With few safety measures previously required, the work of cleaning out old infrastructure has resulted in the deaths of many workers.

In Pakistan, Christians make up just 1% of the population. Because they face discrimination and lack opportunities, these dangerous sanitation jobs have largely fallen to Christians, who are seen as lower class.

Greg Kelley with Unknown Nations says the ruling is significant because it counters the common stigmas against Christians in Pakistan.

“These are incredibly vulnerable jobs, very dangerous jobs, and when you just exclusively make Christians do it, it’s just a terrible situation,” Kelley says. “Opening it up for everybody to have access to it makes a statement. It’s not sort of targeting or discriminating against Christians.”

Despite common hostility to the gospel, the Church in Pakistan is growing.

“In places like Pakistan, you don’t find lukewarm Christians,” Kelley says. “The people who are coming to know Christ in Pakistan, the second most populated Muslim country in the world, are white-hot for the gospel. They’re incredibly serious, devoted to their faith, and they’re multiplying.”

Unknown Nations is working to train Pakistani believers in reaching others, supplying resources like audio Bibles, and completing humanitarian projects that can open doors for the gospel.

Veiled women hold Treasures, the solar-powered audio Bibles distributed by Unknown Nations. (Photo courtesy of Unknown Nations)

“As we lift up these believers (in prayer), we need to be reminded that Jesus said to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers,” Kelley says.

Please pray not only for the safety of Pakistani believers, but also for them to be bold and courageous in their gospel witness. Pray that the discernment and wisdom of the Lord will be with them in the face of adversity.

Pakistan flag (Photo courtesy of Abuzar Xheikh/Unsplash)

“When people on the ground feel that they are empowered to discriminate against other religions – in this case, a Christian minority – without any consequences and in most cases encouraged by government authorities, I think you’ll see these incidents increase.”

Many Indian believers worship in makeshift structures of fabric and corrugated cardboard. Brobbel says these buildings are being destroyed during worship services. 

“As they’re praying and as they’re worshipping, we’ve seen footage of Christians even beaten with sticks and rods to discourage them from worshipping in that place,” Brobbel says. 

The Modi administration is promoting Hinduism not just as a national religion but as an individual and corporate identity. While top-level officials tout religious freedom, Brobbel says the real test of authenticity is what is happening at the ground level. 

“When we see states that are not allowing conversion from one religion to another, when we see repression that is coming from a state or ground level that is happening to not only Christians but other religious minorities in India, those words fall flat.”

Brobbel suggests that political pressure from Western governments and agencies could be better leveraged. 

“With their counterparts in India, this should be one of the topics that’s brought to the forefront, and I don’t think that’s really being done,” he says. 

Organizations like Voice of the Martyrs Canada can help supply political and business leaders with information that can help them advocate for Indian believers.

“Further than that, of course, Christians should be raising a voice anyway,” Brobbel says. “They can be writing to their Indian consulates or embassies, raising awareness and raising a voice on behalf of persecuted Christians in India.” 

Most importantly, Christians interested in partnering with the Indian church should fall heavily on the importance of prayer. 

“We should be praying constantly that in the midst of this struggle, that brothers and sisters in India would be faithful – that they can continue to shine a light in the midst of increasing opposition,” Brobbel says. 

Please pray that Christians in India would be resourced to evangelize and that God’s church would continue to grow. Brobbel says there are things to be excited about as pressures abound. 

“God’s will is being done through His people, so we need to continue to pray with our brothers and sisters in India that the Word would continue to go forward and have the impact that we know that it can have.” 

(Photo courtesy of Mission India)

Header image courtesy of Voice of the Martyrs Canada. 

Camille Melki with Heart for Lebanon says, “Christ’s compassionate heart leads us to love on and care for unconditionally without any discrimination to all the people who God puts in our way.”

Kurds, Arabs, Lebanese, Syrian refugees, local internally displaced persons, and impoverished local farmers receive the friendship of Heart for Lebanon. 

The needs truly are massive. More than 90,000 people in Lebanon have been displaced since the Israel-Hamas conflict began last October. 

“We have a tall order ahead of us as the needs are overwhelming. But more important than that is that we focus on attending to the spiritual loss as much as we are attending to the physical loss,” says Melki. 

The Heart for Lebanon team goes out regularly to visit and build relationships with families as Christians. Melki says that rather than argue over politics and religions with these people, “what’s important is to move every conversation into a Jesus conversation.”

Muhammad is a student at one of Heart for Lebanon’s programs. In the afternoon, he turns teacher and shares with his friends and family in a refugee camp what he learned that morning.
(Representative photo courtesy of Heart For Lebanon)

When people realize God’s unconditional love, Melki says the first change that happens is they start to accept others with whom they don’t see eye to eye. This is a huge shift. 

