“In situations where, on the face of it things are falling apart, they aren’t actually falling apart, they are still under God’s control and certainly as Christians we should be taking heart from that.”
After almost 18 months of Covid restrictions, Tom Clarke is relieved that Bangor Worldwide Missionary Convention can go ahead as planned.
The annual convention is celebrating its 85th anniversary this year.
The missionary event has run every year since 1937 although talks and meetings had to go online last year due to Covid rules.
“We were quite determined to do whatever we could this year,” Mr Clarke said.
Starting tomorrow, this year's convention will focus on the persecution of Christians around the world.
Mr Clarke said in some countries where Christianity is a minority religion, believers are often discriminated against.
And he said the pandemic has highlighted the poor treatment of Christians.
“There has been persecution since the church began 2,000 years ago,” he said.
"The Covid pandemic has made it even more stark.
“Quite a lot of Christians are suffering not just because of their faith but they are also being discriminated against in terms of distribution of food in some of the developing world countries.
“In parts of north India, in Nepal, or in parts of north Africa there are dominant religions who maybe see that their responsibility is to feed their own people, look after their own people, vaccinate their own people.
“Christians are very much at the back of the queue and if there’s nothing left they don’t get.”
The conference will run until Sunday, August 29, at Hamilton Road Presbyterian Church in Bangor, Co Down.
Speakers will include Anglican Bishop Michael Nazir–Ali, former Bishop of Raiwindi in Pakistan and Bishop of Rochester from 1994 until 2009.
Mr Clarke said the bishop has first-hand knowledge of being a leader in a country where Christians are in the minority.
“Coming from that area he has a very deep knowledge and understanding of the situation there for the Christian church,” he said.
“But having moved to England and being Bishop of Rochester he has a much broader perspective than just Pakistan.
“He has contacts with bishops in Africa and would have a bigger vision of the whole aspect of persecution.
“This is maybe his third time here. He’s a very good friend to the convention and is happy to come and speak.”
Mr Clarke said laws allowing for religious freedom have been eroded in several countries, particularly in India, over the “last 10 to 20 years”.
“Some regulations have been brought in which curtail basic rights,” he said.
“The worry at the moment is that so many of those rights are being set aside or new laws are being brought in to override them. That does cause real problems for Christians on the ground.
“In things like education they find that they can be discriminated against.”
Mr Clarke said staunch nationalism has been a driver of discrimination.
“In India you’ve got the rise of the BJP party,” he said.
“Its vision is India is for Hindus… You have others taking that sort of line.
“In seeking to assert a national identity or ensure that an identity is preserved for future generations they look very critically at the role of other religious groups.
“Even though they may have been in the country for hundreds of years, they are seen as a threat to that national identity which they want to assert and so they would want to make sure that the laws and regulations protect the position of that national religion.”
He added: “It isn’t just Christians. Minority religions in these countries will be suffering the same thing”.
Mr Clarke said the conference aimed to raise awareness of the plight of Christians under persecution.
“It’s very difficult if you are a low caste Indian to do anything to influence the political system,” he said.
He added: “If you’re a very small sect and not a particularly powerful one within a country then your ability to influence situations, not even at national level but at local level is very, very limited. That’s where the problems arise.
“They (persecuted Christians) don’t have much political sway or political clout... but if you’ve got people from outside the country lobbying governments on their behalf then that makes things a bit easier for them.”
DUP MP Jim Shannon and Conservative MP Fiona Bruce will address the conference about the lobbying work they do for Christians and minority religious groups around the world.
“Fiona Bruce is the Prime Minister’s special envoy for religious freedom in the world,” Mr Clarke said.
"She gives Boris Johnson advice on different situations in different parts of the world where minority religions are under pressure.”
Mr Shannon is a member of the joint Ecclesiastical Committee at Westminster.
“Jim has been to Pakistan and has talked to Christian leaders in various countries so he has first hand experience of the situations that people are facing,” Mr Clarke said.
“The conference is seeking to give them a voice, particularly among the Christian community here.”
Mr Clarke and his family have chosen to mark the 85th anniversary of the convention with an inter-generational fitness challenge.
“From January to August, when the convention is held, I said I would walk 850 miles, my daughter would run 850 miles and my grandson Jed (two) would do 850 lengths of his garden,” he said.
“I’ve just passed by 850 miles, Jed is very close to his 850 lengths and Joy is anticipating being finished by the end of the month.
“It’s to raise money and also awareness.”
Although the annual event will welcome people face-to-face, there will be restrictions on how many people can attend.
Hamilton Road Presbyterian Church has a capacity of up to 900 but social distancing rules mean the convention can only accommodate around 200 people this year.
Worshippers can take part in congregational singing but have to do so while wearing masks.
“We normally don’t have any registration… In this case because of the restricted attendance figures we have to ask for pre-booking,” Mr Clarke said.
“We really want people to register so that we know how many people are coming. When we hit the 200 number registrations will close.”
The conference will host Bible studies each weekday of the conference at 11.30am.
Speaker Jonathan Lamb, minister-at-large for Keswick Ministries, has chosen to study the book of Habakkuk under the theme of ‘Trusting God in turbulent times’.
Mr Clarke said the lesser-known book has much to teach Christians in the time of Covid.
“It’s a small book. It’s in the middle of the Old Testament, not very familiar to a lot of people, but he (Jonathan Lamb) has chosen it to show that it’s relevant to today,” he said.
“In situations where, on the face of it things are falling apart, they aren’t actually falling apart, they are still under God’s control and certainly as Christians we should be taking heart from that.”
Mr Clarke cautioned against suggestions that the pandemic is a form of God’s judgment or has any parallels with the Biblical plagues of Egypt.
“There have been plagues throughout the world, Black Death for example, which don’t have any religious dimension to them,” he said.
“You’ve got to be very careful in drawing parallels. I think that one thing Christians would assert is for whatever reason this is happening this is happening under God’s control.
He added: “It would be a brave man or woman to say why it’s (Covid) been sent. That would be putting yourself in the mind of God.”
Mr Clarke said the pandemic has had a negative impact on some Christians but a positive one on others.
“It’s very hard to generalise (about the impact of Covid) because I think the fact that people couldn’t meet has had an effect of distancing some people from their faith,” he said.
“A regular pattern of meeting people each week was a way of strengthening their faith and their fellowship with other believers.
“Even the last while it’s a very stilted form of meeting with distancing and gaps and masks. That has had an impact on some people.
“The other side of it is because it has been such a major thing and caused such major disruption it has caused some people to think a bit more deeply about things, the reason for things and why they happen and who is in control of all of this.
“For perhaps some people outside of the church it has caused them to ask questions which in a normal situation they wouldn’t have asked.”
The Bangor Worldwide Missionary Convention will run from tomorrow until Sunday, August 29.
To register visit www.worldwidemission.org
