barnabasaid

THE MAGAZINE OF BARNABAS FUND HOPE AND AID FOR THE PERSECUTED CHURCH

• Turkey: Christians at the MARCH/APRIL 2008

intersection of East and West
• Zimbabwe: from plenty to hunger
• What Islam says about non-Muslims
 From the director
A bowl of curry
The Biblical picture of Esau and Jacob is not flattering. While Jacob is marked by
deception, Esau has gone down in history as the one who sold his birthright for a
barnabasaid MARCH/APRIL 2008
bowl of stew (Genesis 25). His past, his present and his future were all sacrificed
because of an immediate need to satisfy the pangs of hunger.
Esau’s error is in danger of being
repeated today, as Christians and
Contents Western countries encounter not just
Muslims but Islam itself. In the current
To guard the safety of Christians in hostile environments
names have often been changed or omitted. Thank you debate on whether Turkey should enter
for your understanding. the European Union, British Foreign
Secretary, David Miliband, spoke of
a bleak scenario in 2030, of a world
3 Project News more divided by religion, with threats
“Centre of Love” for garbage at home and abroad, and marked by
city children growing hostility to the West. His
recommendation was to enlarge the EU to
6 Country Profile: include Turkey and eventually the Middle
East and North Africa so as to avoid “a
Christians in Turkey deep and dangerous divide between east
and west”. The fact that Europe could
Information soon have a Muslim majority if Turkey
pull-out and all these other Muslim countries join
the EU has not seemed of much interest
How Islam treats non-Muslims
to Miliband or to many other politicians.
Certainly there will be no “divide between
11 Newsroom east and west” if Europe becomes Muslim.
Christmas violence in India and Iraq Europe’s Judaeo-Christian heritage will
have been sacrificed for the hope of
12 Focus security. (Turn to pages 6-10 to read about
Christians in Turkey.)
Zimbabwe: nothing left in the Likewise in a Christian context, Esau’s
breadbasket
short-termism and his lack of proportion
and perspective are being repeated. Many
14 The Other Nine senior Christian leaders in the West
Young Christians share their worship have signed what has become known as
the “Yale Letter”, a response published
service for the One in Ten in November 2007 by the Yale Centre
for Faith and Culture at Yale Divinity
16 Newsroom School in the USA to the “Open Letter
Destructive disinformation in Algeria and Call” from 138 Muslim leaders last
and Egypt October. The Yale Letter warmly affirms
the baseless claim in the Muslims’ Open
17 Easter Appeal Letter that love of God and love of
neighbour are central to Islam as well
Basic needs for hungry Christians in as to Christianity. It also contains an
the Middle East admission of Christian guilt against “our
Muslim neighbours” for the Crusades and
18 In Touch the current “war on terror”, but has no
Help Iraqi Christians with our new mention of Islamic violence and injustice
towards Christian minorities.
petition campaign
Some of the Yale signatories have since
explained their motives. Some signed
out of fear, hoping to avoid conflict which
Cover: The mother of a Zimbabwean
pastor. Turn to pages 12-13 to read would affect their countries. Some signed
how Barnabas Fund is helping out of pragmatism, hoping that Muslim
starving Christians in Zimbabwe. countries would respond by opening their
doors to Christian missionaries. Some
signed in a genuine idealistic hope that it
could make the world a better place. One
said that he saw the Letter as the start of a
process which would end in reconciliation
between Islam and Christianity.
Whatever their motives, the fact remains
that the signatories sacrificed truth.
They also sacrificed their Christian brothers
and sisters living in the Muslim world.
Horrified Christians from those contexts
have spoken of their sense of betrayal by
their Western brethren who signed the Yale
Letter and did not seize the opportunity to
raise the fact of Christian persecution past
or present.
A Christian minister wrote to me
recently that if Barnabas Fund would only
describe Islam as peaceful and tolerant
we would get any amount of money in
donations. When I raised with him the
fact that actually a violent side of Islam
exists, he said this did not matter, the only
important thing was to work for harmony
in our day. Thus he sacrificed truth and
justice for Christian minorities for the sake
of a contemporary rapprochement between
Islam and the West.
If Christians in the West care so little for
their Christian heritage – history, values,
perhaps even faith itself – they may trade it
in for a bowl of curry or a kebab and, like
Esau, discover too late that they cannot
reclaim it.
Some will say I am being adversarial
and preaching intolerance. I would reply
that truth cannot be forsaken, however
unacceptable it is, and love must shape all
we say and do. W must speak the truth, we
must speak the truth always, we must speak
the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15) – words
which always seem to come from John
Stott’s lips. There is no conflict between
truth and love. Both are essential and must
go together. Today in our encounter with
Islam and Muslims there has never been
more need to speak the truth always and in
love, lest we find we have lost
our birthright.
Dr Patrick Sookhdeo
International Director
Project news
We are so grateful for the generous giving of Barnabas Fund supporters
which enables us to continue providing practical assistance for
Christians suffering because of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Here we report on a selection of recent grants, which are just a small
part of what we are doing. Thank you for your help in transforming
situations and changing lives. Please pray as you read.
Christians sorting garbage to earn their living
FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE IN A GARBAGE CITY
Some Christians in Egypt collect
and sort garbage so it can be sold
for recycling. This job, though low
paid, very unpleasant and dangerous,
is at least a way to earn a living.
However, the bulk of profits usually
go to Muslims controlling the work,
although it is the Christians who
provide most of the labour.
After a long wait and many
obstacles, we praise God that building
work has at last started on the school
for “garbage city” Christian children
which is being supported by Barnabas
Fund. Many of our supporters have
given generously and been praying
faithfully for this vital project.
Thank you.
Faith, hope and now love
Readers with long memories will
recall that the initial plan was for a
primary school to be called “Pillar
of Faith”. We first wrote about it
in a Barnabas Aid article entitled
“Bringing Hope to the Garbage City
Christians”. But many difficulties
arose with the chosen site, and
it proved impossible to gain the
necessary permissions for the project
to go ahead. However, the Lord
has wonderfully opened another
way which will enable us to give
an education to the very neediest
of the garbage city children, that
is, those who are disabled or have
serious illnesses. The new plan,
which has gained the approval of
the local governor, is for a school
to be called “Centre of Love”. As
one Egyptian Christian commented
to Barnabas Fund, any building or
initiative with the word “love” in it is
instantly recognised in his country as
something Christian.
There is a high level of disability
amongst the children of the garbage
city, which is partly due to the fact
that many marriages are between
close relatives such as first cousins.
There is also a high rate of sickness
due to the nature of their work and
the appallingly unhygienic conditions
in which they live. Hepatitis C is
particularly prevalent because the
refuse, which the Christians sort by
hand, includes contaminated hospital
waste. Heart disease is also very
common.
Foundations for the school were
laid in late 2007 and, Lord willing,
the six-storey building should be
completed by the end of 2008 ready to
open in 2009. As well as classrooms
there will be a clinic and facilities
for medical tests. There will be
a workshop for handicrafts and
facilities for music and computing.
The top two floors will be residential
accommodation for those of the
children who are orphans or whose
families are unable to care for
them. As well as normal lessons,
the pupils will be taught how to look
after themselves, and they will learn
vocational skills to enable them to be
at least partially self-supporting.
There are 14 deaf children and
50 with learning difficulties who
will be the first pupils at the school.
Numbers will increase in future
years, as there are also around 150
children and young people who suffer
from heart disease or other chronic
disabilities, making them unfit for the
hurly-burly of normal schools.
Some with hepatitis may also be able
to attend.
Reference 11-599
The foundations of the Centre of Love school for disabled
children in the garbage city. Please pray that the school will be
able to open in 2009
MAR / APR 2008 BARNABAS AID 3
Project news
CYCLONE SIDR: AID FOR BANGLADESH

Bangladeshi church workers distributing food aid to Bangladeshi Christians affected by Cyclone Sidr. Getting the aid and the people help Christians affected by the
to the places needed was by no means easy. Grants from Barnabas Fund are also helping to repair damaged homes and to replace
farm animals which had died in the disaster cyclone. This was used for food,
blankets, clothes, repair of houses,
Cyclone Sidr devastated the south- on houses, crops and farm animals. and to provide cows, goats and other
western coastal areas of Bangladesh Many Christians were living in the livestock for those whose animals had
on 15th November 2007. Bangladesh affected areas. died in the disaster.
is afflicted by many natural disasters, Working through four Bangladeshi Christians in Bangladesh are an
but this was the worst cyclone for Christian partner organisations, impoverished and vulnerable minority
ten years. Over 3,000 people were Barnabas Fund has so far sent who face discrimination in daily life
killed and huge destruction wreaked £47,000 (US$94,000; €65,800) to and sometimes outright persecution.
Reference 04-718

WINTER FUEL FOR ARMENIA

A needy Christian family in Armenia. Barnabas Fund
helped 150 families with extra fuel for the long,
cold Armenian winter

therefore do not keep the cold out

very effectively. A high proportion of
the young men have left the country
to try to earn money to support their
families, meaning that there is a
predominance of elderly, women and
children amongst those who remain.
There is much need, and they turn to
their local churches for help.
A grant from Barnabas Fund
of £15,000 (US$30,950; €21,000)
The Shirak region of north-west even lower. There is great poverty in provided 150 of the neediest families
Armenia is 2,000 metres above sea this Christian country, and Armenian of believers with a grant of £100
level. Winter is very cold and snowy people have been severely persecuted (US$200; €140) each to help with
and lasts six months. Temperatures in many contexts over the years. winter fuel costs.
can drop to minus 35C, sometimes Many houses are not well built, and Reference 79-719