“Arguments in the Middle East are not words arguments, they’re not fistfights: they’re wars. For us to change that, we need to have a calmer, a kinder, a more caring individual,” Melki says. 

With that in mind, Heart for Lebanon is deliberate in what it teaches the next generation. The ministry has the privilege of serving 1,300 children in multiple locations in Lebanon with programs and schools that are formative on a spiritual level. 

“We build character formation programs in every lesson. We have ten biblical traits, such as forgiveness, such as love of others, such as generosity, such as accepting people of different faith,” Melki says.

“In those biblical character traits, we’re raising a new generation, a generation that does not revert to anger, to hatred, to revenge, but rather reverts to love, forgiveness and acceptance.”

Pray for the gospel to launch in Lebanon like never before. Pray for individuals to be radically transformed by God’s love for them. 

“Those kids are are not only learning biblical truth, but they are teaching that biblical truth to others. That’s transformation. That’s when Christ is alive and active in the lives of young kids. They become disciplers of others,” says Melki. 

Header photo of Syrian refugee children courtesy of Heart for Lebanon. 

Apartheid has become recognized as a crime under international law. Most instances involve racial apartheid, though human rights groups have recognized cultural and gender apartheid as well. An example of the latter would be Afghanistan’s separation of men and women.

Apartheid is a relatively new crime under international law.

Apartheid explained

Jonathan Kuttab of Bethlehem Bible College is an international human rights attorney. He says, “Another part of the system of apartheid is the use of law and legal mechanisms. This isn’t just discrimination and racism. This is written in the laws, and you can read the laws and realize that by law, the system is being applied. The system must also be used to create domination and preserve domination by one group over another.”

Kuttab says the situation for every country will look different, but it will always involve the elements listed above. “A lot of the conversation goes on says, “Is this like South Africa? Or isn’t it? How different is it? How do we compare it? This is not a very useful approach because every country is different. Desmond Tutu, for example, says comparisons to apartheid are unfair to South Africa.”

How to pray

Pray the love of Jesus will break down injustice and the barriers between people groups worldwide. Kuttab says, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. That whoever believes in Him, whether they are Jew, or Gentile, male or female, black, white, whatever, shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”

The header photo shows an apartheid sign in South Africa in 1989. (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

Mark Luckey talks a little bit about the ministry. “We are involved with helping kids in impoverished African communities to rise up and come through that. We also help kids with albinism or other conditions that cause them to be discriminated against. Perhaps they have medical conditions, or they’re disabled.”

“We work with all of the things that put kids on the edges of society.”  

Luckey says they want to transform the lives of children so the children can, in turn, change their communities.

Family Empowerment Program

But the ministry wants to support whole families, not just one child. That led to the Family Empowerment Program. They started in Uganda, helping parents provide food and education for all their kids. It’s a two-year program. In a year, the current families will graduate and the ministry will take on ten new families. Luckey hopes to see the project grow in the future.

Many of these families can now save money and start businesses. Luckey says, “I think it was Martin Luther King who said, ‘I don’t want just to be the Good Samaritan. I want to make the Jericho road safe for everyone.’ Over the years, ECM has functioned as that good Samaritan. We spent years picking up the broken and the beaten along the road, helping them to survive, and so on.”

There’s always a need for that kind of ministry, Luckey says. “But there also is a time when you say, ‘What would happen if we fix the road, paved it, and put in lights and that security?’”

Learn more about the program or donate here. And pray many people would see Jesus’ love through this work.

Header photo courtesy of Every Child Ministries. 

The report comes from a U.N. refugee agency. They noted more confrontations occurring at bakeries, where refugees have often been made to wait for bread behind Lebanese citizens.

Rawan Haddad with Tent schools International says, “The situation of the refugees is sometimes better than most Lebanese. Nations do provide basic support and limited facilities for refugees. But the Lebanese below the poverty line have no one to support them.”

Difficult conditions

Haddad recently traveled to Lebanon. She saw shortages of bread, flour, and medicine. People don’t make enough to buy what they need, and the government won’t help.

With these concerns in mind, Lebanese officials have announced plans to repatriate refugees back to Syria. Haddad says, “Despite this, Lebanon cannot return them to Syria, because the European countries will not agree to it.”

Tent Schools

Tent Schools continues working to provide education for refugees in Lebanon. Haddad says, “Please continue to pray for Tent Schools International, so we can continue to help the children and their families there. Because this next generation of children needs love, compassion and attention.”

“They need a place to grow mentally, emotionally, physically and educationally, more than ever before.”

Pray for healing to come to Lebanon. And pray for stability in the economic situation of the Middle East.

Header photo courtesy of Tent Schools International on Facebook. 

