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THE BapTisT TimEsThursday, October 11, 2007

Balaev appeal fails

European Baptists urged to protest Azeri court verdict

By DANIEL GROTE

EUROPEAN Baptists have been urged to renew their efforts to press for the release of imprisoned Baptist pastor Zaur Balaev, as an Azerbaijan court last week rejected his appeal against a two-year prison sentence. European Baptist Federation (EBF) general secretary the Revd Tony Peck has written to Mehriban Aliyeva, Azerbaijan first lady and a UNESCO

Horror as Sudan church is bombed

goodwill ambassador, protesting against the decision, and has urged Baptist Unions across Europe to do the same. The letter states that the EBF council believes Mr Balaev ‘has been falsely accused, tried and imprisoned for a crime he did not commit, but really because he is a Christian Baptist pastor’. The letter has been sent to all EBF member unions, and Mr Peck has urged unions to use it as an example and pen their

own letter of protest. Mr Peck said that he was saddened but ‘not altogether surprised’ at the court’s verdict. ‘They [the church] never had the chance to answer the case,’ he said. ‘There were witnesses who were never called,’ he said, adding that it was ‘a clear case of religious discrimination’. Baptist World Alliance president the Revd David Coffey said that he was ‘deeply saddened’ at the verdict.

He urged prayer for the Baptist leadership in Azerbaijan. ‘We should have a focus on the pastor and his family, but we need to remember the ongoing work of the Baptist Union in Azerbaijan,’ he said. Baptist in Azerbaijan have reacted with shock at the judgement. ‘We’re stunned at the result the court handed down,’ Azerbaijan Baptist Union president Ilya Zenchenko told

the Forum 18 news service. ‘We don’t know what to do. It is a tragedy for his wife and children.’ Police arrested Mr Balaev in May during a raid on what they claimed was an ‘illegal’ religious service.They alleged that Mr Balaev attacked him and he was sentenced to two years in prison. At the appeal, Mr Zenchenko told the court that the Baptist denomination ‘teaches all our members not to resist with

Protestors fast and pray for Burma

violence’. ‘I testified that Zaur would not commit violence,’ he said. Mr Zenchenko added that Mr Balaev’s father, who witnessed the raid, also testified. ‘He told the appeal hearing that on the contrary, it was not Zaur but the authorities who used violence,’ he said. Mr Balaev led a Baptist congregation in Aliabad in the far north-west of Azerbaijan. The church’s applications for legal status have been repeatedly

Report slams ‘vulture’ profiteers

By TOM RICHES

FIVE children have been killed by a suicide bomber at a Baptist church in Sudan, with another child later dying in hospital. Faith Evangelical Baptist Church, located in Khorfullus in the Upper Nile region, was attacked during an evening worship service. More than four other worshippers were injured, including the pastor, John Monykuer Wuor, and were taken to Malakal hospital. Saphano Riak Chol, executive secretary of the church, condemned the attack. ‘We in the leadership condemn this act of wickedness in the strongest terms possible,’ he said, claiming the attack was an attempt to ‘suppress the church’. ‘The suicide bomber was in full army uniform,’ but his motive could not be understood, he added. Southern Sudan, mostly Christian and ethnically African, has seen more than two decades of ethnic cleansing that has left an estimated two million people dead and more than four million displaced. Fighting between the government and rebels has continued despite a number of peace deals being struck since 2005.

Jess Hurd/reportdigital.co.uk

Protest - Thousands of demonstrators marched through London on Saturday to call for democracy in Burma

By TOM RICHES

THOUSANDS of Christians throughout Burma last Wednesday staged a 12-hour fast and prayed for the release of arrested protestors and for peace in the country. Meanwhile, around the world on Saturday demonstrators marched in support of the protests, begun by the widelyrespected Buddhist monks, calling for democracy and an end to bloodshed.

