Pakistan (MNN) — Christians mourn and look for justice after the killing of a pastor in Gujranwala, Pakistan, this month.
On December 5, an unidentified man gunned Pastor Kamran Salamat down outside his home. The husband and father of three was leaving to take his daughter to college. He was still injured from a September attack.
Nehemiah* with FMI says that tragedies like this cast a long shadow over the Christian community in Pakistan.
Person holding a Bible (Stock photo courtesy of Ivan Samkov via Pexels)
“Pastor Kamran was more than a preacher. He was a shepherd who walked closely with his people,” Nehemiah says. “He supported the poor, trained marginalized women in a sewing center, and shared Christ with boldness. His life embodied a sacrificial love. His death is painful, of course, and that reminds us that for many believers in Pakistan, the cost of discipleship is written in blood.”
Nehemiah says that FMI partners, pastors, disciple-makers, and evangelists “continue to serve under constant threat, often feeling as though they are walking on eggshells in neighborhoods where suspicion and hostility is never far away.”
Christians make up only 1% of Pakistan’s approximately 253 million people. They suffer physical, social, and legal persecution, yet God gives them resilience.
“I was talking to a member of the congregation of Pastor Kamran. He said that ‘Even in heartbreak, we hold this hope. The enemy can silence a voice, but he cannot stop the message. God is at work in Pakistan, and the light of Christ still breaks through.’”
Pray for comfort and grace over Kamran Salamat’s wife, children, and congregation. Pray for bold gospel witness to spread in Pakistan and change many people’s hearts, including Kamran’s attackers.
“Please pray for supernatural protection, that God would be [gospel workers’] shield in a land where persecution is rising,” says Nehemiah. “Pray for wisdom, so that they may know when to speak, where to go, and how to shepherd their people safely.”
*Pseudonym
Header photo: A pastor (not Kamran Salamat) in Pakistan (Photo courtesy of FMI).
