Pakistan (MNN) ? Today, 250 Christian families are being evicted from their homes in the Khanewal District of Pakistan by their Muslim landlords. The reason? They stood up against the landlords and their sons raping their wives and daughters.
Sadly, when these Christian families spoke up, they went against the norm for treatment of women in Pakistan. Greg Musselman of Voice of the Martyrs, Canada said of women there: "They have virtually no rights, and so these abuses go on all the time; to try to get justice is very difficult."
Musselman shared an example. "In one case, I remember a young lady we had met who was sexually assaulted by the owner of the home [she worked in]. Before she could get to the police station, ... the family that she was working for went to the police station and had her charged with theft. She was arrested and was raped again by this same young man--and also a prison guard."
The protests by Christians have created a stir, and now they are losing their homes because of it. Musselman said Muslims are using this to intimidate Christians and to prevent them from speaking out again.
Without their homes, believers have little or no options. "A lot of them are left homeless. They do go with families, and Christians in other areas and churches will try to help them. But the Christian population is pretty small in Pakistan, so it's very, very difficult for them," Musselman said.
While the Gospel is spreading throughout Pakistan, it is slowed by reluctant and fearful hearers who know how they will be treated if they become a Christian: "There's an intimidation against the church, and people there would think twice before they would maybe consider being a Christian, because they would know what would lie ahead," Musselman said.
Pakistani believers and non-believers alike need your diligent prayers. Musselman said, "We need to be asking the Lord that justice would prevail in Pakistan. We know through church history that it not always happening, but we need to continue to appeal to the Lord for that."
In addition to prayer, "We also can be making our voice heard to our embassies in Canada and the United States ... to let them know that we are concerned," Musselman said.
You can find contact information for the U.S. Embassy or the Canadian Embassy in Pakistan on either of their Web sites.