We're tired of being silent: an open letter to our offenders

Dear offenders of ours,

It pains us to note that your actions, your repulse, your words and sometimes even your false testimony have caused thousands upon thousands of Christians to be thrown into prison, deprived of their liberties, tortured or even put to death. Whilst we acknowledge our own sinfulness and balk in guilt and shame, we realise, and it pains it to find that you have not realised, that the limit to one's freedom is the freedom of another. Not only have you caused the mass persecution of Christians, you have also caused the mass persecution of minorities, who have been granted freedoms cited in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Many of you campaign so strongly for your own freedom without even realising that their freedoms have been severely neglected.

We write from a place where, though we are facing verbal and emotional persecution, still provides us with liberties that many of us often take for granted. Some of us have had the opportunity of going to Knightsbridge on Thursday, 14 June 2012, three years after the wrongful condemnation of Asia Bibi to death under the blasphemy laws. We were few in number, but we stood, sang, chanted and testified outside the Pakistani Embassy in Lowndes Square. I would like to personally share with you my side of the story, in just two videos:

Asia Bibi's story is not the only one that needs to be told. There are thousands of stories that have been silenced by your actions, and these stories go unnoticed. They are from China, North Korea, India, Syria, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Iran and even place we wouldn't expect — Russia, the Philippines, Venezuela, and many other nations. We, the people who walk the streets day by day picking the papers or reading the news online, can vouch that each of us desires what is good, right, true and just.

We are here to remind you, our offenders, that you'd best not be lambasting others for discrimination when you yourselves discriminate. Much of the persecution that has taken place comes from blatant misunderstanding, or the holding of grudges. Can you not see that the person struggling in your clenched hands is as human as you are?

We, young and old alike, have come out to Knightsbridge in peace, and we are sure we are not alone in fighting this good fight. We who have been persecuted have been expected to take it all silently like doormats, while the truth is shut away in a corner. But you know what? We are the light of the world. No one lights lamps to put them under tubs. They put these lamps at high places in the house so that the light would spill on everyone to see. And so it is with us who seek the truth. We're tired of being silent.

We are free, yes, and while there is lots of work to be done in our beloved Britain, nothing is going to stop us from spreading the flames of love wherever we go. We have been urged to stand up in defence of our weaker brethren, to be with them in their time of suffering, to comfort those who mourn, to hunger and thirst for what is right. Nothing, no one, is going to stop us from doing that. For we are doing work of the highest order, work ordered by God Himself.

Before we end this letter, dear offenders of ours...

We love you, and want what is best for you, for us, and for the common good. And we, the people who languish in prisons while you take out your instruments of torture, the people who weep while you utter abuse against us..... we forgive you.

See also:

Defend religious freedom, inter-faith delegates tell embassy (Aid to the Church in Need UK) 

P.S. Special thanks to James Kelliher for recording the video footage of the first live performance of 'Indignation, and to John Pontifex of Aid to the Church in Need, editor of the report 'Persecuted and Forgotten', for taking the time to participate in the interview.

Musical Explosion 2012, in visuals

The weeks leading up to 18 March were fateful to many of us. This was the first time something of this sort would ever be done in the University of Hertfordshire. All the Christian societies were joining together, hand in hand, to make this gospel concert work. That day would also mark Kingdom of Herts' first ever live performance.

This thing took place at the Auditorium -- the main room of The Forum Hertfordshire.

Friends, I am talking about Musical Explosion.

Featured in this post are selected pictures from the event's Facebook page, as well as live footage of K of H's time on stage.

This was the second song in Soulz's set, "Ha Hallelujah", and I led it.

Down the Tyburn Trail. To my left is Christopher (Christo) Tracey. Mark Tanner couldn't join us because he had an essay due that night at 11:00 p.m., and the concert ended an hour before that! D: But needless to say, we at Kingdom of Herts were the stage representatives of the Catholic Society.

I'm not sure whether this was the end of the refrain, or the Act of Remembrance. I had always assumed this picture to be taken during the part where we both recited the Act of Remembrance. The video will speak for itself, I guess!

 

Here, we were performing the song that defines Kingdom of Herts: Arise Once More. And we're wearing almost the exact same clothes as we wore on the day the first music video was recorded. This was a hit with the audience, but we're only glad that we could sing as we did! The message needed to be spread. By the way, I love your winning smile, Christo. :D

Here's a solo singer from the Hope Fellowship, who has become a friend of mine -- Mikaylie. She's already been well-known in the community, and her slot came after ours (I mean Kingdom of Herts').

Soulz leaving the stage just after one of our slots.

The joy in their faces just speaks for itself.

One single moment of solemnity, captured.

There's only one person in Soulz who would clasp hands in prayer. There's only one person in that group who would publicly make the sign of the cross. That person is me. Only one thing I wish I had done was wear the rosary on my right wrist, like I do these days.

Probably one of the most compelling images ever taken.

And so is this....... Let me just say that when I first saw this, my heart was pierced right through.

The Hope Fellowship's slot was towards the end of the evening. There were many other acts, but I picked these for tasters.

From the audio engineers' post. The SU tech team were a really, really helpful bunch! :D

The last song from Soulz was led by one of our vocalists, Favour Ajayi. She may be pint-sized, but she packs a punch -- with two strong lungs and the Faith! The song was "Baba" -- the word means "Father" in many African languages (Zulu, Yoruba etc.)

I look at all of us and think, yep, we know we're putting our heart and soul into this. I look at myself and think, heck, I look like a Brit version of a Vocaloid! But I wore the Union Flag bandanna precisely because K of H's songs -- Down the Tyburn Trail and Arise Once More -- are both songs for the healing and restoration of Britain.

Whoever took this picture did an awesome job. Those faces are priceless! :D

Clara (my classmate from Intellectual Property) and another girl joining hands. I want to say the other girl's name is Evangeline, but I might be wrong -- and I'm terrible with names.

What's a University of Hertfordshire event without free food and drink after the ending? :P

One of Soulz's vocalist, Merit Ajayi, posing for the camera after the event.

I left a few minutes after the event ended. Some time after my departure, the crew from Soulz gathered backstage..... for more food!

To end, here's the live footage of our performance as Kingdom of Herts. The footage was taken by Elizabeth Shaw -- the same person who recorded footage for our music video on the first day.






There were a number of things to note:

• The tracks were readied within the week leading up to Musical Explosion.
• We are aware that we made an on-stage mistake for Down the Tyburn Trail. Christo went off-key and forgot his lyrics. But what touched us most was that people were clapping and encouraging us to continue. The audience's reaction was just beautiful.
• I initially had misgivings on how well we'd do, especially because both Down the Tyburn Trail and Arise Once More are profoundly Catholic songs. But these went very, very well! We were especially honoured to have spoken about our songs, to have told our story.
• We sang our songs in that order because we felt the story would be told better that way. Flashback to 400+ years ago, then fast-forward to the present.

Well, there you go. This is our humble gig, but one which turned out for the best.
I thank the Lord for all who supported us and who came, and even those who watched and commented, even though they couldn't be with us at the Forum that day.

I hope with all my heart that we continue to sing of God's love.