“But in that moment, hearing about Jesus, hope was amazing and so soothing for his heart,” says Nehemiah with FMI.

Together with Keys 4 Kids Ministries, Nehemiah and his colleagues recently distributed 3000 devotional mp3s throughout Afghanistan. The project has been ongoing for two years and has required faith, creativity, and courage in the face of regional and spiritual obstacles. 

For missionaries, handing off the preloaded mp3 players to Afghans marks the completion of the distribution effort. For recipients, it marks the beginning of hope. 

In the case of the rug vendor, who was also a tribal chief: after conversing at length with Nehemiah’s partners, he requested a devotional unit for each family member. 

“What began as simple conversation in the marketplace had now become an open door to an entire tribe,” Nehemiah says. 

Afghan people face hardship on every front. Adding to food insecurity and economic instability, recent reports warn of rising terrorist activity and recruitment in the country. 

“It’s alarming and it’s very strange to see these extremist groups rapidly coming into Pakistan and Afghanistan,” Nehemiah says. 

In addition to the Afghan Taliban, the more radical Pakistani Taliban operate in Afghanistan, he says. ISIS has a strong presence as well. 

“And we have seen that there is always a fight between Afghan Taliban, Pakistani Taliban, and then ISIS there. And ISIS thinks that the Talibans have become liberal,” Nehemiah says. 

Meanwhile, ISIS continues to recruit soldiers from Taliban groups, many of whom receive training and resources in Afghanistan. This puts very young children at great risk. In Afghan culture, especially under current conditions, kids as young as ten can be breadwinners for their families. Their experience and exposure make them a vulnerable target for Jihadist recruiters. 

Image courtesy of Pixabay.

“They are getting into fights with Taliban and ISIS, and ISIS is recruiting these young people to fight against Taliban,” Nehemiah says. 

But he is encouraged that in spite of worldly dominions, the Kingdom of God is at hand. 

“Let me tell you: in a land where darkness and fear often overshadow hope, God is moving in powerful ways,” Nehemiah says. 

People are hearing and accepting the Word of God in the midst of spiritual darkness in Afghanistan. Nehemiah asks us to pray for the Afghan people: that God would speak through the mp3 devices and draw many souls to Christ. Please pray for spiritual and physical protection of those who respond to Jesus, and pray that the hearts of terrorists would be drawn to Jesus. Pray also for the safety of FMI partners as they continue this courageous mission on the ground. 

“May the Lord continue to will his sovereignty even in the most difficult places,” Nehemiah says. “I want to tell our listeners that the Gospel cannot be silenced.”

Featured image courtesy of Pixabay

Pakistan’s Supreme Court said “no” yesterday to a petition asking judges to re-consider their previous ruling. In October, the court declared Bibi innocent of blasphemy – an accusation that placed her on death row for eight years. Now, protestors are in the streets, and they’re looking for blood.

Nehemiah* – FMI’s National Director in Pakistan – tells Executive Director Bruce Allen, “all signs point to civil war.” In an email update detailing the unfolding situation, Allen writes:

In the hours immediately following the court’s dismissal of the petition against the acquittal, FMI-Pakistan’s national director told me, ‘We are gradually heading towards a civil war situation.’ Radical Muslims have again taken to the streets, urged on by the Tehreek-e-Labbaik political party [TLP], a political party which seems to be growing in strength moment by moment. Protesters are calling for the execution of the Supreme Court justices who issued the ruling and the overthrow of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The news comes as no surprise to Allen, who states, “I don’t expect there to be calm, like a sigh of relief, now that the Supreme Court has said ‘We affirm our previous decision; case closed, no more petitions’ and people wipe their brow and go ‘phew! Now life can go back to normal.’

“Sadly, in Pakistan, ‘normal’ is chaos.”

Mass protests followed on the heels of Bibi’s acquittal a few months ago. Hardline Muslims issued death threats against the Supreme Court judges and Bibi’s family. Her defense lawyer reportedly fled to the Netherlands.

