Valiant Pakistan Christian needs YOUR HELP

Shamim Masih and wife Namja

John R. Houk

© September 21, 2015

You may have seen Shamim Masih’s name on many a guest post on my blogs. Shamim is from Pakistan with, in my opinion, an unfortunate circumstance. He is a Christian in a Muslim majority nation that claims the odd duality of being a secular republic and an Islamic republic.

The Western Union link to send funds to Shamim is this: Send Money Online (You may need to include Shamim’s phone number for identification purposes: +92-300-642-4560).

Pakistan became an independent nation in 1947 when the former British raj divided India along the lines of religion; viz. a West and East Pakistan as Muslim and the majority of the Indian subcontinent as Hindu. In both sides of the partition there were and still are minorities smaller than the Muslim majority and Hindu majority.

The person credited for pushing the partition of India was Mohammed (alternate spelling include Muhammad) Ali Jinnah who viewed that an independent India would marginalize the significant sized Muslim minority on the subcontinent. Jinnah promised a secular republic that all people no matter their religious faith would have political equal rights, but the emphasis would be Islamic. The problem for Pakistan is that Jinnah died a little over a year after Pakistan independence in 1947.

Some people of note wonder how successful Jinnah would have been to institute the vision he proclaimed for Pakistan if he had lived longer. To make things short in regard to Pakistan’s current political status, Pakistan quickly devolved into an Islamic Supremacist nation in which political rights and privileges became dominated by the Sunni-Islam majority. Roughly this translates that all the minorities of Pakistan (including Shia-Muslims and Ahmadi-Muslims) were treated with disdain and persecution. This disdain was institutionalized by the Sunni leaders that dominated the Pakistani government.

Just as a short aside, India has developed a more democratic representative government than Pakistan. The Indian governing elites have had a better history in at least attempting political equality between Hindus vs. the minorities. BUT there has been a history of strife between the Hindu majority and India’s minorities and even within Hinduism due to that religion’s caste system.

We don’t hear much about Pakistan in the American press except once in a while in terms of cooperating and/or hindering the war being prosecuted in Afghanistan due to Islamic terrorism perpetrated on September 11, 2001. Islamic terrorists under the guise of al Qaeda attacked American soil that resulted in nearly 3,000 immediate deaths which grows even in this present day as the past rescue effort has had continuous effects. BUT the American press should pay more attention on how Pakistan’s Sunni leaders and populace has made that nation one of the most dangerous for minorities to live in for the entire world:

IN ITS latest global report, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) described Pakistan as presenting one of the "worst situation(s) in the world" in respect of liberty of thought. It cited the authorities' "grossly indequate [sic]" response to attacks on Shia processions and mosques which had cost hundreds of lives; the fact that the Ahmadis, who follow a religious teacher of the 19th century, are denied the right to call themselves Muslims, deprived of many other civil rights, and virtually disenfranchised; forced conversions and kidnappings affecting both Christians and Hindus; and above all a blasphemy law with a very low threshold of proof, which can easily be invoked in the course of petty quarrels unrelated to religion. 

 Over the past month, the news about religion in Pakistan has become worse, whether this is measured by the behaviour of officialdom or the horrors suffered by ordinary folk at the hands of terrorists or fanatics. … READ ENTIRETY (How to stop going from bad to worse; By B.C.; The Economist – Erasmus; 3/27/15 15:09)

Shamim Masih (far right) with Katchi Abadi slum Christians

Shamim Masih is a Christian Human Rights activists who is also a journalist by profession. In the last few years he has been a voice crying in the wilderness trying to expose this blatant inhumanity that effects Pakistani Christians. Here is just a small example of the risks a Christian faces in Pakistan:

It all started with the promise of what seemed to be an innocent shopping trip with a friend. But when the 12-year-old Christian girl traveled into the town of Lahore with her friend one day last January, she had no idea that everything in her world was about to go terribly wrong. 

 She was kidnapped by the friend’s uncle and driven more than 120 miles away, where she was subsequently raped and forced to sign papers consenting to marriage to the man. And when she refused to give in to his demands that she convert from Christianity to Islam, she was severely beaten. 

 The nightmare continued for the next eight months, as the girl was repeatedly raped and beaten until she finally converted. Fortunately, she eventually managed to escape from her abductor and contacted her parents to tell them of her whereabouts. 

 But the family’s troubles were far from over. When the kidnapping was investigated, it was revealed that, although the girl’s father had reported her missing eight months before, the police had never looked into her disappearance. And when Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, a militant Islamic group, contacted the authorities about the young girl, they produced a marriage certificate claiming that she was married to one of their members — despite the fact that the legal age for marriage in Pakistan is 16. To make matters worse, the authorities suggested to the girl’s family that if the girl was not turned over to her “legal” husband, charges would be filed against them. 

 … 

 The State of Christian Persecution in Pakistan 

 ·       The abduction, forced marriage, and conversion of Christian girls by Muslims has become a disturbing trend in Pakistan; in fact, it is estimated that as many as 700 girls are abused in this manner each year. In most of these cases, the authorities rarely take action and the girls are never returned to their families. If the girls are raped and become pregnant, it is nearly impossible for the courts to release them from their captors. 

 ·       If a girl does manage to leave her Muslim family and attempts to return to Christianity, she is considered an apostate and is liable to be killed, despite the fact that she was forcibly converted. 

