Monthly Archives: December 2010

FIRST PERSON: Why Lottie Moon Matters

Baptist Press, Nov. 30, 2010: http://www.bpnews.net/BPFirstPerson.asp?ID=34176

By Chuck Lawless

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)–When I was a college student in Oxford, Ohio, I knew “Lottie Moon” only as the name of a local popular bar named after a Confederate spy during the Civil War — not the missionary whose name our annual missions offering bears.

During my first pastorate, I regret that “Lottie” still meant little to me, as our church gave scant attention to what was then known as the Lottie Moon Offering for Foreign Missions.

During my second pastorate, though, Lottie Moon took on more significance. Confronted by a Woman’s Missionary Union director who challenged me to love missions “if you’re going to be my pastor,” I began to learn about God’s work around the world. It was also during that ministry that I married my wife Pam, who had been raised as a GA and an Acteen and who greatly loved the story of missionary Lottie Moon.

Knowing Lottie and promoting the offering named after her were no longer optional.

Now many years later, Lottie Moon is increasingly important to me — not because of stories I have read, but because of people I have met. I think often of a van driver in an Asian country where Pam and I traveled in my role as consultant for the International Mission Board. Seldom have I met anyone as considerate as he was. He greeted us at the airport, carried our luggage, opened our doors and helped us from the van. Were a man judged eternally on his willingness to assist others, this man would be first into heaven. But this kind man did not yet know Jesus — and apart from Christ, he had no hope. Who will continue to reach out to him?

In another country, we visited the burial place of a holy man of another world faith. When we inquired about this man’s life, it was clear why he was perceived to be holy. The response to our next question, though, revealed much about this man’s religion. We asked the caretakers of the grave if the holy man were in heaven, and their best answer was “We don’t know for sure, but we hope so.” According to their religion, they could only hope that his good works outweighed the bad. Their wrongly directed faith gave absolutely no assurance of eternity, even for a man who was thought to be holy.

Who will confront this darkness?

There are, of course, committed Southern Baptists who have accepted this calling. No missions organization does the task perfectly, but God continues to work powerfully through our missionaries. In fact, I could write all day about their stories: the young couple who are raising their preschoolers in the shadow of a pagan temple in one of the darkest countries I have ever visited … the single adult working quietly but persistently in the danger of a war-torn country … the veteran missionary who told me that after many years of ministry, her team is still “picking up rocks so the soil is ready to plant seeds” … the faithful family who returned to serve even after a young daughter barely survived a serious illness contracted on the field … the older couple who took early retirement from a strong U.S. company to take the Gospel where others had not gone.

Because we have met and worked alongside so many of these unrecognized heroes of the faith, giving sacrificially to the Lottie Moon Offering is hardly a sacrifice anymore.

Even more powerful to me, however, are the testimonies of believers whose lives have been changed by the ministries of Southern Baptists.

Again, the stories could fill column after column: the Asian Christian whose father first heard the Gospel from a Southern Baptist missionary, led his family to the Lord and then escaped persecution by boat … the African student who now understands that Jesus — not animals — is the sacrifice for his sins … the tsunami victim who embraced us heartily, thanking Southern Baptists for bringing the Gospel and relief aid to his village … the refugee in the States whose family first met Christ while under the oppression of a dictator’s rule.

We have seen firsthand the changing power of the Gospel around the world, and those experiences remind us that Lottie Moon dollars are still making an eternal difference.

What keeps me awake at night, though, are those who have never heard or who do not yet believe. More than 6,000 people groups around the world have no Gospel witness. By some estimates, as many 3.5 billion people have never heard the Gospel. Some 6 billion people are lost without Christ.

Six billion lives at stake, and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering provides almost 55 percent of the IMB’s annual budget to engage this lostness. Clearly, Lottie Moon still matters.
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Chuck Lawless is dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.

Week of December 26, 2010

December 26 : One Thousand Come to Jesus. “Thank you for praying over the special events in October! The training at went really well. The volunteers arrived ready, and those coming arrived with open hearts. After the training, a worker received a message from A, an attendee. ‘I started the lessons in two more places yesterday. . . . Each day God is showing new places. My vision is to make disciples and send them away.’ Praise God with us for this faithful disciple! Continue to pray for more fruit to follow. The Operation Andrew project in B district was expressed as ‘phenomenal!’ Whole families were coming to Christ. The national pastor who was helping to coordinate all the details was blown away. ‘This doesn’t happen in Sri Lanka . . . people don’t hear this message and believe.’ By the weekend, more than 1,000 – yes, more than 1,000 – people had come to know salvation through Jesus Christ. Praise God! Please pray for appropriate follow-up of these new believers. A worker has ‘cast a vision’ to the six national pastors involved of the need to implement ‘The Disciple’s Cycle,’ which would encourage growth and spark continued outreach. Please pray for the pastors to get on board with this as S comes in to help facilitate this training. Please pray that these new believers will put away their old religions and their old gods in exchange for their new life in Christ. Begin praying now for the next Operation Andrew project to be held in March.”

