Pakistan’s Christians
When most people in the West think of Pakistan, they think of Islam in its fundamental form. A place where Afghanistan’s terrorists would seek refuge during America’s War on Terror.
Pakistan may, indeed, be a majority-Muslim nation that needs to be contained by Western governments, however, as with most places, there is also a vibrant Christian community that has historically lived within the region.
Most Christians in the United States or Europe who are of good will, may never occupy seats of power in government to help Pakistani Christians who are crushed by their own country, but that doesn’t mean people are powerless to help.
When Christ’s disciples walked the known world, Churches were built in their wake, with the apostle Thomas going as far as the Indian-Pakistani region. The bible accounts of efforts by churches in one area, raising funds to support churches elsewhere.
The Church in Pakistan has need of good will from the West.
Recent investigations have shown that between 1987 and 2016, 187 Christians have been charged with blasphemy against Islam’s so-called prophet. Many undocumented cases of assault have been committed against Christians by their Muslim neighbors and at least 65 people have been murdered over the years due to blasphemy.
Many of these cases are false accusations and Christians are imprisoned for many years under the threat of the death penalty.
Another cross Pakistan’s Christians carry is that underage teenage girls are often abducted by older Muslim men who force them to convert to Islam and “marry” them, which is actually just rape.
Eldest daughter, Huma Younus (right) has been held captive since late 2019 when she was 13 years old. She has had limited contact with her family and was impregnated by her captor.
Even though the government has laws against “child marriage,” the courts often ignore hospital records verifying the underage status of these girls and, since apostatizing from Islam can result in death, the courts force the forced convert to remain with her “husband.”
The tragedy of these child brides first came to my attention in 2020. While I was employed with a Catholic media organization, I was able to pay for one family’s youngest daughter to go to a private Christian school so that she could avoid time around Muslims after the oldest daughter was abducted.
Now that I’m working independently, I’m not able to contribute financially, but my current goal is to fundraise to produce a documentary that will highlight the beauty of the Christian faith in Pakistan, and highlight their struggles so that it can be made real in people’s minds so that they are willing to help them.
I ask you to prayerfully consider making a DONATION HERE.
