Letter to Churches & Summary of Actions

5th January 2016.

Subject : Request for a “Rescue Christians from the killing fields in Syria,” sermon.

Dear Rev ……….,

I would request that you consider providing the subject sermon in your church prior to 12/2/2016, as a matter of urgency.

Why is such a sermon so necessary at this time?

Many people would believe that as the Government has accepted 12,000 refugees, based solely on humanitarian grounds, without giving any preference to Syrian Christians, that Australia is doing its share in finding a solution to this crisis.

Sydney’s Anglican Archbishop, Rev Dr Glenn Davies, has also endorsed the Government’s non- discriminatory approach to the selection of refugees who Australia will take.

However the sermon I am asking you to give, rather than being non- discriminatory, would seek positive discrimination for Syrian Christian refugees.  It is a sermon which would be viewed by many as being not politically correct.

What are the circumstances which make our support for Syrian Christians so necessary at this time?

Syria’s population is 22.2 million, with Islam being the main religion.  There are 1.1 million Christians in Syria.

Historically Christians in Syria have always suffered some degree of persecution from the Muslim majority.  Nevertheless they have been able to exist as second class citizen under these conditions.  Open Doors has ranked Christian persecution in Syria as being number 4 in the world.

However with the civil war with Islamic State, (IS), this persecution has exponentially increased.  Consequently Christians are now frequently attacked, abducted and killed.  One Muslim cleric has declared that, “raping Christian women is not contrary to the precepts of Islam.” Lord Carey, who is Britain’s former Archbishop of Canterbury, stated that Syrian Christians, “are being hunted like dogs by their Islamic oppressors, their property stolen, their men beheaded and their women raped.”

He has urged the British government to prioritize Christians among the Syrian refugees, “because they are a particularly vulnerable group.”  His position on refugee intake is the direct opposite to that of the Sydney Anglican Archbishop.

When the IS forces take a town, they find the Christians in the town and paint the Arabic word for Nazarene on the doors to their houses.  The Christians in such houses know that they then have two options – Convert to Islam and submit to the government’s authority, or die.

I see this situation as being very similar to what happen in Germany when the National Socialists Party seized power and painted on the house doors of Jewish residents, the Star of David.  This marked the identification of those Jewish people destined for execution.

The same extermination fate now is intended for Christians under the lands controlled by IS.

When Syrian Christians do flee from such intended executions, the conditions in many refugee camps are horrendous.  They have had to leave their possession and assets in Syria, and are dependent upon others for food, shelter, clothing and medical facilities.  These are often in short supply.

Being in a refugee camp must be very similar to being in prison.  When you will have an opportunity to leave is uncertain and like a prison you would have very little freedom of choice.

Apart from this, most United Nations, (UN), refugee camps pose very real threats to the safety of the Christian minorities.  Please read the attached article titled, “Muslim refugees persecute Christian refugees in German Camps.” The Sunday Express has report that – “The jihadists are sending teams of trained killers into the UN camps disguised as refugees to kidnap and kill vulnerable Christians.”

Please also read the summary of reasons for supporting Syrian Christians attachment, which further details the special circumstances affecting their plight.

The requested sermon is supported by scripture.

In Matthew 25, people are described as being similar to either ‘sheep,’ or ‘goats.’  Jesus as the shepherd who will separate the sheep from the goats on the final judgement day, describes the sheep as those persons who in their earthly life served Him, by serving in various ways the least of “these brothers of mine.”

They will be blessed by Jesus.

Whereas the goats are described by Jesus as those persons in their earthly life who did not serve Him, by serving in various ways the least of “these brothers of mine.”

Rather than being blessed by Jesus they will suffer permanent separation from Him.

Applying this analogy to the Syrian refugee situation, the Syrian Christians would be the sheep, whereas the non-Christian Syrians would be the goats.

As Christians we have a shepherd’s role to care for the needs of Jesus’s sheep.

