Persecuted Christian Defense Fund
Donation protected
We, the Friends of City of Sanctuary and members of the East Midlands Christian community are friends of a family of persecuted Christians who for their sake must remain nameless; let's call them A and B, who are married, and their daughter C. They are from a country in Asia where Christians are very much in the minority and who are victims of discrimination, persecution, and mob violence.
This family had to leave their country in 2007 due to a particularly vicious 2 year campaign of religious persecution waged against them. When A returned to his home country four years later to find out if it was safe to return, those who were initiating the campaign went to the police and got them to issue a warrant for A's arrest on the basis of his evangelistic activities; A knows this because he has a copy of the warrant, sent him by a solicitor friend who had done a search of police files.
Those responsible for the campaign of persecution are still looking for them; as late as May of 2015 a gang invaded their family's housing compound looking for A. They demanded to know where A was, because he had been passing out Christian tracts which, they said, offended their religious feelings. When they could not find A, they grabbed his nephew, who was living in the housing compound and smashed him on the head with a hammer, leaving him covered in blood. A has a picture of his nephew covered in blood.
It is therefore not safe for them to return to their country. There is a warrant out for A's arrest, he has a copy, and a mob tried to smash his nephew's head in with a hammer. What do you think they will do to A if he goes back?
Unfortunately, the British Home Office does not see it this way and insists that they can easily relocate back, even though they have photographic evidence of the 2015 attack and the warrant, and so they are now sitting in a British Immigration Removal Centre, waiting to be deported.
Perhaps the most painful aspect of this story and the main reason we are collecting money is because of the daughter, "C". She is 20 years old and has spent ALMOST half her life in England--she came here in December 2007. She did most of her education here and even in her home country went to schools where the instruction was in English. Because of this, SHE CANNOT READ NOR WRITE HER NATIVE LANGUAGE. If she is deported back, it will be difficult for her to integrate back into her country--imagine trying to find work if you cannot read or write the native language.
We are therefore mainly collecting money to mount a legal challenge to this situation. We want this young woman to be allowed to remain in England, as it would be inhumane for her to be deported back to a country where she faces a very dire fate. We also want the parents to be allowed to remain, if possible. Any money you contribute will be used 1) for the daughter's defense fund 2) for the parent's defense fund 3) to pay living expenses for whatever awaits them after this whole ordeal is over, for example, the daughter's living expenses if she is allowed to stay in this country.
Please give and email to friends, church members, anybody you can think of who might be willing to help. Email this link:
https://www.gofundme.com/persecutedchristiansdefensefund
UPDATE 25 SEPTEMBER: The family have been in the immigration prison since 16 July, and are fighting depression and health problems. B, the wife, applied to be released early because of health problems (she is diabetic and suffers from depression) but was turned down because it was felt that she might abscond because she had no ties with the community. This in spite of the fact that she gets visitors and post cards from friends on the outside nearly every day. Keep them in your prayers.
"Remember those in prison as being chained with them." Heb. 13:2
This family had to leave their country in 2007 due to a particularly vicious 2 year campaign of religious persecution waged against them. When A returned to his home country four years later to find out if it was safe to return, those who were initiating the campaign went to the police and got them to issue a warrant for A's arrest on the basis of his evangelistic activities; A knows this because he has a copy of the warrant, sent him by a solicitor friend who had done a search of police files.
Those responsible for the campaign of persecution are still looking for them; as late as May of 2015 a gang invaded their family's housing compound looking for A. They demanded to know where A was, because he had been passing out Christian tracts which, they said, offended their religious feelings. When they could not find A, they grabbed his nephew, who was living in the housing compound and smashed him on the head with a hammer, leaving him covered in blood. A has a picture of his nephew covered in blood.
It is therefore not safe for them to return to their country. There is a warrant out for A's arrest, he has a copy, and a mob tried to smash his nephew's head in with a hammer. What do you think they will do to A if he goes back?
Unfortunately, the British Home Office does not see it this way and insists that they can easily relocate back, even though they have photographic evidence of the 2015 attack and the warrant, and so they are now sitting in a British Immigration Removal Centre, waiting to be deported.
Perhaps the most painful aspect of this story and the main reason we are collecting money is because of the daughter, "C". She is 20 years old and has spent ALMOST half her life in England--she came here in December 2007. She did most of her education here and even in her home country went to schools where the instruction was in English. Because of this, SHE CANNOT READ NOR WRITE HER NATIVE LANGUAGE. If she is deported back, it will be difficult for her to integrate back into her country--imagine trying to find work if you cannot read or write the native language.
We are therefore mainly collecting money to mount a legal challenge to this situation. We want this young woman to be allowed to remain in England, as it would be inhumane for her to be deported back to a country where she faces a very dire fate. We also want the parents to be allowed to remain, if possible. Any money you contribute will be used 1) for the daughter's defense fund 2) for the parent's defense fund 3) to pay living expenses for whatever awaits them after this whole ordeal is over, for example, the daughter's living expenses if she is allowed to stay in this country.
Please give and email to friends, church members, anybody you can think of who might be willing to help. Email this link:
https://www.gofundme.com/persecutedchristiansdefensefund
UPDATE 25 SEPTEMBER: The family have been in the immigration prison since 16 July, and are fighting depression and health problems. B, the wife, applied to be released early because of health problems (she is diabetic and suffers from depression) but was turned down because it was felt that she might abscond because she had no ties with the community. This in spite of the fact that she gets visitors and post cards from friends on the outside nearly every day. Keep them in your prayers.
"Remember those in prison as being chained with them." Heb. 13:2
Organizer
John Bird
Organizer