Why are people so upset?

In its 2019 World Watch List, persecution watchdog Open Doors USA ranks Pakistan at number five. This means Pakistan – out of 50 countries examined by Open Doors – is one of the world’s most difficult places to be a Christian.

(Photo courtesy of FMI)

According to Pew Research, more than 96-percent of Pakistan’s population follows Islam – which also happens to be the state religion.

“The name ‘Pakistan’ – the country’s own name – means ‘land of the pure.’ This drive for Islamic purity is very strong in the country.”

Restrictions like the country’s notorious blasphemy laws are often used to “purge” Pakistan of religious minorities.

“In Pakistan society, just the accusation [of blasphemy] riles up such strong emotions that they (crowds) say, ‘Death to anyone accused!’, which leads to a lot of abuses, such as this case,” Allen explains, referring to Bibi.

Asia Bibi is at-risk as long as she stays in Pakistan, he adds. Her only hope for freedom is to find safe haven in another country.

“While she is legally free, the reality is she’s not socially free. If she steps out in the public, she will be killed by vigilantes.”

How can we help?

FMI supports Christian pastors in Muslim-majority nations like Pakistan, Indonesia, and Bangladesh. Learn more about their work here.

(Photo courtesy of Open Doors USA)

Allen asks you to pray with them for Asia Bibi. “Since she’s the… ‘poster child’ for the blasphemy laws abuse…we want to pray that she does enjoy social freedom as well as legal freedom,” he explains. “Pray that the Lord opens doors for that to happen, even if that means finding safe haven in another country.”

Ask the Lord to protect His followers throughout Pakistan. Pray for continued faith and boldness.

In a separate email update, Allen shares the following:

The threats against Christians in Pakistan in no way diminish robust gospel outreach… in 2018, by God’s grace, we saw that nearly 1,200 souls in Pakistan placed their faith in Jesus Christ as the direct fruit of our partners’ ministries there. By average, that means that each of our supported Pakistani church planters and disciple-makers led 42 people to new life in Jesus Christ.

* – Name changed for security purposes.

Header image is courtesy of FMI. These graphics are now appearing across Pakistan.

There are around 23.5 million Christians in the country, but that’s only ten percent of the nation’s population.

FMI wants to see the Christian community grow, and to do that, they have a goal for a 20 percent increase of indigenous church planters and disciple makers in the country who understand the value and power of the Gospel.

Splitting for Expansion

To begin, FMI’s Bruce Allen says the ministry had to split like a cell in order to facilitate growth among the church planters.

FMI had only one indigenous leadership team in Indonesia conducting the communication, accountability, and production across the vast nation.

“But when we consider the very distinctive nature of Indonesia, that it’s made up of 6,000 inhabited islands, that’s more than what just one board operating from one island can handle, overseeing other operations on other islands,” Allen says.

FMI recently split the team and multiplied their work.

“So, we now have done that division of the cell and we’ve multiplied so that there are two leadership teams operating on two different islands in order to oversee the work.”

Allen says both teams have a vision for expanding the work in Indonesia and seeing a 20 percent increase of church planters.

The teams are helping to nurture church planters and disciple makers across the islands. They also act as communication and accountability workers by sharing with supporters how funds are being used progressively.

Get Involved

(Photo courtesy of FMI via Facebook)

To increase the teams’ effectiveness over the next year, “there’s an immediate financial need of about $2,000 for tangible resources like laptops and smartphones to help equip these national leaders complete their work to submit reports back to our U.S. office to stay in communication with the church planters across the islands, and the apps on smartphones are also a great way, convenient and secure to distribute the monthly financial support to the church planters.”

FMI is also raising funds for individual church planters so they can be as effective as possible and so the ministry can show that they are standing with them.

It will take a commitment of about $120 per month per disciple worker to see a 20 percent increase of native church planters in the country.