4 BARNABAS AID MAR/ APR 2008


FEEDING IRAQI
CHRISTIAN REFUGEES
As more and more Iraqi Christians
flee their homeland in response to
anti-Christian threats and violence,
Barnabas Fund has been increasing
the amount of aid sent to Iraqi
refugees, particularly in Syria where
large numbers have found safety
and security, but have no means to
support themselves. Many are sick or
disabled or are injured as the result of
violence suffered in Iraq.
Recent grants totalling £165,250
(US$330,500; €231,350) have been
sent to help Iraqi Christians in Syria,
plus £10,000 (US$20,000; €14,000)
to help Iraqi Christians in Jordan.
Most of this is used for food, with
a little ear-marked to purchase
medication for those who are sick.
Reference 20-383
Iraqi Christian refugees in Syria sign to
confirm receipt of the aid which Barnabas
Fund has provided through their local church
HELPING THE HUNGRY
IN ZIMBABWE
Turn to pages 12-13 to read how
Barnabas Fund is helping starving
Christians in Zimbabwe.
Reference 91-721
MAKING, GROWING,
REPAIRING,
RECORDING: SMALL
BUSINESSES TO
SUPPORT CONVERTS IN
CENTRAL ASIA
Christians from a Muslim background
who live in Central Asia face many
difficulties, including the fact that
it is almost impossible for them to
find a job because no one wants
to employ them. Barnabas Fund
therefore covers the start-up costs
for small businesses run by Central
Asian churches. These businesses are
established specifically to provide
employment for converts from Islam.
When the business prospers, the
surplus profit can be used to support
the ministries of the church. Here are
some recent examples:
• Hot houses to grow tomatoes and
cucumbers, to employ 14 people
- £2,625 (US$5,250; €3,675)
• Recording studio to employ 5
to 8 people - £5,025 (US$10,050;
€7,035)
• A car service station to employ
5 people – £6,080 (US$11,670;
€8,400)
STRENGTHENING BULGARIAN CHRISTIAN
CHILDREN IN THEIR FAITH
Bulgarian children. Barnabas Fund is funding the
printing of a Christian children’s magazine in Bulgaria
A lively children’s magazine produced
every two months does much to
encourage young Christians in their
faith in parts of the world where
Christianity is under pressure. As
well as providing funds for printing
the magazine in three languages of
Central Asia, Barnabas Fund has
Project news
This church-run business in Central Asia making
concrete blocks employs six Christians from a Muslim
background. Using stone chips and concrete the
blocks are poured, moulded under pressure and then
dried. There is much construction work going on in
the area, so the business is thriving. Not only are the
six employees able to support themselves, but also
the business can help to fund the outreach ministry
of the church
• A business making concrete
blocks for building work, to employ
6 people - £5,160 (US$10,320;
€7,224)
• A business making paving stones
to employ 4 to 5 people - £4,050
(US$8,100; €5,670)
• Two market stalls selling hot-
dogs, burgers, juice, tea, ice-cream
etc. to employ 6 people - £3,100
(US$6,200; €4,340)
• A small rubber vulcanisation
business to employ 3 people -
£3,100 (US$6,200; €4,340)
• A business to repair enamel baths
to employ 5 people - £220 (US$430;
€308)
Reference 00-356
(small business start-up fund)
sent a grant of £16,400 (US$32,800;
€22,960) to have the 32-page
magazine printed in Bulgarian for the
first time. The grant will cover the
printing of 5,000 copies for one year
(six issues).
Bulgarian Christians have been
waiting eagerly for this magazine to
be available in their language. They
are watching with concern the way in
which Islam has been gaining strength
and influence in their country since
the end of communism. Muslim
missionaries from Turkey are trying to
convert Bulgarian Christians to Islam.
Reference 80-664
MARCH
MAR/ APRIL
/ APR2007
2008 BARNABAS
BARNABASAID
AID 55
Country Profile Turkey
Turkey
a country caught
between East and West
History
The Turkey of today is known as
a Muslim country: official figures
say that 99.7% of its population is
Muslim. Christians make up less than
0.15% of the Turkish population of
72.6 million. However, only about 100
years ago, Christians numbered 25%
of the population.
Present day Turkey includes the
area where the seven churches of
the book of John’s Revelation can
be found. Smyrna (today Izmir),
Philadelphia (today Alasehir) and
Thyatira (today Akhisar) are still
inhabited today, and the other
6 BARNABAS AID MAR/ APR 2008
four, Ephesus, Laodicea, Sardis
and Pergamum, were also located
in the western part of Turkey. The
area that makes up present-day
Turkey was known to the Romans as
“Asia Minor”, and it was here that
Christianity spread rapidly during
the first century after Jesus’ death
and resurrection. It was here that
several of the major early Christian
communities such as the Ephesians
and the Galatians, to which Peter
and Paul addressed their letters,
were found.
In 330 AD the Roman Emperor
Constantine moved the capital of
his empire to Byzantium, which he
Main street in what used to be the prosperous town of
Ephesus. Ephesus was an important centre for early
Christianity, and Paul spent several years in the city,
telling the Gospel to the Jews and Greeks (Acts 19)
rebuilt and renamed Constantinople,
today’s Istanbul. Constantine was
the first Christian Roman Emperor
and he adopted Christianity as its
official religion. During the time of
the Byzantine Empire, the church of
St Sophia was built at the centre of
Constantinople. It was the greatest
church of the Christian world for
about 900 years, before Turkish
tribes began to invade the region
of Anatolia and finally conquered
Constantinople in 1453. After this
St Sophia was turned into a mosque,
and its architecture became the model
for other major Turkish mosques.
St. John’s Church, dating from around 600 AD,
in Alasehir. Alasehir was formerly known
as Philadelphia, the site of one of the seven
churches in Revelation 2 and 3

Turkey’s many names
Turkey: derived from its largest
groups of inhabitants, the Turkic
tribes from Central Asia who came
and settled in the area from around
1000 AD, many of them converting
to Islam.
Anatolia: Anatolia describes the
geographical region which makes
up today’s Turkey. The term is
thought to date back about 3,000
years.
Seljuk: A Turkic tribe who gained
power in most of Byzantine
Anatolia in the second half of
the eleventh century. They were
staunch Sunni Muslims.
Ottoman: The Ottoman dynasty
was founded by Osman who
declared his clan independent from
Seljuk rule in Anatolia around
1300. By military conquest their
territory expanded to become
the Ottoman Empire, ruled by a
sultan, which was the dominant
Muslim power for some six
centuries. Later the Ottoman
sultans began to use the title
“caliph”, indicating religious
authority over all Sunni Muslims,
and later still the two posts of
sultan and caliph were divided
between two different individuals.
After the fall of the Byzantine
Empire, Constantinople became the
capital of the Ottoman Empire and
was renamed Istanbul – the “city of
Islam” – although the new name was
not made official until the 1930s.
Under Ottoman rule Islam became the
dominant religion, determining life
and politics. Christians and other non-
Muslim minorities were organised
according to the millet system, which
gave each non-Muslim religious
community a limited amount of
power to regulate their own affairs
under the overall supremacy of the
Ottoman administration. Some
millets paid a special tax to the state
as dhimmis, second-class citizens
in an Islamic state. In some parts
of the empire Christian boys were
forcibly seized, converted to Islam,
and trained to serve the Ottoman state
as elite slave troops, known as the
Janissaries.
The modern Turkish republic was
created in 1923, largely due to the
efforts of Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938),
and was recognised internationally
by the Treaty of Lausanne, signed
on 24 July. The following year the
Caliphate was abolished, as Atatürk
pushed through a radical programme
of secularisation. He imposed a
strict separation between state and
religion, and many other measures
to Westernise and modernise the
country. The Arabic alphabet was
replaced by the Roman script,
A “roundel” in St Sophia. These plates with Arabic
inscriptions giving the names of the Prophet
Muhammad and some of the sultans were put on
either side of the altar after the church had been
turned into a mosque
Country Profile
The Church of Holy Wisdom, more commonly
known as St Sophia, in Istanbul. The four
minarets were added after the church had been
turned into a mosque in 1453. In 1935 it was
converted into a museum
education was secularised, and
even the traditional dress code was
changed to give Turkey a more
Western, progressive outlook. Where
the Ottoman Empire had had Islamic
law (shari‘a), the new republic had
instead a secular legal system based
on Western models. Many Muslim
sects were outlawed and political
Islam was repressed. Over recent
years, Turkey’s ambition to join
the European Union has led to the
government taking steps to improve
on human rights issues and freedom
of speech, but so far there have
been no significant improvements in
religious liberty.
However, for most Turkish people,
Islam has remained very important,
and the secularism so carefully
established by Atatürk is now on the
wane. In elections in 2007 the former
secular ruling party was replaced by
the pro-Islamist AKP (Justice and
Development Party) who are planning
to create a new constitution, probably
more Islamic. The wife of President
Abdullah Gül wears the hijab (Islamic
headscarf) and the government plans
to lift the ban on female university
students wearing the hijab.
Because Islam has always been
a major influence on the identity of
Turkish people, “Turkishness” is held
to include being a Muslim. Therefore
Christians and other non-Muslim
minorities are seen as foreigners,
even enemies of the Turkish state.
The National Security Council lists
missionary activity as a threat to the
country. Some Turks even believe
that Christians have close links to
the PKK, a militant Kurdish group
fighting for an independent Kurdish
state in the south-eastern part of
Turkey.
The Islamic and nationalist media
have an influential role in shaping
a negative image of Christians,
often making wildly inaccurate
allegations against them. This kind
of disinformation can have serious
consequences. In one incident in
Continued overleaf
MAR / APR 2008 BARNABAS AID 7
Country Profile
Christian youth in Turkey
September 2007, a man set the
entrance of a church alight and
fired a handgun several times. He
told interrogators that he had been
“bothered” by what he had heard and
read in the newspapers about the
church. The minister of this church
is related to one of the Christian
converts from Islam murdered in
Malatya in April 2007.
This perception of Christians as a
threat to the Turkish nation has led
to discrimination and often violence
against churches, church leaders and
individuals. One of the most horrific
acts of aggressions against Christians
was the Armenian Genocide (see box).
Since the beginning of the twentieth
century, the Christian population in
Turkey has shrunk from 3.1 million to
only about 100,000 today.
Christianity today
The majority of Christians in Turkey
are not ethnically Turks, but from
Armenian, Assyrian and Greek
backgrounds and number around
76,000. There are also about 16,000
expatriate Christians from Western
countries. In recent years, there
has also been a growing number of
Christian converts from Islam who
are mostly ethnic Turks, estimated at
around 4,000.
Legal recognition
The Turkish constitution states the
right to freedom of belief, freedom of
worship, the private dissemination
of religious ideas and prohibits
discrimination on religious grounds.
However, these constitutional rights
are, in practice, only fully granted to
8 BARNABAS AID MAR/ APR 2008
Sunni Muslims. Also, only Jewish, on the election of the Ecumenical
Greek Orthodox and Armenian Patriarch, will not allow the
Orthodox communities are officially Patriarchate to own any property, will
recognised as legal religious minority not grant work visas to those coming
groups. Other non-Muslim groups can from other countries to work at the
seek to gain legal recognition locally Patriarchate, interferes in the running
and subsequently an official place of of its schools, and shows the utmost
worship, but the process is long and reluctance to discuss these grievances
complex. The final decision for such with the Patriarch.
applications lies with the mayor of Places of worship
each place, and applications may For many Christian groups it is
be denied because of anti-Christian extremely difficult, if not impossible,
prejudice. Individuals such as junior to buy new property, build new
bureaucrats, local politicians and buildings or renovate existing ones.
members of the police may violate Many church buildings bought after
the constitutional rights of religious 1936 have been confiscated by Turkish
minorities, leading to discrimination authorities without compensation and
and persecution of Christians, have been given back or sold to the
particularly in rural and remote areas previous owner. Often the reasoning
of the country. behind the confiscation is that there
Since 587 the head of the Greek are not sufficient numbers within
Orthodox in Constantinople has been the community to necessitate such a
known as the Ecumenical Patriarch, building. Also, the government has
who takes the first place of honour laid down a required minimum of
among all the Orthodox patriarchs square metres of land for a church
of the world. But the Turkish state building: for example, a “street
does not recognise this title and has church” must have at least 2,500 m2
hindered the work of the Ecumenical of land, and some churches are
Patriarchate in many different ways. required to have more. For
In addition to many of the difficulties many Christian communities
described in sections below, the these requirements can prove an
Turkish state has imposed restrictions insurmountable financial obstacle.
Armenian Genocide
From 1894 to 1923 about 1.5 million Armenian Christians died under the
Ottoman government of that time. Together with other Christian groups
such as the Assyrians, Armenian Christians were a despised minority
under the Islamic Ottoman rule. While mass killings took place periodically
throughout the almost 30 years between 1894 and 1923, the massacres of
1915 were the worst. About 800,000 Armenian Christians were killed in
that year; many of the men were executed without trial, while women and
children were deported, many dying on the way, either slaughtered or from
starvation. By 1923 the formerly growing minority of Armenian Christians
had been reduced to only about 50,000. The fact that Assyrian Christians
were also killed, especially from 1914-1920, and also that those who were
willing to convert to Islam were spared from deportation, shows that the
mass killings were religiously, rather than ethnically, motivated.
While the massacres have been recognised as genocide by more than
20 countries, Turkey still vigorously denies the charges of genocide.
It acknowledges that many Armenians died during that time, but puts the
figure at 300,000. It also claims that the deaths resulted from inter-ethnic
violence, in which many Turks died as well, and the wider context of the
First World War. Only recently the European Parliament has declared that
Turkey must acknowledge the “genocide” before it can be admitted to the
EU. (For more detailed information on the Armenian Genocide visit
www.barnabasfund.org/armeniangenocide)

