Displaying items by tag: Pakistan

Recent weeks have seen answered prayer and God’s protection over His people. Pakistan’s police foiled an attack on Christmas worship in Karachi. A police officer tragically lost his life when the bomb he was defusing detonated outside a Cairo church, but his brave intervention thwarted Islamist plans to take many more lives a few days before Orthodox Christians’ Christmas Day. Iraq’s government made a landmark announcement declaring Christmas Day a national holiday for all Iraqis, wishing its Christian citizens a ‘happy Christmas’. Meanwhile, an anti-Christian tirade by the Grand Mufti fell flat when the country’s Sunni authority condemned it as irrational and offensive, pointing out that Christians don’t try to prevent Muslim celebrations. In Egypt, the Ministry of Justice produced a remarkable animated public information video cautioning Muslims not to ‘fall prey to the extremists’, and encouraged them to extend greetings to their Christian neighbours during the Christmas holidays.

After a two-year battle to re-register their work, World Vision has been expelled from Pakistan, along with Catholic Relief Services and 16 other organisations, for ‘deliberately spreading disinformation’ and ‘non-compliance’. World Vision has handed over responsibility for poverty-reduction and health programmes to the state and has complied with a 60-day deadline to leave. They regret the effect that the cessation of their work will have on the vulnerable communities where they worked, but respect the Government's decision as to who may work in the country. They have worked in Pakistan for thirteen years, helping 800,000 youngsters. They are currently discussing the possibility of re-starting work under new legal frameworks which the government may introduce at a later date. Catholic Relief Services, a charitable arm of the US Catholic Church, had been helping provide food, education and clean water in Pakistan since 1954.

Pakistani Christian mother Aasia Bibi has finally been freed from prison after spending over eight years on death row for allegedly committing ‘blasphemy’ against Islam, but she is not yet free. Government officials confirmed on 8 November that she had been flown to Islamabad under tight security due to radical Muslim death threats against her and her family following the news of her acquittal. While some reports stated that she had left the country, a foreign ministry spokesman said that this was not true. It is unclear what might happen to her, given that Imran Khan’s government has seemingly given way to the huge protests caused by her acquittal on 31 October, and made a deal with the party responsible for organising them. According to that agreement, Aasia would be re-tried by a new supreme court, not including the original three judges.

An eye surgeon from the Diocese of Peshawar, Khushbakht Peters, celebrates the work of the Christian hospital at Tank in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. She writes: ‘Tank is a city in the south of our province. The war against terrorism has been going on for a long time here; many people, both soldiers and civilians, have lost their lives. Yet even when things were at their worst, the dedicated staff at the Christian Hospital persisted in providing healthcare services. A few years ago, even the Taliban refused to attack the hospital, as this is where all their women and children go for treatment. For the past 150 years the hospital has been following the footsteps of the Good Samaritan, providing a healing touch for those in need. They have been helping the poorest of the poor, the underprivileged of society, giving them their only chance to better health. Following the living example of the hospital, let us be obedient to our calling to the Lord, and become a blessing for many.’

Last week we prayed again for Aasia Bibi, after she asked for Christians in the UK to intercede for her release from death row in Pakistan. In an extraordinary answer to those prayers, the supreme court has overturned her eight-year death sentence for allegedly blasphemous comments, and she is free. Christians are Pakistan's 'forgotten minority'. The laws are often used to get revenge after personal disputes, and convictions are based on thin evidence. Christians make up just 1.6% of the population. They have been targeted by numerous attacks in recent years, leaving many feeling vulnerable to a climate of intolerance. There are fears that there could be a violent response to her acquittal, and her family fear for their safety. She has been offered asylum by several countries, and will leave Pakistan. Prime minister Imran Khan has called for calm - see

Asia Bibi, a young mother of five who has spent 8 years behind bars unjustly accused of blasphemy against Muhammad by Muslim neighbors, has now been finally acquitted by Pakistan's Supreme Court of the charges against her. Friends who monitor the situation there now write:

"This is indeed good news, but now Asia Bibi, her whole family and the whole Christian community need much prayer cover, indeed anyone involved in this case, the judges, the lawyers, also the government.  Several groups have already sworn to take revenge on the Christian community. One of our team members in Lahore was visiting family across the city because of a death in her family.  She is caught there and cannot return as there are threats of riots and people have been told to stay inside their houses." 

