“I was hoping to get a hug from my mama, but there were bars between us” –one of Asia Bibi’s daughters.
Today in Pakistan, being a Christian is a dangerous thing. With an Islamic majority, standing for Christ can result in prison and death threats. In July 2009, a Christian named Imran Ghafur was accused of burning some pages of the Quran. He was given a life sentence. In November, a number of militant Muslims destroyed a church building in Pakistan.
But perhaps the most dramatic example of this opposition is the arrest of Asia Bibi in June 2009. Since she was placed in her six-foot by eight-foot cell, her husband and two children have only been able to visit her just a few times. Seventeen months after Bibi was arrested, she was sentenced to death. Her crime: simply believing in Jesus and being willing to tell others of Him.
Voice of the Martyrs, an organization helping the persecuted Church worldwide, is pushing for her release. They have moved her family out of the area for protection reasons. Tom White, director of VOM, recently wrote the below portion about the Christians in Pakistan.
On my last trip to Pakistan I met heroes of the faith who dare to share about Jesus in the midst of extreme violence. A young man who gives New Testaments to Muslims said of his detractors, “They only beat me up half the time.”
Thousands of believers in Pakistan profess Jesus Christ despite threats to their lives and livelihood. Asia Bibi is one such Christian. As an ordinary Christian with limited means, Asia worked as a fruit picker on a farm. Her Muslim co-workers repeatedly berated her for her Christianity, demanding that she follow the Prophet Muhammad and Islam. The continual harassment prompted Asia to speak up for herself and for Christ. After her co-workers reported her to local Muslim authorities, Asia was jailed for blasphemy against Muhammad and sentenced to death. She is the first woman in Pakistan to receive the death sentence for blasphemy. But she might not be the last.
There are Christians like Asia all over the world—Christians who are imprisoned or even killed because they refuse to deny Christ. But we have not forgotten them. We honor their sacrifice by helping them any way we can.
Representatives from VOM have attended at least 30 of Asia’s court hearings… When militant Muslims threatened her family, we moved them to a safe location five times.
VOM helps the families of Christians who have been killed or imprisoned because of their faith in Christ. In recent years, [we have] assisted many Christians around the world, included a Colombian pastor’s wife who was left to raise their twin infants and toddler on her own after her husband was murdered, the orphaned children of martyred Christians in Indonesia and Nigeria, and the family of an imprisoned pastor in Uzbekistan.
Thank you for your continued support of the persecuted church. Please continue to pray that our sister Asia will be released… Pray also for Asia’s family and all the families of martyrs who have suffered because of their faith in Christ.
Please remember to pray for Asia Bibi. You can also add your signature to the call for her release at www.callformercy.com.
“Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.”-Hebrews 13:3
-Reagan Schrock, GOA blog manager
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