Remains of churches like this one, which was built at the site of the temple of Artemis in Sardis in the fifth century,
testify to the rich Christian heritage of Turkey. See Revelation 3:1-6
For this reason, many Christian
places of worship are considered
illegal by Turkish authorities.
Since 2002 more than 20 Christian
communities have been informed that
they could not meet in their premises
anymore which were not recognised
as official places of worship. All
appealed, but eventually lost. Police
occasionally bar Christians from
holding services in their own flats and
Christians have been brought to court
for holding unauthorised gatherings
in their homes.
Education, training and work
In Turkey the government limits the
right to religious teaching in order
to “protect the secular state”. There
is compulsory religious education
in primary and secondary schools.
Recognised Christian communities
are allowed their own private schools,
but only if they are not grounded
on the principles of the Christian
faith. They have to operate under
the supervision of the Ministry of
Education and have to appoint a
Muslim as deputy principal.
Christian communities find it very
difficult to train new church leaders.
The government closed down two
Christian seminaries in the 1970s, and
they have not been allowed to reopen.
Yet the government provides funds
and institutions for the training of
imams.
Christians in rural areas often
struggle to find work, and it is
difficult for them to get a job with
Country Profile
the government, the army or the
civil services. Christian converts
from Islam risk losing their job if it
becomes know that they have become
Christian.
Evangelism and conversion
Evangelism and converting to another
faith are not illegal in Turkey, but
Christians have often been beaten and
insulted for handing out Christian
literature or sharing their faith with
Muslims. Sometimes they are arrested
and interrogated, but they are usually
released soon. In April 2007 police
arrested and detained four Christian
street evangelists for “forceful
missionary activity”, disturbing the
peace and insulting other religions. In
parts of eastern Turkey and in smaller
cities and villages, police sometimes
approach individuals who have been
seen in contact with Christians in
order to prevent them from attending
church services or continuing
having contact with Christians. In
the last two years, 12 incidents of
abduction, beatings and death threats
of Christian converts from Islam
have been filed with the police, but
many more incidents probably go
unreported out of fear of further
violence and persecution.
All Christian communities are
under state surveillance, and Christian
leaders know they are being watched
and their telephones are tapped. Many
of them receive threatening letters,
emails or phone calls on a regular
basis. For example, in January 2007
the pastor of a church in Samsun
received the following message after
his church had been vandalised:
“I will kill you, you have very little
time left.” While the police provide
protection for church buildings, they
do not very often protect church
leaders.
Violence against Christians
The degree of hostility and violence
towards Christians in Turkey has
fluctuated in recent years, and
currently is on the increase. In
November 2007 an imam in Istanbul
pinned a verse from the Qu’ran
prohibiting friendship with Jews
and Christians on the door of his
mosque. In the same month a church
minister was kidnapped, but later
Continued overleaf
MAR / APR 2008 BARNABAS AID 9
Country Profile
The following message was sent
by email to a Turkish church
leader in November 2007:
I won’t waste my time by writing
you a long note. The true and only
accepted religion by Allah is Islam.
You people use your religion as a
weapon and do missionary work
and assume Turkey is a derelict
nation. Do you think Turks are
derelict and stupid? You pass your
boundaries when you do your
missionary work. You dare to
insult Muhammed and Allah’s true
religion. What do you trust and
depend on? Let me answer. Is it
one of the articles in the Lausanne
Peace Agreement? Don’t make me
laugh. I am a soldier of Allah and
I don’t care either for Lausanne
peace agreement, the European
Union or the Turkish Constitution.
I have one book, one law giver and
that is the Quran. Either I will
chop your heads off or you leave
this country. I don’t care if you are
Turkish. I am first a Muslim, then
a Turk. (Blessed are those who can
say they are Turkish and Muslim.)
released unharmed. In December
2007 Turkish police foiled a plot
by Islamist extremists to murder a
Turkish church leader. Only two weeks
before this incident an Italian church
leader ministering in Izmir was
stabbed, but not fatally. His attacker
had approached him after a service
with questions about Christianity,
expressing interest in becoming a
Christian. (In February 2006 another
Italian church leader had been shot
dead in Trabzon.)
One of the most widely
acknowledged incidents of this sort
was the killing of three Christian
employees of a Christian publishing
house on 18 April 2007 in Malatya.
Two of the victims were Turkish
converts from Islam and the third
was German. The trial had been
10 BARNABAS AID MAR/ APR 2008
postponed from November 2007
to January 2008 (in progress at the
time of writing) because the defence
lawyers needed more time to prepare
their defence. In the meantime, the
media spread rumours about the
murdered Christians in order to
present them in a negative light. Also,
it has been reported that the majority
of the investigations for this case
seemed to focus on the “missionary
activities” of the three Christian men
rather than the murders. Threats
against Christians have increased
since the Malatya murders.
The growing link between Turkish
nationalism and Islamism looks set to
pose increasingly serious risks to the
tiny Christian community in Turkey in
the future.
Barnabas projects
in Turkey
Barnabas Fund has supported a
variety of projects, large and small,
to strengthen the Church in Turkey,
including leadership training and
education. It has also helped to fund
various resources, for example a series
of TV programmes on the theme of
“Christians and Churches in Turkeyˆ.
The programmes show the history of
key Christians and churches in the
geographical area covered by modern
Turkey. The aim is to encourage
Turkish Christians, who are so often
made to feel foreigners in their own
land, by showing them that there is a
heritage and history of Christianity in
the region.
If you would like to support
Christians in Turkey in their difficult
situation, you can donate to the
Turkey General Fund (reference
54-750).
One of the presenters
who led through the TV
series “Christians and
Churches in Turkey”.
The aim of this series
was to make Turkish
Christians aware of the
rich Christian heritage of
their country
The Treaty of Lausanne, 1923
The Treaty of Lausanne gave
international recognition to the newly
formed Republic of Turkey, and
included Articles on Turkey’s religious
minorities. It guaranteed freedom
of belief and protected against
discrimination on religious grounds,
although these rights have not been
well observed in practice.
Article 38: The Turkish Government
undertakes to assure full and complete
protection of life and liberty to all inhabitants
of Turkey without distinction of birth,
nationality, language, race or religion.
All inhabitants of Turkey shall be entitled
to free exercise, whether in public or private,
of any creed, religion or belief, the observance
of which shall not be incompatible with
public order and good morals.
Article 39: Turkish nationals belonging to
non-Moslem minorities will enjoy the same
civil and political rights as Moslems.
All the inhabitants of Turkey, without
distinction of religion, shall be equal before
the law.
Differences of religion, creed or confession
shall not prejudice any Turkish national in
matters relating to the enjoyment of civil
or political rights, as, for instance, […] the
exercise of professions and industries.
Article 40: Turkish nationals belonging to
non-Moslem minorities shall enjoy the same
treatment and security in law and in fact
as other Turkish nationals. In particular,
they shall have an equal right to establish,
manage and control at their own expense, any
charitable, religious and social institutions,
any schools and other establishments for
instruction and education, with the right to
use their own language and to exercise their
own religion freely therein.
Article 41: In towns and districts where
there is a considerable proportion of
Turkish nationals belonging to non-Moslem
minorities, these minorities shall be assured
an equitable share in the enjoyment and
application of the sums which may be
provided out of public funds under the State,
municipal or other budgets for educational,
religious, or charitable purposes.
This series of pull-out supplements is intended to provide background information for Christians seeking to understand
the nature of Islam and its contemporary expression. One aspect of this relates to understanding the reason for the
oppression and persecution of Christians in various Islamic parts of the world, and another to the growing challenge
which Islam poses to Western society, culture and Church.
Non-Muslims under Islam
It is often said nowadays that Islam has always
been a peaceful and tolerant religion in which
non-Muslim minorities flourished undisturbed,
with Jews and Christians respectfully treated as
equals by the Muslim majority. The well-known
scholar of Islam, Bernard Lewis, criticises this
myth as a recent invention which has no base
in history:
It is only very recently that some defenders of Islam have
begun to assert that their society in the past accorded
equal status to non-Muslims. No such claim is made by
spokesmen for resurgent Islam, and historically there is
no doubt that they are right. Traditional Islamic societies
neither accorded such equality nor pretended that they were
so doing. Indeed, in the old order, this would have been
regarded not as a merit but as a dereliction of duty. How
could one accord the same treatment to those who follow
the true faith and those who wilfully reject it? This would
be a theological as well as a logical absurdity. 1
This article looks at how Islam treats non-Muslims of
various kinds, both in history and in theology. Muhammad
set the tone shortly before his death by stating his intention
of cleansing the Arabian peninsula of all non-Muslims.
It has been narrated by ‘Umar b. al-Khattab that he heard
the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) say: I will
expel the Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula
and will not leave any but Muslim. (Sahih Muslim, Book
019, Number 4366).
The traditional Islamic view is that God has made
Muslims superior to all other people. According to the
Qur’an, Muslims are “the best of peoples” (Q 3:110).2
All relationships with non-Muslims have to serve the
principle of honouring and strengthening Islam and
Muslims. Muslims must be dominant and non-Muslims
subordinate. In an Islamic state, only Muslims have full
citizenship rights.
Even today, many Muslims accept it as natural and
normal for non-Muslims to be despised and discriminated
against. They feel that it is quite proper for non-Muslims
to be restricted in the public expression of their faiths and
quite improper for a Muslim to submit to a non-Muslim in
marriage, at work or in the political sphere.
Muslim attitudes to non-Muslims are based on the
Qur’an, on Muhammad’s example, on the example of the
early Islamic state under the four “rightly-guided caliphs”,
and on Islamic law (shari‘a) as it developed in the
classical age.
1
Bernard Lewis, The Jews of Islam (Princeton University Press, 1987) p.4. 2 Quotations from the Qur’an are taken from A. Yusuf Ali, The Holy Quran: Text,
Translation and Commentary (The Islamic Foundation, 1975. 3 “Undercover Mosque”, transcript, Dispatches, TV Channel 4, broadcast 15 January 2007,
http://www.islamicpluralism.org/news/2007n/undercovermosquesscript.pdf, viewed 7 January 2008.
PULL-OUT SUPPLEMENT
Muhammad and non-Muslims
Pagans
Muhammad totally rejected the polytheistic pagan idolatry
of pre-Islamic Arabia. During his early years in Mecca
he patiently suffered persecution at the hand of the Arab
pagans without retaliation. However, once he had moved
to Medina and gained political power there, he demanded
that all Arab pagans submit and convert to Islam or else be
killed. The final development in Muhammad’s attitude to
pagans is given in the Qur’an’s so-called “sword verse”:
But when the forbidden months are past, then fight
and slay the pagans wherever ye find them, and seize
them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every
stratagem (of war). (Q 9:5)
Jews and Christians
Muhammad saw the monotheistic faiths, Islam and
Christianity, as a different category from paganism.
At first he even recognised their validity, but in Medina he
gradually turned against his Jewish allies who persistently
refused to accept his claim to be a prophet and would
not practise the new religious customs he introduced.
This friction with Jews, and later with various Christian
communities, hardened his position as to the absolute
superiority of Islam. Muhammad fought the Jewish tribes,
massacred many of their men, enslaving their women
and children, and expelled others from their lands near
Medina to areas further north. The gradual hardening of
Muhammad’s attitude can be seen in the Qur’an where the
later chapters, dating from his time in Medina, are much
harsher towards pagans, Jews and Christians than the
chapters dating from his early years in Mecca.
According to the Qur’an, Christians are blasphemers
because they say that Christ is God and believe in
the Trinity:
They do blaspheme who say: “God is Christ the son of
Mary.” But said Christ: “O children of Israel! worship
God my Lord and your Lord.” Whoever joins other gods
with God – God will forbid him the Garden and the Fire
will be his abode. There will for the wrong-doers be no
one to help. They do blaspheme who say: God is one of
three in a Trinity: for there is no god except One God. If
they desist not from their word (of blasphemy) verily a
grievous penalty will befall the blasphemers among them.
(Q 5:75-76)
According to the Qur’an Jews are under God’s wrath and
curse for rejecting the message of the prophets and of
Jesus:
i
PULL-OUT SUPPLEMENT
Curses were pronounced on those among the Children
of Israel who rejected Faith by the tongue of David and
of Jesus the son of Mary: because they disobeyed and
persisted in Excesses. Nor did they (usually) forbid one
another the iniquities which they committed: evil indeed
were the deeds which they did. Thou seest many of them
turning in friendship to the Unbelievers. Evil indeed are
(the works) which their souls have sent forward before
them (with the result) that God’s wrath is on them and in
torment will they abide. (Q 5:81-83)
Therefore Christians and Jews are joint targets of hostility:
O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians
for your friends and protectors: they are but friends and
protectors to each other. And he amongst you that turns
to them (for friendship) is of them. Verily God guideth
not a people unjust. (Q 5:54)
They must be fought until they humbly submit to the rule
of Islam:
Fight those who believe not in God nor the Last Day nor
hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by God
and His apostle, nor acknowledge the Religion of Truth
(even if they are) of the People of the Book until they pay
the Jizya with willing submission and feel themselves
subdued. (Q 9:29)
Shari‘a and non-Muslims
The shari‘a (Islamic law) was compiled at a time of Muslim
dominance during the days of the Abbasid Empire. It is
therefore based on the assumption that political power is
in the hands of Muslims, and it contains many detailed
rules about non-Muslims, rules which set boundaries
between them and the Muslims, and ensure the latter’s
superiority. Discrimination on grounds of religion is
therefore fundamental to shari‘a.
According to shari‘a, all non-Muslims are basically
defined as kafirun or kuffar (singular kafir, with various
alternative spellings), meaning unbelievers or infidels.
This is a term of contempt and abhorrence. Dr Taj
Hargey, Chairman of the Muslim Education Centre Oxford
(MECO), stated last year:
The word kaffir is a very pejorative, negative, disparaging
term. When you call someone a kaffir, they are not worthy
to be associated with.
Within the larger category of the kafirun are several
subdivisions:
1. The pagan idolatrous polytheists (mushrikun), who
worship other than the one true God. These are to be
fought and killed unless they convert to Islam.
2. The People of the Book (Ahl al-Kitab), so-called
because they had received a written revelation from
the one God. This category comprises Jews, Christians,
Sabeans (followers of John the Baptist) and sometimes
Zoroastrians. However they are charged with having
misunderstood the original revelation, added to it,
changed it and corrupted it, and with having deified
human beings, associating them with God. They were
allowed to keep their faith and their life provided they
submitted to Muslim rule under various humiliating
conditions. Their status was defined as Ahl al-Dhimma
(people of the pact).
4 5
Patrick Sookhdeo, Global Jihad: The Future in the Face of Militant Islam (Isaac Publishing, 2007), especially chapters 4 and 5.
The Future in the Face of Militant Islam (Isaac Publishing, 2007), p.244-268.
ii
3. Muslim apostates or renegades (murtaddun).
These may be outright converts from Islam to another
faith, or blasphemers, heretics (mulhidun) and deniers
of the main doctrines of Islam. This category includes
Muslim individuals and sects who have deviated from
orthodox Islam.
Jihad and non-Muslims
According to classical Islamic doctrine, jihad is the God-
given method for dealing with non-Muslims and for the
expansion of Islam’s political dominion into non-Muslim
territory. Pagans who did not convert to Islam were killed.
Jews and Christians, on the other hand, were allowed to
keep their faith and live, but only if they submitted to
Islamic domination. After a Muslim conquest, any sign
of discontent amongst the subjugated Jews and Christians
was considered to revoke the pact of submission/protection
and require further jihad against them.4
It is clear from documents of the time that early jihad
campaigns brought misery to the conquered non-Muslims.
Muslim writers often claim that the Islamic conquests
brought liberation to oppressed people and tolerance to
all religious communities. But the accounts of Christians,
Jews and others who were on the receiving end are very
different, and even Muslim historians recorded large-scale
brutality. Jihad was all too frequently accompanied by
destruction of cities, the killing of captured soldiers, the
massacre of civilians, looting, widespread slavery, forced
conversions to Islam, the seizing of non-Muslim lands and
heavy taxation.5
Status of pagans
Relations between Muhammad and his pagan relatives
and neighbours were tense from the beginning. Shari‘a
forbade any social interaction such as sharing of food or
intermarriage between Muslims and pagans. Pagans were
to be fought by jihad until they submitted and converted
to Islam, or were killed or enslaved. In historical reality,
all the Arabian tribes were forced to become Muslims by
the first caliphs. In later conquered areas such as India,
where polytheists were very numerous, many were initially
slaughtered, but the sheer number of polytheists in the
conquered territories made the command to kill them
impractical in reality, Later some Muslim scholars gave
Hinduism the same status as Judaism and Christianity, but
other scholars disputed this.
Status of Jews and Christians
Jews and Christians were defined in shari‘a as dhimmis,
that is, subjugated second-class people given protection by
the Muslim state. Protection meant that they were allowed
to keep their non-Muslim faith yet not be killed (unlike
pagans). However, this arrangement - protection in return
for submission - held only as long the dhimmis did not
carry weapons, knew their lowly place in society, treated
Muslims with respect, and paid a demeaning poll tax called
jiyza. Numerous petty laws restricted and humiliated
Jews and Christians in their daily lives. They were only
allowed to worship within their synagogues and churches,
not in public space. Church bells were not allowed to be
rung. New church buildings were not allowed, nor could
existing churches be repaired. Dhimmis could not testify in
a shari‘a court against a Muslim. Finally, dhimmis were not
Patrick Sookhdeo, Global Jihad:

