But, suffering far greater distress than us, are our brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ in Pakistan. The following letter is written by our Christian brother living in Pakistan. He is our field representative, and co-worker, serving the persecuted Christians in Pakistan. He is  courageously advocating for, and helping, our persecuted Christian brethren. Please pray for this godly Advocate for the persecuted. He is putting himself at great risk and to help the Lord's people, The Body of Christ. Please help him and the brethren he serves, if you possibly can. For his safety, we refer to him as "messenger."  Please read his letter and try to imagine the suffering and difficulty that our Christian brethren are facing everyday in Pakistan and the Muslim countries. He also included the photos you see of a Christian family he is assisting, whose 16-year-old son was just 10 days ago abducted, sodomized, and murdered.

 

 

The Plight of Christians in Pakistan

 

"I am writing as a Christian living in Pakistan, a predominately Islamic country. Christians in Pakistan are being torn with persecution. Life seems harder than ever before due to the rising oppression and persecution.

Sixteen year old Christian boy murdered by Muslim fundamentalists

 

As far as the q uestion of Pakistan is concerned, the reign of religious hate towards Christians began to rise to an intense level in the 1980s during the regime of the Islamic Military Dictator General Zia.  During the Afghan war, Islamic extremism has further flourished across Pakistan. During this time, we have seen a phenomenal growth in Islamic seminaries across Pakistan in which thousands of young Muslim children have learned hatred against Christians, Jews and the West.

 

During this era of rising Islamic extremism, blasphemy laws were added to the constitution, and became law. These laws are a sword upon  the  throats of Christians in Pakistan. They forbid any disrespect against the honor of the "prophet" Muhammad, the Quran ("holy" book of Muslims), and the companions and wives of the Prophet Muhammad.

 

Punishment for the offences concerning an insult against the companions and wives of the "prophet" Muhammad (articles 298 A, B and C) is imprisonment for three years and a fine; showing disrespect to the Quran, the "holy" book for Muslims (article 295-B) carries life time imprisonment; and insulting the "prophet" Muhammad (article 295-C), carries a mandatory death sentence.

Christian father whose son was murdered

 

The text of blasphemy law is religion specific, and highly discriminatory. It makes no distinction between a deliberate action (intentional), and unintentional mistake. Thus it is vague and open to abuse.

 

The blasphemy law also ignores the important exceptions that are part of international criminal laws i.e. the psychological condition of accused, knowing the consequences of one's actions (a minor non believer and an insane person). The blasphemy law provides no inbuilt safety net to stop its abuse.

 

Since 1986 when the Pakistan Islamic blasphemy laws came into existence, it has been used frequently to intimidate the Christian minority, in particular, to settle personal scores and to satisfy religious hatred.

 

There are around 400 Christians who have been falsely accused under the blasphemy laws. They are in various prisons and are ill treated worse than animals. Christian women in these prisons are often brutally raped by the Muslims.

 

Many have been beaten to death or burnt alive, including innocent children. Entire areas of poor Christian populations have come under siege by the Muslims on the pretext of blasphemy. The Muslims are fueled with historic and ever growing religious hatred towards Christians.

 

The political parties in Pakistan are not interested in amending the blasphemy law. On the contrary they are favoring the extremist side, either because they are in agreement with extreme Islam, or favoring the extremist side out of fear. Just a few days ago on January 4, 2011, Salman Tasser, the governor of Pakistan's powerful Punjab province was shot dead by one of his guards in the Pakistani capital. He was killed because, in sympathy to the persecuted Christian community, he had spoken out against the country's controversial blasphemy laws.

The murdered boy's mother.

 

The Muslim majority is not concerned at all, or they are too terrified to speak, as the Christian community in Pakistan faces danger every day, living in fear. Our Christian brethren are nervous and traumatized because of the "Black" blasphemy laws that makes their existence more precarious than ever before in our history.

 

One can hardly imagine how badly Christians are hated in Pakistan from this incident which happened recently:  A Christian couple, who worked as laborers for a Muslim factory owner, were not being paid, and they had literally no food and their children were starving. They went to the Muslim factory owner and asked for their wages which he was withholding from them. A few days later they came again asking for their wages. He responded: "HOW DARE YOU UNCLEAN INFIDEL CHRISTIANS SPEAK BEFORE ME. YOU WILL BE PUNISHED."

 

The Muslim factory owner then kidnapped the couple, they were beaten severely, and made to eat rice mixed with human feces/waste.

 

Rape, murder, and false allegations of Blasphemy have become every day's realities for us Christians in Pakistan.

The father with our field advocate, whose face is obscured for his protection.

 

One can understand the mindset of the oppressors from this rape incident: Shaheen Masih, a 12-year old Christian girl was kidnapped by four Muslim men and gang-raped over two days after which she was finally rescued by the police. Although she was medically examined, the police refused to give the report to her parents. The four men were arrested and a case was registered against them, but they were later released. One of the men was reported as saying to the others: "Don't hesitate to rape a Christian girl. Even if she dies, no one will get us. Her poor parents cannot pursue us."

 

Recently, not even a disabled Christian boy was spared. The police in Toba Tek Singh arrested Salamat Masih and 11-year old Daniel Masih, while warrants under the blasphemy laws were issued for the arrest of three other members of their Christian family. The charge? That they forcibly removed the 'Islamic sticker' from the pocket of Faisal Gulzar, a Muslim boy, and trampled on it. A mob later attacked their Christian colony where Ratan, a disabled boy, was badly injured.

 

Christians are being struck by two swords. First, the sword of poverty because of job discrimination due to prejudice against them by the Muslims. The Muslim society considers Christians "unholy," and "unclean" infidels.  Thu
s the miseries of Christians is more unbearable than ever before in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

A photo a few days ago from the morgue showing the boys gunshot wound to his chest.

 

My day to day experience in advocacy on behalf of the oppressed and persecuted brethren, is that oppression against Christians is wide spread across Pakistan, and is gaining momentum rapidly.

 

We the Christians in Pakistan (and America) must seek strength, wisdom and boldness from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to fight against the forces of oppression and darkness, and also we do need to establish an effective global engagement of Christians for our persecuted brethren.

 

We the Christians, are literarily at God's Mercy. This is the plight of Christians in Pakistan."

 

Hopefully awaiting your response,

 

Your Christian family in Pakistan,

 

Brother "messenger " (Name withheld for his protection)"

 

  

Please help if you can, we will forward 100% of your gift to our brethren in Pakistan, and to the family whose son has been killed. Please designate your gift for "advocate" or "brethren grieving in Pakistan"

 

Thank you so much for  joining us in "laying down our lives for our brethren."  1 John 3:16-19

 

 

"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ."

 Galatians 6:2 (NIV)

 

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."   

Our Lord Jesus Christ 

 

 

 Court and Sandy Wood