh, a member of the military arm of

Hamas, who was assassinated by Israel,

was forced to beg for financial assistance

because they were left with nothing after

his death. The Hamas leadership

abandoned them as well as the families of

other shahids [martyrs], while the senior

members of the organisation abroad

wasted tens of thousands of dollars a

month only on security for themselves.

Even some of the current leaders of

Hamas were involved in the past in the

“security arm” in the prisons. They were

suspicious of prisoners who spent too

much time in the bathroom. They

suspected that the prisoner was

transferring information or alternatively

having sexual relations with other men.

Then I understood that not everyone in

Hamas is like my father. He’s a nice,

friendly man. But I discovered how evil his

colleagues are. After my release I lost the

faith I had in those who ostensibly

represented Islam.

About eight years ago I was in Jerusalem

and I received an invitation to come and

hear about Christianity. Out of curiosity I

went. I was very enthusiastic about what I

heard. I began to read the Bible every day

and I continued with religion lessons. I did

it in secret, of course. I used to travel to

the Ramallah hills and to sit there quietly

with the amazing landscape and read

the Bible.

When I studied the Bible carefully verse by

verse, I made sure that that was the book

of God, the word of God. A verse like

“Love thine enemy” had a great influence

on me. Every day I saw the terrible things

done in the name of religion by those who

considered themselves “great believers”. I

studied Islam more thoroughly and found

no answers there. I can’t hate [the

Muslims] because God loved them from

the beginning. And God doesn’t create

junk. God created good people that he

loved. I have a message for them: there is

only one way to Paradise – the way of

Jesus who sacrificed himself on the cross

for all of us.

I feel that Christianity has several aspects.

It’s not only a religion but a faith. I now see

God through Jesus.

Only those Christians with whom I met

and spent time knew about my decision

[to convert]. For years I helped my father,

and he didn’t know that I had converted,

only that I had Christian friends.

Just stop and think for a minute about

announcing your Christianity; you feel sick

immediately because it’s crazy. You’re not

just saying goodbye to a religion, to a

tradition. You are saying goodbye to a

culture, to a civilisation. Even the process

of taking your skin off your bones might

be easier than saying goodbye to your

mother and to everybody, especially when

you are a well-known figure in your society

and everybody has high expectations that

one day in the future you will be one of the

leaders.

Suddenly you are starting from scratch

and cancelling everything you have.

But when it started, I was ready for any

circumstances. I thought about the worst

conditions that could happen as

consequences after my announcement.

But – and I tell you this is a miracle, this is

how God works – you carry the cross and

rely on Him completely and He takes care

of everything.

This may be the first case that a well-

known Muslim just goes to the public

and says, “I am a Christian.” Many Muslim

sheikhs, many Muslim imams may be

converted to Christianity but they keep

that a secret. They didn’t announce it

because it is very embarrassing for them

and for their families. They were afraid for

their lives.

But I decided to declare Jesus in front of

the world, so He declares me in front of

the Father. That was the main reason.

I am going to be worshipping God in a

very special way by doing this.

When Jesus says, “Carry your cross and

follow me,” it wasn’t to put a cross on

your shirt and keep walking the street. I

have many friends [in Ramallah] whom I

would like to see and I don’t know

whether I’ll be able to do that at all. I

mainly miss my mother, my brothers and

sisters, but I know that it will be very

difficult for me to return to Ramallah soon.

I helped my father and conducted his

affairs because he’s my father, not

because he’s a leader in Hamas. I’m not

a Hamas activist who converted to

Christianity. That’s not the story. I was

always opposed to the use of terror.

I wanted to help my father understand

that harming innocent people is forbidden

and through him perhaps to change other

people’s thinking.

Within Hamas there were leaders who

thought they had to continue with suicide

attacks as an effective means of achieving

their aims. I tried to understand those

people, their thoughts, in order to change

them from inside by means of a strong

person like my father, who admitted to me

in the past that he does not support

suicide attacks. He thinks that harming

innocent people gives the organisation a

bad name. I know people who support

Hamas but they never got involved in

terrorist attacks. They follow Hamas

because they love God and they think that

Hamas represents God.

