Pakistan: Desperate needs
12 Jan 2011
Much of Pakistan is still under water after recent floods. Pakistan is a country already deeply in debt with millions of people relying on food aid as they will not be able to grow rice and wheat until next year. Donors have been reluctant to give to a country with a reputation for militancy and corruption and the UN has only raised half of the $2bn it pledged to the flood victims. These people are already very poor and struggle to survive. In addition, winter is approaching and many face a lack of adequate food, warm clothing and heating fuel. Relief organizations do what they can to help, but the need seems overwhelming. We are asked to remember the poor people of Pakistan in our prayers as they face the cold winter months without adequate shelter, clothing, food and heat. The women and children suffer the most, particularly in areas not yet reached by agencies distributing life saving aid. Pray: that the organizations that are serving in Pakistan will have the financial resources to continue their projects. Pray also for the safety of local believers.
Muslims began protests on Friday, December 24, against plans to change Pakistan's blasphemy laws, after an Islamic leader offered nearly $6,000 for the killing of a Christian woman he accused of offending Islam. Tensions have risen over a government ministry's recommendation to release Asia Bibi, a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy. The case has sped up a government investigation whether to change the blasphemy laws, which has led to the sentencing of Christians throughout the country. Friday's protests were encouraged by Pakistani cleric Moulana Yousaf Qureshi who announced a financial award for anyone killing Bibi. ‘I will pay 500,000 rupees ($6,000) for the loyal follower of Muhammad who beheads Asia Bibi,’ he told a crowd of several hundred people earlier this month. The amount is more than six times the country's average annual wage. (See Prayer Alert 4910) Pray: that Asia Bibi would gain her full freedom in safety - and the proposed changes to the blasphemy laws would be successful. (1Pet.2:16) More: http://www.worthynews.com/9851-muslim-protests-as-cleric-offers-thousands-for-killing-christian
Police reinforcements have been called into the Pakistani city of Faisalabad a day after two Christians charged with blasphemy were shot dead outside court. Clashes broke out in the city, home to a large Christian community, after the brothers were gunned down. Pastor Rashid Emmanuel, 32, and Sajid, 24, were accused of writing a pamphlet critical of the Prophet Muhammad; a rights activist said they were framed. Pakistan's controversial blasphemy law carries the death penalty for such an offence. A police officer who was escorting the brothers from a district court on Monday was critically wounded when the unidentified gunmen opened fire and then escaped. At least 10 people were reportedly injured as stone-throwing and rioting broke out in a Christian neighbourhood of the city afterwards. Police reinforcements from nearby districts have been called in to restore order. The brothers, from the Waris Pura area of Faisalabad, were arrested earlier this month. Pray: to the Lord that He would send His angels to protect His saints from the enemy. (Mt.13:41)
Pakistan: Church blast kills dozens
28 Sep 2013A twin-suicide bombing outside a church in Peshawar in Pakistan has killed at least 80 people, in one of the worst attacks on Christians in the country. Two bombers blew themselves up as worshippers were coming out of the city's historic All Saints church after attending Sunday Mass, police say. Relatives of the victims gathered at the scene to protest against the government's failure to protect them. Militants linked to Pakistani Taliban have said they carried out the bombing. The group, Jandullah, said it was in retaliation for US drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal northwest. Sunday's twin attacks targeted Peshawar's historic All Saints Church as hundreds of worshippers were attending Mass. Witnesses said they heard two blasts, the second more powerful than the first. More than 120 people were wounded in the bombings. It is the latest in a series of attacks on Pakistani Christians, who represent about 1.6% of the country's largely Muslim population.
Pray: against the evil that controls the minds of those who carry out these bombings. (Pr.14:32)
More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24193734
Pakistan: Christians under increasing pressure
26 Apr 2011
Bibles are being desecrated, churches attacked and human rights advocates threatened in Pakistan as Islamic extremists intensify pressure on the Christian community. Christians have faced persecution in Pakistan for years but the climate has deteriorated in recent months particularly since the burning of a Koran at the church of Florida by pastor Terry Jones last month. Last Saturday, the Sarhadi Lutheran Church in Mardan was targeted in a bomb attack. It is believed that Islamic militants planted the bomb. Despite people being present at the church at the time, no one was killed or injured in the explosion. The church’s pastor, the Rev Ghulam Shad, said: ‘It appears that the militants only wanted to demolish the church, but not to injure any of our people’. When asked by the news service about the church’s attitude towards the perpetrators, he answered: ‘All we can do is to pray for them as we are taught by our Lord Jesus Christ.’ (See also Prayer Alert 14-2011) Pray: again for the believers who are persecuted for their faith that God will protect them. (Ps.12:5) More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/christians.under.increasing.pressure.in.pakistan/27837.htm
Pakistan: Christians still persecuted
14 Oct 2011An innocent spelling mistake by a Christian school girl has proved grounds enough for Muslims to accuse her of blasphemy. Sir Syed Girls’ High School has taken the unusual step of accusing one of its students of blasphemy and expelling her after she misspelt a word whilst answering a question on a poem praising Prophet Muhammad. Also a mentally ill Christian man has died whilst being held in prison in Lahore on blasphemy charges. Aslam Masih was also suffering from tuberculosis at the time of his death. Source: http://claas.org.uk/ Also last Wednesday a mob of 40 Muslim extremists targeted the Christian community of Ahata Kamiyan, killing 25-year-old Sabir Masih and injuring 21 others. The injured, mainly women and children, were immediately taken to a hospital in Multan.
Pray: for God to protect the many isolated Christian communities in Pakistan as they follow their faith. (Ps.5:11)
Abduction, forced conversion to Islam, and then marriage against the will of Christian girls, is a growing trend in Pakistan with over 700 cases every year. A typical recent incident involved 14-year-old Mehek Rashid kidnapped at gunpoint from her home by a gang of five armed Muslim men. One of her abductors yelled that he would purify Mehek by converting her to Islam before marrying her. Local authorities refuse to investigate the case because the assailants were a prominent Muslim family. A senior church leader warned that the ‘the cases of forced conversion are rising at an alarming rate’. Another recent case was Mariam Gill abducted on her way home from the market by a Muslim businessman who had asked her to marry him and been refused, so she was forcibly converted and married to her kidnapper. His actions were praised as a ‘pious act’ by the Muslim leader who conducted the wedding ceremony.
Pray: for God to cause authorities and regulators to bring an end to crimes against Christians' human rights. (Ps.5:10,11)
Pakistan: Christians ordered to leave village
11 Jun 2010
Abdul Sattar Khan, head of a Muslim village in Punjab Province ordered 250 Christian families to leave their homes after Christian residents objected too strenuously to sexual assaults by Muslims on Christian girls and women. Most of the Christian men work in the fields of Muslim land owners while the Christian women and girls are servants in the Muslim homes. The impoverished Christians live in appalling conditions. Employers use their powerful positions to routinely sexually assault the Christian women and girls. When four Christian men confronted the Muslim men on abuse charges the whole Christian community were told to go. ‘The Muslim villagers gave the expulsion order when girls and women became totally exasperated because they were sexually attacked or forced to commit adultery by Muslims on a daily basis,’ said a Christian political leader. Pray: asking God to remove the unfair oppressive spirit of abuse that the Christians have come under in this part of Pakistan. (Am.9:15) More: http://www.compassdirect.org/english/country/pakistan/21375/