Category Archives: News

Concert and Ministry UpDate

Lockdown spelt disaster for the March tour in Pakistan but God works in mysterious ways and suddenly opportunities for worship via Zoom and FaceBook were opening up in parts of the world we have not visited before.

Join us in St Margaret’s Edgware or on Zoom/ FaceBook to find out how God has been using Hammad and Sally to bring encouragement to Pakistani Christians around the world during Lockdown.

Sunday 18th October 6.30pm

TV interview with Hammad & Sally Baily

Hammad and Sally Baily appeared on Gateway Gazette TV programme on Thursday 8th August with John Bosco. The programme features Hammad playing live in the studio with his own compositions sung in Urdu and some other English worship songs. Rev Sally shares her thoughts on Love and Hatred in the bible.

Tribute to Lloyd Robinson RIP

Lloyd Robinson was born 1st November 1985 and died 5th February 2019 at the age of 33 years. Lloyd was born in United Christian Hospital, Lahore. He was the first Son of Solomon and Humera Robinson and the first grandchild of Prof. Rehmat and Daisy Baily.  He had two brothers Leon and Luke and a sister Leah. He went to St Anthony’s High School, Regal Chowk, Christchurch School Youhanabad, Calvin’s Academy and St Thomas, Lahore. He attended many school but could not find one that he enjoyed!  He lived only for his music – a gift from God that he discovered at the young age of 10 years old when he started singing with his Mamoo Hammad.

Lloyd as a young boy singing with his Uncle (Mamoo) Hammad Baily

He was very much attached to his grandparents, and his Mamoo Hammad and Mami Sally. He lived with them since he was a teenager in Baha Colony and in Model Town.  He was much loved by the whole family.

Lloyd’s music career took him all over Pakistan, performing at many different churches in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Sailkot, Gujranwala, Gujrat. He also travelled all the way to Karachi by train to catch up with Mamoo Hammad on his Sindh tour.  He spent hours travelling in the jeep to shows and would always ask ‘are we nearly there yet?’ He had a wonderful servant heart, always carrying the music equipment to and from the stage, setting everything for Mamoo and then setting his own bass guitar.

Lloyd with his Mami Sally Baily on Video shoot in Karachi

He was a very talented singer, guitarist, and bassist. He composed his own songs and composed songs for other commercial artists who profited from those compositions.  He taught guitar to many students in Baha colony and Model Town.

Lloyd playing bass guitar in church – a talented musician and singer
The last video released by Hammad which features Lloyd playing bass guitar

Lloyd was a handsome young man – everyone who saw him said he should be a model. He married Angelina on 24th March 2008 in Dilkusha Gardens. His son Steven was born on 25th January 2009. He has passed on his musical talents to Steven who sings beautifully and plays tabla. 

Lloyd was a loving son, brother, husband and father. All his cousins looked up to him and he was a very popular young man with everyone who knew him.  He will be missed by so many people.

Mami Sally, Lloyd and Mamoo Hammad Baily

Since Lloyd’s tragic death Hammad and Sally have taken 6 months off from ministry in Pakistan. They are receiving help in processing their grief at losing such a precious member of their family and band. Their ministry in Pakistan will continue but it will always be tinged with sadness at Lloyd absence. We thank God for Lloyd’s life and take comfort that he is now singing with the angels.

Looking Back 2018

Happy New Year and may God bless you abundantly in 2019.

As we look back over 2018 we give thanks to God for all that he has achieved in and through us in the last year. The following gives a few highlights from the last year.  In January I had a short trip to Ireland to see friends Dave and Heather Houlton installed in their new parish in LetterKenny. I had a snowy trip to Harrogate in February for the New Wine Leadership Conference which was very rewarding with teaching from Kris Valloton from Bethel, California on Poverty, Riches and Wealth. I’m just re-reading his book as I prepare a teaching series for our parish. 

We had a wonderful worship evening in February to prepare for a mission trip to Pakistan.  It was great to see friends from Slough, Chesham and Edgware worshiping together and dancing around the church to I want to Walk with Jesus Christ.  The evening included the new St Margaret’s Handbell ensemble playing their first ever performance, and a band with talented friends from all over London and Chesham.

St Margaret’s Handbell Ensemble
Feb 2018 Worship Band including Richie on keys and guitar, Zoe on violin, Mike on drums, Sarah, Becky, Karolina & the Lopes girls on vocals
Congregation dancing round St Margaret’s to I want to walk with Jesus Christ

During the trip to Pakistan Hammad filmed the video for Paak Roo (Holy Spirit) and led worship in Lahore, Islamabad and Okara. (just discovered Hammad’s song is covered by choir in India on youtube!) I did some teaching for pastors in Youhanabad at Lahore Evangelical Ministries.  We also invested in a replacement jeep, which turned out to be a time consuming and more expensive than anticipated with replacement gear box and clutch plate required. We spent an interesting day on the roadside in a remote part of the countryside waiting for the jeep to be fixed only to be towed home, while Hammad continued to Islamabad for the next show. We learnt lots of lessons in patience and trusting God through this experience.  Thankfully the jeep is now working well.