December 27 : God’s Word Made The Difference. “I went to the local mission hospital, but they would not give me a Bible out of fear of the community,” Z said. Now years later, this devout Muslim scholar has received the Gospel of Matthew from workers and has read the whole thing cover to cover. Religious leaders in mosques and “madrassahs” (traditional schools for learning about Islam) are some of the few people who actually spend much time reading the Quran or any other holy book. Most people in Kashmir do not read Arabic and do not have much understanding of the meaning of what they hear preached, but religious leaders have a huge influence on the sentiments of the masses. In many areas of South Asia where Muslims are coming to Christ, a “Maulvi” (religious scholar) was first led to the Bible and came to believe the message. He then influenced others to read and find for themselves the peace he had found. Please pray that workers and local believers in Kashmir will have more opportunities to place God’s Word in the hands of religious leaders and in places of religious learning. Pray that many will have the eyes of their heart opened as they engage and believe in God’s Word.

December 28 : Sindhi People Still Suffer. Across Sindh, flood-affected families are leaving government buildings, including schools, and either moving into camps or returning to their places of origin. In southern Sindh, 94 percent of people living in government camps and schools are estimated to have returned to their villages, although an estimated 60,000 “flood-affectees” have yet to receive emergency shelter. Please pray for believers as they show the love of Christ by distributing emergency shelters and seed to those who have lost everything in the floods. Pray that God will provide opportunities to share the Good News in the midst of great suffering.

December 29 : “Count Me In!” Thank you for your continued prayers for R, a university student of South Asian heritage. In early November, he heard the words of Jesus in Revelation 3:20-21 (HCSB): “If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and have dinner with him, and he with Me. The victor: I will give him the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I also won the victory and sat down with My Father on His throne.” Then R exclaimed, “Count me in!” He wants to belong to a Jesus community, but is facing parental opposition. Please pray that he will grow in the knowledge of Jesus and His teachings, and have wisdom in relating to his parents in a winsome manner.

December 30 : The Whole Truth. “A good friend, E, is an Assamese Muslim-background believer. She has been bold in sharing with strangers who are receptive to hearing about Jesus, but has not yet told her family that she is a follower of Jesus. Recently her family found a photograph in her Bible of her baptism, and they were very upset. Rather than tell them the truth about the photo, E lied about the picture. Now it will be even harder for her to tell them the truth. Please pray for E to have the courage to tell her family the truth. Intercede also for her encouragement in her faith. She is the only believer in her community and is a single woman dependent on her older, married siblings. Pray that through E, God will draw her entire family to Himself.”

December 31 : Training Has Begun. “The first pastor training session was held in October. Forty-six pastors and lay leaders crowded into a small room for five days as two seminary students shared what they had been learning in seminary. The second training, held in early November, was led by two church pastors from the United States. Both trainings filled a need that pastors here have: a way to gain greater training in Bible knowledge, doctrine and leadership. Join us in thanking God for providing pastors and others to come and share, and for the local pastors’ great responsiveness and desire to learn.” http://prayforgujarat.wordpress.com/

January 1 : Marriages That Honor God. They are Muslims from Bihar who list their castes as Ansari, Syed, Sunni Hanafi, Sheikh or Malik, and they all are singles hoping to find someone like themselves to wed. “I belong to India. I am a simple Muslim girl of 5 feet, 2 inches. I love my mother tongue Urdu.” So reads one matrimonial ad posted on the internet. India is famous for its arranged marriages, yet finding a mate can still be difficult. Please pray that God will bring together Bihari husbands and wives who will love one another and be open to hearing and following God’s Word. Pray especially for former Muslims who now follow Jesus to find the mates the Lord God has chosen for them. Pray that the Lord will be glorified through marriage among Biharis. BihariBride@pobox.com

FIRST PERSON: The secret to praying for Muslims

Baptist Press, Sep 16, 2010: http://www.bpnews.net/BPFirstPerson.asp?ID=33675

By Ed Cox

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)–Throughout my years as director of the International Mission Board’s Global Prayer Strategy, people have asked how they can best pray for Muslims. However, I believe the real question isn’t what to pray but in what way to pray.
I served as a regional leader for the IMB in Western Europe from 1997 to 2004. During that time, the primary focus of my work was to equip our personnel to plant churches among the indigenous and immigrant peoples residing in that part of the world. In addition to praying for their ministries, I also prayed for the peoples among whom they ministered. Part of that group was a growing number of Muslim immigrants and refugees.

My prayers probably mirrored those of others. I prayed for the Holy Spirit to create a thirst for Muslims to know the one true God. I prayed for the Word of God to be placed in the hands of disenchanted Muslims so they could discover the depth of God’s love and His provision for abundant and eternal life.

