The Greatest Threat to Peacemaking

“On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”  After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”  And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” (John 20:19-23)

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The Justice Conference

I am looking forward to attending the Global Justice Conference organised by Tearfund on 22 May. The Justice Conference is a global movement of Christ-followers passionate about living the message of Jesus and making justice a way of life.

This year the 24 hour conference will provide an opportunity to join online with people from all over the world to explore the theology of justice and wrestle with the burning issues of our time. Register here.

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Revd Bassi Mirzania Recognised in the 2021 Lambeth Awards

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We are delighted that the Revd Bassi Mirzania has received the Alphege Award for Evangelism and Witness from the Archbishop of Canterbury in the 2021 Lambeth Awards. The citation reads, “For her nearly 20 years’ tireless and exceptional service as founding Chaplain to the Persian/Iranian community in Great Britain.”

After more than 20 years’ service in the social responsibility departments of the Dioceses of London and Guildford, Bassi sensed a call to leave paid employment to focus on ministering to Iranians in the UK. Large numbers of Christians in the Persian community were turning to her for help with worship and training, discipling new converts and practical matters such as asylum applications.

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Ancestral Journeys and Western Missions: A Review

Like other Western colonial-settler experiments, for over 70 years, Zionists have been systematically erasing the culture and history of indigenous Palestinians to justify their forced removal and the theft of their land. Ilan Pappe, in his book The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, calls this ‘memorocide’ and in The Palestine Nakba, Nur Masalha elaborates, 

“The founding myths of Israel have dictated the conceptual removal of Palestinians before, during and after their physical removal in 1948… The de-Arabisation of Palestine, the erasure of Palestinian history and the elimination of the Palestinian’s collective memory by the Israeli state are no less violent than the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians in 1948 and the destruction of historic Palestine.”

This is why books such as Ancestral Journeys and Western Missions are so vital in recording the memories and eyewitness accounts of Arabs and Palestinians who experienced the arrival of Western colonialists to the Middle East, were co-opted into their wars, witnessed the rise of Zionism and then became refugees in the Palestinian Nakba.  Anita Damiani-Shanley’s book will most certainly help perpetuate their heritage and rightful historic claim to Palestine.

Ancestral Journeys is however much more than the story of two families, one Arab and the other Scottish joined in marriage. It traces the influence of missionaries, archaeologists, traders and colonialists competing with each other for a share of the Near East as the Ottoman Empire met its demise. Richly illuminated with family photos, the three main chapters trace the ancestral journeys of Damiani-Shanley’s extended family from Scotland and Lebanon to Iraq and then to Palestine. A fourth chapter traces the role of the Anglican Church in Palestine.  

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Zions Christliche Soldaten? : Die Bibel, Israel und die Kirche

Zion’s Christian Soldiers? The Bible Israel and the Church, has been translated into German and is now available on Amazon Kindle. A printed version will be available shortly.

Viele bibelgläubige Christen sind davon überzeugt, dass Gott jene Nationen segnet, die sich auf die Seite Israels stellen, und jene verflucht, die das nicht tun. Dieser Glaube hat einen bedeutenden Einfluss auf die Einstellung zum andauernden palästinensisch-israelischen Konflikt im Nahen Osten gehabt. Stephen Sizer behauptet, dass diese Ansicht auf einer Fehlinterpretation der Bibel beruht. Er bietet eine Einführung in den christlichen Zionismus und eine klare Antwort und positive Alternative, die auf einem sorgfältigen Studium der relevanten biblischen Texte basiert.

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Sabeel Kairos Easter Service

Hope will Rise. Join us for this chance to worship together at Easter, and hear about the hope that still exists within the Palestinian Christian community despite the circumstances they face. With guest speaker Father Fadi Diab from St Andrew’s Church Ramallah, Garth Hewitt, and Revd. Dr. Stephen Sizer

Register here

Syria’s Lost Generation: The real cost of a decade-long war

This month marks 10 years since the start of the prolonged conflict in Syria that has displaced over 5.6 million Syrian refugees globally, with another 6.2 million displaced internally. At least half of Syria’s refugees are children, leaving an entire generation knowing only war, destruction and extreme poverty.As parts of the country struggle to rebuild, Syrian children displaced by war are at the crossroads of adapting to new surroundings elsewhere around the world while maintaining a connection to their home and heritage and hoping for peace.

To hear some of their powerful stories and insights from others who have been on the front lines of this conflict, we invite you to tomorrow’s launch of “Syria’s Lost Generation,” the new original podcast series by FP Studios, in partnership with World Vision and the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) Foundation.

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