to be given any public office that placed them in a position
of authority over Muslims. At best, they could serve their
Muslim rulers in administrative capacities, and any signs
of “arrogance” were harshly punished. It is narrated that
the Caliph Umar refused to employ Christians in positions
of power, saying:
I will not honour them when God has degraded them;
I will not glorify them when God has humiliated them;
I will not bring them near when God has set them far.6
The ancient Christian communities that have survived
under Muslim rule, such as the Copts in Egypt or the
Assyrians in Iraq, see their history as a long series of
persecutions, massacres, forced conversions, and destroyed
churches. They feel themselves to be a subjugated people
precariously surviving among a dominant and hostile
Muslim majority. Martyrdom and suffering have a high
symbolic meaning as they perceive themselves facing a
constant threat to their very existence.
During the colonial period, the practice of shari‘a
was partly dismantled in several Muslim states, being
replaced to some extent by Western codes of law. The rise
of secular and socialist forms of nationalism at the end
of the colonial period brought a temporary reprieve from
traditional Muslim hostility to non-Muslims. There were
great hopes of creating new national identities across
religious and ethnic divides.
However, since independence in the mid-twentieth
century, many Muslim states have reintroduced shari‘a as
a main source of their legal systems, and many modern
Islamist movements are demanding a greater use of shari‘a.
Furthermore, whether or not shari‘a is officially
implemented, the long history of its application still
influences attitudes of Muslim communities around the
globe. The result is that Christians (and Jews when they
were present) in Muslim countries are commonly despised
and discriminated against by officialdom and by society
at large. They find it hard to get jobs, are not treated as
equals in the law-courts, and are often harassed by the
security services.
The current growth of Islamism is fuelling an increasing
hostility to non-Muslims. Indigenous Christians are often
assumed to be Western collaborators and spies in the
heart of Islam. These attitudes are eroding the hard-won
freedoms inherited from the colonial and independence
era. Discrimination, persecution and attacks against
Christians are on the increase in many Muslim states.
6 7
Ibn Qutayba, _Uyun al-Akhbar, Vol. 1 (Cairo, 1962), p. 43.
(Isaac Publishing, 2002), pp.243,297-302.
PULL-OUT SUPPLEMENT
Egypt. In accordance with shari‘a, the
minaret of the mosque is higher than
the towers of the nearby church. Islam
teaches that non-Muslim faiths and their
followers must always be seen to be of
lesser status than Islam and Muslims
Status of apostates from Islam
According to Islamic theology, apostasy is one of the
few sins God cannot forgive. All schools of shari‘a agree
that adult male apostates from Islam should be killed,
and various other punishments are specified as well.
The punishment for women apostates varies, but in some
schools of law it is also a death sentence. Even where the
death sentence is not carried out, apostates face severe
penalties such as exile, disinheritance, loss of possessions,
threats, beatings, torture, and prison, and the marriages of
apostates may be automatically dissolved.
The Qur’an does not have any unambiguous
commands to kill apostates, but hadith traditions claim
that Muhammad said, “Whoever changed his [Islamic]
religion, then kill him” (Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 84,
Number 57). Other hadiths record how apostates were
killed on Muhammad’s orders. Hence the death penalty for
apostates in shari‘a.
Soon after Muhammad’s death in 632 various groups
of Arabs rebelled against their Islamic rulers. They were
all branded apostates by the first caliph, Abu Bakr
(632-634). The fighting that followed was known as the
Wars of Apostasy, and a number of Arabs were burned to
death by the renowned general Khalid ibn al-Walid for
refusing to return to Islam. Abu Bakr insisted on dealing
ruthlessly with the rebel apostates, following the example
of Muhammad, despite the hesitation of many others
in Medina.
In shari‘a apostasy (irtidad) has always been linked
to unbelief, blasphemy and heresy, terms which are
sometimes used interchangeably. All are regarded
as serious crimes, and they are often combined in
prosecutions in spite of the different categories of shari‘a
criminal law they fall under.7 Muslims who accept
teachings considered heretical by orthodox Islam are held
by shari‘a to have reverted to paganism and therefore to
deserve the death penalty.
While apostate (murtadd) usually refers to a Muslim
who has converted to another faith, others who consider
themselves to be Muslims can be accused of unbelief,
blasphemy and heresy as well as of apostasy for various
other causes, including scepticism, atheism, and not fully
implementing shari‘a. The process of denouncing someone
else as an apostate is called takfir, the significance being
that the “apostate” is then considered liable to the death
sentence. Many liberal or secularist Muslims have found
Patrick Sookhdeo, A People Betrayed: The Impact of Islamization on the Christian Community in Pakistan
iii
 themselves classified as apostates for views which the
PULL-OUT SUPPLEMENT
religious establishment or militant Islamist groups hold to
be heretical. Some have been assassinated and others have
been convicted by the courts of apostasy and had to flee to
the West for safety. 8 Muslim “heretical” sects are severely
persecuted. This is especially true of the Ahmadiyyas in
Pakistan and of the Bahais in Iran.
For most Muslims, apostasy still carries strongly
negative connotations of betrayal of one’s community and
rejection of one’s heritage. This attitude explains why so
few Muslim voices are ever raised in defence of people
accused of apostasy.
Apostates bring terrible shame on their families.
Converts to Christianity are normally rejected by their
families and in danger of being killed by individuals and
persecuted by Muslim states. Even in Britain, the growing
numbers of British Muslims who convert to Christianity
face severe persecution. They are not just shunned by their
family and community, but experience harassment, violent
attacks, kidnappings and outright attempts at murder.
Forced conversions 9
Shari‘a permits the forced conversion to Islam of pagans,
prisoners of war, female slaves, captured and abandoned
children, and apostates. Historical Islamic practice often
went far beyond these boundaries. By defining various
population groups as pagans, permission was given for
their forcible conversion.
In the early centuries of Islam, Christian Arab tribes
sometimes faced efforts at forced conversion. For example,
Umair ibn-Sa‘d, governor of Homs under Caliph Umar
(634-644), was in the habit of forcing Christian Arab tribes
to convert to Islam. The Banu Taghlib Christian tribes of
north-west Syria surprised him with their firm refusal to
embrace Islam.
Bar Hebraeus (1226-1286), a scholarly bishop, reported
that under the Abbasid Caliph al-Mahdi, 5,000 Christian
Arabs of the Tannukh tribe were forcibly converted to
Islam.
When the Almohad Muslims conquered the province of
Ifriqiyya (modern Tunisia) they offered Jews and Christians
the choice between conversion to Islam or death. Similar
policies were followed in other areas in North Africa and
Spain that came under Almohad control. Many thousands
who refused to convert were slaughtered.
8
“The Application of the Apostasy Law in the World Today”, Barnabas Fund, http://www.barnabasfund.org/News/archives/article.php?ID_news_items=294
9
Patrick Sookhdeo, Global Jihad: The Future in the Face of Militant Islam (Isaac Publishing, 2007), pp.240-244.
BARNABAS FUND HOPE AND AID FOR THE PERSECUTED CHURCH
UK Australia
9-10 Priory Row, Coventry CV1 5EX Postal Suite 107
Telephone 024 7623 1923 236 Hyperdome
Fax 024 7683 4718 Loganholme QLD 4129
From outside the UK Telephone (07) 3806 1076 or 1300 365799
Telephone +44 24 7623 1923 Fax: (07) 3806 4076
Fax +44 24 7683 4718 Email bfaustralia@barnabasfund.org
E-mail info@barnabasfund.org
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Company Registered in England Jersey, Channel Islands
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iv Source: Barnabas Aid March/April 2008
In the various Muslim conquests in India, many forced
conversions of Hindus are mentioned, for example, during
Mahmud of Ghazni’s campaign (1013-1014), under Jalal-
ud-Din of Bengal (1414-1430), in the early years of the
Mughal Emperor Akbar (1556-1605), under Shah Jehan,
(1626-1658) and under Emperor Aurangzeb (1658-1707).
From time to time the Ottomans tried forced conquered
populations to convert to Islam. For example, Sultan
Selim I (1512-1520) organised a number of conversion
campaigns, including converting the Bulgarians. In the
next century forced conversion among the inhabitants
of the Rodope and Pirin mountains from 1666 to 1670
created a new population group named the Pomaks
(Christian Bulgarian Slavs converted to Islam).
There were repeated forcible conversions of Jews to
Islam in Persia. The first was under Shah Abbas II, who in
1656 ordered all Jews in his kingdom to become Muslims.
The newly converted Jews where known as jadid al-Islam
(literally, the new of Islam). Forced conversions occurred
as late as 1839 in the city of Mashad.
At the turn of the eighteenth century Shah Sultan
Hossein (1694-1722) issued a decree that all Zoroastrians
should convert to Islam or face the consequences. Many
were slaughtered and the others converted to Islam.
Forced conversions to Islam have recently taken place
in Sudan during the civil war which ended in 2005, and
in Indonesia during the 1998-2002 jihadi attacks on
Christians in the Malukus and in Central Sulawesi.
Conclusion
The positive attitude of Muhammad early in his career to
Jews and Christians had no lasting effect in Islam, because
it was over-ridden by his later hostile attitude. The shari‘a,
based on the later dated verses in the Qur’an and on
the hadith traditions describing what Muhammad said
and did, enshrined an attitude of hostility and contempt
towards non-Muslims. Centuries of applying shari‘a has
created a general Muslim attitude of contempt for non-
Muslims so that even in modern secular Muslim states
which have constitutionally guaranteed equal rights to
all citizens, non-Muslims are discriminated against in
numerous ways. With the contemporary rise of Islamism
and militant Islam, non-Muslim minorities in Muslim
countries face increasing pressure, harassment and
restrictions.
© Barnabas Fund, 2008
New Zealand
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Telephone 09 630 6267
E-mail office@barnabasfund.org.nz
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or toll-free 1-866-936-2525
Fax (703) 288-1682
Email bfusa@barnabasfund.org
www.barnabasfund.org