FMI challenges you this year to come alongside church planters and disciple-makers by supporting them as they share the Gospel throughout different islands of Indonesia.

Start supporting an indigenous ministry worker in Indonesia here.

Finally, pray for the expansion of FMI’s work to grow, multiply, and impact more people throughout the country.

Header photo courtesy of FMI via Facebook.

A Name Change

Pakistan Flag (Image courtesy of FMI)

FMI’s Bruce Allen explains this change has been in the making for the last two years. With the legal name change comes the potential to reduce a lot of barriers FMI has faced in the past with its mission work.

Last year, FMI’s board approved to move forward with the name change and sorted things out with the IRS, banks, overseas partners, etc. Now the mission agency is in the process of alerting **donors about the change.

However, part of the name change was to simply send a more accurate message to donors and ministry partners.

“It was very difficult to actually attract donors to support workers overseas when we had just said they had been forgetting [about them],” Allen explains reffering to FMI’s original name.

“[Another] incongruity was when I would visit… our partners overseas and I’d relate greetings to them from our supporters…I’d have church planters coming up to me asking, ‘Why are we called the forgotten missionaries if people are remembering us?’ And it was very true.”

The simple truth is these overseas partners aren’t forgotten anymore and FMI no longer wants to emphasize the ‘forgotten’ part of its previous name. Instead, the ministry wants to emphasize the support these partners have from their overseas brothers and sisters.

Part of doing this includes having FMI stand, not for Forgotten Missionaries International, but to have the initials represent the terms Facilitate, Mobilize, and Inspire. Allen says “In essence, that has been our ministry all along for the past three decades.”

The new name also keeps FMI’s history and heritage.

Eliminating Barriers

Still, did you know the mission agency is currently in its fourth decade of serving national workers overseas? Here are some of the challenges FMI has faced over the years.

Bangladesh Flag (Image courtesy of FMI)

“We’re operating in the three largest Muslim-dominant countries. So, the U.S. has really led the charge on the war terror, but one of the ways we combat that is by putting restrictions on the transfer of funds between countries,” Allen shares.

“We’re looking at how terrorism gets funded. Well, a lot of that funding of terrorism is under the guise of Muslim missionaries, people who set up radical madrassas in some of these countries, such as Pakistan. And the funding for those madrassas comes from outside, foreign sources.”

Taking the term, ‘missionaries’ out of the name eliminates a lot of these barriers. In case you didn’t know, sending money is an important part of FMI’s ministry. The mission agency helps support national church planters and pastors in closed countries where foreigners can’t really bring the Gospel. However, those who’ve been born and raised in these countries can.

These indigenous missionaries already know the language, they understand the culture, they eat the food. Furthermore, they can’t be kicked out of a country or have a visa denied. Yet, a lot of the time these Gospel workers don’t have enough support coming in for their ministries. FMI helps supplement financial needs to keep these individuals doing what they do — sharing the Gospel.

How to Help

Will you join FMI in supporting national mission workers in closed countries? You can help in a couple of ways!

For one, pray. Please pray for FMI’s ministry, pray for funds to go where they are needed, and for the protection of these workers serving in their home countries. Pray as well for God’s provision and for the national workers to be mobilized and inspired.

Another way to help is by giving a financial gift in support of these national missionaries. To donate, click here!

*FMI’s website will remain as forgottenmissionaries.org

**Any checks sent to Forgotten Missionaries International now need to be written/payable to FMI.

These numbers, as reported by The Joshua Project, only give us a glimpse of the challenge the Church faces in this country. The other challenge? Persecution.

(Photo courtesy of Forgotten Missionaries International)

Pakistan is number six on the Open Doors World Watch List for Christian persecution. As we count down to the International Day of Prayer for the persecuted Church, we wanted to remind you how to pray for Pakistan.

