DAWN Fridayfax 2003 #43

Wales

Bread, fish, beer - life in a pub church

Bar None is a church in a pub in Cardiff, Wales. Chris Coffey, one of the founders, says "The employees like working in the cellar which we rent every week. They enjoy the atmosphere, take part in the discussions, and sometimes ask for prayer. I think that is an indication: when the employees who have to work during a Christian event don't stand around, tensely waiting for the end, hating every minute, that's a good sign..." Bar None began with three friends who met at a Christian festival and discussed ideas of how to be church in a unchurchlike manner. They came up with the idea of a pub church. A group of Cardiff Christians decided to check out the city's pubs, to find out if any were open for the idea of being a pub church on Sunday. They expected rejection, but were astonished that most were excited by the idea. They finally settled on 'The Oz Bar' in the city centre.

Newspapers and Bibles

In the first meetings, they laid Bibles and newspapers on some of the tables, held discussions and sometimes a 10-minute talk, a songwriter presented a song, and discussed the meaning. "The best evenings were often the ones which we did not plan," says Chris. "Someone would ask 'Why do you lot believe what you believe?' and things would go from there. To start with, we had around 100 people each evening, including many curious Christians from local churches. We now have thirty to forty regular visitors, many of whom do not attend a 'normal' church because they think they would not fit in. Bar None is one of four fellowships belonging to the Glenwood Church. It is important for people to recognise that they are not in a waiting line for a 'real church', but that this is 'real church'! And one of the most important things that we have learned is that we do not need to have an answer to every question, and do not need to justify everything that we do," he says.
Source: www.pubchurch.com

USA

Ex-Satanist helps people escape from Satanism

Jeff Harshbarger, once a trainee Satanist priest, and active Satanist for many years, now helps people escape from the occult mire of Satanism. He and his wife, Liz, use their web site to help predominantly young people find the way out. They have also founded Refuge Ministries in an old fish farm in Georgia, where people can withdraw for a time of reorientation. Harshberger was deeply involved in Satanism, and member of a coven. He was twice close to suicide, and tried to shoot himself, before meeting Christians who helped him find a new life. In his experience, youths with no strong family ties are particularly open for the occult. Through their web site, www.refugeministries.cc, they regularly receive requests from people trying to escape from occultism, but who do not know how.
Source: www.refugeministries.cc

Sudan/USA

Ex-slave tells of the adventure of freedom

"He looked at me and said 'Do you want to know why nobody loves you and why you have to sleep with the animals? Because you are an animal yourself!" "That explained a lot - why he allowed the children to beat me with sticks like a stubborn donkey, why they gave me left-overs to eat, why I had to sleep in the barn..." - excerpts from the recently-published 'Escape from Slavery', Francis Bok's autobiography. Arab militia captured Bok during an attack on his village in southern Sudan when he was 7 years old. He saw many die at the hands of his slave masters before arriving at his new master's house. In 1996, when he was 17 years old, he managed to escape, but was imprisoned without trial in Khartoum, the capital, for openly speaking about slavery. He was released after seven months, and fled to Egypt, and then to the USA via the UN refugee programme. He now works in the American Anti-Slavery Group, and speaks in churches to help others suffering a similar fate. His book 'Escape from Slavery - the true story of my ten years in captivity and my journey to freedom in America' was published on 14th October 2003 (St. Martin's Press), and is a report about the terrible fate of 27 million people enslaved worldwide and mostly ignored by the rest of the world. "Many believe that slavery is history, but that is far from the truth." Can the story of one man who managed to escape help the world's other 27 million slaves? That depends on us!
Source: www.iAbolish.com , Jeffrey Hipp, tel. (+1)-617-426-8161

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