British Asian Christian Association update 9th Feb 2023Dear all, We hope you like the new design for our newsletter which was in response to some requests. We are still learning how to use our news portal so you may see more changes over the next few months. We are sending this further update, as donations to our previous appeals were quite limited and we have some work pending. We reshare all of the articles shared last week which are listed below, but also share three new accounts. The latest involves a young 19 year old victim of an acid attack who has suffered severe burns and permanent disfigurement after rejecting the romantic advances of a Muslim neighbour. We are calling for prayer for this women and are collecting a love offering to help with the loss of wages this young healthcare attendant is facing.
Image: Sunita Munawar as she recovers in a hospital bed.
We also ask that you pray for society in general within Pakistan. The federal government recently hardened their blasphemy laws and now a Muslim college teacher is going to be the first to face their wrath. This after he was accused of writing a blasphemous question in a school exam. Thousands of students were involved in rioting that involved severe damage to school property and premises. In a terrifying video
children as young as 16 can be heard shouting Allah-hu-Akbar (Allah is the greatest) as they alos call for the lynching of the teacher. It is believed the children would have lynched their own teacher had they managed to bring him into their clutches.
Image: Students throwing rocks at school buses as thousands riot and call for death of teacher:
We were very grateful receivers of a large donation earlier in January which has already been used to cover a further £2000 of Zafar Bhatti's legal work, leaving just £1350 to pay. This weekend Saif-ul-Malook will be meeting with Nawab Bibi, who has now asked to be moved to Lahore as she is getting old and is worried about her health and being alone at crucial times. In emergencies she has been calling
our team to visit her in the home we rent for her in Multan. But now she feels it's safer to meet Zafar les frequently so she is closer to the support we provide. We will update you fully in our next newsletter, but for now if you want to help suport this family you can donate using the link below:
IMAGE: Nawab Bibi at her former BACA funded home in Multan
We have also secured freedom for one Christian out of the Immigration Detention Centre (IDC) in Thailand, have been providing further hardship grants. This donation is also being used take food to the many Christian refugees who we cannot free from the IDC because they have not got UNHCR registration. You can learn more here:
VIDEO: Beleaguered
Pak-Christian refugee families in Thailand receive financial grants
Please continue to send your unwanted phones and laptops to the address on our website. You can access all our previous article by clicking on the 'Current News' tab on the header of our website and selecting either 'Evangelism', 'BACA News', or 'Community News' (based on our interfaith work and Homeless support in the UK), |
UK Muslim threatens to Urinate on Bible in public place as challenge to Christians.
A Christian apologist named Matthew Suleman from Pakistan has recently shared a detestable video on Facebook, in which a Muslim man states that he will urinate on the Christian Bible at a major junction in the UK. In the same video the man puts out a challenge to Christians uttering words that incite hatred, he declared: “I will see who in England will stop me – which Christian has the courage to stop me.”
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Pakistani Christian refugees and asylum seekers flee Bangkok during resumption of immigration raids
In December 2022, the Royal Thai Government began their first national immigration crackdown since the COVID-19 pandemic. As Pakistani Christians are the
largest asylum seeker community in the country they were caught up in the arrests – this included an 11 year old child. Learn more about the fears of this community and how BACA is helping.
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This is the
inspirational story of Amelia Jacob, one of the UK’s first female priests – and the very first from Pakistan. Born in Faisalabad, Amelia was raised in her grandfather’s vicarage, a man who had lost everything when he converted to Christianity. But when an arranged marriage brought her to London, the challenges of a new language, culture and relationship saw her faith lapse. Yet the Lord spoke to her in prophetic dreams, and, when she finally turned back to Him, she was stunned to
find herself called to the priesthood.
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Christian Guava farmer killed by Muslim gang for stopping fruit theft and destruction
A gang of thee Muslim men brutally shot a struggling Christian guava farmer in Okara, Pakistan. The patriarch was shot dead before his family, after he asked the trespassers on his orchard to stop stealing fruit. After shooting the farmer the men threatened the frightened Christian family with death if they told the police, then laughed as they ran away. As the made their getaway the men shouted out ‘you Christian chura [filthy sweepers] have no chance of justice, we can kill you any time we want’. Okara Police have arrested one of the culprits and have an All Points Bulletin (APB) out for the other two known fugitives.
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Female Christian official for Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) threatened with blasphemy death by a Muslim colleague over parking dispute
A Christian widow who heads the Immediate Clearance Group (ICG), Cargo-Crew Security Team at Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, for Pakistan’s Civil
Aviation Authority (CAA), was threatened with death or a report of blasphemy by a CAA official over a parking dispute. Fortunately, the Christian woman’s argument with the official was recorded on a telephone and the nation’s humanitarian voices, rallied in her support. The Senior official has since been suspended from his position as a Facilitation Supervisor after widespread Pak-media fury, based on the video evidence. The Samina Mushtaq a mother of 4 children, has spoken with British Asian Christian Association about her case as she pursues justice. British Asian Christian Association are providing her with free advice from a solicitor and hope to commission the solicitor to take up the case if we can raise the costs for this
service.
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Visitors enjoyed awesome January at Meals for the Needy project
Visitors to British Asian Christian Association’s ‘Meals for the Needy’ project have a wonderful month of January full of extra treats. On New Years Day Naomi Chowdhry shared a birthday cake with our regular visitors including asylum seekers, refugees, the homeless and others struggling with the
economy. On 16th January a cake was paid for by Hannah Chowdhry who is now 19 years old. Though she was not there in person volunteers distributed the cake a few days after her birthday, fulfilling her promise to visitors. On 17th January, a local hotel provided some fresh left over sandwiches and sumptuous desserts, which were collected and distributed within our project. Even better, on 23rd January 2023, one of the co-owners of an Afghan restaurant had their first child and they shared baclava with our visitors to celebrate.
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