Just last month, a new chapter in Asia Bibi’s story began when the court delayed her appeal once more. The horrors of honor killings of people who have converted to Christianity are regular news. Terrorism against Christians is applauded by many.

Forgotten Missionaries International works within Pakistan to support the Church in this country any way they can.

Bruce Allen of FMI says, “Pakistan is the sixth most dangerous place in the world to live as a Christian, based on levels of persecution.”

(Photo courtesy of Forgotten Missionaries International)

This persecution manifests in a couple of ways. One is on a social level. It’s random action against Christians in general. This includes daily discrimination and terror attacks. But then there’s the more personal level. This happens when a believer is persecuted by their family and friends for choosing to follow Christ.

Allen says the reality for minorities in Pakistan today is sort of ironic given that the country was created to protect a minority — Muslims in a region of Hindus. “They don’t extend that safe haven attitude towards existing minorities in their realms, even minority Muslims,” Allen says.

Despite the fact that the government views Christians as a threat, Allen says, “The Christians in Pakistan are very dedicated. They love their countrymen, they love God. So they’re very eager in their service of planting Churches and discipling people.”

FMI partners with indigenous church planters to increase this work. They support the church leaders with a monthly income so they can stay in the ministry, they help provide the resources to build churches, and they even are supporting a safe home network for Christians who are in danger.

They operate through 120 ministry sites with eight added just in this last year. FMI also works in Bangladesh and Indonesia — two other Muslim majority countries where persecution exists, but it isn’t as harsh. In fact, while they are in the top 50 of Open Doors World Watch List, Pakistan remains in the top ten.

(Photo courtesy of FMI)

“What’s really encouraging, even though it can sound kind of ironic that Pakistan is one of the hardest places to live as a Christian, this is the place where more evangelism is being done and more people are coming to Christ than we’re seeing the in the other countries where we operate combined.”

There are several ways to help the Pakistani Church. The first is to pray. Allen leads us:
“Lord Jesus, we recognize that You are the Sovereign of all nations. From our own homeland to nations that are on the other side of the planet, You are the one who is in control. We praise You for that, and the faithfulness that You have shown across generations and that You are working your plan out for the nations.

“Right now, we just lift up the nation of Pakistan and the Christians who do live there under some very difficult circumstances. We pray for their encouragement, that they would be fortified by You, by the love that is demonstrated by Christians around the world for them so they would be empowered to advance the Gospel in their communities and change the face of their nation.

“We pray for the government, that You would convict its leadership regarding the anti-blasphemy laws, about the injustice being perpetrated against people who are imprisoned unjustly.

“And for those who are persecuted in a more invisible way — by their own family. We lift those people up to You, that You would bring healing, that You would touch their bodies and restore the broken bones, the broken hearts and mend them and provide for them safe places to live and to thrive and to be Your beacon of hope and truth and grace in that nation. We pray these things in the name of Christ and for the sake of His name, Amen.”

If you’d like to support the Pakistan Church financially, click here.

We’ll leave you with this thought from Allen: “We are members of one another. If one suffers, we all suffer. So, as the Body of Christ, we have an obligation to help each other even if we’re geographically distant from people. And we give strong testimony to the fact that we are one in the Lord.”

(Photo courtesy of Forgotten Missionaries International)

(Photo courtesy of Forgotten Missionaries International)

In an order issued three weeks ago, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), which regulates television broadcasts in Pakistan, shut down Christian stations broadcasting in Urdu.  Bruce Allen, of Forgotten Missionaries International, describes the broadcasters’ reactions.  “The Christian community was blindsided by this, even those who were in the media industry.  This was not expected.”

According to FMI, the PEMRA directive states the Christian stations are deemed “illegal and unlicensed”.  However, Allen notes, “Even though this directive is talking about ‘illegal and unlicensed’ stations, there are 30 Islamic stations that are unlicensed and they’re not mentioned at all.”

