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Pakistan

Pakistan
This needy Pakistani family benefits from Barnabas Fund’s feeding programme

Rimsha Masih’s life was torn apart when she was falsely accused of blasphemy, beaten and arrested in August 2012. Rimsha, who is 14 and thought to have a lower mental age, was accused of desecrating the Quran, a crime that carries a sentence of life imprisonment in Pakistan. Although Rimsha’s case was dismissed in November 2012 after evidence came to light that she was framed, she remains in severe danger of attack by vigilantes.

Christians are particularly at risk under Pakistan’s “blasphemy laws”, which are often misused against people of all religions to settle personal scores. Christian women and girls in Pakistan are also vulnerable to being kidnapped and sexually abused. A 13-year-old Christian girl was kidnapped, drugged and gang-raped by three men in June 2012. Police sided with her attackers, and members of her family were beaten in an attempt to force them to withdraw their complaint. Victims may also be forced to convert to Islam and marry their Muslim abductors. It is estimated that 700 cases of this outrage, which is used by some Muslims as a means of spreading Islam, occur every year, and the authorities do little to prevent it.

Tradition traces the beginnings of Christianity in Pakistan to the mission work of the apostle Thomas, and some churches in Ancient India have a long history. The subsequent Islamic conquest eliminated Christianity in the region for several hundred years. A significant Christian population has grown, however, over the last couple of centuries and is now 5 million strong. In 1956 Pakistan, which is 95% Muslim, became an Islamic Republic and since 1991 policy has increasingly been influenced by an Islamist minority. Sharia law has a significant place in public life.

Pakistani Christians often live in grinding poverty, with many working as labourers or in brick factories, where they are often “bonded labourers”, which is almost the same as being slaves. Christians often find it difficult to get jobs owing to discrimination, and their resulting poverty can mean their children are unable to have an education. Many Christian families remain trapped in crushing cycles of poverty and illiteracy.

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  • The Sudanese authorities have intensified their crackdown on Christian activities by targeting Christian-run schools. Two of these in the capital, Khartoum, have been ordered to close. One is a primary school that the authorities discovered was not teaching Islamic studies or separating boys and girls. The other provided English-language lessons for 500 adults; three of its staff had been arrested and interrogated over suspicions that they were evangelising Muslims. Pray that Christian work and witness in Sudan will continue despite the increasingly crippling restrictions being imposed upon them, and that the Gospel will spread there. Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed 13 hours ago

  • An upsurge of arrests and deportations of Christians in Sudan has further unsettled the country’s vulnerable Christian minority. In January three Christians of South Sudanese origin were detained and then ordered to leave the country because of their involvement with churches and a Christian radio station. The following month a group of at least 55 Christians were detained without charge, falsely accused of receiving money from foreign countries. Dozens of expatriate Christians have also been deported. Pray that this frequent and severe harassment will stop, and that the churches of Sudan will be allowed to worship and serve the Lord in peace. Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed Sat, May 2013 00:00

  • “We have reached here with the help of God. We shall live well with God’s help in our land.” A Christian woman gave thanks as she arrived in South Sudan after escaping from discrimination and oppression in Muslim-majority Sudan, thanks to the Exodus project sponsored by Barnabas Fund. Give thanks to the Lord that more than 3,500 Christians have already reached the safety of the Christian-majority South by plane and bus. Pray for His blessing upon them as they settle into their new lives, and pray too that others will be able to join them soon. Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed Fri, May 2013 00:00

  • Pray for 14 Christians in Nghe An, Vietnam, who were sentenced in January to between three and 13 years in prison on charges of subversion against the state. Their lawyers complained that the Christians had been subjected to torture, including sleep deprivation, and coerced into confessing crimes that they had not committed. Some of them had apparently been detained by police at random, some at a church service. During the two-day trial, thousands of Christians staged a protest against the arbitrary and illegal arrest of innocent people. Pray that the sentences will be revoked and the Christians released, and that the authorities will stop harassing and bullying the Christian community. Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed Thu, May 2013 00:00

  • “The decree is intended to provide the tools to end the house-church movement entirely.” Nguyen Van Dai, a Christian lawyer in Vietnam, added his voice to a chorus of concern among church leaders about Decree 92, which provides new guidelines for regulating religious practice in the country. The decree imposes harsh and complex new criteria that churches must fulfil if they are to obtain legal status; these will make it almost impossible for unregistered groups such as house churches (which have not been recognised by the government since 1975) to do so. Even if a congregation manages to fulfil all the conditions, the minimum period it will have to wait for recognition is 23 years. Pray that the churches in Vietnam will withstand this attempt to stifle their witness and will not only survive but thrive. Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed Wed, May 2013 00:00

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