Dear fellow supporter of the Barnabas Aid,

For those of you who did not receive my previous open letter, I was elected a Trustee a year ago and then Chairman of Barnabas Aid in April by a majority of the Board just prior to the seizure of our premises and organisation by Nexcus. Lord Reading has refused to accept this vote by the majority of the Board and remains closely aligned with Nexcus International (formerly Christian Relief International). I have been a supporter for thirty years of Barnabas Aid and in particular the heroic, sacrificial work of Dr Patrick and Rosemary Sookhdeo, and latterly Caroline Kerslake and Dr Prasad Phillips serving the suffering church overseas.

In this letter I wanted to lay out my concerns over the spiritual roots of the attack against this anointed ministry. We read in Ephesians 6 that we must “Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” In 1 Peter 5 “the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour”. There is undoubtedly a dark move to destroy this ministry. Remember that satan is a legalist and the “accuser of the brethren” (Revelation 12:10). In Zechariah 3:1 we see “Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, with satan standing at his right hand to accuse him”. The imagery is clear; those leaders standing firmly for the Lord in their ministry must expect to be attacked by satan, and quasi-legal methods of lawfare might also be used. All of the rest of us must uphold our leaders in prayer and practical deeds as the Holy Spirit leads us. And please pray for their physical health as they are put under tremendous psychological pressure.

Then there is the issue of Succession in any anointed ministry. In the Bible Joshua succeeded Moses after many years of humble and faithful service. He only succeeded Moses at a time of God’s choosing and consequently the Lord’s anointing and blessings were upon him. It’s impossible to believe that a work of God can just be seized by whoever in a dubious manner. The blessing will not continue, and those people will be held to account by God. Proverbs 16:2 “All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the Lord”.

It’s worth reminding everyone of the facts about Colin Bloom’s appointment which was solely by Nexcus, an American organisation attempting to seize control of Barnabas Aid. Colin Bloom was not appointed by the Board of Barnabas Aid. The Board of Barnabas Aid has been confirmed by the Charity Commission as the appropriate controller of Barnabas Aid. The investigation by Nexcus was not approved by the Board of Barnabas Aid. The attempted takeover of Barnabas Aid by Nexcus is supported only by some questionable MOUs which were mainly drafted by Noel Frost, a lawyer from South Africa who was disbarred for fraud and specifically forgery of documents between charities. I am supported by the majority of the Board of Barnabas Aid but a minority support Nexcus, namely Andrew Carey and Lord Reading, the latter also claiming a disputed membership of the Board of Nexcus.

The Board of Nexcus appointed an expensive international law firm Crowell and Moring to conduct an investigation, the exact purpose of which remains unclear while its scope is clearly much wider than just Barnabas Aid. The Board of Barnabas Aid had unanimously chosen a Christian lawyer to conduct a less confrontational and much less expensive investigation of complaints made by members of staff; including one complaint that Noel Frost was instigating and coordinating complaints against the Founders to try to force their resignation. We subsequently ourselves found Noel Frost to have a history of fraud and the forgery of contracts between charities in South Africa. Strangely this was not a focus for the Nexcus investigation. The Board of Nexcus could have suggested another Christian centred legal practice but they chose not to do so. A visit to the website of Crowell and Moring shows that they are very upfront about all the pro bono work they do for the pro-abortion and LGBTQ causes. Many of us feel that this does not fit well with the conservative Christian ethos of the Barnabas Aid and that our supporters would not agree with their gifts being used to pay large fees to those lawyers. The Board composition of Nexcus is currently disputed but it functionally comprises Lord Reading UK, Colin Bloom UK, John Marsh USA, Ian Clarkson Australia, Michael Hewat NZ. (The three founders and Dr Prasad Phillips were ejected from the Nexcus board).

I would urge all of our supporters, and indeed all the protagonists in this dispute, to read the story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5, then also Acts 8:20-24. It’s supremely important to act with pure motives in administering a God appointed ministry, especially here to the Suffering Church. Motives are never pure if they focus on power and money, but at least in Acts 8:24 Simon the Sorcerer appears to repent of his wrongdoing. I am dismayed that Colin Bloom has moved or dismissed all the staff in The Old Rectory, Pewsey, and moved in with his family as their personal home. This act must be immediately reversed, as also the hostile takeover of Barnabas Aid must be reversed.

In Matthew 17 the disciples found that a certain demon was too hard for them to defeat, maybe something to do with Leviathan, the demon of Power described in Job? Do we face Leviathan here? In verse 21 Jesus tells us that ” this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting”. I would like to conclude this letter by asking every supporter to pray and fast for the deliverance of Barnabas Aid from this terrible situation, praying to Our Father in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that the Holy Spirit will give each of us wisdom and discernment in who to believe and whom to trust. Maybe every supporter could pray and fast each Tuesday (for at least one meal) for our deliverance unless medically it’s unwise to do so, and until the deliverance of Barnabas Aid is assured and Barnabas Aid can return to its Mission under God to help the suffering church.

To God be the Glory!

Philip Richards
Chairman, Barnabas Aid UK
bachairman@hotmail.com

Please accept my heartfelt apologies if you received this letter despite having asked to be removed from the Barnabas Fund (Barnabas Aid) mailing list.