I could not help but notice that these prayers lacked the fervency of my other prayers for those who were my neighbors and friends in France and Germany. That was, until my wife and I began reaching out to Iranian refugees.

As we got to know these Muslims on a personal level in their small, crowded apartments over hundreds of cups of tea, birthday celebrations, language tutoring sessions and a potential deportation crisis, our prayers took on a whole new dimension. We no longer simply prayed like we were reading from a template or script. Rather, we voiced prayers prompted by the Holy Spirit. Our prayers were born of a love for a people struggling on many fronts. Our intercession expanded from an ultimate concern for their eternal souls to include their individual physical, social, marital, educational and political needs.

We prayed for them to overcome loneliness in their new country. We prayed for their children to make friends and to succeed at their studies. We prayed for them to find employment and we prayed for their families back in Iran. We wept with them as they mourned the death of loved ones. We prayed for the Holy Spirit to comfort and encourage them, to draw them to Himself during those desperate days.

How can you best pray for Muslims?

Get to know them.

Travel in their countries and learn all you can about them.

Befriend them right here at home. Talk to them in checkout lines.

In short, love them. Listen to the Holy Spirit as He prompts you to pray for them in an extremely personal and effective way.
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Ed Cox is the IMB’s global prayer strategy director. He can be contacted via twitter.com/imbprayerdir and through the blog, missionaryblogdigest.com.

Week of December 19, 2010

December 19 : Gujarati Christmas. Christmas gets very little attention here. Santa is occasionally seen, and there is a small amount of commercialism. However, there is no mention of Jesus, no carols sung about His birth, no nativity scenes found in yards or stores. Pray this year that believers will be bold in sharing with all around them about the meaning of Christmas. Pray that as they celebrate, their joy will be so apparent that people will want to know the source. Pray that the Light of the world will shine on Gujarat this Christmas season and that God will open the eyes of the people to see Him. http://prayforgujarat.wordpress.com/

December 20 : Flood Victims Need Good News. As a result of the devastating floods in Pakistan, many people have moved to Karachi to live with their families. This may be their only opportunity to hear the Good News. Pray that followers of Jesus in Karachi will take every opportunity to lovingly share their testimonies during this Christmas season. Pray that these verses will become a reality for those living in Karachi: “The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them. . . . Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you” (Isaiah 9:2; 60:1, NASB).

December 21 : Faithful Seed Sowers Needed. “December is a natural time to share with South Asians about the Good News of Christ. Even if they are not genuine seekers, most are willing to listen respectfully to the claims and stories of Christ during the Christmas season. Please pray for our workers and national partners to be faithful in sowing the seeds of the Good News this coming Christmas season. Pray for parties and get-togethers that will be held for the purpose of introducing our friends to Christ. Pray that many in our West Himalayan Cluster will hear and respond to Christ by becoming His followers.”

December 22 : Singing Bhajans for Jesus. “Lead me from falsehood to truth. Lead me from darkness to light. Lead me from death to immortality.” These words were written more than 100 years ago by an unknown Hindu. They are the words to a “bhajan” (pronounced BAH-jahn), a traditional form of song that Hindus love to sing to express devotion during worship. Recently cross-cultural workers in the Mid-South Cluster learned how followers of Christ are using the bhajan song form and, indeed, some of the traditional bhajan words, to express worship to our Lord Jesus Christ. As they lead the worship with a group of believers and non-believers who have been invited to learn more about Jesus, they pause between verses to explain how those words point to salvation in Christ. “Lead me from falsehood to truth”: Jesus said, “I am . . . the truth” (John 14:6a, HCSB). “Lead me from darkness to light”: Jesus also said, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12b, HCSB). “Lead me from death to immortality.” John 3:16 shows how this can be realized! This Christmas season, several believers are planning parties and events featuring bhajans that point to spiritual truth about God and Jesus. Pray that Hindus in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh States will have their eyes, ears and hearts opened to see that Jesus is the truth, the light, and the way to salvation.

December 23 : Jat Sikhs Need Gift of Jesus. Pray for opportunities for Jat followers of Christ to share with their friends and families this Christmas season. Pray that Jat Sikhs will understand the wonderful gift that God gave to us when He sent His only begotten Son into the world so that whoever believes on Him should not perish but have eternal life. Ask the Lord to help Jat believers share boldly with the power of the Holy Spirit so that many more Jat Sikhs will receive the free gift of eternal life that is found in Jesus Christ. pr4punjabis@topicbox.com

December 24 : Sweet Aroma of Cinnamon. Along with the smell of evergreen trees and peppermint, cinnamon has to be one of the most common scents of Christmas. BBC News Online notes: “While Sri Lanka’s most famous export is tea, historically the most important has been cinnamon. In fact, so strong is the link between cinnamon and Sri Lanka that the botanical name of the spice – Cinnamomum zeylanicum – is derived from the island’s former name, Ceylon. Every morning cinnamon peelers go to the fields to collect branches to be stripped for bark. The plant grows as a bush. It’s hot, hard work. Today, experts say that Sri Lanka is one of the world’s leading exporters of cinnamon, producing about four-fifths of international output as well as most of the choicest grades from the sweetly scented inner bark of the cinnamon tree.” As you savor the aroma of cinnamon this month, please remember to pray for the millions of lost people who call this island home. Pray for believers to live lives worthy of the calling so that they may be the aroma of Christ to those around them. Ask also for believers to seize the opportunity of this holiday month to reach out to lost family members and friends to share the greatest news ever: that the King of kings left the glory of heaven to come to earth to die for man’s sin so that we might be in relationship with Him!