Jesus is not going to give them a political

solution, but He has changed me and He

can change those people to a better

people. He can teach them how to forgive,

how to love. Everybody on both sides is

hurt – not only Israelis, not only

Palestinians. If we can teach them how to

forgive and move on and love their

enemies, for the next two generations,

we can build a new leadership for both

sides to be able to live together.

Now, as it is, there is no hope for them

but Jesus. It’s that simple.

12 1�

BARNABAS AID NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2008 BARNABAS AID NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2008

Newsroom Advocacy

Pastor imprisoned in Uzbekistan: How you can help

David’s wife and three daughters can visit him only once every three months. Barnabas Fund covers the costs of the long journey

Campaign Update

We would like to express our gratitude to all of you who have signed our “Save Iraqi Christians” campaign, collected signatures and written letters to raise awareness of the difficult and sometimes life-threatening situation of Iraqi Christians. It is only through your support that change can be brought about.

On 30 September 2008 the “Save Iraqi Christians” campaign officially came to an end but late additions can be accepted, so if you still have signed petition sheets, please do send them in to your nearest Barnabas Fund office (addresses on back cover). At the time of writing 37,545 signatures have been collected. The British signatures will be presented at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 5 November. Arrangements are in progress for presentation of the petition in Australia (to be followed by other countries).

The end of the campaign comes at a time when the situation in Iraq is beginning to stabilise but the situation of Iraqi Christians is still very precarious. On the one hand, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki claims that it is safe for Iraqi Christians to return to their home country. He has asked the European Union and especially Germany not to promote the emigration of Iraqi Christians to Europe. Following this demand,

German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, who had previously been one of the foremost supporters of granting preferred asylum to Iraqi Christians, performed a U-turn and has now withdrawn his appeal to the other EU member states to accept more Iraqi Christian refugees. Instead he is now encouraging Iraqi Christians to return to Iraq in order to help with the rebuilding of the country. The European Union is “observing” the situation in Iraq.

On the other hand, Iraqi Christians are still being targeted by militants, demanding huge sums of money. The improvements in security in certain parts of Iraq do not seem to have made life any safer for Iraqi Christians. “Nobody wants to go back, nobody,” said a senior Iraqi church leader in the West when Barnabas Fund asked him whether Iraqi Christians were willing to return home.

Furthermore experts fear that the legal institutions and the necessary police presence required to guarantee freedom of religion for all are not yet effective. In addition, it is a matter for concern that the Iraqi Constitution specifies Islam as the official religion of Iraq and the “basic source of legislation”. No law can be passed that conflicts with the “undisputed rules of Islam” or with the “principles of democracy”, a combination that to some might sound like a contradiction.

In the light of this, it is potentially good news that the United States has significantly

increased the number of Iraqi refugees allowed into

the country, and, at the time of writing, they are aiming to reach the

12,000 goal set for September. Australia has increased its quota of places for asylum-seekers by 500 for the year 2008-9 and expects that most of these will be Iraqis. Please pray that the petition will prompt many Western governments to recognise the specific dangers facing Christian Iraqis and to welcome them in larger numbers, enabling them to settle and live out their faith in peace and freedom.

Barnabas Fund’s exhibition stand: Raising awareness for the plight of Iraqi ChristiansOver the summer, Barnabas Fund had a stand at several Christian events in the UK. A big banner with vivid images depicted the destruction that rages in Iraq, and it testified to the hardship and danger that Iraqi Christians have been facing over the last years. It generated a lot of interest and drew many people to come over and sign the petition.

A big “thank you” goes to all our supporters who visited our stand and took some time to chat and encourage us.

Expressing the wonder of God’s love

This drawing is by an Iraqi Christian refugee, Nora Akram (aged 22). She fled from her home in Baghdad to Syria. Nora is deaf-mute. Her drawing shows a blind girl receiving her sight and praising God.