No reason is given as to why the authorities now consider them illegal, and fees for government permits had been paid, which means, “The document listed 11 different stations, but that is 100 percent of the Christian stations available in Pakistan. They’re censoring the Christian voice.”

(Photo courtesy of Forgotten Missionaries International)

In a society where literacy hovers at about 50 percent overall, the decision is even more weighted against the Christian minority.  He explains, “That literacy rate plummets even further because of the discrimination against Christians in education.  In most places, Christian literacy is about 10 percent.  A tool like a Christian radio station or television station is a great asset, and now the government is silencing that.”

The question of legality came up, since Pakistan’s leaders insist freedom of religion and speech is protected by the Constitution.  Allen says many of the Christian leaders and operators of the Christian stations turned to an ally for help.  “[They] appealed to the federal minister for human rights in Pakistan, and it’s supposed to be a supporter of Christian rights and minority rights, but as of earlier this week, his office hasn’t even responded to the calls.”

This year, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) made its recommendations to the US State Department regarding Pakistan. In its report, the USCIRF noted that “the Pakistani government continued to perpetrate and tolerate systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations. Religiously-discriminatory constitutional provisions and legislation, such as the country’s blasphemy law…intrinsically violate international standards of freedom of religion or belief and result in prosecutions and imprisonments.” The commission strongly recommends that the State Department add Pakistan to its existing list of “Countries of Particular Concern.” *

As for freedom of speech, Article 19 of Pakistan’s Constitution reads:

Every citizen shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression, and there shall be freedom of the press, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of the glory of Islam or the integrity, security or defence of Pakistan or any part thereof, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, 1[commission of] or incitement to an offence.

Media such as radio, television, Christian films on DVD and the internet, and audio Scripture CD’s in the local languages are significant tools of communication. FMI is involved in producing some material, but more financial backing is needed.

(Photo courtesy of Forgotten Missionaries International)

Despite injustice and censorship, says Allen, take heart.  “God’s Spirit, and the move of strong people to Christ, doesn’t stop just because of government regulations or any boundaries or things like that.  Even this summer, more than a thousand people came to faith in Christ in Pakistan through the work of FMI church planters and evangelists.”

Here’s how you can pray:

1) Pray that the Christian community will respond to the discriminatory tactics used against them in godly ways. Pray that pastors will understand the biblical instructions regarding suffering and teach their congregations accordingly.

2) Ask the Lord to move in the hearts of the regulatory commission to reverse their decision.

3) Intercede for the production of sound biblical content in local languages in other available forms.

*To read the USCIRF’s 2016 report on Pakistan, click here.

(Photo courtesy G20 Summit)

Pakistan (MNN) – There’s no love lost between Pakistan and India and that was glaringly obvious this week at the G20 economic summit, hosted by China.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi essentially threw Pakistan under the bus.  Without naming names, he claimed that “one single nation in South Asia is spreading these agents of terror in countries of our region.”   Bruce Allen of Forgotten Missionaries International says,”There’s cause for people to say that because they look at Pakistan and say ‘yes, you are helping us’, but at other times, ‘it looks like you’re helping the terrorists.’  People go back a few years and they’ll say ‘it looked like Osama bin Laden was hiding in the backyard of the military, so to speak, and you guys were doing nothing about it’.”

Pakistan hit back and accused India of financing terror, claiming “open evidence is available of India’s involvement in subversive activities”.   These phrases could cost millions in foreign aid.    The war of words has the potential to evolve into much more.  It’s a volatile situation that groups like FMI are monitoring closely. “They’re both nuclear powers. We should be concerned about terrorism in that area of the world.  It has India on the one side with some poor relations, but on the other side, they have Afghanistan and a very porous border in which terrorists are coming across that border into Pakistan.”

