Voice of the Martyrs, 23 June 2022 (excerpts)
Sahid and his wife, Memona, have 6 children and live in a small Hindu village in Pakistan. In April 2022, a Hindu religious leader and one of Sahid’s relatives confronted Sahid and Memona about their Christian faith. The religious leader questioned why the couple had not attended Hindu festivals or participated in Hindu prayers.
The leader and Sahid’s relative threatened them to renounce their faith in Christ, but they remained firm. Around 2 weeks later, their home was set on fire, and the 2 youngest children were killed. When they notified the police, the authorities tried to pressure them to claim the fire was an accident.
All Pakistani Christians face difficulties, discrimination and persecution because of their Christian identity. Some take great risks to witness to Muslims, baptize converts and gather them into churches, and many Christians are working tirelessly to equip, encourage and educate Christian youth. Some boldly share the gospel and distribute God’s Word in Muslim neighbourhoods and cities, some of them home to extremists like Taliban.
Approximately 98 percent of Pakistanis are Sunni and Sufi Muslims. There are roughly 4 million Pakistani Christians, nearly 2 percent of the nation’s population.
Christians converts from Islam and Pakistanis born into Christian families are persecuted by their communities, Islamic extremist groups and the government.