http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35654804
The Christians held in Thailand after fleeing Pakistan
By Chris RogersBBC News, Thailand26 February 2016
There is a very urgent need for practical, powerful prayer in behalf of Pakistani Christians who have fled to Thailand, but are now incarcerated or kept in dire living conditions. The U.N. is to investigate each case, but one family that has been there for a very long time, and is in extreme suffering, must wait until 2018 for this to occur. Although these hundreds, or thousands, of Christian Pakistanis are UN-registered asylum seekers, supposedly under UN protection, they still find themselves in long-term suffering through separation from families and/or imprisonment.
Police in Thailand, tired of waiting for UN help, break into the overcrowded, dingy rooms where asylum seekers live, often taking the husbands and fathers from the family. An example is given of a ma who has lived in a "small, sparce room with no kitchen or toilet" with 10 family members for two years, and who was arrested and taken from the family two months ago. He explains that in Pakistan "a gang threatened to kill [his] family if they didn't convert to Islam."
A 19-year-old's comment probably speaks for the majority when she says that they do not have any faith in the United Nations, but they "only have faith in God. He will bring us freedom." We need to be moved with compassion and help with powerful prayer and voicing of Truth in their behalf. The Scriptures give us examples that parallel situations such as these. Of the many to consider, there is the well-known narrative of Moses who freed the children of Israel after 400 years of hard slavery. They were held by Pharaoh who would not budge in his decision to keep them in bondage. But the Law of God was present, and the Spirit of Truth inevitably brings freedom. Man is not made to be held in bonds or to be imprisoned.
The result of Moses' obedience to whatever God told him to do or say was that hundreds of thousands were freed and walked out of Egypt in plain sight. This law of God is present today with the Christians in Thailand. They are holding to forgiveness and to Christ's example. Good is powerful, and ever-present. Love frees. God fills all space and is in the prison and in the simple shelters. "Where the spirit of God is, there is liberty." Let us hold to this prayer until we see a break in this situation and the people are freed. Let us know that there is no power to hold up right action in the UN -- that there is nothing to delay God's Law, justice and mercy, so the people can be free, the families can reunite, and the conditions for living be normalized. Let us pray to realize the presence of Love and power of Good.
Again, "Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." And Spirit fills all space!
There is a very urgent need for practical, powerful prayer in behalf of Pakistani Christians who have fled to Thailand, but are now incarcerated or kept in dire living conditions. The U.N. is to investigate each case, but one family that has been there for a very long time, and is in extreme suffering, must wait until 2018 for this to occur. Although these hundreds, or thousands, of Christian Pakistanis are UN-registered asylum seekers, supposedly under UN protection, they still find themselves in long-term suffering through separation from families and/or imprisonment.
A 19-year-old's comment probably speaks for the majority when she says that they do not have any faith in the United Nations, but they "only have faith in God. He will bring us freedom." We need to be moved with compassion and help with powerful prayer and voicing of Truth in their behalf. The Scriptures give us examples that parallel situations such as these. Of the many to consider, there is the well-known narrative of Moses who freed the children of Israel after 400 years of hard slavery. They were held by Pharaoh who would not budge in his decision to keep them in bondage. But the Law of God was present, and the Spirit of Truth inevitably brings freedom. Man is not made to be held in bonds or to be imprisoned.
The result of Moses' obedience to whatever God told him to do or say was that hundreds of thousands were freed and walked out of Egypt in plain sight. This law of God is present today with the Christians in Thailand. They are holding to forgiveness and to Christ's example. Good is powerful, and ever-present. Love frees. God fills all space and is in the prison and in the simple shelters. "Where the spirit of God is, there is liberty." Let us hold to this prayer until we see a break in this situation and the people are freed. Let us know that there is no power to hold up right action in the UN -- that there is nothing to delay God's Law, justice and mercy, so the people can be free, the families can reunite, and the conditions for living be normalized. Let us pray to realize the presence of Love and power of Good.
Again, "Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." And Spirit fills all space!
