June 28, 2009
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what is on my heart….
G-d has placed Pakistan on my heart. I am not sure where yet that will lead but Pakistan is heavy on my heart.
Pakistan was formed in 1947 as the Muslim section in the partition of British India. In 1971, as a result of a civil war, East Pakistan left Pakistan to form the state of Bangladesh. For more than half its history, Pakistan has frequently been under the rule of the military that deposes elected governments at will. The constitution establishes Islam as the state religion; evangelism among Muslims is banned. In 1998, Sharia law was adopted in Pakistan, under which Christians have limited rights.Christians in Pakistan face severe opposition from militant Islamic groups, including imprisonment, torture and even death. Many Pakistani Christians have been falsely accused under Law 295c of blaspheming Mohammed or the Quran, a crime punishable by death. Courtrooms packed with militants have often pressured judges into returning a guilty verdict or continuing trials indefinitely. Christians are regularly barred from jobs or face troubles from their employers and co-workers. Christian merchants are often harassed. The war in Afghanistan intensified problems, with Pakistani Christians seen as being a part of an attack on Islam. In court, a Christian man’s testimony is worth half that of a Muslim man’s. A Christian woman’s is worth only a quarter, so Christian women and young girls are easy targets for rape — and justice for them is elusive.
North West Frontier Province has passed a bill that has been described by critics as the “Talibanization” of Pakistan. The law sets up a watchdog with the power to reform the society in accordance to “Islamic values,” which includes ensuring that such values are observed in public places. The law is strongly opposed by the federal government. Christians are praying that this law will not be implemented country-wide, and that they can move toward more religious freedoms.
Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are so vaguely formulated that they encourage, and in fact invite, the persecution of Christians.
Please Pray for Pakistan.
Thank you
Comments (12)
That’s so wonderful. Good morning, hon, and God bless you!!
yes i agree. Molly has had this country on her heart also. She was able to visit the Pakistani consulate in Chicago and she was blessed with a Christian teacher who was bold enough to have them talk to representatives he knew who gave their witness to the students on their persecution over there. There’s a lot of praying to do, for sure my friend.
If God can penetrate Africa with change, the WORD and provision, HE can do it for Pakistan
I will pray for that too. Learning this makes me almost want to get them out of there to someplace safe…
yes, I’ll pray for the women all over the world.
We – the U.S. – were not content to destroy Afghanistan by empowering the Taliban there and then abandoning them. No, we have now done the exact same think in Pakistan. It sickens me and makes me ashamed to be an American.
I’ll prays for World peace.
Peace and no war.
This is really sad. It’s sickening that people do these things in the name of Islaam. And I honestly believe that all the other things that are happening in Pakistan (the violence and natural disasters, etc) are happening because the people of Pakistan (who are Muslim) have forgotten what it is to be a Muslim and follow Islaam accordingly.
Thank you for writing this.
India’s Christian popularion in the Orissa state have been facing persecution too, so I have heard. Yes I will pray for the Christians of Pakistan.
Just a few weeks ago, my church in AZ where I attended when I lived there, the pastor has a slip of paper that he said to the congregation that a man in Pakistan had requested prayer over there for the people. The church has streaming video of its services and the man (it was a man making the request) must have been getting fellowship through that means via the internet and wrote to the congregation via their email address which is on their site.
@siobhan21156 - Yes, there has been a lot of persecution in Orissa
That entire area of the world needs to be lifted in constant prayer…thank you for reminding me.
Ruth Ann
I am praying too!