(Image courtesy Forgotten Missionaries International)

Global pressure in the form of foreign aid dollars could further increase Pakistan’s isolation.  Does it change anything?   For the ones most affected by the extremist terrorists, the Christians, the answer is ‘not really’, says Allen.  “Socially, they already feel intense discrimination and persecution, but they also feel like they get no help, as Pakistani citizens, from their own government.  They’re left to fend for themselves. They often don’t feel like they’re going to get justice n the courts.”

Religious freedom has been waning due to the Islamic extremists operating with near impunity throughout Pakistan.  And yet, “The Gospel is spreading. Muslims are coming to know Christ.  They are the ones who are eager to share their faith with the rest of their families, or people in their village.”

For example, Allen met with a new believer this summer, a rickshaw driver named Saladin*, who shared what happened after he took on a Christian passenger one day. They started talking and became friends. Over time, the Christian shared the Gospel with him and gave him a JESUS Film DVD and a New Testament.   As a result, he now says, “’I want to be trained in how to share the Gospel with my family, with other colleagues and the people in the street that I pick up in my rickshaw.’”   FMI wants to come alongside those evangelists, those church planters, the people who are discipling people like Saladin, the rickshaw driver, Allen says.  “We want to help you disciple these people because they’re the ones who are then further radiating the Gospel in the really dark corners of society.”

(Photo courtesy FMI)

Is there risk? Definitely. New attacks take place on a near daily basis, but the hope of Christ draws people who are searching for Yaweh.  Even with a blasphemy law in place, FMI says they’re still seeing growth.   “We provided the funds for the construction of two new churches in Pakistan just this summer.   We have plans to fund construction for two more for the rest of 2016.”    It doesn’t take millions of dollars in foreign aid to put a dent in the darkness that is pressing down on Pakistan, Allen notes.  (Click here for ways you can come alongside) It only takes a commitment of $100 each month to propel a local church planter, empowering him to impact the lives of hundreds of Pakistanis in four or five villages at a time.   “In a dark place, hope dazzles brightly.”

*Not his real name

According to Bruce Allen of Forgotten Missionaries International, a group of believers, led by FMI-supported church planter Pastor Yudianto, was holding a meeting when about 20 radical Muslims interrupted.

The Muslims told the Christians to disperse and never meet again, threatening them with machetes and taking their pictures for future intimidation. Later, when the police arrived, Allen says boxes of weapons were found outside for quick access.

Pastors like Yudianto persevere under difficult conditions. (Photo and caption courtesy of FMI)

“Pastor Yudianto stayed a while longer with the family who had hosted the church meeting,” Allen says. “They just shared their heart with him, wondering, ‘How do we go on from here? We’re nervous, we’re scared, but what do we do next? We still want to be discipled by you.'”

Yudianto has a fairly well-established ministry site in Central Java, and has recently been pioneering evangelism in this second village where the attack occurred. Yudianto individually disciples about 15 believers in this village, and had gathered them together in one of their homes to discuss the idea of beginning a formal church when the attackers broke in. Despite the possibility of being killed, Yudianto plans on returning to the village later this month to continue his ministry.

“He’ll hold a meeting with all those Christians again, several different families and parts of families represented in that new congregation, and really encourage them, saying, ‘This is what we face as Christians in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim dominant country,'” Allen shares.

“Even though Christians enjoy protection constitutionally, on a local level, practically, they may not enjoy that because of radical elements that like to go from village to village and hunt down Christians.”

It’s hard for them to know who to trust. This past summer, Yudianto told Allen that in the village of his primary ministry site, there is a police officer affiliated with a radical extremist mosque, which stirred doubts in the Christians about their safety.

“So if the Christians need the protection of the police, if there is an attack, or churches are burned or bombed, or a Christian is physically harmed or threatened, sometimes they wonder, ‘Will the police really come to my aid?'”

That’s where FMI comes in. Allen says Yudianto will need to get creative to continue having an effective ministry, so the team is working to give him the training he needs to succeed.

