Supporting Displaced People With The Gospel

Story of A Displaced Family

Do you want to join us in making a change? The global missions of NEW COVENANT CHURCH is raising funds towards supporting displaced individuals and families across the mediterranean affected by persecution and wars starting with the island nation of Cyprus.

Have you ever wondered why in over 2500 years the region including the middle east has never known peace? For starters geographically it is the centre of the world bordered by the major continents of Europe, Asia and Africa through which many trade sea routes pass for commerce and industry.

Historically empires, kingdoms and nations have fought for dominance of these lands and seas - starting from the Persians in the 6th Century BC to the Macedonians in the 4th Century BC spreading the Greek culture and language by Alexander The Great. Then rose the great Roman Empire which ruled right through and after the time of Jesus Christ to 476 AD. However not all the Roman Empire fell but the eastern side or the Byzantine ruled from the capital city of Constatinople for another 1000 years to the middle ages but not without skirmishes with the rise of Islam and the Arab world.

At this time the Arabs dominated three quarters of the mediterranean and controlled the trade of spices from Asia, grains from Egypt to Europe and beyond to the Viking nations trading in luxury goods between Spain and the Mediterranean. All these commerce was too attractive to ignore by the Central European States who now launched Crusades to push back Arab dominance in the region thereby allowing the rise of the Ottoman Turkish Empire in the 14th century AD.

Rivalry, trade, smuggling, slavery and religion all played parts in the balance of power in the region and the weaker islands like Cyprus, Crete and Malta came under dominance and rule repeatedly right up to this present day. There, a history of human dispersion and stateless peoples have kept many impoverished and helpless to the situation around them. The development of longer range seafaring shifted trade and commerce to the northern continents thereby cutting off the supply to the mediterranean and the wealth of the ruling empires.

By the 18th century AD, the European States became very powerful again and began to colonize Africa & Asia. The British Empire captured the islands of Gibraltar in 1713, Malta in 1814 and Cyprus in 1878. Today, the Mediterranean Sea is the southern border of the European Union and represents one of the largest area by trade in the world. The Maltese Prime Minister described the Mediterranean sea as a "cemetery" due to the large amounts of migrants who drown there. Following the 2013 Lampedusa migrant shipwreck, the Italian government, decided to strengthen the national system for the patrolling of the Mediterranean Sea by authorizing Operation Mare Nostrum, a military and humanitarian operation in order to rescue the migrants and arrest the traffickers of immigrants.

The established governements and institutions have been unable to raise hopes leading to social issues relating to drugs, tobacco, hashish, alcohol abuse, suicides steming from draconian immigration acts of deportations. The indegenes remain disillusioned and incapable of transforming their communities without external help. This is where we come in...

According to The Bible Book of Acts 13:4-6; Apostle Paul with Barnabas, a citizen of Cyprus and John Mark his nephew first sailed to Cyprus to establish The Early Churches by travelling across the island from Famagusta to Paphos.

We have a mandate as an evangelical Church to raise people to maturity in Christ and build Godly, happy and prosperous families through our vibrant city churches. We help people discover their unique design and equip them in the spirit of excellence to serve effectively within the church and become instruments of change in society, bringing the love of God into their communities and cities and playing a positive role in the life of the nation and globally.

As a registered UK Charitable Incorporated Organisation the funds we raise will be used to:

1. Settle displaced people and families

2. Train & educate them vocationally

3. Provide guidance and counselling

4. Build them up as contributors to their own communities

5. Raise them to do unto others as we would have shown in the spirit of love

6. Sponsor youth volunteers to work in aid thereby training them in life skills

7. Purchase a bus to transport volunteers to support communities with poor transportation infrastructure

Here is thanking you in advance for your understanding the nature of the region and your decion to give towards alleviating suffering and praying for peace. God bless you!!!