December 25 : Everyone Invited. “Please come!” How would you feel about an invitation to a religious celebration sponsored by a different faith? Uncomfortable, skeptical, or curious? Please pray for immigrants and new citizens who are of South Asian heritage and have been invited to a Christmas celebration. Their faith may be Muslim, Hindu, Sikh or Buddhist. They may live in the major cities of Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe and North America, and have met someone from a Baptist church who invited them. Please ask the Lord to speak through those who are leading these Christmas programs. Pray for the Holy Spirit to open the ears of South Asians to hear “good news of great joy . . . today a Savior, who is Messiah the Lord, was born for you in the city of David” (Luke 2:10-11, HCSB).

Bible stories lead Indian women to share the Gospel with their neighbors

By Kerry Corliss*

DELHI, India–When Kacee Dallion* and Lindy Alleger* agreed to stay in a home with an Indian family to begin learning the family’s language, they really did not know what to expect.

Learning to take bucket baths, adjusting to living with little personal space, and trying to understand the new language filled their first days.

Indian women listen to Bible stories and discuss how they can apply them in their lives as witnesses for Christ.

As they began to understand their new language more, they had many chances to observe and hear the interactions of the Indian women in their host household as well as the family’s interactions with their neighbors. The family members hosting them were Christians, but the fruit of God’s Spirit did not seem evident in their lives. Instead, bickering and gossip marked their lives. As the months passed, the behavior of the host family consistently disappointed Alleger and Dallion. The Indian women were sisters in the faith, but they did not seem to have the joy in their lives that would draw others to Christ.

After moving into their own apartment, Alleger and Dallion continued to learn language from and spend time with this family. They eventually realized that, even though these women sat in church every Sunday, the speaker there did not present the message in a way that nonliterate women could easily comprehend it. If the Indian women could not understand the message, then how could they apply it and pass it on?

Alleger and Dallion had been sharing simple Bible stories as a part of their language learning. In the beginning, this amounted to just four to five lines per story. However, as their language improved, they continued to gather the women from their host family and from the neighborhood into groups to tell them more stories. They challenged the Indian women with stories from the Book of Acts, and the women began to understand what it meant to be the church. Through the stories, they realized that they were the church.

Indian women listen to Bible stories and discuss how they can apply them in their lives as witnesses for Christ.

So Alleger and Dallion challenged the women to share with other neighbors. Each week, they taught the women a new story, starting with creation. At first, the Indian women were reluctant; they had never been church in this way. But with practice, starting by telling the stories within their homes, the women became bolder in sharing with neighbors. Alleger and Dallion gave the women a recording of the Bible stories in their language so they could learn to tell the stories as a group by listening to the recorded stories. The women would listen several times, discuss the story, and then practice telling it. When they gathered again, those who had told the story during the week shared how that experience had gone. The women also prayed for one another.

Soon God’s Spirit impressed upon the Indian women that they should be praying for their neighbors. They began a second meeting each week that focused on prayer. Their neighbors came asking for prayer, which provided the women with even more opportunities to share God’s Word.

As these Christian women began to understand God’s Word, their lives were transformed. Instead of bickering, there was support. If one person was lacking in food or medicines, the others shared what they had. They helped take care of one another’s children. The message, communicated in such a way that they could readily understand it and pass it on, changed the women from Sunday morning observers into a full-time family of faith committed to transforming their community.

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*Name changed. Kacee Dallion is from Florida, and Lindy Alleger is from California. They both recently served two years as journeymen with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board.

Pakistani pardoned for alleged blasphemy

Baptist Press, Nov. 22, 2010: http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=34138

Posted on Nov 22, 2010 | by Staff

WASHINGTON (BP)–A Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy has been pardoned by Pakistan’s president, according to a Nov. 22 report by International Christian Concern, a human rights organization based in Washington.

Asia Noreen (also named as Asia Bibi by ICC and various media) was sentenced Nov. 8 after a court in Pakistan’s Punjab province found her guilty of blasphemous statements against Islam’s prophet Muhammad. Under Pakistan’s blasphemy law, it is a crime punishable by death to blaspheme the Islamic prophet.

ICC stated that Noreen’s release “came after intense international pressure by politicians and church leaders as well as coverage by several media outlets.”

