International Christian Concern | October 2013

PERSECU ION

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On the day of his sister’s wedding in Kabul, Afghanistan, Obaid was stuck in India without legal status or an invitation to the wedding. Living footsteps away from one of the malls in Delhi that mark the rise of the middle-class, Obaid does not share the basic rights of the Indian citizens that shop there. In India, Obaid can’t rent a home, get a job, buy a cellphone, seek assistance from the police or visit a hospital for medi-cal attention.

In an exclusive interview with ICC in Delhi, he revealed that it’s been six years since he came to India with his wife as a refugee, after being forced to flee certain death for becoming a Christian in Afghanistan. Today, he lives in a small safe house in the city with guards outside, suffering the same fate many Afghan Christian refugees are forced to accept due to persecution.

AFGHAN CHRISTIANS IN INDIA SEARCH FOR A PLACE TO CALL HOME

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FLEEING FROM CERTAIN DEATH

Afghanistan is an Islamic nation whose laws are based on Sharia law. Afghanistan has outlawed apostasy, making it illegal for a Muslim to convert to Christianity. The penalty for conversion, as prescribed by the strict interpretation of Sharia law Afghanistan adheres to, is death. Because Afghans are perceived to be 100 percent Muslim, any Afghan discovered practicing another religion, including Christianity, is imme-diately accused of apostasy.

Obaid knows of at least 22 missing Christian converts, who are thought to have been imprisoned or executed. He believes there are around 1,000 Christians in the country who meet in small underground church-es with 10-15 members.

When his own family discovered his secret faith in Christ, they tempted him to return to Islam by offering him wealth, wives and whatever else his heart desired. When Obaid stood firm in his new faith, his family be-came agitated with him, fearing for their own safety and reputation in the community. Obaid asked them to keep his conversion a secret, only to discover that they themselves didn’t want a Christian in their family.

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S O U T H E A S T A S I AA S I A

After neighbors overheard a heated argument in the house regarding his conversion, local Muslim leaders approached Obaid’s father to si-lence the gossip about Obaid by asking him to appear in the mosque and confess that he is a Muslim. Although Obaid agreed to appear, he was only buying time to plan his escape from Afghanistan. “I thought to myself that it’s not possible to live in Afghanistan [as a Christian convert]. Even if I say that I am a Muslim, [people] will not truly believe it. They will still kill [me],” he said.

To escape certain death, Obaid’s wife sold all their wedding jewelry to pay for a flight to India on the very morning he was to appear in the mosque and declare himself a Muslim. He couldn’t leave for the airport without raising his father’s suspicion, so he made an excuse to spend the night at his father-in-law’s house, who ultimately faced the social reper-cussions for Obaid’s failure to appear in the mosque. Fortunately, Obaid and his wife were able to escape unharmed and safely made it to India.

A PEOPLE WITHOUT RIGHTS

Afghan Christians who flee to India are non-entities. They have been unofficially permitted to live in India but without any rights. A sizable population lives in Delhi and since India is not a signatory to the U.N. refugee convention, it is not obliged to give them refu-gee status.

After his passport and visa expired, Obaid had no documentation left, aside from an unrecognized UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency)card. “You show it to people. People don’t know what this is. Now you think about my situation. When I rent a house, I show this, I have to pay more money. When I purchase a SIM card they don’t accept this,” he says.

IT’S NOT POSSIBLE TO LIVE IN AFGHANISTAN [AS A

CHRISTIAN CONVERT]. EVEN IF I SAY THAT I AM A MUSLIM,

[PEOPLE] WILL NOT TRULY BELIEVE IT. THEY WILL STILL

KILL [ME].

-OBAID, A CHRISTIAN CONVERT AND AFGHAN

REFUGEE IN INDIA

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He cannot seek help from the Afghan embassy, who will not renew his passport. They even threatened to arrest him through INTERPOL for apos-tasy, until the Indian government reminded them of their jurisdiction.

At the same time, he notes that Parliament members in Afghanistan have spoken out against the Afghan Church in India, calling for serious steps to be taken against them. If he returns to Afghanistan, he would likely face immediate execution. If he remains in India, he has to live without any rights. Even if he could leave the country, he would have no place to go.

