Rising Anti-Christian Persecution in Pakistan
Dear friends of Shepherd Project Ministries,
I got an email this morning from my pastor friend Asher Aziz in Pakistan with some very troubling news. In short, anti-Christian sentiments have been on the rise in Pakistan for the last several months and the latest news is simply one more step down a very disturbing road. Yesterday the government of Punjab province razed a church and nearly 100 surrounding houses, ostensibly in order to build a road. However, it is telling that a) the church and homes were on legally registered land with all taxes paid and 2) the homes were primarily owned by Christians. In fact, about 95 Christian families lost their homes. Coincidence? Probably not. This comes on the heels of an email from my friend just last week that a bill has been introduced in the Pakistani parliament to ban the Bible and Christian materials from Pakistan. They’re trying to keep a lid on the press regarding this move and the rising persecution, but if you do the web searches you’ll find confirmation of all these things.
This particular church was pastored by my friend Asher’s father and he has asked me to pray for his father and for his now homeless congregation. Of course I will be in prayer about this, but I wanted to ask you to join me. Please pray for physical safety for them and for their search for new land and a place to build homes and another Christian meeting place. I would also encourage you to pray against demonic forces which may be at work in all this. I find it a little too coincidental that this rising persecution should come just as Shepherd Project was about to announce a major initiative developed to equip and encourage the Christians in Pakistan. We haven’t announced the details yet, but we’ve been in conversation as a ministry team about it for several months now and are getting close to having the details hammered out. I suspect we’ve been overheard by the enemy…
Thank you all for your prayers! Please write notes of support in the comments section below and we’ll see that they are forwarded to our brothers and sisters in Pakistan.
If you are in a position to make a donation, please do so below. Because Shepherd Project Ministries is a registered 501(c)3 charity, your gift is fully tax deductible and we will forward 100% of your donation to our ministry partners in Pakistan.
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