Pakistan (MNN) — Forgotten Missionaries International’s Twice as Far campaign has almost reached its end, but there is still time to donate.
Mollah
He went from training suicide bombers to becoming a Christian dedicated to the Gospel. Mollah (name changed for security) demonstrates the power of the Holy Spirit working through the Bible to change lives.
(Photo courtesy of FMI)
“He would teach them about the suicide vests,” says Bruce Allen of FMI, “how to detonate and all this sort of stuff. And when he got his hands on a Bible, it changed his life radically. He gave up his militant Islamic views. And now he says, ‘I fully expect to give my life not because I’m wearing a suicide vest, and will blow people up for the sake of radical Islam. But I give my life now to Christ to share the Gospel with my friends, with my neighbors, with my family.’”
Today, he not only distributes Bibles, but also shares Christ from Scripture to the people in Pakistan.
Twice as Far campaign
The campaign will end on February 29, but FMI has announced that any funds over the original matching number of $50,000 will now be matched up to another $50,000. That means the campaign could receive up to an additional $100,000 in matching funds.
(Photo courtesy of FMI)
“That is so exciting,” Allen says, “when we know that these Bibles are going to some of the darkest areas of the world spiritually. And yet there’s such a hunger for the Bible. It’s just the people in these areas have severely limited access to it.”
These funds will go towards the distribution of both print and digital Bibles, both of which individually cost about seven dollars. Allen points out that while in the West Christians may own multiple Bible, in many countries one Bible “owns” many readers. So any size gift will have a big impact.
Pakistan trip
“Going into Pakistan,” Allen says of an upcoming trip, “I’ll actually be taking hundreds of Bibles with me, and yet all in just my carry-on luggage. These are the micro SD cards that are available in the Farsi or Persian language.” These Bibles are being handed out at a conference for church-planters in Pakistan.
Allen says Believers in Pakistan face many challenges, including pressure from the culture around them. For example, Muslims in the region don’t see divorce as a serious issue and pressure Christians to act the same way. Allen says the last time he went to Pakistan, the Bibles he brought were all claimed before he even got home.
Challenges
(Photo courtesy of FMI)
Pakistan is listed as one of the worst places for Christians to live due to persecution. But as the recent bus attack in Kenya showed, the threat of militant Islamic groups extends into predominantly Christian countries as well. Two Christians were executed in the attack, and one Muslim man was killed for trying to protect them.
Allen says, “It’s the Al-Shabaab terrorist group out of Somalia, which neighbors Kenya . . . And they’re just rifling the buses with bullets. Aiming mostly for tires . . . Then they offload the folks from the bus. Obviously, everyone is terrified at that point And they ask the passengers to recite the Shahada or the confession of Islam. If you cannot recite that, you’re executed.”
Pray for church planters in predominantly Muslim countries, that they would have resilience and grace and would be kept safe from harm.
And pray that through the Holy Spirit, Christ would change the hearts of militant Muslim fighters, transforming them as He did Mollah.