ICC stated that Noreen “has now been taken to an undisclosed location for her safety. In the past, Christians have been killed by vigilantes after being accused of blasphemy. On July 19, gunmen killed pastor Rashid Emmanuel and his brother, Sajid Emmanuel, while police were transporting them from the court in Faisalabad to jail.”

ICC reported that Muslim lawyers “and other fundamentalist Muslims” are preparing to demonstrate against Noreen’s release.

Jonathan Racho, ICC regional manager for southern Asia, commended Pakistan’s president, Asif Ali Zardari, “for taking the right action.”

“It’s high time for Pakistan to repeal the blasphemy laws that have caused so much persecution against Christians and other religious minorities,” Racho said.
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Compiled by Baptist Press editor Art Toalston. For reports about the blasphemy charge against Asia Noreen, see Baptist Press postings of the following stories by Compass Direct News: http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=34095 and http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=34109. Used by permission.

Condemned Pakistani woman asks authorities to hear her story

Ashiq Masih, husband of Asia Noreen, a Pakistani woman who has been sentenced to death for allegedly blaspheming Islam’s prophet Muhammad, stands with two of their daughters in front of the jail where Noreen has been held since June 2009.

Baptist Press, Nov. 18, 2010: http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=34109

Posted on Nov 18, 2010 | by Asher John/Compass Direct News

SHEIKHUPURA, Pakistan (BP)–Ashiq Masih, with his stooped posture, frail body and dull yellow eyes, stands in a small compartment in Pakistan’s Sheikhupura District Jail with his three daughters — Sidra, Eesha and Eeshum. The girls are weeping silently.

On the other side of a metal grille is Asia Noreen, the birth mother of two of the girls and the first woman in Pakistan to receive the death sentence for allegedly blaspheming Islam’s prophet Muhammad. Eeshum, age 12 and mentally disabled, whines like a baby for her mother, asking her when she will be back.

“I will be back,” she says to her daughters, as they feel their mother’s fingers through the gaps in the jail’s grille. “Don’t you worry, now.” But tears run down her face, too.

Asia Noreen, who has been sentenced to death for allegedly blaspheming Islam's prophet Muhammad, spends a few moments with two daughters after one of her court hearings on charges that she blasphemed Islam’s prophet Muhammad.

Arrested on June 19, 2009, Asia (alternatively spelled Aaysa) Noreen was accused of blaspheming Muhammad and defaming Islam. A judge under pressure from area Islamists convicted her under Pakistan’s widely condemned blasphemy statutes on Nov. 8.

“I don’t know why — when I walked into court that day, I just knew,” she said, tears returning to her eyes and her voice shaking. “And when the judge announced my death sentence, I broke down crying and screaming. In the entire year that I have spent in this jail, I have not been asked even once for my statement in court. Not by the lawyers and not by the judge. After this, I have lost hope in any kind of justice being given to me.”

In an interview with Compass Direct News at the jail northwest of Lahore in Pakistan’s Punjab Province, Noreen said the triggering incident resulted from a “planned conspiracy” to “teach her a lesson,” as people in her village about 75 kilometers (47 miles) from Lahore resented her and her family because of a few mishaps.

“What my village people have accused me of is a complete lie,” Noreen said. “I had previously had a row over a trivial issue of water running out of my house onto the street, and a man called Tufail verbally abused me. On June 14, when I was out picking falsas [a type of berry] with about 30 women, they again asked me to convert to Islam.”

Noreen said the women of the village frequently asked her to renounce Christianity while they worked in the fields, and that she refused each time.

“This time, too, I said that I saw no reason why I should leave my own religion,” she said. “They then asked me about Jesus Christ, and I told them to go and ask the local mullah and not to bother me with those questions.”

Noreen said one of the women asked her for water. After she had fetched it, she said the others told the woman not to drink water brought by an “untouchable” and “dirty woman.”

“I asked them if Christians were not human … why the discrimination?” she said. “This annoyed them, and they started verbally abusing me. We were soon engaged in a heated argument.”

She said that five days later, a mob led by Qari [one who has memorized the Quran] Muhammad Saalim burst upon her after some of the women told him about the incident in the fields. The mob pressured her to admit that she had blasphemed.

“They have been saying that I confessed to my crime,” Noreen said, “but the fact is that I said I was sorry for any word that I may have said during the argument that may have hurt their feelings.”

Police arrived as they were beating Noreen and took her into custody, where they registered a case under Section 295-C of the blasphemy laws against her based on the complaint of the imam.

“They [police] registered a false complaint,” Noreen said, “because the complainant [Saalim] was never present at the scene.”

Noreen said she has been heartbroken and shattered since the conviction. Her husband immediately tried to console her.

“Everything will be just fine, you just have to stay steadfast in your faith,” Masih told her. “All of us are here beside you. Everyone is praying for you.”

His words seemed to give her some hope, but she turned and asked Compass a question that no one has been able to answer for her.