The congregation meeting at this site continues to gather for weekly worship as the walls of their church building grow up around them. (Photo and caption courtesy of FMI)

“FMI’s leadership is helping him think through those types of issues, and in fact, even during my visit to Indonesia this summer, part of our ongoing training conference was talking about how our identity in Christ makes us more than conquerors,” Allen says.

“That whole concept is still what Paul says. We are like sheep led to the slaughter, but even in the middle of all these hardships and difficult circumstances, we can remain more than conquerors. We do not have to let these difficulties — tribulations, famine, persecution, things like that — they don’t have to defeat us. We can have victory even in the middle of them.”

Allen asks that you pray for wisdom and courage for Yudianto and peace for his congregation. Pray also for courage for police officers working to protect Christians and create harmony.

You can also help financially. For just $50, you can provide ten image-based Gospel tools, part of FMI’s “Project Snapshot”, for Indonesian believers. Click here, and donate to the tangible resources fund to supply these resources for the Indonesian church.

Muslim workers pause for a few minutes along an alleyway in the afternoon to offer their ritual prayers.
(Image, caption courtesy FMI)

Ramadan, which is set to begin June 5 and end July 5, is the ninth month on the Islamic calendar and is a month-long holiday where Muslims fast during daylight hours and feast at night.

However, as cheery as this holiday might seem, the month-long fasting and celebration can actually endanger religious minorities in Muslim dominated countries.

Bruce Allen, with Forgotten Missionaries International, explains, “Ramadan does add fuel to the fire every year. It’s simply because there’s already the sectarian tensions between Muslims and other minority religions in Muslim dominated lands, whether it’s Christians, Hindu, Buddhists. But, one of the things that ends of getting exacerbated during Ramadan, especially when it occurs in the summer time is, peoples’ emotions.”

During this time of year, temperatures in many Muslim dominate countries, can often exceed well over 100 degrees. Combined with not eating, people can become rather cranky, or what has often been called, Ramadan rage.

“But, I was reading the reports about heavy crime in Algeria during Ramadan. And that spikes 220 percent during Ramadan. And fights and assaults raise 320 percent. And one of the issues is that people, even though it’s a month of fasting, people want to spend more on groceries on food during this month than any other month of the year,” Allen says.

Why do people spend more on groceries? Because the night brings celebration and feasting. But alongside this, child trafficking increases. Often times, poor families who are feeling the financial burden of Ramadan will sell one of their children to a trafficker to bring in the extra income. In a way, for these families, it allows them to celebrate Ramadan to the fullest while eliminating one more mouth to feed, regardless of the consequences.

Furthermore, during Ramadan life comes to a halt. Government and city businesses close for the month and it’s difficult for individuals, especially those who are not Muslims, to live their usual, normal lives. Christians have to be careful to not eat in public and generally aim to limit contact with Muslims. However for some, Ramadan is an important season to share the Gospel.

(Photo credit FMI)
Crowded market place.

“There are many brave Christians who say, ‘this is a great opportunity for evangelism.’ For example, during Ramadan, toward the end of Ramadan, there is what’s called a ‘Night of Power’, or the ‘Night of Destiny’. And for 2016 that occurs around Saturday July 2. And what this day commemorates is when Muhammad was receiving the first recitations of the verses of the Koran,” Allen recounts.

On this night Muslims believe their prayers have more meaning. It’s the one night out of the year they’re able to call out to God from their hearts and have their prayers heard. For Christians, it’s a night of intercession and bringing the Gospel of the one true God to people who are hurting and vulnerable.

“Many Muslims are saying ‘God, I really want to know you. I want to have assurance of salvation.’ And so they’re very receptive to learn how to connect with God at that time. So we can be praying that, you know we ask God to remove the scales from the eyes of their hearts and that they’d be drawn to faith in Jesus,” Allen explains.

Pray also for the Christians in Muslim countries during this time. Pray for their safety, their solidarity with one another, their bravery to share the Gospel, and for opportunities to open up to share the story of Christ’s love.