Some American Christians worry the bill could interfere with the operation of non-profits and parachurch organizations. Others grieve the loss of cultural norms perhaps more closely aligned with a Christian ethic. The discussion has brought many fears of persecution to the forefront.

However, given the rich history of religious freedom in America,  Todd Nettleton of The Voice of the Martyrs USA reminds us,  “The call to Biblical discipleship is not dependent on government regulation or government permission. The disciples, even in the immediate aftermath of Christ ascending into heaven, were not in a position of government approval, or government power. The church has always been independent of what the government says. Our call is to follow Christ. Our call is to be disciples.”

Expectations of following Jesus

There are lessons Americans can learn from the Global Church on withstanding persecution, working in oppression and dealing with religious discrimination and harassment.  Nettleton says many Christians in the U.S. expect life to get easier while following Christ. But that’s not the expectation in most of the world.

By comparison, he talks about conditions in countries like Syria, Iran, and China.  These followers of Christ have gone before and left a rich heritage of growth, in spite of the efforts to silence the hope of the Gospel.  What’s the takeaway?  “People are going to be against you. Your own family may turn against you. You may end up in prison, you may end up in jail, you may end up being beaten or even being killed. But Jesus will be with you throughout that experience, throughout that trial. And you have the promise of eternity with Him.”

Join us in praying for revival in the United States.

Header Image by Hans Braxmeier from Pixabay.

A Desperate Situation

Recently, 8thirty8 published a story about a Pakistani couple trapped working in a brick factory. The woman lost her arm from an accident in the kiln, but the owner forced the couple to continue working regardless. This is just one example of the brutality Christians face in Pakistan, and Tom Doyle of Uncharted Ministries says this all begins with relentless discrimination against Christians.

(Photo courtesy of Muhammad Muzamil via Unsplash)

“Everything goes in favor of Muslims over Christians in Pakistan. There are Christians that can’t get regular jobs. They’re discriminated against, and they get into debt. There are those that will absorb their debt, and then put them into a life of slavery to pay back that debt. Instead of going to jail, they go into slave labor camps, and they make bricks,” he explains.

“[The creditors] keep adding interest. Many times these families never get out ever get out. In fact, there’s a special on it on Al Jazeera network. It’s a Muslim owned network, but they were just repulsed by what they saw in these brick camps where people are slaves living with just barely anything, making bricks by hand with no tools available to them.”

Slavery is outlawed in Pakistan, but the courts provide little hope for those enslaved.

“People in law enforcement are afraid for their lives. There are Islamic terrorist groups that would think nothing to take out a judge or someone that came up against them. The deck is stacked against Christians, not only socially, but within the courts,” Doyle says.

Prayer for the Oppressed

(Photo courtesy of LumenSoft Technologies via Unsplash)

As Uncharted works to help Pakistani Christians in labor camps, please be in prayer.

“Pray that God gives us wisdom on how to navigate working with government affiliate officials and how to successfully get funds to people that are trying to free these Christian families,” Doyle says. “We’re praying that God would give us favor as we get involved. We need to be praying that God finds men of peace and women of peace [in Pakistan] that are willing to help these Christians.”

To learn more about Uncharted Ministries and how you can support their work, visit their website here.

Header image courtesy of Maogee Dharshi via Unsplash

Religious Discrimination Suit

(Photo courtesy of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship via Becket Law Media Kit)

In InterVarsity v. University of Iowa, a federal court ruled that the University and its officers violated the law when they kicked InterVarsity off-campus for asking its leaders to be Christian. A dozen other religious groups—including Sikhs, Muslims, and Latter-day Saints—were also kicked off campus for requiring their leaders to share their faith. But all secular groups and a few religious groups favored by the University got a pass.

In a ruling last Friday, the court held that this discrimination was so egregious that the officers involved would be personally accountable for any money InterVarsity lost fighting to stay on campus. The court left open the possibility that the University’s president, Bruce Harreld, could also be found liable.

InterVarsity on Campus

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship has been at the University for over 25 years. It welcomes all students as members, and only requires the students who lead its ministry to affirm its faith. In the past, the University has honored InterVarsity for its contributions to campus life. But in June 2018, the University claimed that, by requiring leaders to affirm their faith, InterVarsity was violating the University’s nondiscrimination policy. The University then limited InterVarsity’s access to campus, froze its bank account, shut down its website, and advertised that it was “defunct” for lack of student interest.

(Photo courtesy of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship via Becket Law Media Kit)

As a result, InterVarsity suffered its sharpest membership decline in over twenty years. Friday’s ruling confirmed that the University’s actions violated the Constitution and ordered the University to respect InterVarsity’s right to select religious leaders going forward.

“We must have leaders who share our faith,” said Greg Jao, Director of External Relations at InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA.