The Kachin Baptist Convention, in north Burma’s Kachin state, organised fasts throughout the country, as part of a call for peace, and for the release of arrested protestors. Christians staged fasts in Myitkyina, Bamaw, Lashio, Moekaung, Mohnyin, Kengtung, and in Rangoon and Mandalay divisions. In London, meanwhile, 10,000 people marched from Pimlico to Trafalgar Square, led by a dozen monks, as part

of an Amnesty Internationalorganised protest. Prime minister Gordon Brown met with Buddhist monks and campaigners before the march to pledge his support for the pro-democracy activists and urge EU sanctions against the Burmese rulers. Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) joined with the marchers to show its support and concern for the Burmese people, as part of the Amnesty International

organised protest. Ben Rogers, CSW’s advocacy officer for South Asia, said the march was ‘very significant’ as an expression of solidarity for the Burmese people. But he added that the EU and the United Nations security council needed to do more to put pressure on Burma’s military rulers. ‘The UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon needs to get involved and go to Burma,’ he said.

By TOM RICHES

JUBILEE Debt Campaign has called for urgent action to stop ‘vulture funds’ after a new report revealed they are chasing $1.8 billion (£880 million) from some of the world’s poorest countries. Vulture funds are private companies that buy up the debts of poor countries at a discount, and then make a profit by claiming the original amount including interest, often through the courts. Around $1 billion (£490 million) has been awarded so far. Trisha Rogers, director of Jubilee Debt Campaign criticised the existing debt relief system. ‘Vulture funds are continuing to exploit loopholes to chase millions of dollars from desperately poor countries,’ she said. ‘Funds freed up by debt cancellation are intended for health, education and other social spending, they are not rich pickings for speculators and private banks. It’s time for concerted action from the UK government, the IMF, and the World Bank to tighten up the system and make sure the benefits of debt cancellation go to the people who need them,’ she added.

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THE BAPTIST TIMES Thursday, October 11, 2007

FEATURE • 

The Micah Challenge to the Church this Sunday

As churches across the UK prepare to mark Micah Sunday, Micah Challenge’s Andy Clasper tells of how Zambian Christians are living out their faith in the fight against HIV and AIDs. Maria MacKay reports.

The Old Testament prophet Micah asks, ‘What does the Lord require of you?’ The answer, he says, is ‘to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God’. It was with this in mind that Micah Challenge UK’s new executive director Andy Clasper headed out to Zambia for the first time in August. There, Christians are living out this biblical mandate through their work to halt the spread of HIV and AIDS and care for the infected and affected alike. In a country as stunningly beautiful as Zambia, resplendent landscapes and scenes of wildlife undoubtedly make for easier viewing than the jarring reality of poverty. The view of a large gleaming lake from the lodgings at Sinazongwe, on the shores of Lake Kariba, was initially ‘thrilling’. The thrill soon wore off, however, when Andy discovered that tens of thousands of local Tonga people had been displaced to create the lake in the late 1950s as part of a hydroelectric energy-creation plan. Micah Challenge partner World Vision is still in the region today, trying to remedy the damage to the wellbeing of these people and their descendants that the relocation caused. Any lingering notions of an earthly paradise were soon dispelled after a meeting with Sinazongwe’s director of health. While tourists regularly enjoy luxury safaris and fishing tours on the flourishing Lake Kariba and nearby Zambezi River, he would be happy if the government could satisfy his very modest wish for a few trucks. As it is, there is only one truck to cover the entire area, home to around 110,000 people. This inevitably means that the truck’s use changes according to the need of the moment. At times, it is an ambulance; on other occasions, it is a vehicle for transporting doctors and health supplies. The meeting was a reality check for Andy, who left his job at the Mayor of London’s office earlier in June to join Micah Challenge. Andy says, ‘Even in that first meeting I started to be struck by the reality of poverty. I asked the health director what he would wish for if he could ask the president for anything.

