Pakistan: Wife of elderly Christian shoemaker murdered by mob dies of grief

Posted on August 20, 2024 by Pastor Foley

Alla Rakhi, the widow of an elderly Pakistani Christian shoemaker who was murdered in May by a mob on accusations of blasphemy, died of a heart attack less than a month after her husband’s death. Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr Hyun Sook Foley calls the death tragic and says it highlights the “chain reaction” of persecution and the need to care for families of martyrs and the communities they leave behind.

The news follows a previous report by Voice of the Martyrs Korea and other Christian aid groups that on May 25, up to 2,000 gathered in the city of Sargodha in Punjab Province in response to an accusation broadcast over mosque loudspeakers that Nazeer Masih Gil, a 72-year old Christian shoe factory owner, had burned a copy of the Quran.

“According to reports from our partner Release International, Nazir’s son tried to reason with the mob, apologizing if his father had mistakenly done anything wrong,” says Representative Foley. “But the mob would not listen.”

She says members of the mob filmed themselves kicking and beating the elderly Christian until he was unconscious and then looting his shoe factory and ransacking his house. They allegedly posted these videos on social media.

“Our partner, Release International, reported to us that the same mob stoned police when they tried to intervene and hurled bricks at the ambulance when it took Nazeer Masih Gil to hospital,” says Representative Foley. He died from his injuries nine days later.

Representative Foley says that 72-year old Alla Rakhi, Nazeer’s widow, was so traumatized that she was unable to speak.

“The couple’s son, Sultan, said that from that point on, ‘The tears in her eyes never dried,’” says Representative Foley.

Reports say that on Friday June 21 the family called for emergency medical aid in response to Alla Rakhi experiencing chest pains. The emergency team gave her medicine but told her that no doctors would be available because of the Islamic weekly holy day, so she remained at home. Family members say she died of a heart attack an hour later.

“In less than a month, as a result of a false accusation of blasphemy likely motivated by jealousy over a Christian’s business success, this family lost both parents and its shoemaking factory, which was burned to the ground by rioters,” says Representative Foley. “This leaves behind two grieving sons, five grieving daughters, and families now without work due to the damage to the business.”

Representative Foley says the granting of bail to the murder suspects and the limited investigation by the police into the crime also add to the family’s burden.

Martyred Christian shoemaker Nazeer Masih and his wife, Alla Rakhi. (Family photo)

“There was even a rally after Nazeer’s death in which organizers showed their support for the killings, demanded that suspects be freed, and warned that others should expect to die like the Nazeer for their alleged blasphemy,” says Representative Foley.

The claim of blasphemy against Nazeer is the ninth blasphemy claim made in the city of Sargodha since 2023 according to sources.

“There is a ‘chain reaction’ where one act of persecution in a community often leads to more acts of persecution in that same community,” says Representative Foley. “All Christians are called to faithfully witness to the Lord Jesus Christ even at the cost of our lives. The Bible tells us that suffering for Christ is an honor. But this subsequent death of Alla Rakhi due to grief is a tragedy. It shows how persecution impacts not only the one who is persecuted, but their family members and even the whole religious community. It highlights the need for Christians globally not only to honor the martyrs but to care for the families and churches they leave behind, and to stand with them and help them make sense biblically of what they are experiencing.”

Representative Foley says that Voice of the Martyrs Korea sent 10,000,000 KRW in aid last month through Release International to support persecuted Christians and their families who choose to stay, or who have no choice but to stay, in settings of persecution in Pakistan.

“Often when Christians around the world hear stories like this one about Nazeer Masih Gil and Alla Rakhi, their first thought is to help them escape the country to go somewhere ‘safe’. But in cases like these in Pakistan where Christians are falsely accused of blasphemy, helping those Christians flee often makes attackers more bold to assault the Christians who remain. It can also make the Christians look guilty and weak, and the witness to the gospel is silenced in the very places where such a witness is sorely needed. Supporting persecuted Christians to stand firm where they are helps make their communities safer for other believers in the future, and it helps make a positive witness for the gospel. But it means we have to be vigilant to stand with them and to share the stories of their faithful, suffering witness around the world.”

Donations to Voice of the Martyrs Korea’s Families of Martyrs and Prisoners (FOM/FOP) fund can be made at http://www.vomkorea.com/donate or via electronic transfer to:

국민은행 463501-01-243303

예금주: (사)순교자의소리

Please include the name “FOM/FOP” on the donation.