Back in the UK Hammad was busy teaching guitar on the Stonegrove regeneration estate, culminating in a performance at the community Royal Wedding Celebration. 

Easter was a joyous occasion with new community involvement. We held a Passover Supper for 72 with the help of Christian Mission among the Jews, the local Girl guides helped build the Easter Garden and the Deputy Mayor attended our Easter Sunday service.  Our Palm Sunday walk of witness and outreach in the Town Centre including singing in the Broadwalk Shopping Centre with Edgware and District Churches encouraged to prayer walk the town to change the spiritual atmosphere.

We were blessed to see Shechem friends in April who helped us progressing our churchyard project to provide a sanctuary to the community of Edgware. The generosity of God and faithful believers leaving legacies to St Margaret’s has paid for a new lighting project, the redevelopment of our small church hall, and redecorating the church (which is happening this week).  

On the home front we provided sanctuary to a church member who was in desperate need and stayed with us for 6 months. She is now settled with the right to work, a place to live and a job for income – Praise God. There was also good news and answers to prayer for Hammad’s Sister and family with a successful visa appeal and leave to remain in the UK. After years of hardship they can final start looking for work and feel secure in this country.  We are blessed to have our friend Sarah the Bard still living with us and flourishing with new writing projects and youth work developing locally.  We enjoyed shared ministry in music and community projects.

Our ministry in Edgware parish included taking 6 people through the CPAS growing leaders course; leading a parish weekend away to High Leigh conference centre where John and Ann Coles blessed us with teaching on the Prodigal Son and we blessed them with worship throughout the weekend.  Sally ran her first confirmation course for 11 teenagers and 8 adults with several former Muslims among the group that were confirmed in July.  Sally is supporting one potential candidate through the discernment process for ordained ministry and one candidate who is in training and on an extended placement with St Margaret’s before his curacy starts in 2019.

Edgware Summer Festival Edgwarebury Park July 2018

Sally’s application for Rector of Edgware Parish was unsuccessful but with good feedback from the Bishop and with the appointment as Sub Dean for the West Barnet Deanery, representative on Area council and Diocesan Synod there are many new challenges for her in 2019 we whilst continuing to grow the church spiritually and numerically in Edgware.

Sally at Anfield for England’s last match in the World Cup, with Edmonton Area Clergy whilst at Conference she helped organise.

Our second year at New Wine gathering in the summer saw more people from the parish joining us camping at the Bath and Wells showground.  This annual outing is strengthening the prophetic ministry within the parish and building confidence in hearing from God for the encouragement of others. This was also a good antidote to the distress of Hammad being attacked verbally and physically whilst doing music in Edgwarebury park at the beginning of July. It seems we must being doing something right as we have come under attack from strangers and so called friends as the enemy seeks to undermine our work for God.  We thank God for the support of prayerful friends who have stood by us in difficult times.

In September we went on mission to US and Canada playing for Asian churches in New York, Philadelphia and Toronto.  We were treated to a wonderful day trip on the River Hudson visiting the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island by our friends and partners in this mission Kamran and Maria Gill. Hammad did some guitar teaching with young people and we included kids’ songs in our worship sets to involve all ages. A last minute teaching opportunity allowed Sally to share testimony regarding a faithful lady from St Margaret’s who had just passed away. Organising a funeral via conference call from New York was unexpected but effective.  This was the third funeral for significant church members this year and by the end of the year we had lost 5 of our senior members to glory. Funeral ministry continues to be an important part of God’s work for us here.

In October we held another fund raising concert to prepare for a mission trip to Pakistan. We gave an update and prayed for the situation with Asia Bibi hoping that she would be freed by the appeal court. Our prayers were answered and she was released in the middle of the tour. Fortunately Sally had just left Pakistan as the news was announced and missed all the rioting that followed her acquittal. We continue to pray that Asia Bibi will be allowed to leave Pakistan and enjoy her freedom.  Hammad had a successful tour although had a few near misses and traveling adventures, but he was kept safe by God’s hand. Sally joined the peaceful protest outside the Pakistan Embassy in London to call for Asia Bibi’s right to freedom.  The legacy from Hammad’s tour in Pakistan included two new videos for Christmas songs that were released just before Christmas( click these links to view in Youtube Noor-e Khuda and Charni Vich Dera). Sally also enjoyed sharing Growing Leaders material with the LEM pastors group in Youhanabad and visiting Lyn Masterson a missionary friend based in Lahore.