Barnabas Fund’s “Save Iraqi Christians” stand drew a lot of attention at exhibitions throughout the summer

At the time of writing 37,545 have signed our Save Iraqi Christians petition

David Shestakov was sentenced to four years in a harsh prison colony. Please write to the Uzbek president to request his early release

Dmitri (David) Shestakov, a Christian pastor in Uzbekistan, is very active in sharing the Gospel with non-Christians. As a result he is persecuted by the state authorities. In 1997 and 2004 he received warnings for his allegedly unlawful religious activity. Then in June 2006 official harassment was intensified, apparently in response to some Uzbek Muslims converting to Christianity.

Three charges were brought against David: illegal organisation of social or religious groups, distributing materials containing religiously extreme ideas, and inciting ethnic, racial or religious hatred. Before the opening of his trial in May 2007, the Uzbek state media tried to smear him and his church, claiming for example that he abused alcohol and was dependent on drugs.

David’s friends have claimed that there were numerous irregularities in the conduct of the trial. He maintained his innocence throughout, and two of the charges against him were dismissed. But in May 2007 he was found guilty of “incitement to religious hatred”, and was given a four-year prison sentence in a remote and harsh prison colony. In his final speech, he told the court that despite

the tears of his wife and children he forgave those who had taken action against him.

David’s wife, Marina, and his three daughters are allowed to see him once every three months. The travel costs for the long journey are paid by Barnabas Fund, which is also helping to support his family. David is permitted one two-hour phone call every three months. Marina brings him food, since he has lost 20 kg in prison.

Marina has many stories of God’s wonderful provision and protection given to David. Unlike many prisoners, he has been assigned work that is not dangerous, monitoring the computer system in the prison office. On one occasion he was called in by the authorities for questioning. All the prisoners previously summoned had been beaten, but when David said that he was a Christian and a pastor, he was spared.

David’s daughters are aged fourteen, twelve and eight. As a result of their father’s imprisonment they have grown up very quickly, says Marina. The older two are now like friends to their mother, not merely her children, as they support and encourage each other in this time of trial.

Uzbekistan has the most restrictive government in Central Asia. Churches find official registration hard to obtain, imported Christian literature is liable to confiscation, and missionary activity is illegal. The raiding and interrogation of congregations and the arrest and trial of active Christians are among the tactics employed by the authorities.

Actions

• Write to President Karimov of

Uzbekistan asking him to release

David. In your letter, use David’s

official name, Dmitri Shestakov. Please send a short, polite

communication, starting “Respected

President Karimov”, and request him

as a favour to release Dmitri

Shestakov; do not demand it as a

right. Your letter / email should

be sent to: Respublika Uzbekistan 700163 g. Tashkent ul. Uzbekistanskaya, 43 Rezidentsia prezidenta Prezidentu Islamu Karimovu Uzbekistan Fax: +998 71 139 15 17 Email: [email protected]

• Pray for a good and brave lawyer to

represent David. Pressure from the

Uzbekistan government inhibits the

actions of Uzbek lawyers, so a

Russian lawyer (who is permitted by

Uzbek law to act for him) is being

sought.

• Pray for David in prison, that the Lord

will protect him and preserve his

health in the difficult conditions at the

camp. Pray that his faith will be

nourished and strengthened by God’s

provision for him and his family, and

that he will soon be released.

• Pray for Marina and her three

daughters, that God will enable them

to endure the separation from their

husband and father. Pray that they

may continue to build each other up,

and may be guided in their support

for David.

Barnabas Fund is helping David’s family

through our Victims of Violence Fund.

