Persecution Magazine, March 2013 1/4

PERSECUTION International Christian Concern | March 2013

IN THIS ISSUE:

Issue 1/4

HOPE REMAINS >>> WIFE OF CHRISTIAN CONDEMNED TO DEATH FOR BLASPHEMY BELIEVES THE FAMILY WILL BE REUNITED

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Your Bridge to the Persecuted Church

A NOTE FROM THE PRESIDENT “To become a Christian means you have to leave everything behind. If you do not leave these things behind, you will be killed.”

-Josiah’s Story, pg 11 Jeff King, President

There it is again. . .the secret of the of the persecuted Church’s power!

When there is a high cost to be a Christian, the Church is purified.

The only ones who stay behind love Jesus with their whole heart and spend time with Him. This time spent with Jesus transforms them.

They aren’t necessarily great speakers, leaders, or theologians. But they are tight with the Holy Spirit and this makes them a light burning in the darkness of this world.

Oh, what a lesson to us in the free Church, where we have been captured by busyness and the tryanny of the urgent, where our goals have become so little (like making our churches “popular” and full of people, rather than full of the Holy

International Christian Concern

Spirit’s presence).

We need the persecuted Church because they show us what we need to be and can be: this is their secret ministry to us.

If I may, stop what you are doing right now and cry out to Jesus and tell Him that all of you and everything you have is His; ask Him to help you love Him as He deserves; ask Him to fill you with His Spirit because He is the answer to most of your questions.

“The Lord sent His son, Jesus, so, there’s a new way. He is the way.”

-Josiah

MIDDLE EAST

hope

remains

Wife of Christian Condemned to Death for Blasphemy Believes the Family will be Reunited

While ICC met with congressional offices on Capitol Hill to advocate for the release of Christian prisoner, Younis Masih, Regional Manager Aidan Clay visited his family in their native country of Pakistan. There, Clay shared a meal with Younis’ family and saw firsthand the suffering of a wife and children left defenseless in the wake of wrongful imprisonment.

As I approached the house, I noticed a girl crouching in the dirt mashing green vegetables in a heated clay pot. I entered the home and waited as my eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness. The brick room had no windows or lights and perhaps should more adequately be described as a cow stable than a home. I greeted Ameena and her three sons who sat on the bed awaiting my arrival. A few photos, plates and utensils rested on shelves that were otherwise empty. Ameena’s fourth child, Aruj, entered the room with a bowl of the mashed greens in a watery soup. What little the family had, they graciously offered to their guests.

My heart melted as I politely sipped the stew.

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LOSING YOUNIS Ameena and her children have not always lived this way. On September 9, 2005, Ameena’s husband, Younis Masih, was thrown in prison when a neighbor accused him of insulting the Muslim prophet Muhammad. Younis had done nothing more than ask his Muslim neighbors to “turn down their music.” The next day, a local cleric filed a complaint against Younis Masih Younis for blaspheming Islam. Younis denied the allegations, but as a Christian there was little he could do. On May 30, 2007, after more than a year behind bars, Younis was sentenced to death for blasphemy.

Younis’ children were left fatherless and Ameena does all she can to provide for them. Yet, even the brick room, which rents for roughly $15 per month, is difficult for her to afford. As a “single” woman, she is looked down upon by neighbors and relies heavily on her sometimes abusive inlaws for support. She works a few hours a week as a housekeeper in a Muslim home, but the work is inconsistent and no one else is willing to hire her. Ameena prays that one day God will bring Younis home.

THE INJUSTICE OF PAKISTANI COURT Younis appealed the verdict and his case is now being reviewed in the High Court of Lahore. “After seven years in prison and immense suffering for him and his family, we hope that soon the truth is established,” said his lawyer, Naeem Shakir. Yet, blasphemy cases are perhaps the most difficult to defend in Pakistan. Recent reports indicate that nearly 50 people charged with blasphemy in the past 25 years have been murdered by vigilantes while awaiting trial or after having been acquitted. Numerous others, including Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan’s sole Christian cabinet minister, and Salmaan Taseer, the governor of Punjab, have been killed for merely defending blasphemy victims. Radical Islamic groups, often affiliated with al Qaeda or the Taliban, are known to pressure judges to rule in their favor in accordance with Sharia law.

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MIDDLE EAST

“I [was] told by a young Christian lawyer today that the ‘Association for the Protection of the Prophethood’ has appointed a team of lawyers to represent them in blasphemy cases,” Naeem Shakir wrote to ICC in December. “They try to influence the court by arousing religious emotions and embarrass the judge. I am well experienced in this kind of tactic.”

The “arousal of religious emotions” in the courtroom is the last thing Younis needs. Following Younis’ hearing on January 23, an ICC ministry source reported, “there were about 50 Muslim militants and extremists [in attendance] to put pressure on the honorable court.” As a result, the hearing was adjourned.

HOPE IN THE DARKNESS Meanwhile, Younis’ health is quickly fading. On January 8, he was rushed to the hospital after suffering from a severe heart attack. ICC provided funds for Ameena and their children to visit him, the first time they had seen Younis in over a year. “I was pregnant when Younis was arrested,” Ameena told me. “Our youngest son doesn’t even know his father.”

Younis was transferred back to prison five days after receiving medical treatment.

Younis’ wife, Ameena, and their five children. The youngest (far right) has never met his father.

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‘IS HE ALIVE?’ [AMEENA] WONDERS, BUT THEN REMEMBERS THAT HE IS IN GOD’S HANDS. Younis’ safety is also a concern.

In 2006, Amnesty International reported that Younis had been attacked twice by fellow inmates and “remains at risk of further attack at the hands of prisoners and guards.”

Younis’ release has never been more urgent. ICC has worked tirelessly behind the scenes, meeting with dozens of U.S. congressional offices and the State Department on Capitol Hill, in hopes that outside pressure will result in his freedom.

All the while, Ameena kneels on her damp dirt floor praying for her husband’s wellbeing. She’s heard no word of him since their visit at his bedside in the hospital. “Is he alive?” she wonders, but then remembers that he is in God’s hands.

Younis and Ameena’s eldest daughter poses with donor gifts.

Though Younis’ release is far from certain, Ameena’s prayers are being answered. In early February, ICC moved the family into a two-story home with electricity, a kitchen, and a bathroom in a safe neighborhood. The children will soon be attending a nearby Christian school and Ameena is preparing to open an ICC-provided shop on the lower floor where she can sell vegetables and household goods, which will provide a sustainable monthly income. We are thankful to our donors for supporting ICC’s “Suffering Wives and Children” fund, which has helped ease Ameena’s suffering and is restoring hope to this precious family.

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