ACN Summer Bake Off

Staff at the ACN office had their own Summer Bake Off competition yesterday with a variety of treats raffled to raise money for persecuted Christians in Syria. The sensational selection was judged by National Director Neville Kyrke –Smith and Head of Press and Information John Pontifex who certainly enjoyed their roles as official cake-tasters!

If you love to bake and think your cakes taste delicious, then why not organise your own “Bake Off” competition with family, friends, colleagues or in your parish to fundraise for persecuted Christians and especially Christians in Syria at this time?

Once you have completed your Bake Off, you can e-mail us at acn@acnuk.org  and send your proceeds to our donation page or you can post your cheque with a note to UK Head Office (Sutton, Surrey) or to the Scottish Office (Motherwell).

We’d love to see your photos or videos of your “Bake off” event too! Send them to Facebook and Twitter at @acn_uk.

Team ACN!

 

There is only one month to go until Team ACN take on the 2015 10k London Run this July! The money raised by our ACN staff and friends will go towards supporting suffering Christians in Syria, something head of Press and Information John Pontifex has witnessed first-hand.

“I will be running the 2015 British 10k London Run for Aid to the Church in Need (UK) because I want to support families suffering in Syria” – John Pontifex

By giving as little as £3 Aid to the Church in Need is able to provide emergency help for families who have been affected by the crisis in Syria. With your support we are able to continue to send basic aid including food, shelter and medicine.

Do something amazing for Syria this summer and support our ACN team by texting LHUU78 to 70070 to make a £3 donation or visit https://www.justgiving.com/Team-ACN/

Hour of Prayer at The Courtauld Gallery

The Courtauld Gallery of the Courtauld Institute, one of the smaller, yet outstanding art collections in London, granted special permission on Monday for its ground floor to be used as a setting for prayer and devotion.

We were invited by organiser Maria Cristina, a gallery lecturer and artist and specialist in Christian Iconography, to join the group as they gathered to use the Christian art held in the gallery for their original purpose – worship.

Maria Cristina spoke movingly about a select number of paintings and private devotional panels from the late medieval and early renaissance period before leading the group in saying the Rosary. Speaking of the religious paintings, she told us: “They are not precious objects that will fetch huge prices at auction, they are objects made for prayer and to lead us in prayer.”

The group, made up of about 10 worshippers, listened with interest as the history and symbolism of each piece was explained by Maria Cristina before joining in prayer. The experience of using such ancient and beautiful depictions of the life of Christ and of the Virgin to say the Rosary was one that brought a new dimension to such a well-known meditation. Though not all of the images directly represented the mysteries of the Rosary in isolation, images within the collection certainly reflected different narratives of familiar Gospel stories, bringing an excellent focus to the event.

When asked how the collection was being used when saying the Rosary, Maria Cristina replied: “The moment you start exploring [the painting], it begins to unfold the meaning of the Mystery.” Father Peter Burns of the diocese of Westminster agreed, adding: “When you’re praying it brings meaning out of the picture.”

A wonderful and innovative way to witness the faith in the heart of London, the success of the event will almost certainly mean the exercise is repeated. As guests, we were struck by the generosity of the group who attended the event in aid of persecuted Christians in the Middle East at the Courtauld gallery and we continue to keep all of our kind benefactors in our prayers. Not only was the occasion a celebration of the rediscovery the richness of our Christian heritage in the museum, but a display of the compassion of our charitable supporters.

Copyright: Aid to the Church in Need UK

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Photo of Syrian refugee child, Deir al Ahmar, Lebanon

Border report from Lebanon

The Damascus to Beirut road is remarkably busy - despite three bombings in five days in or near Beirut.  The Lebanese security forces have caught bombers and potential bombers, foiling major attacks. The check points have been increased and strengthened. Yet, this is almost nothing compared to the stories of those coming out of Syria.

This evening I spoke with two priests from  Syria and some of their family members. One priest said that two of his brothers, Elias and Andrew, had been seized two years ago and that nothing had been heard of them since. A couple who had fled Homs spoke of how some Christians within Syria had started moving back to the Homs district, but that bombings still continue in the centre of Homs despite the city being reclaimed by Assad's forces. Other reclaimed Christian towns are similar - such as Maaloula, where there have been explosions since it was retaken from fundamentalist Islamists who had destroyed so much of the town.