In John 21, when Jesus reinstates Peter, He asks him three times if he loves Him.  With each of Peter’s responses, He asks him to – feed His lambs, care for His sheep and feed His sheep.

There is no mention of goats in this commission.

In the New Testament Paul seeks collections from the more prosperous churches in the region, to provide care for those churches in the region, which are in need.

It would be expected that in the area of the needy churches, there would also be non-Christians who were also in similar need.  However these are not mentioned.

It is therefore apparent that the primary purpose of the prosperous churches was to support the Christian family in the poorer churches.  There would have been some distribution of the collected funds to help the needy non-Christians in these areas, in accordance with Jesus teaching.  However this would have been a secondary objective.

Logically if you are starving, you have no ability to provide food for others.

In John 13, Jesus gives a new commandment to His followers, which is to love one another.  By this He states that – “all men will know that you are my disciples.”

There are many types of love and many definitions.  However in this command for me, ‘love’

embraces two parts.  The first is the motivation to want the best for the other person.  The second is to do those things, according to your resources and abilities, to best achieve that result.

Would the world see us as a disciple of Jesus, by the love we show for the Syrian Christians’ suffering?

In 1Timothy 5:8, Paul states that, “if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

Syrian Christian refugees are part of the Christian family.  If we refuse to provide help to them, which is less than we are capable of, then Paul’s statement is true for us.

Lastly, with the story of the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15, who asks Jesus to deliver her daughter from a demonic spirit, Jesus tells her that it is not right to deny God’s blessings to His chosen people, and give them to their dogs.  The woman replies that even the dogs eat the crumbs of the food given to God’s chosen people, when they drop from the table to the floor.

Jesus endorses the woman’s reply and grants deliverance from the satanic spirit to her daughter.

Conclusion.

The above scriptures confirm that there is a priority with Christian ministry.  It must first be to the needs of Christians and then non-Christians.  It must be both, but in that priority.

By what means may Christians in Sydney help Syrian Christians in accordance with these scriptures?

Barnabas Fund Australia are providing assistance and safety for Syrian Christians in their search for a safe home.  Donations to this organization are not tax deductible, as they only support Christians.  By providing financial support for the work of the Barnabas Fund Australia, Sydney Christians will be both obeying and pleasing Christ.

So far, the Barnabas Fund has liberated 158 Christians from Syria and found a new home for them in Poland.

The organization, International Christian Concern, states that whilst most Syrian Christians feel that the World is indifferent to their slaughter, they are desperately seeking prayer from their fellow Christians.

Do you think that some of your church members may feel called to enter into spiritual warfare for their Syrian brothers and sisters, if they knew of their circumstances and their request for prayer?

Why should you give this sermon?

Perhaps the most significant reason is that God has given to you the privilege to care and feed His sheep.

With this sermon you have the opportunity to fully identify to your congregation the suffering that Syrian Christians are experiencing for their faith.  You then have the opportunity to identify how Christ wishes His disciples to act in accordance with scripture, in response to the suffering and needs of Syrian Christians.

If you do this, your congregation with this knowledge will have the opportunity do God’s will in this situation.  If they do, there will be three outcomes –

Christ will be pleased.

They will be blessed.

The Syrian Christians will be encouraged and comforted.

Do you think this is a worthwhile objective?

Whilst from a management perspective, you have the opportunity to be either part of the Syrian Christian problem, or be part of a solution to the problem.

The choice is yours.  If you do nothing, you will part of the problem.

CONCLUSION.

I am writing this letter because I am grieved by the suffering that Syrian Christians are experiencing in refugee camps, as well as the failure of the Sydney Anglican Church’s senior leadership to want to become part of the solution to this problem.

In Australia, we are blessed with a high level of prosperity.  I believe God blesses us so that we can be a blessing to others.

Please consider the matters raised in this letter, pray upon them, and then determine if you will give the requested sermon.

If you do decide to give this sermon, I would appreciate if you could advise me of the date when you will give the sermon.  This will permit me to give thanks to God for your faithfulness and to pray for you and your church.