“We are also human beings in this world and we need a place to stay, the international community should find a place for us. We are not requesting or expecting them to send us to one of the western countries, like the U.S. or Australia, but somewhere! Any country where freedom of religion is given to us and we have a status,” he says.

GIVING BACK TO HIS NEW COMMUNITY OF FAITH

A few years after living in Delhi, Obaid was encouraged by Christian leaders to plant a church for Afghan refugees in the city. He now shares a basement with another church, where approximately 100 Christians gather to worship. Aside from the daily pressures of leading the church, he faces the constant threat of hostility from other Afghans, who have repeatedly attacked his church and his house for distributing tracts, in-viting people to the church and sharing their faith.

With the urgent need for resettlement abroad or recognized residency in India, Afghan refugees are struggling to keep their faith, overcome their disillusionment and reverse their descent into moral compromise to make a living.

Obaid, however, remains firm in God’s purposes for him, saying, “Today I know that the world is really evil. And I know that even if I suffer as a refu-gee in India, God put me here for a purpose to learn. There is no justice. The world is against Christ and Christianity.

“I don’t expect the world to give me something. . .I am here to give them something. The love of Christ.”

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TROUBLE in SCHOOLPA K I S TA N ’ S C H R I S T I A N C H I L D R E N L E A R N T O

E N D U R E P E R S E C U T I O N YO U N G

Aamir, a Christian, was run over by a motorbike when his evangelizing gained the attention of his Muslim classmates.

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One of the more tragic things I discovered on my trip was at what a young age Christian children are forced to face and endure persecution. Even in grade school classrooms, Christian children are reminded daily that they are inferior because of their faith and need to convert to Islam. Christian children as young as 10 told me these reminders came from their teachers and peers, and it was even part of the curriculum being taught.

Even though the persecution these children endure is intense, in some schools it’s causing Christian children to become mature in their faith earlier, producing some of the youngest and most mature Christians I have ever met.

TAUGHT TO PERSECUTE

Because the vast majority of Christians are poor due to eco-nomic discrimination, Christian parents are effectively forced to send their children to government schools where their children are forced to learn the Quran and his-tory lessons that teach hate for re-ligious minorities, like Christians.

In government schools across Pakistan, children are taught that Christians and other religious minorities are tricky, cunning, oppressive, and enemies of Islam. This curriculum of hate has produced generations of Pakistanis that are prejudiced and hostile towards Christians.

Even Christian children privileged enough to go to private Christian schools in Pakistan face persecution and discrimination from their Muslim peers who make up the majority of their classmates. It is in a situation like this that I met one of the strongest young Christians I have ever met.

CHRISTIANS CANNOT FOLLOW JESUS CHRIST, EVEN IF THEY WANTED TO BECAUSE

THEY LACK AUTHENTICITY.

-QUOTE FROM A FIFTH GRADE TEXTBOOK USED IN PAKISTAN’S

PUBLIC SCHOOLS

AAMIR’S STORY: SPIRITUAL ENDURANCE AND BRAVERY

I met with Aamir, a 16-year-old Christian boy studying at a private Christian school. With his leg in a cast, Aamir had to be assisted by his father as we made our way into his sitting room to start our inter-view.

As Aamir learned about Christ and his ministry in the Gospel, he couldn’t help but share what he was learning with the peo-ple around him, including his classmates, many of whom are Muslims. The fact that Aamir was willing to openly share his faith with Muslims was both shocking and amazing because almost all of the adults I talked to about shar-ing their faith with Muslims would get nervous at the mere mention of the idea. “Ministering to Muslims is a very dangerous thing here in Pakistan,” an experienced pastor warned me.

“My classmates were interested in hearing about what I was learn-ing in church and during my daily devotions,” Aamir said. “They were especially interested in the miracles in the Bible. Each day, I would share another miracle with my class-mates.” The more people became interested in Aamir and his faith, the more at risk the young teen

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BECAUSE THE VAST MAJORITY OF CHRISTIANS ARE POOR

DUE TO SYSTEMATIC DISCRIMINATION, CHRISTIAN

PARENTS HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE BUT TO SEND THEIR CHILDREN, AS YOUNG AS 5

YEARS OLD, TO GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS. THERE, THE

CHILDREN ARE FORCED TO LEARN THE QURAN AND SKEWED VERSIONS OF

HISTORY THAT TEACH HATE FOR RELIGIOUS MINORITIES,

LIKE CHRISTIANS.