Christmas attacks in India destroy 95 churches
HINDU EXTREMISTS launched a series
of violent, but meticulously planned
attacks on Christians in Kanhdamal
District, Orissa State on 24 and 25
December 2007. A total of 95 churches
were burnt to the ground, as well as 730
homes of Christians. In cases where
a Christian ministry operated from
rented premises owned by a Hindu, the
attackers were careful not to damage
the building, but took all the contents
outside and set them on fire.
The attackers - members of the VHP
(Vishwa Hindu Panishad) - were armed
with guns, knives, trishuls (trident-
like spears), home-made bombs and
other weapons. They shouted slogans
including: “Only Hindus to stay here
– no Christians to stay here”, “Christians
must become Hindu or die” and “Kill
Christians”. At least nine Christians were
killed. The reason the complete death
toll is proving hard to ascertain is partly
because the VHP have been assiduously
hiding/destroying the bodies of their
victims in order to prevent numbers
being known. Another reason is that
many Christians fled into the jungle
or to other villages, so some of those
missing may still be alive. Those who
have emerged from the jungle already
at the time of writing have spoken of
the hardships and dangers they faced
there, such as cold, lack of water, and
wandering tigers and bears. Most of the
Christians in Uzbekistan
under increasing pressure
PRACTISING THEIR FAITH is
becoming increasingly difficult
and dangerous for Christians in
Uzbekistan. The government, who fears
the increasing influence of Islamic
extremism throughout the country
(88% of the country’s population of
27 million is Sunni Muslim), continues
to implement even stricter laws against
religious activities, both Muslim and
Christian. Christian converts from
Muslim backgrounds face particular
pressure not only from the authorities
but also suffer persecution from their
own families and communities. Many
new young Christians in rural areas
have been beaten severely and told to
recite the shahada, the Islamic creed,
Christians were Dalits, a very low status
group in Indian society.
Many Christians have reported how
the police stood by watching the carnage
without trying to intervene. The only
exception was a Christian police officer
in Balliguda town who warned church
leaders in Barkhama village on 24
December to run for their lives.
The next day he was transferred.
In several places the VHP attackers
were at pains not just to destroy but
also to desecrate. At a church in
Bamunigaon, they carefully took out
the communion cups and all associated
materials and crushed them under
their feet. In Barkhama, where seven
congregations had joined together for a
combined open-air Christmas Eve service
on church land, the VHP cremated the
body of an elderly Hindu (who had died
of natural causes) in front of the open air
pulpit.
In Kutikia a small church was
attacked and its minister and 12 church
members taken to a field where their
heads were shaved because they refused
to deny Christ. Then they were ordered
to eat raw rice mixed with goats’ blood so
as to become Hindus.
Barnabas Fund is helping the victims
with food, clothes, temporary shelter and
in due course with rebuilding houses and
churches. Gifts can be sent to Project
reference 21-723.
to renounce their Christian faith and
return to Islam. Older converts are
being isolated and ostracised in their
communities as Muslim leaders forbid
people to speak to them.
Meanwhile converts in the cities are
being arrested, and pressure is being
put on their pastors. A large church
in Tashkent has about 1,000 converts
amongst its congregation who used to
meet together for their own service in
the national language, Uzbek. After a
film was made about their pastor, he
and his wife were beaten up and their
eldest daughter kidnapped. He had to
flee the country . (Barnabas Fund gave
practical assistance.) Then pressure was
put on the church to stop the converts
meeting for Sunday worship. Eventually
a compromise was reached in which
they could continue to meet, but had to
worship in Russian instead of Uzbek.
Newsroom
One of the churches targeted in the recent car bomb attacks in
Mosul. Source: Ankawa
Churches in Iraq targeted
in Christmas bomb
attacks
ON SUNDAY 6TH JANUARY at least six
churches and other Christian buildings
in Baghdad and Mosul became the target
of coordinated bomb attacks. At least
one person was wounded and several of
the buildings were damaged. The attacks
coincided with the date when many
Middle Eastern Christians celebrate
Christmas Eve. Although the bombs were
all placed well away from the buildings
and detonated after people had left the
services so that injuries were few, it is
still clear that the objective was to cause
fear among the Christian community in
Iraq, to make them flee and to discourage
Iraqi Christian refugees from returning
to their homeland.
Just three days later another two
churches were attacked in Kirkuk with
car bombs, which exploded in front
of them, wounding three people and
damaging the buildings.
The current pastor is receiving phone
calls threatening him and his family. He
now has to keep his children home from
school because of the threats.
In another case in Tashkent, a
church bought an old cinema building
for their meetings in 1999. This sale
was annulled in September 2007 by the
local authorities without warning or
explanation, leaving the church without
a legal place to meet for worship. When
the pastor decided to appeal the decision
in the Supreme Court, two court cases
were started against him, accusing him
of using psychotropic drugs to keep
people coming to his church. Police
officers found medication and clothing
in the church building which they
believed to be proof of the church’s illegal
activities. In fact, these supplies were
used to help poor and needy members of
the church.
MAR / APR 2008 BARNABAS AID 11
Focus
Zimbabwe: have accompanied the food aid and
taken the credit for delivering it on
behalf of President Mugabe and his