“How can an innocent person be accused, have a case in court after a false FIR [First Information Report], and then be given the death sentence, without even once taking into consideration what he or she has to say?”

A pastor from Sharing Life Ministry who has been ministering to Noreen during her confinement and was present at all hearings told Compass that the judge had retired to his chambers three times before announcing the verdict.

“He was visibly tense,” the pastor said. “The presence of a mob outside the courtroom was instrumental in the delivery of this harsh verdict.”

Sidra, about 15 years old and one of three children born to Masih from a previous marriage, indicated she was traumatized by the attack on her stepmother.

“I saw that mob burst upon my mother, slap her and beat her up,” Sidra said, her eyes both sad and fearful. “I saw them push her hard against a wall and tear her clothes. They were abusing her. I went to free her from their grip, and I heard them say to my mother, ‘Admit that you said derogatory things about prophet Muhammad, and we will leave you alone.’ Why would my mother ever do anything like that?”

Noreen broke in, “Why was an FIR filed against me by Qari Saalim? Who is he? He doesn’t even know what I said or did.”

Noreen’s lawyers filed an appeal against the district court’s verdict in the Lahore High Court on Nov. 12, and the court is likely to take up the case soon.

Sidra said Muslim villagers have bullied her and others in the family. She said a man who has two children of his own beat Eesha, Sidra’s 12-year-old stepsister.

Noreen said police have not harmed her, unusual for Pakistani suspects in blasphemy cases.

“I was never even mentally harassed by the police,” she said, adding that fellow inmates also were treating her well.

Sohail Johnson of the Sharing Life Ministry, which has been following the case from the outset, said authorities may have been aware that the sensitive nature of the case would instantly bring it into public light.

Noreen said she has not lost faith in Jesus.

“He will rescue me from this fake case and I will return home — please ask everyone to pray for me,” Noreen said as two prison guards arrived in the barrack to escort her back to her cell.

In spite of international attention, there has been little response from the government of Pakistan or civil society. No local organization has planned demonstrations to protest the verdict, which could set a dangerous precedent.

Shahbaz Bhatti, federal minister for minorities and a Christian, has written to the Punjab province government requesting protection for Noreen and her family, both inside and outside jail. During the visit to the area, however, Compass observed no special security measures for her family.

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Asher John is a writer for Compass Direct News (www.compassdirect.org). Based in Santa Ana, Calif., Compass provides reports on Christians worldwide who are persecuted for their faith. Used by permission.

Pakistan court blocks Asia Noreen pardon

Baptist Press, Nov. 30, 2010: http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=34172

By Staff

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (BP)–A court in Pakistan blocked the president from pardoning a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy until an appeals court hears her case.

Asia Noreen (also identified as Asia Bibi by some media) was sentenced to death Nov. 8 after a court in Pakistan’s Punjab province found her guilty of blasphemous statements against Islam’s prophet Muhammad. Under Pakistan’s blasphemy law, it is a crime punishable by death to blaspheme the Islamic prophet.

Pakistan’s minister for foreign affairs conducted a three-day investigation into the case at the request of President Asif Ali Zardari and concluded Bibi is innocent and should be released, CNN reported. “This case was filed on the basis of religious and personal enmity,” Minister Shahbaz Bhatti said, according to CNN.

However, on Nov. 29 Chauhdary Hanif Khatana, deputy advocate general of Punjab province, said the president must wait to use his powers to pardon because the death sentence is not final until confirmed by a higher court.

Noreen’s defense lawyer, Khan Chauhdary, said he has filed an appeal against the death sentence but that the appeal would take two or three years to be heard, CNN reported. Zardari’s office said he would pardon Noreen if necessary after the legal process has run its course.

Jonathan Racho, a spokesman for the human rights organization International Christian Concern, expressed grave concern over Noreen’s plight.

“It’s deeply disturbing that Muslim radicals are using the legal system in Pakistan to delay the release of Bibi [Noreen],” Racho said. “We urge Pakistan to immediately release Bibi and repeal the blasphemy laws that are causing persecution of Christians and other religious minorities in Pakistan.”

Zardari has asked Bhatti to prepare a list of scholars and experts who could recommend reforms “to effectively prevent the misuse of the blasphemy law for personal and political reasons,” CNN reported.

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Compiled by Baptist Press assistant editor Mark Kelly. Used by permission.

Pakistani woman’s blasphemy death sentence appealed

Baptist Press, Nov. 16, 2010: http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=34095
Posted on Nov 16, 2010 | by Staff/Compass Direct News

LAHORE, Pakistan (BP)–A death sentence against a Pakistani mother of five is being appealed, according to attorneys for the Christian woman, Asia Noreen, who has been sentenced to die by hanging for allegedly speaking ill of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam.

“How can we expect a Christian to affirm a Muslim belief?” one of Noreen’s attorneys, Chaudhry Tahir Shahzad, told Compass Direct News in a Nov. 15 report.