Project reference 00-345

14 15


Robert and Barney de Berry braved the snow in late March and cycled 65 miles to raise money for Barnabas Fund

Resources

n Give Them a Fishing Rod An informative DVD presentation about Barnabas Fund`s self-sufficiency projects, which enable Christians to start up their own small businesses and become self-sufficient

DVD / Download, free

nA Christian Response to Islam An information leaflet offering suggestions on how to come to an informed understanding of Islam and respond to it as a Christian (included in “The Other Nine” pack but also available separately)

Booklet, free

n Gifts of Love An “alternative gift” catalogue describing a selection of the projects and ministries supported by Barnabas Fund

Booklet, free

nThe Other Nine resource pack A pack of resources to raise awareness of the “1 in 10” Christians who suffer from persecution around the world

Resource pack, free

OrDer FOrm

Resources

Barnabas Fund produces many resources to support our ministry. These are designed to encourage and facilitate prayer and financial support, and to raise awareness of the plight of the persecuted Church. They include books,

electronic products including downloadable content, and a variety of other materials.

Some of our resources are listed below. If you would like to purchase any of these, please complete the form at the foot of the next page and send it with payment to your nearest Barnabas Fund office (addresses

on back cover). Alternatively you can order online by visiting www.barnabasfund.org/resources, where some of the free resources are also available for download.

n Faith, Power and Territory: A Handbook of British Islam Patrick Sookhdeo An easy-to-use resource to help readers understand Islam in Britain today, the way in which Islam is developing, and Islam`s influence on the country. Its insights are applicable to other countries with significant Muslim minorities.

Paperback, 370 pp, special offer price £8.00 + £2.50 postage (normal price £12.99)

n Global Jihad: The Future in the Face of Militant Islam Patrick Sookhdeo An in-depth look at the teachings of Islam, past and present, that form the driving force for Islamic violence

Hardback, 669 pp, special offer price £10.00 + £3.50 postage (normal price £15.99)

nThe Challenge of Islam to the Church and its Mission (new edition) Patrick Sookhdeo An examination of the growing impact of Islam on Western societies and in particular the challenge that it poses to the Church and its mission

Hardback, 193 pp, introductory offer price £8.99 + £2.00 postage (normal price £14.99)

nStepping into the Shadows: Why Women Convert to Islam Rosemary Sookhdeo An exploration of the attractiveness of Islam to many women, analysing the problems involved in conversion and its long-term implications


nSecrets Behind the Burqa (new edition) Rosemary Sookhdeo An examination of what really happens in the daily lives of millions of Muslim women and girls, detailing the male Muslim perception of women and the regulations that control their behaviour.


n Islam and Truth A booklet providing background information for Christians seeking to understand the nature of Islam, its contemporary expression and the growing challenge that it poses to Western society, culture and Church

Booklet, 9 pp, free

n What is Shari‘a? Part of a series intended to provide background information for Christians seeking to understand the nature of Islam, its contemporary expression and the growing challenge that it poses

Booklet / Download, 9 pp, free

n Iraq – Fear and Hope A five-minute video presentation showing the extent of persecution Christians have suffered in Iraq over the years and how Barnabas Fund is helping them


n Remember the Refugees – Iraq’s Christian Refugees A five-minute presentation that shows the plight of Christian refugees from Iraq and what supporters can do to assist


n Save Iraqi Christians An eight-minute DVD presentation on the place of Iraq in the Bible and on the Christian presence in Iraq for two millennia (available only as a download from the Barnabas Fund website)


n North Korea – Hope Behind the Veil A five-minute presentation that movingly shows the plight of Christians in North Korea and what Barnabas Fund is doing to assist them



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Send this form with payment to your nearest Barnabas Fund office (addresses on back cover). Alternatively you can order online by visiting www.barnabasfund.org/resources, where some of the free resources are also available for download. Sales are subject to terms and conditions, available from Barnabas Fund. Please allow 28 days for delivery.

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Faith, Power and Territory (Hardback)

Faith, Power and Territory (Paperback)

Global Jihad

The Challenge of Islam …

Stepping into the Shadows

Secrets Behind the Burqa

Islam and Truth FREE

What is Shari‘a? FREE

Iraq – Fear and Hope FREE

Remember the Refugees FREE

Save Iraqi Christians FREE

North Korea – Hope Beyond the Veil FREE

Give Them a Fishing Rod FREE

A Christian Response to Islam FREE

Gifts of Love FREE

The Other Nine resource pack FREE

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Iraq DVDs

Three short DVDs on different aspects of the Church in Iraq and the persecution and hardship it has suffered. They may be viewed together or separately.

