“I admonish you as my beloved children.”
The Mission Network recently reported that 2,500 Pakistanis participated in an Islamic extremist rally supporting the men who brutally attacked an elderly Christian in Pakistan. Todd Nettleton from The Voice of the Martyrs USA said of widespread support for these kinds of attacks. “A 74-year-old man was beaten to the point that he died from his injuries. The police arrested some of the attackers, trying to question them the accountability of this attack.”
In response, a mob of 2,500 people gathered into a rally on behalf of the murders and Islamic extremists threatened the same fate to anyone who committed blasphemy and warned the police not to protect the ‘blasphemers.’
Under Pakistan’s blasphemy law, any insult to Islam or the prophet Muhammad is punishable by death or a life sentence. According to Reuters, many of the blasphemy allegations are targeted at Christians. The state has executed no one under the conviction of blasphemy, however, many people die by mob violence before their case goes to trial.
Christians in Pakistan face constant persecution and discrimination of all kinds, from being degraded to doing the worst jobs in society to facing attacks and even death based on rumours. “I had a Pakistani Christian on Voice of the Martyrs Radio,” Nettleton says. “He compared the persecution that Christians face to the air that we breathe.”
He said, “When you go to bed at night, you don’t wonder if there will be air to breathe tomorrow morning. Of course, there is. That’s what it’s like to be a Christian in Pakistan. We don’t wonder if there will be persecution tomorrow. Of course, we will have persecution.” However, Muslims, even radical Muslims, are responding to the Gospel and putting their faith in Christ.
Nettleton believes Muslims are drawn to the message of the loving Savior who sacrificed Himself for them. He says, “That message is such a dramatic contrast to some of what they see from the radical Islamic community in their country.”
Nettleton requested prayers for the safety and protection of Pakistani Christians as they face persecution and threats of death, prayers to God to encourage them and fill them with the hope of Christ, and prayers for government leaders to have the courage to stand up on behalf of religious freedom and on behalf of Christians who are attacked. (Source: Gospel Prayer Newspaper Comprehensive).
We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honoured, we are dishonoured. I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children. (1 Corinthians 4:10, 14)
God, may You condemn those who beat a Christian to death and then rally against the arrest of the accountable people and justify their actions using the Blasphemy Law. May You not only comfort and protect the church facing persecution and threats every day, but also give faith and courage to them as people in charge of God’s secrets to boldly declare the gospel of the cross to Muslims. Thus, let the souls of Pakistan, blinded by false deception, meet Christ and be transformed to become witnesses of the gospel who are not ashamed of the gospel under any circumstances.
Prayer 24·365
prayer@prayer24365.org