the empty breadbasket

ZANU-PF party. When food is allowed
in, there are very heavy import duties
charged on it.
Most people in rural areas are
existing on a diet of mapani worms,
insects and wild spinach. In cities,
people are digging up the streets and
parks to plant maize and vegetables
for food. Even professionals such as
doctors, accountants and engineers
are now doing this, as they have no
work and no income.

No water
The country has had three years of
consistent drought. Many wells have
dried up. Running water is officially
supposed to be on for six hours twice
a week but this seldom happens.
Sometimes the taps are dry for weeks
on end. Heavy rains in late 2007 may
have eased the problem in some areas,
but caused destructive floods at the
A dried up well, one of many in Zimbabwe. A three-year drought has exacerbated the dire effects of the government’s policies and time the rain fell.
brought hunger and thirst to the vast majority of the people
Church leaders monitored
Once so fruitful that it was called “the breadbasket of Africa”, Zimbabwe is
The government is very suspicious of
now a country in the grip of long-term starvation. In the past Zimbabwe
Christian leaders and has infiltrated
produced so much food that it was used by the United Nations as a source of various church organisations (as
food relief for Mozambique, Zambia and Malawi, and in 1986 Zimbabwe was well as other parts of society). Many
given the UN’s “Freedom from Hunger” award. Yet now, because of the policies church leaders have their phones
of President Mugabe and some extreme weather conditions, Zimbabweans are tapped and their emails monitored.
starving to death and the country has the lowest life expectancy in the world Sometimes they receive calls from
(37 for men and 34 for women). the intelligence agency asking why
they were in contact with certain
All semblance of normality in no fuel for vehicles so the roads are
individuals or groups.
daily life has gone, except for elite virtually empty. It is small wonder
In 2007 a number of prayer
government officials who continue that a quarter of the population has meetings had to be abandoned when
to live in luxury. Manufacturing fled the country, most of them living police stormed the meetings with
cannot function in a situation where illegally in South Africa. dogs, batons and tear gas. Many
electricity is only available very church ministers were beaten,
erratically, for example six hours every No food arrested and accused (falsely) of
two days, with no advance notice of There is virtually no food in the shops, organising anti-government rallies.
when the power will be on. Small and anyway few can afford to buy it.
businesses cannot function in a Likewise there is almost no food being Helping the hungriest
situation where no one has money to produced in the country, a situation through the churches
spend on their products. There is 85% due mainly to the government’s A Christian ministry in South Africa
unemployment, and four-fifths of the land redistribution policy, but made has begun to work through churches
population live well below the poverty worse by drought. Food aid must be in Zimbabwe to bring in food aid for
line of US$1 (50p; €0.70) a day. brought into the country from outside, the poorest in their congregations.
A senior civil servant may earn only yet very little is officially allowed in Everything must be done very
US$4 (£2; €2.80) a day. Inflation is and there have been incidences of the discreetly, so courageous and hardy
running at 50,000% and the economy government confiscating food. On South African volunteers bring in the
has reverted to barter trade. There is other occasions, government officials food in their personal vehicles and

12 BARNABAS AID MAR/ APR 2008

 Focus
“The people were absolutely
overjoyed and could not stop
shaking our hands and hugging
us… We slept in the village chief’s
mud hut that night while the entire
village gave prayers and songs of
thanks and praise until 2.00 in the
morning. At 4.00 we were woken
up by the other church group who
Children helping with the unloading. The state of their clothes is an indication of their poverty had travelled by foot through the
night to collect their food.
drive it to local churches in the areas pastor to gather his congregation. We gave all that was left but it was
of greatest need in Zimbabwe. We were approached by a very sadly very clear that not all families
Typically each vehicle will carry embarrassed village head who said received food. The local pastors
60 to 70 food packages, each one that it is customary to serve visitors explained that the food would be
designed to feed a family of seven to with food and drink but they had shared.”
ten people for a month. A package none to give. It was quite apparent Barnabas Fund is supporting this
contains: that this village was in a state of ministry with a grant of £40,000
10kg maize meal famine. As is customary in the (US$80,000; €56,000) which will
2 l cooking oil Tonga culture if there was any food cover the cost of 800 food packages
2.5 kg bread flour at all they would have given the last per month for almost six months.
of what they had to us.” That is the maximum rate per month
6 packets dry yeast
2kg rice While waiting for the church possible at present, the limit being set
members to arrive, the team took by the number of people willing to
2kg lima beans
every water container in the village make the arduous and risky journey
2.5kg sugar and drove to fill them at the nearest into Zimbabwe to deliver the food.
800g peanut butter water source, an irrigation dam, Transport costs will be paid by South
500g salt which was over 5km away. By 7.00 African churches. (Project reference
Food is bought in bulk to keep p.m. one congregation had arrived 91-721)
prices down, so one package costs and the leader gave a short spiritual It is hoped to find a way also to get
only £8.60 (US$17.20; €12), meaning message before 50 food packages seed for crops into Zimbabwe and
that the cost per person is around were distributed to the family groups. to train people in special techniques
3p per day. Another 30 packages were kept for for cultivating the land in times of
At the local churches, the minsters another congregation who were due to drought.
organise the distribution to members arrive in the morning.
of their congregations. Often the
families who receive the food aid will Zimbabwe: recent history
share it with those outside the church
Known in colonial times as Rhodesia, Zimbabwe finally gained
who have none. A Barnabas Fund
independence in 1980, fifteen years after the white minority had initially
representative, who joined a small
declared independence from Britain. Since 1980 the country has been
team to make a food distribution trip,
ruled by President Mugabe and his ZANU-PF political party. Before long his
described the welcome they got when
regime became characterised by corruption and terrible mismanagement of
they arrived at their destination:
the economy. Many large and productive farms were seized from their white
“We unloaded the food into a hut owners and ruined, thus creating dire food shortages. Immense deprivation
and waited for the local church and suffering for most of the population has been the result of all this, and
Mugabe, now intensely unpopular, can only maintain power by intimidation
and brutality. The press has been muzzled since 1991, and any kind of
dissent is dealt with harshly. The government denies there is a food shortage
at present, and claims that inflation is a mere 7,800% instead of the real
figure of 50,000%.
There is freedom of religion, and around 70% of the population classify
themselves as Christian. But there have been attempts since independence
to impose Marxism-Leninism. Furthermore many Christian leaders find
themselves under surveillance or facing harassment from the government,
especially if they criticise the ruling regime.
Unloading the food packages

MAR / APR 2008 BARNABAS AID 13

The Other Nine

Last year the young people of Chelmsford Cathedral, UK, created a service for the Persecuted Church under
the title “One in Ten: The Persecuted Church”. The service was held on Sunday morning 18th November
2007. With the permission of the cathedral youth officer, we reproduce the main elements of their service
here as a resource for others to adapt and use in their own meetings. Some may find this an appropriate
order of service to use in the approach to Easter. Words in bold are for the whole congregation to say.

One in Ten: Saying Hello

Welcome in the Name of Christ. God’s
grace, mercy and peace be with you.

The Persecuted Church And also with you.

Introduction
“So that there should be no division
in the body, but that its parts should
have equal concern for each other.
If one part suffers, every part suffers
with it; if one part is honoured, every
part rejoices with it.”
(1 Cor 12:25-26)
Today over 200 million Christians
(1 in 10) around the world are
persecuted or imprisoned because
they love Jesus.
Although some Christians think of
the Persecuted Church as being in a
distant part of the world, We Are One.
The Christian Church is not divided
into Persecuted and Non-Persecuted.
When part of the Body of Christ
experiences suffering, so does the
rest of it.
Jesus, before His death, predicted the
persecution of the Church:
“If the world hates you, you know that
it has hated Me before it hated you…
If they persecuted Me, they will also
persecute you…” (John 15:18-20)
Hymn “In Christ there is no east or
west” (Mission Praise 329)
As God’s people we have gathered to
pray for the Persecuted Church. Let
there be truth heard in the words
we speak and the songs we sing. Let
there be help and healing for our
disharmony and despair. Let there
be silence for the voice within us and
beyond us.
Prayer
Father God, we thank you for the
faithful witness of your suffering
Church around the world. Please
help them to shine as “lights in the
darkness”, bringing glory to your
name. By your Holy Spirit, open our
hearts so we can learn from their
experience. Enable us to pray with

