Story number 1 for 14 May 2003

(Pakistan)–While Iraq has been the focus of world events, Afghanistan has gone largely unnoticed. However, Christian organizations aren’t forgetting about the three million Afghan refugees who are still living in Pakistan. The International Bible Society is reaching out to them with God’s word, according to an IBS worker we’re calling Mark Matthews. “To date, we have reached over 20,000 families with the New Testament, but we have received several threats from the Islamic clerics asking us to stop distribution and stop counseling people about the cross and about Christianity and if you don’t do that, they said they would put an end to our life.” Matthews says many are turning to Christ. He says prayer is essential because they’re not giving up. “The distribution is carried out through the volunteers of local church. You need to pray for the safety of our volunteers. Any Islamic cleric can step in and harm any of our volunteers.”