Police arrest a suspect in the Pakistan Bible Society attack last week.

Pakistan (MNN)-A powerful blast outside of the Pakistan Bible Society happened shortly after police received an anonymous telephone warning the church would be targeted.

The explosion is the first attack on Pakistan’s small Christian community for more than a year. Police in Karachi, Pakistan, say that Shamim Ahmed, whom they arrested Saturday, is connected to the blast. He is also reportedly a member of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, the radical Sunni Muslim group behind several attacks on Christians and Shi’a Muslims, including the October 2001 deadly attack on a Church of Pakistan service in Bahawalpur.

Voice of the Martyrs’ Todd Nettleton believes the car bomb was a message sent by Islamist extremists. “They’re against any type of evangelistic activity, and so it seems that this bombing was done to send a signal, not only for the Bible Society and the works that they’re doing, but for other Christian groups as well. ‘If you continue to evangelize Muslims in Pakistan, you will be a target.'”

Nettleton says they were concerned because, at the time of arrest, police also seized a cache of explosives and found a bomb-making factory. He urges prayer for their operatives. “We do have representatives in Pakistan, who I’m sure will be in contact with them. But our work in Pakistan is working to build the church there, working to help Christians who are effected by this type of persecution, help them to rebuild their lives, help them to continue reaching out to Muslims, with the hope of the Gospel.”