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Christmas Appeal 2010

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Published: Thursday 02 December 2010

Christmas Appeal 2010

Project(s): 00-000, 00-794

“Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.”
Proverbs 22:6, NIV

“Do I send my children to school or give them food?” said this Pakistani Christian father to Barnabas Aid

In contexts where Christians are persecuted, it is often children who suffer the most. Children are young and vulnerable and are often unable to protect themselves or to flee. Forced to grow up much too quickly, some have to deal with more pain and suffering than many of us will experience in our lifetime.

Forced to flee

Anti-Christian persecution and violence often causes families to flee their homes at a moment’s notice. When this happens, the education of their children can suffer dramatically. Removed from school with no warning, the children are hurried to safety in another town or even another country, leaving behind their home and their friends. Such is the case in Iraq, where the Christian community have experienced waves of anti-Christian violence and murder and are facing genocide if they remain in their country. (See previous article Christians everywhere “legitimate targets” – Al-Qaeda)

When families become refugees and leave behind their homes and jobs, finding a new school and paying for books, uniform and fees is often out of the question. Barnabas Aid not only helps to feed Christian refugee families who have fled their homes but also pays for their children to get an education. A senior Iraqi church leader wrote to Barnabas Aid yesterday to express gratitude for our support for Iraqi Christian refugees in Lebanon, saying, “I am sure the families, especially the children, will have a joyous Christmas.”

£16 (US$26; €19; AU$25; NZ$33) per child per month pays for a small breakfast including milk, a cheese sandwich and a piece of fruit for needy Iraqi refugee children at a Christian school in Lebanon.

Persecution in school

But children can also be persecuted in a more subtle way within their schools. In some countries Christian families may face the terrible choice of either educating their children in a school dominated by another faith or not at all. They may face strong hostility from teachers and fellow students as well as sometimes being marked down or failed in their exams. One picture below shows a young Christian girl in an African country who was sent to a free Muslim school by her very poor family. She was forced to wear a hijab and use a Muslim name, which made her desperately unhappy.

In some Muslim-majority countries, Islam is the door to education. In Pakistan, Islamic Studies are compulsory at school, and failure to achieve the necessary grades can prevent pupils from gaining a university place. In some Islamic contexts, Christian pupils are discriminated against and marked down or failed in exams.

Some Christians may be so poor that they cannot afford to send their children to any school. They must decide between food and education.

Supporting Christian children

Barnabas Aid wants to help Christian children get a good education in a Christian environment. In this way they gain security, love and acceptance from Christian teachers and classmates, skills and qualifications to help them get jobs, and the precious opportunity to deepen their knowledge of the Bible and the Christian faith.

Barnabas Aid helps to build new schools or provide extensions to enable schools to grow. We also help with running costs so schools can accept children from very poor Christian families who cannot afford normal fees. Just £13.50 (US$21; €16; AU$21; NZ$28) per child per year provides school books and equipment for Christian children in Pakistan.

Barnabas Aid projects for Christian children include:

Support for over 6,100 Christian school-children in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, the Holy Land, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Pakistan, Sudan and other countries
School building projects in Bethlehem, Burma (Myanmar), Nigeria, Pakistan and Syria
Funding for equipment, training Christian teachers and building new classrooms
In Pakistan, help with the running costs of four Christian schools, the building costs of eleven new schools and extensions for three existing schools
In the Holy Land, funding to extend an existing school building and help to purchase land for a new Middle School
In Burma (Myanmar), assisting with teachers’ salaries, funding a new school building and providing exercise books and text books for the students

Pakistani Christian girls These four Pakistani Christian girls attend the local government girls’ school. Their Muslim fellow students complained to the school management that they could not use the same glasses to drink water as the Christian students. So the Christian girls were told to bring their own glasses to school and not to touch those used by the rest of the students
Christian girl was forced to wear a hijab This young Christian girl was forced to wear a hijab and use a Muslim name at the free Muslim school she had to attend because her family were so poor
Christian children in Sudan Barnabas Aid helps displaced Christian children in Sudan to get an education in a Christian environment
Christian children in India Support from Barnabas Aid enables very poor Christian children in India to get an education, helping to break the cycle of illiteracy and poverty

Your gift can help this Christmas time

We are so grateful to our supporters who enable this vital work to continue through their generous giving and faithful prayers. But the need is ongoing. I would like to ask you prayerfully to consider giving a gift this Christmas to help needy and vulnerable Christian children get an education in a Christian environment.

Most importantly, please remember in your prayers our Christian brothers and sisters around the world who are enduring harassment and persecution this Christmas time.

With our Lord’s blessings this Christmas season,

Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director, Barnabas Aid

Give Today

£16 (US$26; €19; AU$25; NZ$33) per child per month pays for a small breakfast including milk, a cheese sandwich and a piece of fruit for needy Iraqi refugee children at a Christian school in Lebanon.

£13.50 (US$21; €16; AU$21; NZ$28) per child per year provides school books and equipment for Christian children in Pakistan.

If you would like to donate please send your donation to:

Christian Schooling for Christian Children - 00-794 Donate 00-794 .

Alternatively, you may give to the General Fund - 00-000 Donate 00-000
and allow Barnabas to use it wherever the need is greatest.

If you prefer to telephone, dial: 0800 587 4006 from within the UK or +44 1672 565031 from outside the UK. Please quote project reference 00-794 (Christian Schooling for Christian Children).

If you prefer to send a cheque by post: Click this link for the address of our regional office. Please quote project reference 00-794 (Christian Schooling for Christian Children).

For a quick donation of £3.00 by SMS (see terms and conditions here) text Barnabas/794 to 70007 (Please note: This facility is presently only available to UK supporters).

PS: If you have recently given a gift to Barnabas Aid, please do not feel pressured to give again, but please do pray for Christian children in need.

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