 ·       According to Jonathan Racho with International Christian Concern, “Rape has been used as a weapon of persecution against Christian girls in Pakistan, where Christians are treated as third-class citizens. In the Muslim majority country, Christian girls are particularly vulnerable to these types of crimes because Muslim authorities are reluctant to protect them when their rights are being violated by Muslims.” 

 ·       Nazir Bhatti, president of the Pakistan Christian Congress, has stated that over 99.9 percent of rape cases involving Christian women go unreported. 

 … (Persecution In Pakistan; Christian Freedom International)

Shamim has been reporting on these kind of incidents for quite some time. In case you haven’t figured it out, this means Shamim Masih risks his life every time his name is on something in print.

Easter Packages for prisoners outside Adayla Jail April 2015 

Shamim, as far as I am aware of, is not an ordained minister, BUT he often does the work of a minister by visiting the Christian imprisoned, Christian victims of violent Muslims and I have viewed pictures of him involved in ministry to Pakistani Christian children. 

Rape Victims - Sehrish (18yrs) & Farzana (14yrs) with Shamim 12-2014

I want to emphasize the work of Shamim because is a guy VERY WORTHY of financial support. I’ll be honest to my fellow Americans. Supporting Shamim is not going to be a tax deduction unless you find a 501(c)(3) organization in the USA willing to send funds to this valiant Christian in Pakistan.

Photo Right - Shamim Masih with Christian Students

Pakistan Christmas with Shamim Masih ministering

The best way to support Shamim Masih directly is through Western Union which will exchange your American dollars into Pakistani rupees. Shamim merely has to go to the nearest Western Union agent to where he lives. The Western Union link to send funds to Shamim is this: Send Money Online (You may need to include Shamim’s phone number for identification purposes: +92-300-642-4560).

If you live outside of the USA Western Union is quite international. Find the link for your language and Western Union will exchange your currency into Pakistan Rupees as well. Go to Western Union HERE and you can choose the nation you are from and the language will change accordingly and currency you can use.

Western Union

You should also be aware Shamim Masih is a family probably the same as you and I. He has children. Children need to go to school to receive an education. According to Wikipedia here is the Pakistan official stance on education for children:

… Article 25-A of Constitution of Pakistan obligates the state to provide free and compulsory quality education to children of the age group 3 to 16 years. "The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years in such a manner as may be determined by law".^[3] 

 The education system in Pakistan is generally divided into six levels: Primary education (for the age from 2.5 to 5 years); primary (grades one through five); middle (grades six through eight); high (grades nine and ten, leading to the Secondary School Certificate or SSC); intermediate (grades eleven and twelve, leading to a Higher Secondary (School) Certificate or HSC); and university programs leading to undergraduate and graduate degrees.^[4] (Education in Pakistan; Wikipedia; Last Modified – 9/11/15 18:35)

Public Education in Pakistan is based on the Islamic Supremacist model:

Islamic extremism in Pakistan has its roots in the country’s educational system. As long as religious hatred is taught in school text books, discrimination and intolerance towards minorities will continue to thrive among young people. 

 Schools are at the heart of the problem but at the same time, they are the key to defeating terrorism and religious extremism in Pakistan. Many are adamant about this: experts, educators, bishops, civil society organisations, politicians and scholars alike. “For as long as the jihad begins in the classroom and religious hatred is fostered through state school text books, it will not be easy to imagine this country as one that exudes tolerance, a peace-building country that strives for harmony,” Professor James Paul Anjum explained to Vatican Insider. Mr. Anjum is a Christian and President of the Pakistan Minorities Teachers’ Association (PMTA). (The christians minorities in Pakistan: the problem in the education system; Written by Early Christians; EarlyChristians.org; 7/28/15 00:00)

Christian children that are brave enough to attend Pakistan’s public schools will face discrimination and derision from the Sunni Muslims. Their texts books will about how peaceful Muhammad was even though he slaughtered Jews and Christians as he pillaged his way to dominate the Arabian Peninsula. While you listen and read this as a Christian student you probably will learn that Jesus not only never died on the Cross but also was not the Son of God. So you can guess the level of education for Christian children is much diminished unless you pay for that education.

… In Pakistan it is very common for Christians to be relegated to work in the least desirable fields. Among many jobs the most common are cleaning people’s private residences and collecting and disposing of garbage. There are several reasons this is so but one of the most obvious reasons is that the Christian community in Pakistan cannot afford to educate itself. Education is expensive and the Christian community lacks the resources to pay for a proper education. The inability to access a better education causes Christians to hand down these bad jobs to their children and perpetuate a negative cycle. (Need for Education in the Christian Community of Pakistan; Christians in Pakistan)

A few days ago I received this email from my valiant Christian friend Shamim Masih:

This is the actual situation, I am suffering with: Today the school management sent back to home my children due the non-payment of school fee for the last three months.

I queried Shamim what kind of tuition he was looking at for his children in terms of U.S. dollars. Shamim emailed back $300.

Surely there ten Americans willing to donate $30 or thirty Americans willing to donate $10. Even if Shamim receives an excess of his children’s educational needs, he is truly a workman worthy of your support. You may even wish to send a monthly support for Shamim and his family’s needs especially as long as the Lord is providing protection in an Islamic Supremacist nation.

The Western Union link to send funds to Shamim is this: Send Money Online (You may need to include Shamim’s phone number for identification purposes: +92-300-642-4560).

JRH 9/21/15