Posted on 03/11/2005 8:56:29 PM PST by underlying
CBN.com – LAHORE, Pakistan - The country of Pakistan is one of America's top allies in the war on terror. But some militants in the Muslim-dominated nation are not demonstrating much friendship or tolerance for Christians. Many believers suffer discrimination and persecution, and most are deprived of basic human rights.
Radical Pakistani Muslims shout ‘Death to America!’, but many sympathetic to the Taliban and Osama bin Laden target their Christian countrymen for attack. That is because they view Christians as pro-Western and anti-Islam.
Many Pakistani churches now resemble armed fortresses, because of bombings, attacks and threats against them.
Christians are a small minority in Pakistan -- only about two percent, in a population of 160 million people. Many are treated as second and third class citizens in this Muslim-dominated society. Poor and uneducated, many Christians are forced to work at pottery factories or labor as brick kiln workers, earning no more than the equivalent of two dollars per day.
So it is for believer Shaukat Masih. His boss threatened to beat him up if he continued to attend church services. Rather than report to work on Sunday mornings, Shaukat told his boss he would be happy to work each Friday, the Muslim sabbath day, instead. Shaukat told CBN News he was convinced that God wanted him to go to church each Sunday, and was not afraid of the boss's threat.
Masih said, "Nobody is bigger than God. My boss is the owner of the brick kiln only, but God is the owner of my life. That's why I'm not afraid."
When Shaukat reported to work, after attending church services last September 19th, he was greeted by three managers who beat his body and face with brass knuckles.
Shaukat explained, "My teeth were broken from inside, they punched me in the cheek and it became infected. It was very painful."
Because Shaukat is a Christian and unskilled, he has few work options available. He continues to labor at the brick kiln. The photographer who took photos of Shaukat at work was also beaten immediately after he snapped the pictures. His camera was nearly destroyed in the scuffle, but not the photos. He sent them to CBN News.
Another Christian we spoke with is Bashir Masih. Masih is the last name that Pakistani Christians often take. It means messiah. He says he is powerless in the Muslim-dominated society.
Bashir wants the man responsible for his son's death brought to justice.
His twelve-year-old son, Shazad, worked in a carpet factory. Bashir says the factory owner held Shazad against his will, because of a debt the family owed the man. The factory owner beat Shazad with a metal carpet comb. The razor-sharp comb ripped through Shazad's flesh, brutalizing his buttocks. Infection overtook Shazad's frail and traumatized body, and he eventually perished from his injuries.
Masih said, "I think the man who did this should be in jail. He is free because he is very powerful, and we are very poor and don't have anything."
Widow Parveen Bibi mourns the one-year anniversary of her martyred husband's death. Armed assassins made good on their threats. They shot and killed Pastor Mukhtar Barkat early one morning, as he walked to the train station. Mukhtar had ignored their warnings to discontinue broadcasting his Sunday sermons from loudspeakers positioned atop his church building.
Parveen said, "People are saying this -- if we stopped using the loudspeakers, he would be alive. My husband continued this to fulfill the Great Commission."
Following her husband's funeral, Parveen had a choice to make. She could leave the village, or remain and risk her own life, and possibly that of her 17-year old son, Musa. Radicals sent a threatening letter to the family. It warned that Musa's life was in jeopardy as heir to his father's ministry.
In an exclusive television interview with CBN News, the widow Parveen describes her determination to remain and continue her husband's ministry.
She said, "I didn't want to leave my congregation. If I left for another town or city, my congregation would be without a shepherd. So, that is why I promised the Lord Jesus that I would stay and preach."
She often travels from village to village, praying for the sick and sharing the Gospel message. She feels a special calling to women's ministry, and holds regular Bible studies and prayer meetings with female teens and adults.
Her church continues to broadcast Sunday school lessons and sermons on the church loudspeakers.
"We will not stop using the loudspeakers,” said Parveen, “though our lives may be in danger for using these loudspeakers, many Muslims have come to the Lord Jesus. My husband said many times, the body can be killed, but the soul cannot be killed. No matter what happens, we will not stop preaching."
Persecuted believers in Pakistan and elsewhere request prayer. Some say they do not want Christians to ask God to deliver them from persecution, but they want God to grant them stronger backs, so they will be better able to carry their crosses.
How horrible!
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