“No group—religious or secular—could survive with leaders who reject its values. We’re grateful the court has stopped the University’s religious discrimination, and we look forward to continuing our ministry on campus for years to come.”

Previous Warning Against Discrimination

InterVarsity USA is on 772 campuses nationwide. Its University of Iowa chapter hosts weekly Bible studies and monthly meetings for prayer, worship, and religious discussions on current issues. In upholding the group’s right to be on campus, the court noted that, just last January—in the related case of BLinC v. University of Iowa—it already warned the University against enforcing its policy unevenly.

(Photo courtesy of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship via Becket Law Media Kit)

The court stated it “would never have expected the University to respond to that order by homing in on religious groups[]” like InterVarsity, while “carving out explicit exemptions for other groups. But here we are.” The court did “not know how a reasonable person could have concluded this was acceptable,” since it “plainly” doubled down on the exact same conduct the court had already held unlawful. In a hearing last week, the court described the University’s conduct as “ludicrous” and “incredibly baffling.”

“It’s too bad it took twice for the University to learn its lesson,” said Daniel Blomberg, senior counsel at Becket. “There was no excuse the first time for squashing students’ First Amendment rights. University officials nationwide should now take note that religious discrimination will hit them in the pocketbook.”

Pray for the Gospel’s continued ability to go forth on college campuses. Also, pray for the University of Iowa’s administration to have wisdom in how they apply the college’s non-discrimination policy. And pray for the students leading InterVarsity Chapters to have courage as they share Christ on their campuses.

To help support InterVarsity’s work, click here.

For more information or to arrange an interview with a Becket attorney, contact Ryan Colby at media@becketlaw.org or 202-349-7219. Interviews can be arranged in English, Chinese, French, German, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.

Head photo courtesy of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship via Becket Law Media Kit.

The history of Audism has taken some dark turns. In Nazi Germany, more than 17,000 Deaf Germans were sterilized. Until about 60 years ago, sign languages were not seen as legitimate languages and were often suppressed in schools. In some developing societies today, Deaf children are hidden away and thought to be cursed.

While Deaf awareness today is growing, the Deaf still have to deal with social barriers and lack of access. It can be exhausting.

(Photo courtesy of daveynin via Flickr under Creative Commons: https://goo.gl/rmbU2D)

JR Bucklew with Deaf Bible Society says, “They are used to having to go to the store every day and deal with hearing people that don’t understand them, go to the movie theater and deal with people that don’t understand them, go to a restaurant, go to the doctor, go anywhere, go to their child’s school…. There are all these communication barriers they face every day, every day, every day.”

These barriers can even be presented in the Church when efforts are not made to welcome Deaf Christian brothers and sisters as equal members of the Body of Christ.

Bucklew shares, “I was speaking with a church after a conference one day, and they told me, ‘JR, we really enjoyed your presentation. We just wanted you to know, we have a Deaf ministry at our church!’ I kind of jokingly asked, ‘What corner do they sit in? Do they sit in the left corner or the right corner?’ Because usually in an interpreter church, [interpreters] are in a specific place.”

“They were like, ‘Oh, no, they are not allowed in the sanctuary. We have a place in the lobby where they are set up.’ I remember just sort of pausing, not sure what I’m supposed to say to this. He finally looks at me and his face gets real puzzled and he says, ‘Wow, that sounds really bad, doesn’t it?”

Deaf Bible Society is working today to bridge the gap between the Deaf and the Gospel. Today, there is still not one complete Bible in any sign language. Additionally, 97 percent of the Deaf are still unreached with the Gospel.

(Photo courtesy of Deaf Bible Society)

When Deaf people are able to engage with Scripture in their heart sign language, they can identify with biblical figures who were marginalized, oppressed, and left out — and the hope offered through Jesus Christ.

“There are stories like that in the Bible, not about a Deaf person, but about similar stigmas in the community and how the Gospel transcends all those things — neither Jew nor Greek [nor] Gentile — I mean, we are a people that God has brought to Himself. It’s not Deaf or hearing, but most Deaf people don’t know that because they haven’t been engaged with Scripture.”

Getting the Bible translated into all sign languages is critical for the advance of the Great Commission. That’s why Deaf Bible Society is working with ministry partners to get sign language translations of Scripture.

You can check out sign language Bible translations for free on the Deaf Bible app!

As Deaf Bible Society reaches Deaf individuals with God’s love, please pray for the ministry to grow for the sake of the Gospel. Ask God to prepare Deaf hearts to receive His Word. Pray that through Scripture, the Deaf would find true belonging in Christ.

Finally, pray for Deaf Christians to be embraced by hearing believers and ask God to show you how you can encourage Deaf access in a diverse Christian community.

Header photo courtesy of Deaf Bible Society