His reply was six trucks. For the want of six trucks there are people in this part of Zambia who have never had medical care, they can’t be reached.’ Grassroots organisations are doing their best to make up for the shortfall in medical facilities. Under the World Visionfacilitated Community Care Coalition (CCC), volunteers are going directly to people infected with HIV and AIDS to care for them in their own homes, often bringing additional food and clothing. Tragically, a large part of the CCC’s work is caring for some of the 710,000 children in Zambia who have been orphaned as a result of AIDS. ‘It felt strange that so much of their work was focused on orphans, because we don’t have a problem with orphans in the UK,’ says Andy. ‘Then a statistic I’d read earlier really came alive for me: average life expectancy in Zambia is 37. Some people will live longer, but some will die even younger. That’s going to leave vulnerable children – a lot of them.’ Since 2002, the Zambian

The challenge for believers has always been to act justly in the face of injustice

Government has driven forward an ambitious antiretroviral treatment programme and small inroads are being made into the prevailing high HIV rates. ‘Before they understood HIV and AIDS properly, they couldn’t properly diagnose what was wrong with patients. ‘There were people who were just getting sick all the time and they weren’t sure why,’ says Andy after he made a visit to a special HIV and AIDS unit. ‘Once they fully understood the disease they could prescribe antiretroviral drugs which were a phenomenal success, with people returning to health within weeks.’ In a country where two

Inspirational - Andy Clasper meets with members of Channels of Hope, a Zambian Christian project fighting HIV and Aids

thirds of the population still lives on just 60 pence a day and 17 per cent of adults are HIV positive, the church is a vital source of medical and spiritual care. Its comforting presence is made even more indispensable in light of the stigma attached to HIV and AIDS within Zambian society. Victims, particularly women, can find themselves labelled sexually immoral and ostracised from their communities and families. Channels of Hope is a Christian project that enables local churches to go out into their communities to more effectively meet the needs of the people around them, particularly those affected by HIV and AIDS. ‘I was so impressed by these guys, by the way they led their congregations and communities and the way they were looked to by government as key influencers in society,’ says Andy, a member of Queens Road Church, Wimbledon. Micah Challenge Zambia has been up and running since August, and during his six-day visit, Andy had the chance to take part in the movement’s regional launch in the Copperbelt area. Again, what impressed on him most keenly was the influence of the church within Zambian society. ‘A highlight of the trip was being part of that meeting and realising what vital work the church in Zambia is doing, how it forms a skeleton for society, keeping the country upright. It was inspirational,’ he recollects. ‘I thought to myself “If only the church in the UK could see

itself in this way”.’ What is more, the ‘God’s wrath’ rhetoric of the Zambian church in the eighties has given way, through years of HIV and AIDS education and a growing understanding of the virus, to talk of hope in Jesus. At the Sinazongwe Christian Fellowship, Andy was able to hear the message of the church today from a Channels of Hope pastor who preached the comforting message of a Jesus who spent time with the poor, the sick, the lame and the lepers. ‘I got a real sense that they were involved in the same work as we were,’ says Andy. ‘I really appreciated the power of what Micah Challenge is. It’s about the Church being a body, the body of Christ.’ That body of Christ is what makes the struggles’ of Christians in one part of the world so keenly felt by others who may be thousands of miles away. On October 14, churches in the UK and worldwide will celebrate Micah Sunday, a day for Christians to reflect not only

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on the existence of injustice in the world, but also the steps they can take to alleviate it. The worldwide HIV and AIDS pandemic is the focus of this year’s Micah Sunday in the UK and churches will be asking the Government to take greater action on this issue. Andy says: ‘The challenge for believers has always been to act justly in the face of injustice, to show mercy where there is neglect, and to walk humbly with God where there is only self-interest.’ The challenge is not lost on

the Christians he encountered in Zambia, the very ones who experience poverty’s jagged edge every single day. When he returned to the UK, he brought with him a special appeal from the pastors in Zambia. He says: ‘They asked me to bring a message to the church in the UK: they were doing all they could and asked that we do the same – supporting charities and speaking to government – so that together we could tackle HIV and AIDS.’

MICAH CHALLENGE UK is a coalition of Christian organisations and churches in Britain including BMS World Mission and Christian Aid, united in their concern to fight global poverty.

It is part of the international Micah Challenge movement of churches and Christian agencies uniting to hold their governments to account for the promises they made towards the fulfilment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by 2015.

Micah Challenge says that this year’s Micah Sunday provides churches with ‘time to take practical steps towards the alleviation of poverty, looking in particular at the HIV and AIDS epidemic and asking the Government to act on this pressing issue’.

To find out more about Micah Sunday visit www.micahchallenge.

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