Maestro only

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BARNABAS AID NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2008 23BARNABAS AID NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2008

Yes, I would like to help the persecuted ChurchHere is my gift of ______________________

Please use my gift for

Wherever the need is greatest (General Fund)

Other ___________________________________________*

I enclose a cheque/voucher payable to “Barnabas Fund”.

Please debit my Visa Mastercard American Express

Maestro CAF card /other charity card

Number

Maestro issue number or issue date /

Expiry date / Signature ______________________________

I do not require an acknowledgement of this gift.

I would like to give regularly through my bank. Please send me the appropriate form. (UK supporters may use the Standing Order form below.)

Alternative Gift Card To make an alternative gift for a loved one, please contact your national office.

STANDING ORDER For UK supporters who would like to give regularly

Please use these gifts by Standing Order for

Wherever the need is greatest (General Fund) Other _________________________________*

To: (name and address of your bank)_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Post code: _______________________

Sort Code ____/____/____ Account Number __________________

Account name ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Please pay Barclays Bank, Canary Wharf Branch, Canary Wharf, 2 Churchill Place, London, E14 5RB, for the credit of Barnabas Fund account no. 904 669 72 sort code 20-26-46

£ ___________ (amount in words) _______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Starting on (date) _________ and then every month/quarter/year (delete as applicable) until further notice.

From (Name) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(Address) _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________ Post code ____________

Signature __________________________ Date ____/_____/____

This Standing Order is a new one / in addition to / replaces an earlier Standing Order in favour of the Barnabas Fund (delete as applicable)

Please quote reference (to be completed by Barnabas Fund) ____________________________________________________________________________________

Please send this form to Barnabas Fund and not to your bankIf you are a UK tax-payer please complete the Gift Aid Declaration above to enable us to reclaim the tax on your standing order payments.

Barnabas Fund is a registered charity no. 1092935, and a company registered in England number 4029536

* We reserve the right to use designated gifts for another similar project if the one identified is sufficiently funded.

Gift Aid DeclarationI authorise Barnabas Fund, registered charity no. 1092935, to treat all donations I have made since 6 April 2002 and all subsequent donations as Gift Aid donations until I notify you otherwise.

Signature _________________________________________ Date _____________

(Applicable to UK tax payers only)

If you have previously signed a Gift Aid Declaration for Barnabas Fund, you do not need to sign again. To qualify for Gift Aid, what you pay in income tax or capital gains tax must at least equal the amount of tax reclaimed on donations to registered charities in the tax year. Please inform us if you change your name or address or stop paying tax.

Name (Mr,Mrs,Miss,Ms,Rev,Dr)

Address

Postcode Telephone

Email

Please return this form to Barnabas Fund at your national office or to the UK office. Addresses are on the back cover. Barnabas Fund will not give your address or email to anyone else. Phone 0800 587 4006 or visit our website at www.barnabasfund.org to make a credit card donation. From outside UK phone +44 1672 565031.Registered Charity number 1092935 Company registered in England number 4029536*We reserve the right to use designated gifts for another similar project if the one identified is sufficiently funded. Supporters in Germany: please turn to back cover for how to send gifts to Barnabas Fund. Mag 11/08

DVD “Faith Costs”

Copies of the Suffering Church Sunday issue of Barnabas Aid (Sept/Oct 2008)

A2 poster “Faith Costs”

Prayer-and-response cards

Please send the following resources for Suffering Church Sunday (indicate quantity required):

The aid agency for the persecuted ChurchIn touch

Christmas Cards for Barnabas FundThis year we are partnering with mycharitycards.co.uk to offer a selection of Christmas cards. The scheme is run at no cost to us, and a percentage of the purchase price of each packet of cards goes directly to the work of Barnabas Fund. Please visit: www.mycharitycards.co.uk/barnabasfund for full details. Barnabas Fund-endorsed Christmas cards are also available through selected Christian bookshops.