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became. Soon, he began receiving threats and on April 1, as Aamir was riding home from school, he was attacked by two masked men.

“They drove up next to me and knocked me off of my motorbike,” Aamir said. “Then they started to beat me severely with sticks. While I was on the ground, one of them got on their motorbike and ran over my leg several times.”

Still in a cast and bearing the scars he received from the attack, Aamir told me that he didn’t know who the masked men were, but assumes they were family members of some of his Muslims classmates who were upset with him for sharing the Gospel at school. After the attack, less of Aamir’s classmates were interested in hearing the stories he had been sharing. Many of the Muslim students he shared with won’t even associ-ate with Aamir anymore.

THE BEGINNINGS OF A CHRISTIAN GIANT?

When I asked Aamir what he is going to do now, he said that he would continue to share stories from the Bible with his classmates no matter if they are Christians or Muslims. He even expressed interest in start-ing a small group where he and his classmates can discuss the stories he is telling. Even though Aamir’s life has already been dramatically af-fected by persecution, he is still brave enough to continue his ministry.

Later reflecting upon Aamir’s boldness and bravery, I began wondering what God’s plan is for Aamir and Christian children like him in Pakistan. Many passages in the Bible say the hottest fires produce the purest gold and silver. Is this God’s intention when He allows Christian children in Pakistan to face persecution at such young ages? Whatever God’s plan, I do know I had the privilege to tell the story of one Christian boy who, despite the intense persecution he has faced, is willing to openly share his faith.

As I left Aamir and his father, he had one final question for me: “Can I pray for you?” he asked. Again shocked by the maturity of this young man’s faith, I consented and we prayed together, for each other and persecuted Christians everywhere. I feel truly blessed to have been able to meet Aamir and tell his story. Pakistan simply needs more Christian leaders like him.

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R E C E N T LY, A S YR I A N C H R I S T I A N S E N T I CC T H E F O L LO W I N G N OT E :

“As Syrian Christians, we used to live in peace under Assad. Assad is not a perfect man, yet he gave the Christians freedom and rights the same as Muslims. We could wear what we wanted and we had churches all over the country.

“Then when the uprising started, we began to see many Islamist jihadists from Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. They began to kill us (the Christians) and other minorities who are considered infidels. The Islamists killed us with knives and even decapitated some and burned down our churches.

“Now, Christians are not welcome under their Islamist rule. No Western country will give us visas. Many times, we feel like the whole world, want to see the Christians of Syria slaughtered!”

Since the civil war in Syria began, Christians have increasingly suffered attacks from radical Islamists. ICC receives reports of murders, rapes, and other atrocities committed against Syrian Christians on a daily basis!

“WE FEEL LIKE THE WHOLE WORLDWANTS TO SEE THE CHRISTIANS OF

SYRIA SLAUGHTERED!”

Help us Bring Relief to Syrian Refugees!

Refugee camps

In the past 18 months, a staggering 2 million Syrians have fled their country to seek refuge in neighboring countries. Syrian Christian lead-ers are asking for our help for those Christians who have fled. Unable to work, they are desperate. Help is necessary to sustain the families and very little aid has come to them so far.

We are working directly with churches on the ground to provide the basic needs of food and shelter, so that children and families can stay intact and healthy. To meet the need, we are partnering with other Christian groups to provide food for these Christians.

The great news is that ICC will match anything you give towards these Christians, dollar for dollar. If you give $50, we will pitch in $50. If you give $100, we will pitch in $100 making your gift $200, effectively doubling your gift. We will do this for the first $10,000 donated.

Would you join us today as we provide care for those who are fleeing Syria? As always, we will use your gifts efficiently, ethically, and effectively, to assist the Christians vic-timized by this civil war. I promise!

We are committed to feed 1,000 individuals for one month as our part of the partnership, but need your help.

$45 will feed one Christian for a month

$225 will provide food for an entire family for a month

$4,500 will feed 100 Syrian Christians for a month

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