The other priest I spoke to had just arrived in Beirut from Damascus. He told me: "It is so very difficult to live, to exist...to survive. Even today we had attacks....everyday there are at least eight or twelve bomb attacks."

I listened and could hardly find words to say. All I could do was to assure them of daily prayers for them.  I added that we at Aid to the Church in Need are standing with them...and that we would continue to be with them to help rebuild faith and hope when peace breaks through the madness of conflict.

Bishop Nabil Chucrallah El Hajj asked in Tyre (Sour) earlier today: "Please pray first - and above all...pray, please, that Christians can build peace in this region. Christians are paying a heavy price in this the Holy Land where Our Lord, his Mother and his disciples came. Thank you for all you do - we need you at ACN and all our Christian brothers and sisters to sustain the Church."

Neville Kyrke-Smith
National Director ACN UK

Beirut, Lebanon
26.06.14

Lebanese Christians caring for traumatised and despairing refugees

I stood in the crowded corridor of the St Antoine, Dispensary, Roueisset, near Beirut. Small children cuddled up sitting on their mother's knees, waiting for vital inoculations. The families waiting at this busy centre are mostly Syrian but I spoke to a young Iraqi mother, with her three children. Sr Hanan, who runs the Dispensary, told me that  more Iraqis have   arrived in the last few weeks - after the frightening outbreak of conflict in Iraq. Now, too, more Lebanese mothers are coming to this clinic - as they are poor, due to prices increasing for housing and as many jobs have been taken by Syrians who work for cheaper wages.

As I squeeze my way out of the Dispensary, a terrified teenage girl from Aleppo is sobbing uncontrollably - shaking and muttering to herself, her mother tries to comfort her as she leads her in to see the psychiatrist. Sr Hanan explains that there are so many cases - children, teenagers and adults -  who need help and trauma counselling after what they have seen, lived through and suffered.

Later in the day, in the Bekaa Valley near Baalbeck - where Hezbollah is visibly present -  I meet Syrian refugees in their tents on a camp site at Deir Al Ahmar. One deaf man, Abed, is living with wife, Adla, six daughters and four boys in their basic tent. I sit on a cushion talking with the family. There is a shortage of water, after a dry winter, and the conditions are barely survivable. Adla tells me: "It is not a life here. My husband is deaf and cannot work. The state helped us in Syria, but we receive nothing here. We want to go back when we can... but now we need help."

Sr Micheline and all the Good Shepherd Sisters are working with a small group of people to help. Aid to the Church in Need and others are supporting their work of compassion at this crucial time. Sr Micheline thanked all who help - and, as she stood in front of a picture of the Good Shepherd, painted by a Muslim, she added: "We, and all the children, pray for you who give us food and medicine and help fund activities for the children. May the Good Shepherd bless you!"                                      

Neville Kyrke-Smith
National Director of ACN UK

Beirut, Lebanon, 25.06.14

Photo attached of Abed & Aldo's family with refugees in Deir al Ahmar

Sign the Holy Land Petition

Watch this video to find out more about the situation in the Holy Land. To sign the petition visit www.acnuk.org/holylandpetition

Let us go to the House of God

"Palestinian seminarians are not able to attend the ceremonies in the Holy Sepulchre [which are held] on Saturdays in Lent," we were told by Fr Jamal when we visited Beit Jala Seminary near Bethlehem.Every time a Palestinian wants to travel to Jerusalem they need a permit to pass through the West Bank Barrier – a 420-mile structure ostensibly built to prevent a repeat of the attacks on civilians that occurred during the second intifada.
Permits can be difficult to obtain and while they are given out more freely for Easter and Christmas not everyone who wants a permit gets one, so Christians can be deprived of worshipping at the place where Life ultimately overcame death – even though they only live a few miles away.
And access to the Holy Places affects those on both sides of the security wall. While visiting the Holy Land, ACN staff were told about a Messianic Jew living in Israel who went to Bethlehem for Christmas celebrations – but was arrested upon his return, as it is illegal for Israeli citizens to visit certain parts of the Palestinian Territories.
Aid to the Church is asking you to sign our petition so that Christians can have better access to the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, where Our Lord Jesus Christ died and rose for our salvation.
Please pray that Christians can have their faith renewed by being able to visit more easily the place where Jesus triumphed over the tomb.  Our Petition will be given to the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Fouad Twal, when Pope Francis visits the Holy Land in May 2014. Read about more reasons to sign the Petition