November and December were very busy months with a large parade and service to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI and the plethora of opportunities to share the good news of Christmas via nativity plays, carol services and meals for the community.  We had the joy of sharing the Christmas story with Torch, a charity supporting blind and partial sighted people. Sally brought the story to life with sounds, smells and touch whilst Hammad led joyous carols in his distinctive style.  We continue to enjoy life in a busy parish, and our often blessed by kind words, gifts and encouragement from people we meet. We have just spent a lovely three days resting in Latimer Hall with Xena, enjoying walks in the countryside and catching up with old friends for food and worship in Chesham.

Thank you to everyone who prayers for us regularly and supports us in so many ways. We apologise for not providing more regular updates on our website but sometimes we cannot announce our plans in advance because of multiple threats against Hammad in the last two years.

In 2019 we will release the new song that we wrote for St Margaret’s – The Shepherd’s Call and hopefully produce videos for one or two of our other English compositions. 

May God bless you and your family in the coming year.

Greetings from Sweden

Hammad and Sally are supporting the Pakistan Miracle Festival being broadcast live on Kanal 10 Asia and Kanal 10 Sweden, on 1-3 November 2017.  The programme being hosted by Jabran and Geet Inayat features an hour of worship led by Hammad Baily in Urdu and preaching from Stefan Edefors in English (translated into Urdu by Jabran). 

You can watch live on the Kanal 10 app on your phone or by visiting www.kanal10asia.com.  The programme is broadcast live at 2.30pm GMT, 3.30pm CET and 7.30pm PKT and repeated at 5.30pm GMT on Wed 1st, Thurs 2nd and Friday 3rd November.

Hammad and Sally are also leading worship tonight in the three hour programme broadcast on Kanal 10 Sweden/Sverige.

Kanal 10 is part of the DBC Media AB in Sweden.  The founder is Mr Borje Claesson who has a close association with IKEA which is based in Almhult Sweden. Kanal 10 Norge reaches all over Norway and Scandinavia, Kanal 10 Sverige reaches all over Sweden. Kanal 10 Asia reaches all over Asia on the ABS-1 Satellite.  The vision is to reach out to all the world with the good news of Jesus Christ, in the local language and in the local culture.

We thank God for our wonderful hosts and their hospitality, and for Samson playing Dholak with us. Please do prayer for Hammad and Sally and the rest of the team as they seek to share the gospel through worship and word in these programmes and for safe travel back to London on Saturday 4th November.

Hammad on mission trip

Hammad is leaving shortly for a mission trip to Pakistan. He will be performing at three events in Sahiwal, Bahar Colony and Feroz per Road in Lahore.  These events are organised by Good Samaritan’s Church with Dr Naeem Nasir preaching the good news.

 

This will be a short visit and surround by high security as Hammad has received death threats associated with his work.  He is a high profile worship leader in the Pakistan Christian community so it is difficult to remain below the radar.  Please do remember Hammad in your prayers in the next two weeks, praying for safety as he travels around and performs at these events. Also please pray for Hammad’s family and our home in Lahore, that God’s angels would be ever present protecting them against attack.

 

 

 

 

 

God’s blessing in Canada & New York

Sally and Hammad had a wonderfully blessed tour in Canada and New York in August.  Kamran and his family were amazing hosts providing everything we needed and more.

We were blessed with the provision of guitar amps to ensure a good sound for all the performances, we had a wonderful road trip to Toronto from New York with Kamran. Due to unforeseen circumstances we had to stay in a hotel in Toronto and so were able to make an unexpected visit to Catch the Fire church at Toronto airport on Sunday 13th August morning . This was such a blessing to experience spirit-filled worship, testimonies and preaching before then going on to lead worship at Cornerstone Asian Church in the afternoon.

We met up with Luke and Tess, friends of friends in Chesham and were delighted that Luke could play drums with us at Cornerstone church before rushing off to catch a bus to Washington.  God often blesses us with chance meetings that turn out to be mutually beneficial and for his glory.

Having been scheduled to only play 30 minutes worship, we were honoured that pastor Peter asked us to continue for another hour and cut down the sermon to a short homily so that we could continue worshiping in English and Urdu for the whole service.  The Cornerstone technical team were amazing arranging the PA and filming the service. Short extracts have now been released on Youtube so people can continue being blessed by the worship from this event.  Here are couple of songs from this event.

We also enjoyed great hospitality with sister Ester & her family in Toronto and were blessed to be able to visit Niagara Falls and the Butterfly Sanctuary on our travels.

