Easter Appeal: Give hope and help Christians amidst disasters and violence

22 March 2023

“Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven. But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you...” (Luke 21:10-12)

How closely the Lord’s words reflect our troubled world today! Our own generation has seen the growth of anti-Christian persecution in dozens of countries. Deadly new diseases have emerged, such as Ebola and Covid-19, with bird flu now becoming a major concern. We see nations rising against other nations, to threaten and attack. According to one calculation, there are currently 62 armed conflicts, ranging from skirmishes to major wars. Conflict plus repeated droughts and destructive floods have brought hunger and famine. As for earthquakes, Turkey and Syria were devastated last month by a double earthquake that killed over 50,000 people and displaced millions.

Our Christian brothers and sisters are caught up in all these events. Sometimes they cannot access the aid and relief that non-Christians are getting ‒ because of anti-Christian discrimination.

Barnabas has provided aid for Christians affected by the conflict in Ukraine.

Hope for eternity

The Lord Jesus spoke those words almost 2,000 years ago, just before His own arrest and persecution to death on the cross. Soon it will be Good Friday when we remember His suffering and His offering of Himself to take away our sins. 

But after Good Friday comes Easter Sunday, when we celebrate His mighty resurrection, conquering death as He rose from the grave. Because of Easter, we have the sure and certain hope of eternal life. Our suffering brothers and sisters share that ultimate hope, as we all wait together for the Lord’s return.

Flooding in Pakistan is just one of the disasters to which Barnabas has responded with practical help for our Christian family.

Hope for this life

And we can have the privilege and joy of giving them hope for this life too.

When lives are shattered, when homes and livelihoods have disappeared, then Barnabas Aid can channel your gifts through our Christian partner ministries on the ground. Practical help not only changes the outward situation for our fellow-Christians but also can heal their inner distress. Food, blankets, metal roofing sheets – all these are a tangible sign that God has not forgotten them in the midst of the catastrophe they are enduring, that things will change, that they can hope again.

Only the Lord knows what the future holds, what disaster will come next.

But, with His help and your help, Barnabas Aid will stand ready to assist our brothers and sisters, as we have so often in previous disasters.

With Easter approaching, please consider prayerfully whether you could make a special Easter gift to our Disaster Relief Fund, to provide aid for Christians in disaster situations – a gift that will bring not just help but also hope. But above all, please pray for our suffering Christian brothers and sisters in many disaster situations.

Hope for This Life

And we can have the privilege and joy of giving them hope for this life too.

When lives are shattered, when homes and livelihoods have disappeared, then Barnabas Aid can channel your gifts through our Christian partner ministries on the ground. Practical help not only changes the outward situation for our fellow-Christians but also can heal their inner distress. Food, blankets, metal roofing sheets – all these are a tangible sign that God has not forgotten them in the midst of the catastrophe they are enduring, that things will change, that they can hope again.

Only the Lord knows what the future holds, what disaster will come next.

But, with His help and your help, Barnabas Aid will stand ready to assist our brothers and sisters, as we have so often in previous disasters.

With Easter approaching, please consider prayerfully whether you could make a special Easter gift to our Disaster Relief Fund, to provide aid for Christians in disaster situations – a gift that will bring not just help but also hope. But above all, please pray for our suffering Christian brothers and sisters in many disaster situations.

How you can help

$12 could buy 10kg of maize flour for Christians in drought-afflicted northern Kenya.

$22 could provide a family health kit for a Syrian Christian family made homeless by last month’s earthquake.

$43 could provide a set of trauma counselling training materials for Christians targeted by terrorists in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

$72 could buy ten good quality blankets for Christians in Myanmar displaced by anti-Christian violence.

$205 could buy 2 cubic metres of firewood for Christians in Ukraine.

$540 could repair the flood-damaged home of a Pakistani Christian family.