NOVEMBER 2008: Suffering Church Sunday “Faith Costs”- Is YOUR church ready? Many churches set aside a Sunday in November (or another month if your church calendar is already fully booked) to remember our suffering brothers and sisters all over the world.

This year’s Suffering Church Sunday focuses on the issue of poverty and looks at the cost of following Jesus. In many countries where Christians are a despised minority, choosing to follow Jesus often means choosing poverty as well. It may result in discrimination and harassment, closing the doors to getting a good education, securing a decently paid job or even finding work at all.

To help your church organise a Suffering Church Sunday service, Barnabas Fund offers the following resources:

nA2 poster “Faith Costs” to advertise your Suffering Church Sunday service

nPrayer-and-response card to distribute to everyone attending the service

nShort DVD presentation “Faith Costs” (approx 3:30 min; traditional and modern version)

nInformation file: “Persecuted Christians and the Global Food Crisis” including a first-hand testimony of “God at work in Zimbabwe” (in Barnabas Aid Sept/Oct 2008)

n “Little Actions Remembered in Eternity”: Sermon outline on Matthew 25:31-46 (in Barnabas Aid Sept/Oct 2008). A powerpoint presentation to accompany this sermon is available to download from our website www.barnabasfund.org/scs

Poem for the persecuted ChurchKevan Sutton, from the Prayer for the Persecuted Church Group at Guildford Baptist Church, UK, sent us this poem, which he wrote after hearing about the conditions persecuted Christians are suffering in Eritrea.

In honour of my brothers in Eritrea, and all who suffer for His Name.

Brother, Oh my BrotherBrother, Oh my BrotherI can’t see you, but I feel youI can’t touch you, but I hear yougroaning …deep… …deep… …groaning

Reach out through the SpiritGrasp my handI stand in aweFor you are steadfast, immoveable Deep faith, deep loveIn the midst of darkness, you are lightMay your lamp of forgiveness burn bright

Let hope, kind hope, strong hope kindle afreshI give you my heart, and stand with youLet me lift you up and hold youLet me bring you to a place of restand bathe you with my tearsLet me lift your wasted limbsand wash your wounded feet

© Kevan Sutton

nBible study on Matthew 25:31-46 (in Barnabas Aid Sept/Oct 2008)

nIdeas and challenges for youth groups (in Barnabas Aid Sept/Oct 2008)

nSong “You - for the persecuted church” by Australian singer/songwriter Claire Hazzard, available to download from our website www.barnabasfund.org/scs

Visit our website at www.barnabasfund.org/scs to view, order and download resources or use the form opposite to order from your national office (addresses on back cover).

We would love to hear about your Suffering Church Sunday service. Please send us photos, ideas and stories about what you, your church or your housegroup did to raise awareness of our brother and sisters on Suffering Church Sunday.

Barnabas Fund received a donation for our Zimbabwe Feeding Project from a Christian in Kazakhstan, a country where believers are facing increasing harassment and restrictions. The donor wrote:

Psalm 84:5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in the Lord

Dear brothers and sisters serving the Lord in Barnabas Fund,

I read in the church and then on the internet your news about Zimbabwe – helping the starving people. This touched my heart very much. I prayed for the people in Zimbabwe. Also we told the children in Sunday School about this, and they prayed fervently for food and for the churches in Zimbabwe.

Now when I pray before my meal, I often kneel. I have much food, but many people do not. I read that one monthly package for one family costs only US$17. The Lord has put it on my heart to help these people and I give this money in Jesus’ Name for Zimbabwe. May the Lord bless the political situation in Zimbabwe, the ministry of supplying food, and especially the Church there.

I wish you, dear brothers and sisters from Barnabas Fund, many blessings, joy, power, wisdom and especially love from our Lord Jesus Christ.

With prayers for you and Zimbabwe,

Sister Anna

From Kazakhstan with Love and Prayers

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Barnabas Aid November/December 2008

Documents

virgin birth of jesus

lord jesus christ

barnabas aid novemberdecember

death of stephen

food aid

christian church

stoning of stephen

martyrdom of stephen