Newly ordained Shahriar Ashrafkorasani and Wilson Chowdhry Last Saturday I was pleasantly surprised to find two Pakistani Christians being ordained within the Church of England at Blackburn Cathedral. My reason for the visit to the north of England was to meet my friend Shahriar Ashrafkorasani a convert from Islam who graduated from Wycliffe College at Oxford University and was also ordained at Saturday’s ceremony. He will soon be taking up a curacy in Preston. The ceremony was presided over by the Bishop of Blackburn, Julian Henderson and Rev’d Dr Rosalyn Murphy of St Thomas Church in Blackpool led the sermon.…
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A newspaper advert that clearly allocates Christians and other minorities access to sweeper roles has been condemned by International NGO’s. The discriminatory actions of the Government of Punjab resulted in Jim Shannon, Chairman of the All Parliamentary Party for Religious Minorities writing to the Chief Minister of Punjab condemning this latest action. A copy of MP Jim Shannon’s letter can be viewed (click here) The advert that was printed in Jaang Newspapers Pakistan in February 2017 lists a number of forthcoming employment vacancies and calls for applicants to respond. The list is a multi-columned and multi-rowed table and though most of…
Fishel Benkhald met with BPCA officer Ambar Saroya in Lahore Pakistan’s secret apostasy laws discriminate against their last remaining Jew and the UK’s most famous apostate. Much has been said about India’s apostasy laws in recent years especially under the current Modi regime which is progressing with plans to introduce an ‘Anti-conversion law’, which will make it impossible to legally change faith in India. There are proposals being pushed for reconversion rights (like “ghar vapsi”). The leaders of this lobby claim that everyone living in India had ancestors who were once Hindus and had been “forcibly converted.” Their ambition is…
Children of all diversities have been busily creating Easter hats and banners to brighten up Redbridge Easter Parade which returns to the borough this Easter Monday. Read Guardian story (click here) The workshops were held at Clementswood Community Centre over the half term holidays and continue to run every Saturday till 11th March 2017. The sessions included short bible passage readings, to ensure participating children understood the true meaning of Easter. The bible accounts helped children to focus designs appropriate to the Christian celebration of the resurrection of Christ, as opposed to more commercial aspects of modern day festivities. Children utilized…
A 43 year old married man with two children is the latest public victim of apostasy hatred in the UK, in what is becoming a growing phenomena across Britain. (Guardian article) In 2014 Faisal Bashir contacted the BPCA for help and support after he became disturbed by the hatred within Islam and strong messages of division that were being taught in local Ilford mosques. He chose to stop practicing Islam but suddenly found himself being targeted by men from a local mosque. Faisal was living behind BPCA’s offices at the time and his children attended many of our community centre…
British Pakistani Christian Association is pleased to announce that Redbridge Easter Parade is to return to our borough for 2017. Event: Redbridge Easter Parade Date: Easter Monday 17th April 2017 Venue: Concert at Ilford Town Hall Steps Time: 12:00 – 19:00 Activities: Face painting, bouncy castle, Art workshops, Bible study tent, Bible bookstore, healing tent, prayer tent, drama, music, parade, commercial stalls. The event which is now considered the largest attended event in the borough with an attendance around 15,000 visitors…
Wilson Chowdhry with Geoff Sharland who wrote new training regime for Home Office asylum caseworkers The British Pakistani Christian Association is pleased to endorse a Home Office assessment guidance and training programme that should help reduce the likelihood that genuine persecuted Christian converts are denied asylum because of their failure to correctly answer biblical and theological questions. Read a further article by Christian Post (click here) The United Kingdom’s immigration and security agency issued a new country guidance for Pakistan in May 2016 that detailed the persecution faced by Christians and Christian converts in the 96 percent Muslim-majority nation and…
Yesterday, news cameras caught the end result of an 8 year old campaign of religious hatred against a Christian convert and his family, Nissar Hussain with multiple car loads of armed police escorting him and his family to pack up the last belongings from their home and leave Bradford for good, such is the level of hatred and credible death threats against the family. The case has raised serious concerns about the level of hatred against converts from Islam in this country, reflecting an age old and worldwide phenomenon. The Hussain family have been put through immense emotional, psychological and…
One month ago the long-running saga of Islamic persecution to UK-based convert to Christianity Nissar Hussain reached its lowest ebb. A visit by CID officers to the Hussain home left the family terrified and confused. The officer’s gave the family a stark warning of an imminent threat to Mr Hussain’s life. The level of threat was so serious the family were provided with a phantom police car parked outside the home to thwart an attack. Despite the extreme anxiety the family felt the police informed them that they did not have the resources to provide 24 hour protection to the…
Senator Eric Abetz, Wilson Chowdhry and Minister for Immigration Peter Dutton Today the British Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA) launches an appeal to help persecuted Pakistani Christians find safety in Australia. BPCA chairman Wilson Chowdhry said ‘Australia have started an innovative new pilot scheme that can be used to help Pakistani Christians to safety. However, we need partners on the ground in Australia to make it happen, as the scheme involves registered groups in Australia (which BPCA would become) and the need for volunteers to provide accommodation and support for a year.’ This move from the BPCA comes after Mr Chowdhry spent…