Judge Naveed Ahmed Chaudhary of Pakistan’s Nankana Sahib district delivered the verdict Nov. 8 under Pakistan’s controversial “blasphemy” statute, the kind of law that would be legitimized internationally by a resolution before the United Nations condemning “defamation of religions.”

Asia Noreen’s husband and a human rights group have alleged that the judge was “bowing to pressure from Muslim extremists,” as phrased by Compass.

Shahzad told Compass that he and another attorney, Manzoor Qadir, have filed an appeal in the Lahore High Court in the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab.

Noreen, 45, is the first woman to be sentenced to death under Pakistan’s blasphemy law.

Shahzad said Noreen was accused of denying that Muhammad was a prophet, among other allegations.

Asia (alternately spelled Aasya) Noreen has been jailed in isolation since June 2009 after she argued with fellow field workers who were trying to pressure her into renouncing Christianity. Her husband, Ashiq Masih, told Compass that the argument began after the wife of a village elder sent her to fetch water in Pakistan’s Nankana Sahib district, about 75 kilometers (47 miles) from Lahore.

The Muslim women told Noreen that it was sacrilegious to drink water collected by a non-Muslim, Masih said.

“My wife only said, ‘Are we not all humans?’ when the Muslim women rebuked her for her faith,” Masih, a field laborer, told Compass by telephone. “This led to an altercation.”

The women told Muslim cleric Muhammad Salim about the incident, and he filed a case with police five days later, on June 19, 2009, according to police. On that day, Masih said, the Muslim women suddenly raised a commotion, accusing Noreen of defaming Muhammad.

“Several Muslim men working in the nearby fields reached the spot and forced their way into our house, where they tortured Asia and the children,” said Masih, who confirmed that he and his wife have five children — four girls and a boy, the oldest daughter 20.

Masih said police arrived and took his wife into custody, presumably for her own protection.

“They saved Asia’s life, but then later a case was registered against her under Sections 295-B and C [blaspheming the Quran and Muhammad, respectively] at the Nankana [district] police station on the complaint of Muhammad Salim, the local imam [prayer leader] of the village,” he said.

“Asia has been convicted on false charges,” Masih said. “We have never, ever insulted the prophet Muhammad or the Quran.”

Salim reportedly claimed that Noreen confessed to speaking derogatorily of Islam’s prophet and apologized. Under immense pressure from local Muslims, the district judge ruled out the possibility that Noreen was falsely accused, according to Masih and Sohail Johnson of Sharing Life Ministry, which is active in prisons and has followed Noreen’s case from the beginning. In spite of repeated efforts by the Muslim women to pressure her into renouncing her faith, the judge also reportedly ruled “there were no mitigating circumstances.”

The judge also fined Noreen 100,000 rupees (US$1,150), according to the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement.

Ataul Saman of the National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) said lower court verdicts in blasphemy cases usually are overturned by higher courts. Lower court proceedings take place under intense pressure, he said, with local Muslims gathering outside and chanting slogans to pressure judges. Saman added that NCJP research showed that up to 80 percent of blasphemy charges are filed against people to settle personal scores.

Rights groups have long criticized Pakistan’s blasphemy laws as too easily used to settle grudges or oppress religious minorities, such as the estimated 4 million-plus Christians among Pakistan’s population of 184.7 million.

To date no one has been executed for blasphemy in Pakistan, as most are freed on appeal after suffering for years in prison. Vigilantes, however, have killed at least 10 people accused of blasphemy, rights groups estimate.

Noreen was convicted under Section 295-C of the defamation statutes for alleged derogatory comments about Muhammad, which is punishable by death, though life imprisonment is also possible. Section 295-B makes willful desecration of the Quran or its use in a derogatory manner punishable with life imprisonment. Section 295-A of the defamation law prohibits injuring or defiling places of worship and “acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class of citizens.” It is punishable by life imprisonment, which in Pakistan is 25 years.

Between 1986 and August 2009, at least 974 people have been charged with defiling the Quran or insulting Muhammad, according to the National Commission for Justice and Peace. Those charged included 479 Muslims, 340 Ahmadis, 119 Christians, 14 Hindus and 10 from other religions.

Johnson of Sharing Life Ministry said he was impressed by Noreen’s continued faith.

“A week before the verdict, I went to visit Asia in jail,” Johnson recounted. “I asked her what she was expecting. She told me that Jesus would rescue her from this fake case.”

The verdict was shocking in that no one was expecting a death sentence for a woman, Johnson said.

Masih agreed. “Asia was hoping that the judge would free her and she would come home to be with us, but this conviction has dashed our hopes for now,” the husband said.

Authorities have not allowed him or other family members to visit his wife since the sentencing, Masih said.

“We don’t know yet how she is, but we trust the Lord,” he said. “Asia is suffering for Jesus, and He will not forsake her.”