14 BARNABAS AID MAR/ APR 2008


insight for our brothers and sisters,
and to live our life as a “light in the
darkness” also; through Jesus Christ
your Son our Lord, who is alive and
reigns with you, in the unity of the
Holy Spirit, one God, now and for
ever. Amen.
Saying Sorry
As sisters and brothers in God’s
family, with confidence let us ask our
Father for forgiveness, for he is full of
gentleness and compassion.
Merciful God, though you have
blessed us so freely, and though we
speak of gladly responding, we all
too rarely do so in practice.
Lord, forgive us.
We have worried about problems,
pressures and responsibilities,
forgetting that you will give us
strength to face them.
Lord, forgive us.
We have grown over-familiar with the
gospel, no longer reminding ourselves
of its message, no longer applying it to
daily life, no longer making the time
for you we should.
Lord, forgive us.
Merciful God, give us a steadfast
heart, which no unworthy thought
can drag downwards; an unconquered
heart, which no tribulation can
wear out; an upright heart, which
no unworthy purpose may tempt
aside. Bestow upon us also, O Lord,
understanding to know you, diligence
to seek you, wisdom to find you, and a
faithfulness that may finally embrace
you; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
God Speaks to Us
There is one body and one Spirit.
(Eph 4:4)
All the body is a unit, though it
is made up of many parts; and
though all its parts are many,
they form one body. (1 Cor 12:12)
So it is with Christ. For we were
baptised by one Spirit into one body
1 in 10 Christians lives with discrimination and persecution www.theothernine.org
The Other Nine
– whether Jews or Greek, slave or free master”. If they persecute me, they
– and we were all given the one Spirit will persecute you also.
to drink. (1 Cor 12:13) (John 15:18-20a)
But in fact, everyone who wants This is the word of God.
to live a godly life in Christ Jesus Thanks be to God.
will be persecuted. (2 Tim 3:12)
Now the body is not made up of
Hymn “Be still my soul: the Lord is
one part but of many. (1 Cor 12:14)
Therefore, among God’s churches we
on thy side” (Hymns of Faith 391)
boast about your perseverance and
faith in all the persecutions and trials Reading Matthew 25:34-40
you are enduring. (2 Thess 1:4)
There is one body and one Spirit. Sermon, sketch, or
(Eph 4:4) communion prayer
Remember those earlier days after
you have received the light, when you
could be inserted here
stood your ground in a great contest
in the face of suffering. Sometimes Song “The Lord’s my Shepherd, I’ll
you were publicly exposed to insult not want” (Songs of Fellowship 1030)
and persecution; at other times you
stood side by side with those who
were so treated. You sympathised with
Prayer
those in prison and joyfully accepted Loving God, walk with us as
the confiscation of your property, we move out from our security.
because you knew that you yourselves Compassionate Christ, motivate
had better and lasting possessions. us to take risks like Jesus. Spirit
(Heb 10:32-35) of God, reassure, renew and
recommit us to a life of service
Who shall separate us from the with no strings attached where
love of Christ? Shall trouble we will live for justice and peace.
or hardship or persecution or Amen.
famine or nakedness or danger
or sword? (Rom 8:35)
Hymn “Jesus shall reign where’er the
God has combined the members sun” (Songs of Fellowship 301)
of the body and has given greater
honour to the parts that lacked it, so
that there should be no division in the
body, but that its parts should have If one part suffers, every
equal concern for each other.
(1 Cor 12:24-25)
part suffers with it; if one
If one part suffers, every part part is honoured, every
suffers with it; if one part is
honoured, every part rejoices
part rejoices with it.
with it. (1 Cor 12:26)
If the world hates you, keep in mind
that it hated me first. If you belonged
to the world, it would love you as its
own. As it is, you do not belong to the
world, but I have chosen you out of
the world. That is why the world hates
you. Remember these words I spoke
to you: “No servant is greater than his
MAR / APR 2008 BARNABAS AID 15
Newsroom
Call for more action
against Christian
evangelism in Algeria
ISLAMIC OPPOSITION to Christian
evangelistic activities is increasing in
Algeria. The growth of the Christian
community over recent years is being
watched with suspicion. Islamic
extremists are complaining about
the government’s “lenient” approach
towards Christian churches, fearing that
“the creeping evangelisation campaign
underway [...] could be highly detrimental, answering questions about Christianity
if it remains unchecked, to the country’s
unity and to the unalloyed Muslim
character of the Algerian people”. The
Society of Muslim Scholars (SOMS)
has published a report on the Christian
“evangelistic campaign”, claiming that
it had “moved to a stage of attack on the
Algerians”.
A group from the security services
which specialises in dealing with
evangelistic activities is developing a plan
to combat evangelism in specific parts of
east and south Algeria. The plan includes
the creation of a “Commission to Fight
against Christianisation” and one of its
tasks will be to lobby the president and
government to encourage them “not to be
weak in the face of the crusade”.
Unbalanced reports by the media do
nothing to improve the often negative
view of Christians in Algeria. Many of
the allegations are complete fabrications, goods, valued at £157,000 (US$314,000;
while others deliberately misrepresent
facts. One senior official, for example,
claimed that Christians bribe Muslims
to convert, whereas the incident he cited
was actually a case of travel costs being
paid to an Algerian Christian who was
going to another country to help make a
documentary which he was not allowed to Christians received some financial
produce in Algeria.
Algeria is a secular state with 99% of
its population Sunni Muslim. Most of the due to the fact that the governor of Qena
Christians are from a Muslim background. is a Christian. No other provinces have
16 BARNABAS AID MAR/ APR 2008
Algerian Christians
often meet together
in basement rooms
like this to worship
Being a Christian very often puts people
at a social disadvantage: renting and
buying property is very difficult, as
landlords often face pressure from local
authorities if renting to Christians.
In 2006 new regulations for religious
minorities were passed which impose
fines and imprisonment for anyone who
“incites, constrains or utilises means of
seduction to convert a Muslim to another
religion” and for possession of materials
likely to “shake the faith of a Muslim”.
While these regulations are quite vague,
they could potentially be applied to all
testimony, witness, outreach or even
from Muslim friends. It could even imply
that it is illegal to possess a Bible or a New
Testament. While these regulations have
not been fully implemented yet, there has
been a noticeable increase in arrests of
Christians, often in bizarre situations and
on incomprehensible grounds. In at least
two cases Christians have been arrested
simply for carrying or reading a Bible.
Rumours trigger violence
against Christians in Egypt
ON 16 DECEMBER 2007 riots broke
out in Isna, in Qena Province. Angry
Muslims attacked and set fire to shops and
cars owned by Christians and smashed
windows of a church, causing huge
damage. One shop owner lost most of his
€220,000) as his storehouse was set
ablaze. Allegedly, two Christian men had
pulled down the veil of a Muslim woman
in a car park on Saturday evening. The
Muslim rioters were detained by the
police; however, the seven main suspects
were released only two days later. The
compensation for the damaged property;
this unusual occurrence was doubtless
Christian governors and Christians do not
normally receive compensation after an
attack.
This event followed an attack on a
Christian-owned pharmacy earlier that
week, when Muslims hurled stones
and smashed windows in response to
allegations that two Christians working in
the pharmacy had tried to sexually assault
a teenage Muslim girl who came into their
shop. The two Christians were arrested
and detained for 15 days by the police.
Egyptian Christians have told
Barnabas Fund that both incidents had
been deliberately set up in order to cause
trouble for Christians in the area and
to provide a pretext to attack them. The
girl in the car park was being chased by
the shop staff because she had stolen a
mobile phone and run out of their shop.
The girl in the other case, a well known
local prostitute, was probably sent to the
pharmacy on purpose, to be followed after
a little while by the group of Muslims
who threw the stones. Pharmacists
in Egypt will offer medical advice for
people who cannot afford or simply do
not want to see a doctor. For this reason,
it would have been easy to catch the
Christian pharmacist in a seemingly
“compromising” situation.
Indonesian Islamist says
conversion to Christianity
is “a bigger evil than
terrorism”
CONCERN IN INDONESIA is growing
with the number of radical Islamic
groups becoming increasingly vocal and
aggressive. There have been a growing
number of violent attacks on churches
from Islamic groups such as the Anti
Apostasy Alliance (AAA). On 18 November
last year, the Pasundan Christian Church
in the South Bandung area of West Java
was attacked and seriously damaged by
250 members of the AAA. They broke
into the church and, after holding Islamic
prayers, began to damage the building
and furniture with sticks and knives.
Another church in West Java, which had
already suffered multiple attacks over
the years, has been painted by the AAA
with graffiti, threatening that the whole
building will now be torn down. The
AAA see the growing number of Christian
converts from Islam as a serious threat.
One member of the AAA said: “In my
judgment I think it [conversion from
Islam to Christianity] is a bigger evil than
terrorism.”
 Easter Appeal
Keeping the Faith in the Middle East
“We are more than grateful to you.
You are doing more than
you know.”
“You are the only ones who are
interested in helping Christians to
keep the faith.”
These comments from two senior
church leaders in a Middle Eastern
country were made to visitors from
Barnabas Fund recently. In this
country, where Barnabas Fund
has been assisting for many years,
Christians are a despised minority.
Discrimination is a daily reality and
the possibility of violence is never far
away, especially in the more remote
rural areas. Because of this, we have
been asked not to name the country.
Struggling to survive
While there is still a wealthy and
well educated elite amongst the
Christians, the vast majority of
Christians struggle to survive in
desperate poverty. Their homes
may have no flooring, no bathroom
door, a roof which lets in the winter
rain, or walls built of mud. For
poor and uneducated Christians it is
very difficult to get work, and those
who do have jobs often find that
they are passed over for promotion
or for pay rises which are given to
their Muslim colleagues. What jobs
they can get may be both dangerous
and unpleasant. Without work, it
is difficult even to buy basic food-
stuffs like bread (sold at a subsidised
price) and beans. There are Christian
children so poor that they do not
know what an egg is, because they
have never seen or eaten one.
Food and housing are not the
only needs. Children should go to
school. While government schools
are free, it is difficult to send a child
there without some decent clothes to
wear, and this may be an expense the
family cannot afford. Furthermore,
the education at such schools is of a
very low standard, and it is generally
accepted that parents need to pay for
private tuition as well if their children
are to learn anything. For families
who have barely enough to buy food,
parents may need their children to
help earn money instead of going
to school. There are families who
literally cannot afford to care for
their children and give them away to
church-run orphanages.
What happens when somebody in
the family falls ill? Needy Muslims
can get medication and urgent
treatment free from the government,
but when Christians apply they
normally find that they are turned
away on some pretext. So unless
Christians can pay for it, they cannot
get medical care from the normal
channels.
Suppose a young Christian couple
wants to marry. How can they afford
the simplest of wedding celebrations,
let alone a few items of furniture to
set up home?
On top of the daily struggle for
existence, there is the added pressure
from Muslim missionaries to convert
to Islam and receive in return a flat, a
job, a lavish wedding, or whatever else
you may need.
These Christians have just received food parcels containing
rice, pasta, cooking oil, tinned fish, halva (a high protein
food), sugar, tea and soap. Barnabas Fund paid for this food
distribution as well as for clothing, medication and other
basic needs for the families
Help from the church
Christians like these turn to their
local churches for help. Every church
is helping many needy Christian
families with food and clothes. When
possible they assist also with medical
needs and enable the children to get
an education. Sometimes they can
also repair the flimsy houses of the
families or provide basic brick-built
homes instead. Special help is needed
for families who have fled the areas
of greater persecution and are trying
to settle in areas where they feel safer.
But funds are limited and the needs
are huge.
Help from you
Barnabas Fund is helping some
Middle Eastern churches to meet
these needs, but we long to do more.
Will you help us to help them?
Living costs vary greatly between
one part of the country and another,
but £10 (US$20; €14) per month will
cover the basic food needs of one
family and in some places can include
other needs as well. If you plan to
“give up” something you normally
eat this Lent, could you donate
the money you save to help feed
a Christian family in the Middle
East? Could you start to give a
regular monthly gift to help one or
two Christian families?
To repair a home costs an average
of £1,000 (US$ 2,000; €1,400)
depending on what actually needs to
be done. To build a basic new home
(brickwork and roof, but without
finishing) costs around £3,000 (US$
6,000; €4,200) including the land.
Could your church take up an
offering this Easter to repair a
Christian home, or even to build
a new one?
Reference 00-356
(small business start-up fund)
MAR / APR 2008 BARNABAS AID 17
In Touch
Barnabas Fund launches Petition to repair a home for a needy Christian
family in the Middle East, or even to
help Iraqi Christian Refugees build a new one? More details on
page 17.
Despite reports that security in parts of Iraq is slowly improving, • Have a look at the outline for a special
the situation of Iraqi Christians remains precarious. Iraqi Christians service on the Persecuted Church
continue to be faced with harassment, violence and threats to their life on pages 14-15 in this magazine. It
(see Newsroom, page 11). was created by the young people of
With the constitutional vote coming up in April, the probability of warlords taking Chelmsford Cathedral. You might find
over power increases significantly. For Iraqi Christians still in Iraq, this could prove it a helpful order of service to use in the
deadly, and for Iraqi Christians refugees, who have fled in hundreds of thousands to approach to Easter.
places such as Jordan, Syria and the Kurdish North of Iraq, it would make a return to
their homeland virtually impossible.
What is happening in Iraq is basically ethnic cleansing – genocide. With its petition
A note to our supporters
campaign “Save Iraqi Christians” Barnabas Fund aims to make Western governments who donate to Barnabas
aware of the difficult and dangerous situation Iraqi Christians find themselves in, so Fund via internet banking
they can open their borders to these Christian refugees.
If you require more petition sheets or want to order a “Save Iraqi Christians” Internet banking is one of the quickest,
resource pack, which includes an A3 poster, our latest Iraq DVDs, “Save Iraqi most cost efficient and secure ways of
Christians” and “Iraq: Remember the Refugees”, prayer cards, additional information donating money to Barnabas Fund as
on the situation of Iraqi Christians and Iraqi Christian refugees and further petition it reduces banking and administrative
sheets, please contact your national Barnabas Fund office (addresses on back cover). costs. If you donate money via internet
Please note also that the end date for the petition has been extended to banking and you are a UK resident,
30 September 2008. could you please give your postcode
as a reference, and, if the money is
falsely say all kinds of evil against meant for a particular project, give
Raise Awareness with you because of me. Rejoice and be the project number as well as this
Every Email glad, because great is your reward in will make identification much easier
Recently Barnabas Fund received an email heaven. (Mat 5:11) and quicker. If you are not a UK
from Rev. Andrew Chalkley in Beckington, Today, one in ten Christian resident or if you have any questions
Somerset, asking for ideas of what to put suffers persecution for following about this, please send an email to
at the end of his emails to raise awareness Jesus Christ. finance@barnabasfund.org
of the scale of persecution that the
Church suffers worldwide. We liked his Blessing Others this
idea of including a “strap line” about the
persecuted Church in every email so much Easter ... and in the
future too
New DVDs
that we thought we would share it with
other Barnabas Fund supporters.
You...
available
A couple of our suggestions are below,
but we would love to hear your ideas.
• Are you planning to give up something “Iraq: Remember the
you eat normally in preparation for
We would like to put the best ones on
Easter? Why not bless a Christian
Refugees”
our website for Barnabas supporters to This DVD, lasting approximately 5 minutes and
family in the Middle East who struggles
download and use. Please send your ideas
daily to get enough money to buy food 30 seconds, includes live interviews with Iraqi
to info@barnabasfund.org by donating the money you save to our Christian refugees, talking about the harrowing
1) Jesus said: “If the world hates you, Easter appeal (see page 17)? experiences of persecution they have endured
you know that it has hated Me before it • Or have you thought about giving
hated you... If they persecute Me, they in their homeland because of believing in Jesus
a regular monthly gift to help our
will also persecute you... They will treat Christ. It is a valuable resource if you want to
brothers and sisters who live on the
you in this way because of my name bare minimum? A growing number learn more about the situation of Iraqi Christian
for they do not know the One who sent of supporters donate to Barnabas refugees and about how Barnabas Fund is
me (John 15:18-20) Fund by standing order, transferring helping our Iraqi brothers and sisters. It can be
Over 200 million Christians money direct from their bank to used in relation to our “Save Iraqi Christians”
today suffer harassments, threats, ours. This is very efficient way
discrimination, imprisonment and
petition campaign or on its own.
of giving as it helps us to reduce
even death because they love Jesus. administration costs so that an even
2) Jesus Christ: persecuted, defamed, greater proportion of the gift can
beaten and crucified. go directly to projects to help needy
Stephen: stoned to death. Christians around the world.
Paul and Peter: beaten, imprisoned, Your church...
executed. • Is your church planning a special
Jesus says: “Blessed are you when Easter offering? What about giving an
people insult you, persecute you and Easter gift to Barnabas Fund to help