Back in New York we spent a wonderful week with Pastor Pervaz & Sakina, Kamran, Marya and their children Aman, Zara & Eliza. A highlight in the week was visiting Sight and Sound theatre for a production of Jonah, for Aman & Zara’s birthday. Hammad also started teaching Zara to play the guitar and to sing with us.

Saturday evening we performed a concert for Sutun-e-haqq church New York with a full band including Danny on drums, Kamran on keys and a traditional table player.  Hammad’s cousin Rina also performed two songs.

At the same church on Sunday morning heard a moving testimony about how a man had been healed from ankle pain during the concert the night before.  He praised God for the blessing of his job with NYPD and for healing his ankle.   Sally preached on ‘Giving as Worship’ to encourage the church to give sacrificially as Jesus did, to help build their new church. Hammad led the sung worship.

After this service we drove 2 hours to Philadelphia to lead worship for a small church planted by Sutun-e-Haqq.  At this service the worship flowed and Hammad shared the Word of God through his songs and his explanation of their meaning.  Marya’s comment that Hammad was like a ‘lion uncaged’ confirmed previous prophetic encouragement that Hammad received in recent months.

We were blessed by amazingly generous hosts throughout this tour and covered all our expenses from their gifts and CD sales. Praise God!  We look forward to next year and a return visit to encourage these diaspora Asian Christian communities.

 

Hammad & Sally off to New York & Canada

We would value your prayers as Hammad and Sally prepare to go to New York and Canada on a short mission trip to visit two Asian Churches.

We are visiting Cornerstone Asian Church run by Peter and Jemima Paul who were formerly with Campus Crusade for Christ in Pakistan.  We will be leading worship there on Sunday 13th August at 4.30pm

This church, based in Mississauga, Toronto reaches out to the diaspora Asian community with worship in Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi. They also prepare TV programmes to run on TV in Pakistan as well as supporting other outreach initiatives there such as a Sewing project.  For more information visit their website

We will also be visiting Sutun-E-Haqq church in New York to encourage their musician and worship leaders, perform a worship concert on Saturday 19th August and lead worship on Sunday 20th August.

For more information see their facebook page

We give thanks for dear brother Kamran who has organised this whole tour for us and is offering us hospitality during our stay.

Please do pray for comfortable and safe travel both by air and by car during this tour and for an anointing of God’s spirit as we worship and preach the gospel.  We are thankful to St Margaret’s Edgware for releasing us to go on mission and encourage others.

Spiritual Encouragement at New Wine

Hammad and Sally had a wonderful opportunity to take part in the New Wine Summer Gathering at Shepton Mallet in July.

A small group from St Margaret’s Edgware join them on this, their first such adventure with New Wine.

 

The brave were camping in tents, a few in a caravan and others in a local B&B for the weekend. In all 9 adults and 2 children from Edgware went to New Wine this summer.

The New Wine worship was wonderfully uplifting and the teaching thought-provoking. R T Kendall spoke in the Arena each morning with a simple,  clear message about Forgiveness, Answered prayers, Generous giving, and much more.  We also enjoyed teaching on spiritual gifts including how to minister with words of encouragement, blessings what God is already doing, listening for words of prophecy and gifts of healing.

Hammad and Maureen were greatly encouraged by a word of Prophesy for Hammad about being a roaring lion and not standing under condemnation – this confirmed a word received by Maureen for Hammad a few weeks ago about being the Lion of Judah. Hammad has been under attack recently with threats against his life if he returns to Pakistan and so these words of encouragement were very timely.  Please do continue to pray for his safety and courage in pursuing ministry in Pakistan.

Sally also received encouragement through physical healing of her knee on the second day at New Wine and was able to share her testimony in the session on Healing.

 

The group had a lot of fun with BBQ’s, afternoon tea at Wells Cathedral and ice-creams.

The time spent sheltering in the caravan from the rain, preparing food and washing up together all helped to deepen relationships through serving one another and shared spiritual experiences.

 

Praise in the Park Sunday 16th July 2.30p Chesham

Hammad and Sally were delighted to be involved in Praise in the Park again this year, invited back as special guests to play with band members from churches around Chesham.

Praise in the Park took place on Sunday 16th July 2017 starting at 2.30pm – 4.30pm in Lowndes Park, Chesham, Buckinghamshire. There is lots of parking available in the shoppers carpark close to Lowndes Park. The Metropolitan line underground station is about 5 minutes away.

There were record crowds again this year for a beautiful afternoon in the park.

The band included singers and musicians from Churches around Chesham as well as Hammad & Sally, Andrew and Karolina from Voice for Jesus.

Thai dancing was a new edition to the programme this year thanks to Puntip Hollier, as well as children’s action songs to keep people on their toes.

There was messy church activities for kids as well as the usual refreshments stall and ice cream van nearby.

Pictures taken and used with permission of Terry Cherrill.