Image taken as BPCA volunteers are about to pray at site of our potential new school for enslaved children – a school that will be the first of its kind! Learn more about the Tim Iqbal Memorial School (here) As midsummer passes and parents and students alike start to anticipate the return of the school year we want to draw your attention to the educational concerns that Pakistani-Christians face. We invite people everywhere to pray for those returning to school and for those who are unable to receive an education due to discriminatory practices they must deal with in Pakistan. These…
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Image of self-styled Muslim convert to Christianity Faheem. A Pakistani-Christian pastor and his family from Lahore, Pakistan are in hiding and fear for their lives after a new Christian convert from Islam won his way into the minister’s favour and became associated with the church and then allegedly committed fraud against members of the community. After a fellow minister concerned about the pastor’s welfare requested an officer from the British Pakistani Christian Association to investigate, one of our officers Zeeshan Masih, travelled to Pastor Aamir Javed (34 yrs), to see how we could help. BPCA officer Zeeshan with Pastor Aamir …
A Pakistani Christian girl who was returned to her parents by the courts earlier this year after she was abducted and forced into an Islamic marriage at the tender age of 12 years old now has yet another legal battle to face in the family court. Despite her being too young to give consent to marry; a fact which was determined by her birth certificate, a court ordered a medical examination and witnesses along with the judge ruling that her forced conversion was invalid, the man who is facing criminal charges had made an appeal and is insisting that this…
Image of wreath and banners of peace placed by BPCA volunteer at the site of Danforth attack where a shrine of remembrance has formed. On Sunday 22nd July a gunman armed with what one witness called “a pistol or a hand gun” shot 15 people, injuring 13 and ending lives of two young women aged 10 and 18 years. The attack occurred in a popular restaurant district known as Greektown on Danforth Street referred to affectionately by locals as simply “The Danforth”. After ISIS claimed responsibility the police argued there was not yet enough evidence to support that and they…
A celebration dinner was held for the appointment of Cardinal Joseph Coutts, who became Pakistan’s first Roman Catholic Cardinal since Joseph Cordeiro who died of a protracted illness on February 11th 1994 after himself being appointed by Pope John Paul II in 1973. Read more (here). Upon his appointment on 29h June 2018, Cardinal Coutts expressed being overwhelmed by the response to his appointment along with hoping that it will allow opportunities for the other 3 million Christians in Pakistan who make up approximately 1.6 % of the country’s population saying: “I feel I have been called to be a stronger voice…
After a rise in teen violence in the London Borough of Redbridge, a Green Lane based group held a vigil in honour of victims of violent crime in hope of sending a strong message of unity and solidarity amongst local youth. The East Ilford Betterment Partnership a constituted community group made up of local residents and businesses, joined up with young teenagers from the borough participating on the National Citizenship Service with national charity ‘The Challenge’, to hold a programme of events designed to promote unity amongst the diverse communities especially young people in the borough. During two days of…
Ink stains the thumb of a Pakistani voter – voting by thumb print is a system that allows corruption . Former cricketer Imran Khan is declaring his party – Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has the right to form the new government in his nation’s 2018 national election. Christians are bracing for a season of no representation under a government that has vowed to protect blasphemy legislation 295C at the expense of the both the citizens and the constitution of Pakistan. The election results were pending because of allegations of vote-rigging but the leading party is one whose leader has vowed to uphold…
Dozens of teenagers have committed themselves to spend time in Ilford Town Centre engaging with children and teenagers during the first week of the summer holidays, in their attempts to promote peace, love and unity in Redbridge. Over the last few months Redbridge Council has agreed a monthly schedule of community events with British Pakistani Christian Association in Ilford’s pedestrian broadway, to enable charities and community groups to seek referrals via a direct public interface. The events attract local people through the organising of a commercial market interspersed with social enterprises and NGOs and free children’s activities. The events are…
Image of BPCA sorting centre where unwanted goods are cleaned and packaged to be given to deprived Christian families in Pakistan. We continue to collect second-hand items and send them across to Pakistan to helped deprived families. Since we started this project we have sent across 32 large consignments of clothes, toys and books and have helped in excess of 400 people. If you do bring unused toys, books and clothes to our premises please do ensure they are clean and in a fit state to be re-used. Any help with the cost of freight which costs £1 a kilo…
A Catholic Church in Harsan Kot Chak 165, in the district of Samundari, 36 km from Faisalabad came under attack on the evening of 13th July 2018 when four armed men fired bullets at the front wall and entry. The incident began at 6pm when a 17 year old teenager named Shan Jalal was walking around the church pasting posters for the next youth meeting on 22nd July 2018, onto the church boundary wall. At the time of the attack, 50 to 60 people were congregated in Kot Harsan Catholic Church for a youth meeting that was scheduled at 7:00…