Should you decide not to give this sermon, I would appreciate if you could advise me of the reasons for this.  I am requesting this as I would like to have an understanding of why you would come to such a decision.

May Christ grant you the wisdom and courage to do His will.

Diego Colina.

 

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SUMMARY OF ACTIONS TAKEN TO RESCUE CHRISTIANS FROM GENOCIDE IN THE MIDDLE EAST, FROM OCTOBER 2015 TO JUNE 2017.

 

October 2015.

In response to a press release issued by Archbishop Glenn Davies, a letter was sent to him requesting him to change his support for Australia’s non-discriminatory approach with its selection of Syrian refugees, as this was biased against Christians and was not supported by scripture.

 

9/11/2015 to 5/1/2016.

Letters were sent to 102 Anglican Ministers in the Sydney Diocese. A typical Minister’s letter may be viewed in the web site’s “Letters to Churches”, Section.

 

Responses to this letter.

Only 5 of the 102 Ministers replied to this letter. One advised that he had done his own research and as a consequence would help Syrian Christians through the Barnabas Fund, whilst also helping Syrian refugees received by Australia.

The other 4 Ministers advised that they would not give the requested sermon, as they agreed with the Archbishop’s position.

 

16/1/2016.

Due to this response, it was necessary to again write to Archbishop Glen Davies, requesting that he reconsider changing his position, so as to permit the rescue the Syrian Christians from the genocide being committed against them.

 

Response to this letter.

In the absence of a reply from Archbishop Glen Davies to this letter, it was sought to arrange a personal meeting with him, involving myself and another Christian brother. On 25/2/2016, a reply was received from the Bishop of South Sydney on behalf of Archbishop Glen Davies.

 

25/2/2016.

The letter from the Bishop of South Sydney confirmed that Archbishop Glen Davies publicly stated position on the persecution of Syrian Christians would remain unaltered.

 

29/4/2016.

The web site – “Not ignored Christian Rescue Advocates” – was set up. This was necessary as it had been advised that the information contained in this web site would not be provided in a Press Release by the Archbishop. 

 

30/5/2016.

An advertisement was placed in the Eternity newspaper, which appeared in its June, July August and September editions. A copy of this advertisement may be viewed below.

The other advertisement below, was published in the June 2016 edition of the St James King Street, Parish Connections magazine. This advertisement was also subsequently published in the October/November 2016 edition of this magazine.

Apart from these Christian newspapers, the advertisement was also published in the local newspapers, the Eastern Suburbs Wentworth Courier and the Goulburn Post.

 

Reason and outcomes with these advertisements.

The motivation for the creation of the web site and its advertisement in Christian and secular newspapers was that there were many compassionate and faithfully people in Christ’s Church who were ignorant of the circumstances facing Syrian Christians. It was believed that if they were to know of these circumstances, they would provide financial support for the rescue of the trapped Christians. This greater financial support would then permit more Christians to be rescued.

However the monitoring of the web site visits in response to these readers’ reaction to these advertisements was extremely disappointing.

The Christian newspaper, “Eternity” has the largest readership, which is stated to be 100,000 persons. Each edition of this newspaper is delivered free to churches throughout all Australian states and territories. It also attracts overseas readers.

A digital copy of this newspaper is also stated to reach over 250,000 Australians each month, through social media and the web.

It was therefore expected that if only a very modest 0.1% of the print copy readership were to visit the web site in response to the advertisement, that there would be 250 weekly visits.

However the average weekly web site visits in June 2016 at the commencement of the advertising period was only 24. Whilst the average weekly web site visits in September 2016 during the last advertising month was only 12.

 

14/8/2016.

A letter was sent to Archbishop Glen Davies, advising that at its 2016 Synod, the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane had passed a motion concerning the genocide of Christians in the Middle East, which embraced the following –

It requested the Archbishop and Synod members to support the suffering Christians in their prayers.

Noted the work of the Barnabas Fund and asked for its support by their members.