18 BARNABAS AID MAR/ APR 2008

 Please send me ____ copies of “Iraq: Remember the Refugees” DVD
Please send me ____ copies of “Give Them a Fishing Rod” DVD
Please add me to your email news service. My e-mail address is
___________________________________________________________________

Gift Aid Declaration

Yes, I would like to help the persecuted Church I authorise Barnabas Fund, registered charity no. 1092935, to treat all
donations I have made since 6 April 2003 and all subsequent donations as Gift Aid
donations until I notify you otherwise.
Here is my gift of ______________________ Signature _________________________________________ Date _____________
Please use my gift for (Applicable to UK tax payers only)
If you have previously signed a Gift Aid Declaration for Barnabas Fund, you do not
Wherever the need is greatest (General Fund)
need to sign again. To qualify for Gift Aid, what you pay in income tax or capital
Other ___________________________________________* 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
I enclose a cheque/voucher payable to “Barnabas Fund”. paying tax.

Please debit my Visa Mastercard American Express Name

(Mr,Mrs,Miss,Ms,Rev,Dr)
Maestro CAF card /other charity card
Address

Number

Maestro issue number or issue date Postcode Telephone

/
Email

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.
Mag 03/08
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 project if the one identified is
sufficiently funded.
Supporters in Germany: please turn to back cover for how to send gifts to
Barnabas Fund.

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: _________________

“Give Them a Fishing Rod”
Barnabas Fund supports many
self-sufficiency projects all over the
world. These projects enable Christians
in countries where they are being
discriminated against to start up their
own small businesses and become
self-sufficient, eventually enabling
them to give money to their church
and help others in their community.
This presentation lasts approximately
6 minutes and will be of interest to
anyone who has a heart for helping our
Christian brothers and sisters who are
being persecuted because of their faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. It can be used for
home-groups, fellowships and churches.
Order your free DVDs using the
form on this page.
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 bank
If you are a UK tax-payer please complete the Gift Aid Box 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 project if the one identified is sufficiently funded.
 FAITH, POWER AND TERRITORY
NEW By Patrick Sookhdeo Foreword by Peter Riddell
TITLE Patrick Sookhdeo’s new book “Faith, Power and Territory: A Handbook of
British Islam” (advertised as “Faith and Power” in the Jan/Feb 2008 issue
of Barnabas Aid) is now available at a special introductory price of
£7.99 (+£2.50 postage and packing within the UK).
Islam believes itself to be a faith and also recognises that it is a political and
territorial power. How is this going to be expressed in the UK? Will there be
assimilation or separation? This book has been written to provide an easy-to-use
resource to help non-Muslims understand Islam in Britain today and the way in
which it is seeking to transform the country. Introductory chapters look at what
Muslims in the UK believe and do, what they have in common as well as the
wide range of variation and differences amongst them. There is an emphasis on
tracing current movements and trends, in particular the more radical movements
which are those likely to have the greatest impact on non-Muslim Britons. Later
chapters review influential Muslim figures who have shaped or are shaping Islam
in the UK, and give concise information on a wide range of Muslim organisations
active in the UK, showing the inter-linkages between them. A final chapter looks at a range of very specific issues and
challenges relating to the subject of Islam in Britain. Dr Sookhdeo asks penetrating questions about the way in which the
Muslim communities in the UK may develop in the future and how British authorities and institutions appear to be yielding
to the process of Islamisation.
Isaac Publishing, hardback, approx. 368 pages
To order this book, visit www.barnabasbooks.org Alternatively phone 024 7623 1923 (from outside the UK +44 24 7623 1923)
or contact your national Barnabas Fund office (addresses below). To order from UK office, please make cheques payable to
“Barnabas Books”, to order from other offices, please make cheques payable to “Barnabas Fund”.

Barnabas Aid The magazine of Barnabas Fund UK Supporters’ Day 2008

Published by Barnabas Fund The Old Rectory, River Street, This year’s Supporters’ Day will take place on
Pewsey, Wiltshire SN9 5DB, UK Saturday, 7 June 2008 in Swindon, Wiltshire
Telephone 01672 564938 Fax 01672 565030 (venue to be arranged). More details in the next
From outside UK: Telephone +44 1672 564938 Fax +44 1672 565030 Barnabas Aid. Please make a note in your diary.
Email info@barnabasfund.org

How to Find Us
You may contact Barnabas Fund at the following addresses: Australia
Postal Suite 107, 236 Hyperdome, Loganholme QLD 4129
UK Telephone (07) 3806 1076 or 1300 365 799 Fax (07) 3806 4076
9-10 Priory Row, Coventry CV1 5EX Email bfaustralia@barnabasfund.org
Telephone 024 7623 1923 Fax 024 7683 4718
From outside the UK
USA
6731 Curran St, McLean, VA 22101
Telephone +44 24 7623 1923 Fax +44 24 7683 4718 Telephone (703) 288-1681 or toll-free 1-866-936-2525
E-mail info@barnabasfund.org Fax (703) 288-1682
Registered charity number 1092935 Email bfusa@barnabasfund.org
Company registered in England number 4029536 Germany
Chairman of the Board of Trustees: Mr Mike Penny German supporters may send gifts for Barnabas Fund via Hilfe für
For a list of all trustees, please contact Barnabas Fund UK at the Coventry Brüder who will provide you with a tax-deductible receipt.
address above. Please mention that the donation is for “SPC 20 Barnabas Fund”.
If you would like your donation to go to a specific project of Barnabas
Jersey Fund, please inform the Barnabas Fund office in Pewsey, UK.
Le Jardin, La Rue A Don, Grouville, Jersey, Channel Islands JE3 9GB Account holder: Hilfe für Brüder e.V. Account number: 415 600
Telephone 700600 Fax 700601 Email bfjersey@barnabasfund.org Bank: Evang. Kreditgenossenschaft Stuttgart Bankcode (BLZ):
600 606 06
New Zealand
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Telephone 09 630 6267
E-mail office@barnabasfund.org.nz

www.barnabasfund.org
To donate by credit card, please visit the website
or phone 0800 587 4006 (from outside the UK phone +44 1672 565031).
© Barnabas Fund 2008 For permission to reproduce articles from this magazine, please contact the Pewsey UK office address above.