Displaying items by tag: Christian workers

Sri Lanka is in talks with the International Monetary Fund about a bailout package. IMF officials will visit them this month. The country’s economic meltdown triggered protests, and President Rajapaksa fled the country. Now the former president will return. International Media Ministries (IMM) partner with believers and churches in Sri Lanka and are working to help the country and the church to live regular lives in the midst of upheaval. They are developing Gospel media resources to expand the vision of what Christianity is and spread the Gospel using the ‘Open the Gospels’ project. They also want to put the ‘Heritage’ project into languages that are regionally important. IMM are requesting prayer for God to strengthen and encourage the Sri Lankan Christian community. Pray that IMM partners can access daily life essentials like food and clean water. They are saying, ‘God hasn’t left us; we have hope.’

Irfan Masih, a Christian sanitation worker, died at a hospital in Sindh on 1 June after he was refused treatment by the duty doctors. Sanitation jobs are considered 'unclean' and are often reserved for religious minorities. He fell unconscious after inhaling toxic fumes from a manhole he was cleaning without using protective equipment. When he arrived at the hospital he was covered in sludge. The doctors refused to treat him because he was unclean, and asked family members to clean his body first. Then the oxygen cylinder which was ordered was found to be empty, and before another could be delivered, Mr Masih died. The Christian community in Pakistan faces widespread institutional discrimination in religious, societal, economic and political spheres. Many Christians are employed in ‘unclean’ occupations, and employers have been accused of allowing them to work in highly dangerous conditions with little or no protective gear. Three hospital employees and three employees of the local municipal committee have been arrested. The staff allege that Mr Masih was already dead when he was brought to the hospital.