Requested its members to sign the Barnabas Fund partition which was to be submitted to the Australian Parliament

Archbishop Davies was requested to either move, or arrange for a motion to be considered at the 2016 Anglican Diocese of Sydney Synod, so that its 2015 Synod motion could be reviewed in the light of the above Brisbane Synod motion.

A draft copy of the article on the genocide of Christians in the Middle East was also forwarded to him as supporting reasons for the request. This article may be viewed here.

 

4/10/2016.

A reply letter was received from the Social Issues Committee. A copy of this letter may be viewed below.

I was unaware that this letter had been forwarded to the Social Issues Committee by the Archbishop until advised of this by the letter.

It was disappointing to learn that the Committee was of the opinion that there was no need to review their previous 2015 Synod motion, having regard to the fact that the Brisbane Diocese motion was diametrically different to their motion.

It was not unexpected that at the 2016 Sydney Synod, no individual Synod members put forward a motion on this matter.

 

October 2016.

The article on “the Genocide of Christians in the Middle East was published in the October/November 2016 edition of the SJKS Parish Connections magazine. This article may be viewed here.

The purpose of this article was to provide a more effective means of communicating the information to the magazine readers, as the web monitoring had shown that readers were not interested in visiting the advertised web site

This magazine has a readership of around 2,000 persons, mainly from within the Sydney CBD legal profession.

The web site advertisement was in the same edition as this article. However no significantly increased visits to the web site were recorded, which could be attributed to readers’ responses to the article.

 

6/10/2016 to 27/11/2016.

This article was forwarded to the editors of 60 country, regional and metropolitan newspapers throughout NSW. A copy of a typical letter to such editors may be viewed here.

None of these editors accepted the article for publication. It was advised that if there was local community action was taken on this issue, then this would cause it to be newsworthy.

 

12/10/2016 to 27/11/2016.

This article was forwarded to the Mayors of the following 16 Councils-

Wingecarribee Shire Council, Camden Council, Campbelltown Council, Woollahra Council,

North Sydney Council, Hilltops Council, Mosman Council, Northern Beaches Council, Murray River Council, Armidale Council, Blacktown Council, Byron Shire Council, Sydney City Council, Newcastle City Council, Inverell Shire Council, City of Canada Bay Council.

A copy of typical letters to such Mayors may be viewed here. Only 7 of the Mayors replied to this letter and none of these would take the requested action.

 

17/11/2016.

A copy of this article was forwarded to the managers of Christian Radio Stations Life FM 101.1 and Hope 103.2. No reply received to both these letters.

A follow up letter was sent to the CEO of Hope 103.2, due to advice that the letter could not be located. When no reply was received, a letter was forwarded the Company Chairman. Receipt was obtained from Australia Post that both these letters had been received.

Copies of these letters may be viewed here.

A letter dated, 1/7/2017, was subsequently received from the CEO of Hope 103.2. This letter advised that my correspondence of 20/12/2016 had been misplaced and only recently discovered. It also advised that my earlier correspondence, dated 17/11/2016 still had not been located.

It was stated that as the proposed sponsorship of my requested programme would breach the Radio Station’s licensing conditions, this was not possible. It was also advised that “as appropriate,” their station did air interviews about the persecution of Christians in the Middle East and around the world.

 

December 2016.

The article on “the Genocide of Christians in the Middle East was published in the December 2016 edition of the “Tasmanian Anglican” newspaper. This article may be viewed here.

This newspaper is distributed to all Anglican churches throughout Tasmania.

As a web site advertisement did not appear in the same edition as this article, no estimate of the readers’ responses to the article was possible.

Apart from these newspapers no other Australian Christian newspaper accepted the article for publication.

 

30/2/2017.

In response to newspaper reports that many Churches and Christian organisations had attacked President Donald Trump’s directive that in 2017 the United States with its selection of refugees would give preference to Christians, I submitted an article titled “Can you be a Christian if you do not minister to Christ?” to two Australian Christian newspapers. Neither of these newspapers accepted the article for publication.

This article may be viewed here.