And as you pray, remember to include the FMI team which will be traveling through the three largest Muslim dominate countries during Ramadan. Pray for their safety, their partner’s safety, and for God’s will in their work.

Click here to learn about FMI’s upcoming trip!

To support the FMI team, click here!

For more prayer requests, sign up for quarterly prayer letters here.

(Photo courtesy of Forgotten Missionaries International)

Pakistan (MNN) – You’ve heard this threat before: “Convert, leave or die”.

It’s been the hallmark of Islamist extremist groups connected to ISIS as they march through the Middle East.  However, this latest threat comes out of Pakistan, which has noted a growing base of ISIS fighters.

Although the group issuing the decree hasn’t officially declared themselves part of the Caliphate, their ideology seems to follow a similar path: clear out anyone who isn’t the right kind of Muslim.

It is the Christians in Chak 44, a village in Punjab, are bearing the brunt of religious fanaticism.  Brother Nehemiah, the Forgotten Missionaries International-Pakistan national director, sounded the alert four days ago.

The community is made up of around 2,500 to 3,000 Muslims, of which a tenth are Shia Muslim or Christian, and the remainder are Sunnis. At the heart of this: the abuse of the blasphemy laws.

24-year old Imran Masih, a Christian resident, was accused of committing blasphemy over his cell phone content.

“The young man had recorded video clips of a wedding ceremony of one of his Muslim colleagues.”  The phone got passed around and a shopkeeper eventually wound up with it and was supposedly watching a video of a Christian pastor on it when Masih returned to collect his phone.  Heated words led to accusations.  Allen suspects they had very little truth to them.

“Family and co-workers say that his illiteracy prevents him from knowing how to use many of the functions on his phone.”  However, the accusations led to a fatwa for Masih’s death sentence and, says FMI’s Bruce Allen, a fatwa against the other 35 Christian families in the village.

Masih went into hiding.  Imams used Friday prayers to incite local Muslims, who threatened to torch houses of all the Christians in the village.  The mob also demanded that Masih be handed over to them, so that he could be executed.

Police were called in, and managed to restore order, but the tension is just below the surface.  “Their Muslim neighbors are refusing to sell food to them, give them jobs.  They’re demanding that the Christians leave the village, convert to Islam or be burned along with their homes.”

(Photo courtesy Voice of the Martyrs Canada)

With a threat reminiscent of the 2013 Joseph Colony burnings, you’d think this would be a bigger story.  Not so, says Allen.

“It’s not even making news in Pakistan. It’s only the other Christians who have been made aware of it, who live in Pakistan who are letting the international media know about this situation.”

There is fear, certainly.  Yet, even though Christians around the country have been on the proverbial ‘knife’s edge’ since the Easter day bombings in Lahore, Allen says their group is excited about some great opportunities for evangelism and discipleship coming up. “I’ll be leading a team to Pakistan in the summer that’s working on the development on a new evangelism tool for the church planters and pastors, and not just them, but by their entire congregations.”

Why bother to equip a religious minority at a time when they might be safer going underground?  Because it’s more than religion.  In the search for hope, Allen says there is an understanding of what a change of heart could cost.

”Muslims are coming to Christ and looking to be baptized, which is an amazing thing because, for a Muslim to become baptized into the Christian faith means that they are subject to the death penalty if they are caught.”

(Map courtesy Wikipedia)

Plus, FMI is wrapping up details on a major project. “Our supporters are funding the construction materials for four new churches in Pakistan.” They’re also hoping to provide building materials, as well as preparing for the distribution of printed New Testaments and Scripture on audio CDs.

Would you pray fervently, along with this team, for boldness, for wisdom, for the Holy Spirit to move? Allen concludes with this reminder: “The apostle Paul writes to Christians in the New Testament, ‘there’s a wide open door for us. Pray for us because there’s opposition.’ That’s what’s happening in Pakistan today.”