–30–

Adapted from a report by Asher John and Brian MacDonald for Compass Direct News (www.compassdirect.org). Based in Santa Ana, Calif., Compass provides reports on Christians worldwide who are persecuted for their faith. Used by permission.

Week of December 12, 2010

December 12 : South Asian Immigrants. “Thank you for praying for summer outreach to South Asian immigrants in Africa, Canada, the Caribbean islands, and Europe. At year’s end, we give thanks for all that the Lord has done, and yet we desire to see many more South Asians coming to Jesus and forming many new churches. The work seems slow and can be discouraging to the laborers in the Father’s harvest. Pray for us to be strengthened in the Holy Spirit.” “Come on . . . Perhaps the LORD will help us. Nothing can keep the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few” (1 Samuel 14:6, HCSB).

December 13 : International Celebrations. “What do all the Christmas decorations mean to South Asian immigrants? Their faith might be Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Buddhist, and they have no idea that we are celebrating the birth of the One who could be their Savior! In the United States and Canada, Christmas is a very unique and natural opportunity to share about Jesus with South Asian friends. On the birthday of our Teacher (‘guru’), we honor Him and tell His story in every way possible. Please pray for the International Christmas Celebration outreach at Royal Heights Baptist Church, Surrey, British Columbia, and at two other Indian congregations here. Pray that in sowing the seed of the Gospel, a harvest will occur of new believers. Ask the Lord of the harvest for many who will become leaders and trained workers to ‘send out’ here. Out of the approximately 120,000 Punjabis (from an area in India and Pakistan) in our community, there are probably not more than 100 committed believers (or 0.1 percent).”

December 14 : Bhutanese Hearing the Good News. Pray for local leaders as they distribute the first voice recordings of the Gospel of Luke in a heart language that is only now being written down for the first time. This is among the first Gospel materials in their heart language. Pray in accordance with God’s Word, asking that His Word will not return void! Be in prayer for national believers who received training in how to share their faith, disciple new believers, and form new churches across Bhutan. Pray that they will be obedient in what God has asked them to do and be bold in their faith against strong persecution. Pray for those churches and believers who are being persecuted by their neighbors as well as authorities. Ask God to give them peace and the strength to face the persecution and remain strong in their faith in the Lord.

December 15 : Challenged But Remaining Faithful. Please continue to pray for the cross-cultural team serving among Bihari Muslims in Bangladesh. One of the Bengali Muslim-background couples, R and O, decided to leave the team. Ask the Lord to lead and bless this couple. The rest of the team still struggles under the weight of visa issues, a need for onsite leadership, and financial hardships; yet the team members are persevering for the cause of Christ and the sake of Bihari Muslims in need of the Savior. One Bengali team member writes: “Now we are going with many difficulties. Now we have so many challenges. But we love Bihari Muslim people. We will not go anywhere (even) if we not get any food.” Pray that the Lord God will provide for every need these team members and their families have. Keep praying for more servants to join this team that is serving among the Bihari Muslims of Bangladesh. BihariBride@pobox.com

December 16 : Seekers Find Jesus. Thank you for praying for the seekers’ meeting at the hospital. Forty people attended, 30 of whom were new seekers. That day, 19 of them became followers of Jesus Christ! They were taught how to tell their story of faith and were given six basic discipleship lessons. Pray for these as they are followed up on, asking that they will grow in their new faith and will tell family and friends about Jesus. Please intercede for the hospital and the entire Christian community during the Christmas season as they have special opportunities to introduce people to Jesus Christ. Pray that many people will want to know more about the Savior.

December 17 : True Discipleship. “The last week of October, a farmer named A led another two Muslims to Christ, and in the first week of November, they were baptized by him. This is a milestone, as it is a first-generation believer who has taken the lead in baptizing second-generation believers. Although A cannot read, he was given a solar-powered audio player with the Bible on it in his language. He is following the example of the man who is discipling him by asking the new believers three questions about the Bible that they have just listened to: ‘What does it say? What does it mean? What are you going to obey?’ Seeing this level of true discipleship occur is something to celebrate! Please praise the Lord for answering your prayers. Pray that this discipleship will happen on a consistent basis, and that the Lord will give grace for them to obey.”

December 18 : Holidays Offer Opportunities. “Christmas will be here soon. Wait – aren’t we focused on South Asian Hindu festivals here? Well, yes, but more and more people in India are celebrating some form of Christmas each year, no matter their religious background. In October of this year, an American cross-cultural worker was visited by Indian Halloween trick-or-treaters! Our American holidays are being observed more frequently in parts of South Asia, so please pray with us that Christians will take advantage of the growing popularity of Christmas to help South Asians learn the true reason for celebrating: the birth of the Savior! Pray that many Hindus will be invited (and will accept invitations) to parties or events where they can learn about the God who loves them so much that He sent His own Son to save them. Pray that these invitations will develop into friendships where Hindus can watch followers of Christ live out their faith, and pray that their lifestyles and witness will draw the new friends into a relationship with the one true God.”