Another ministry leader who has spent his life working in that region wrote: "This is an important time to pray for Pakistan for different reasons. Now the Christian community is in danger of getting attacked and the extremists want to see revenge, but we should also pray that the government would back up the decision of the Supreme Court. This was a very encouraging and courageous ruling. There are many others still in prison for the same wrong charges."

1. Please pray that the police and authorities will be able to keep control of this situation and stop any rioting by the Islamic extremists of which there are many who will be very angry about this ruling.
2. Pray that this court decision will not result in bloodshed which is always possible in this spiritual dark, majority Muslim country.
3. Pray that the blasphemy law which enables such false accusations, often attended by terrible violence against the Christians, will be rescinded and others who have been imprisoned unjustly will be acquitted and released.
4. Pray for His peace to settle over this land, for the protection and empowering of the Christian community, and that the oppressive spiritual bondage will be broken over Pakistan so that many of the majority will come to Christ.

More info:  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-46040515

Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman on death row in Pakistan, has urged Christians in the UK to pray for her. The message was conveyed by her husband Ashiq, who has travelled to the UK to highlight her plight. He said to Premier, ‘She told me that the community must remember her in their prayers because this is an international country. I need international pressure for the release of Aasia Bibi.’ He said her incarceration since 2009 has spelt nine years of suffering for the whole family. He added, ‘She always has said that Jesus is her life and she is living in the name of Jesus, and trusting that he will help her.’ For further information about Aasia’s case, see

Reports from Pakistan have prompted fears that British Christian mother-of-five Aasia Bibi, held in prison there for over nine years, is displaying symptoms of dementia. The British Pakistan Christian Association (BPCA) cited a recent visit to Bibi by a Pakistani journalist who suggested her memory, mental sharpness and judgement were in decline. Found guilty of insulting Muhammad and drinking from the same water source as Muslims, she has been in solitary confinement - sentenced to death, despite support from high-profile figures including the Pope. On 8 October a special three-member Supreme Court reserved its judgment on her final appeal against execution. The chief justice warned media against commenting on or discussing the case until the court's detailed judgment has been issued. No date has yet been given for when the verdict will be announced. See

Pakistan plans to seek its largest ever bailout from the IMF as Imran Khan takes office. The loan is to resolve the country’s escalating foreign reserves crisis. However a loan would see IMF impose restrictions on public spending, making it difficult for Khan to fulfil election promises. One government adviser said, ‘We can’t do without the IMF’s support of a $10bn -12bn loan.’ During the election campaign, Mr Khan pledged to spend public money on access to healthcare for all, upgrading schools and expanding the social safety net. Analysts warned these promises would be hard to fulfil, given the reality of Pakistan’s economic situation. 35% live in poverty and Islamabad has kept going with loans from Chinese commercial banks and allowing the rupee to depreciate 20%. Meanwhile, substance abuse is rampant and terrorists have a safe haven there. This is one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be a Christian.

Pakistan’s election results are in doubt, with the incumbent Pakistan Muslim League (PML) rejecting the result amid widespread allegations of ballot rigging in favour of Imran Khan’s PTI party. With most of the votes counted, Khan’s party is in the lead, but the results have not yet been confirmed. The election was marred by violence, with 31 killed by a bomb at one polling station. The PML leader said his party’s polling agents had been evicted from dozens of stations by security officials before a final tally, so they were unable to monitor potential tampering. In fact almost every party except the PTI said their polling agents had been excluded from polling stations. For the first time ever, no Christian candidates were picked by the mainstream parties for the national assembly, so Christians will be bereft of a voice whoever wins. Khan said he will not change the blasphemy laws, rather he will ensure they are enforced. The blasphemy law is a discrimination tool for persecuting Christians.