Posted in pakistan | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Burkina Faso: Christians chased from homes by jihadists find strength in new Bibles

Posted on August 6, 2024 by Pastor Foley

“What happened to us weakened our faith, but we are lifted through our local brothers and sisters and this gift.” That is the word from Zalissa, a Christian refugee from the north central region of Burkina Faso who along with her family was forced to “run for our lives” during a jihadist attack on her village.

The gift received by Zalissa and her family—and 2,713 other displaced Evangelical Christian families in Burkina Faso–was a pair of Bibles in her native dialect. The Bibles in the Moore, Gourmachema, Diula, and Fulfude dialects were given by Voice of the Martyrs Korea in partnership with its sister mission Voice of the Martyrs Poland. Those groups have been working in cooperation with local churches in Burkina Faso to try to care for the country’s small beleaguered evangelical Christian refugee population amidst what some aid groups are calling one of the most neglected refugee crises in the world.

“Only one-fifth of the Burkinabe population is Christian, but they are the ones most affected by the attacks of the Muslim extremists,” says Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr Hyun Sook Foley. She says thousands of Christians have had to flee their homes since 2023, and many have lost their lives in the attacks. According to the National Emergency Response and Rehabilitation Council (CONASUR), a Burkina Faso state agenda, the total number of displaced people in Burkina Faso has now topped 2 million, with more than 300,000 Burkinabe being displaced in a single week.

With the United Nations estimating 20% of the population of Burkina Faso needing humanitarian aid, international groups have mobilized to provide food, water, and shelter.

But according to Voice of the Martyrs Representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley, her organization has partnered with Voice of the Martyrs Poland and local churches to focus on one overlooked need for Evangelical Christians: Replacing their Bibles.

“During the intense persecution, many of these Christian families lost their most treasured possession – their family Bible,” says Representative Foley. She says that without the Bible it is difficult for Christians like Zalissa to make sense of the persecution and difficulties they are experiencing. “As Zalissa told Voice of the Martyrs, fleeing from her home weakened her family’s faith, but receiving the Bible—and the hospitality of the local church—‘lifted’ them up.”

Zalissa (second from left) and her family receive Bibles after being forced to flee from their home due to attacks by Muslim extremists.

Representative Foley noted that some of the Christian refugees were receiving Bibles for the first time, including Fatimata, the mother of a family who found refuge in Tamsin, in north central Burkina Faso.

“For many years, we prayed and asked God to provide Bibles for us, but we could not afford them,” Fatimata told Voice of the Martyrs. “So, we are so happy to thank donors from Europe, Asia, and America. Thank you so much to each of you.”

Representative Foley noted that the Christians received Bibles not only for their own families, but also to give to their unsaved neighbors. She says the request came from the Christian refugees themselves and was the reason Voice of the Martyrs Korea decided to participate in the project.

“These Burkina Faso believers rightly value the Word of God,” says Representative Foley. “Even as jihadists continue to hunt them down, they are focused not on their own safety but on glorifying God by spreading his word.”

Fatimata (third from left) and her family receive Bibles after finding refuge in Tamsin.

Representative Foley says that Voice of the Martyrs Korea sees Bible distribution in major zones of conflict as one of the ministry’s core competencies and most important responsibilities. “Voice of the Martyrs Korea is not a mission organization but instead a partner with local Christians living under persecution or pressure,” says Representative Foley. “Any time a major conflict threatens an area, that’s when people in that area instinctively turn to God and become open to the Bible. Sometimes missionary organizations evacuate their personnel in such times, or they urge their missionaries to be cautious. But local Christians have nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. Even as refugees, they still have to find work and provide food to their families and gather as church. God then seems to give these ordinary local Christians a special boldness to preach the gospel and share the Bible with their neighbors.”

Representative Foley says that Voice of the Martyrs Korea is also currently conducting Bible distribution campaigns with Christians in Laos and Ukraine. Individuals interested in supporting Voice of the Martyrs Korea’s Bible distribution efforts can give at https://vomkorea.com/en/donation/.

Posted in Burkina Faso, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

China: Elderly parents thankful their daughter can experience Christ’s sufferings in prison

Posted on July 17, 2024 by Pastor Foley

Li Yanping, 61, of the Baode House Church in Xinzhou City, Shanxi Province, began a seven-year prison sentence at Shanxi Women’s Prison on March 15, 2021 for allegedly illegally organizing others to cross the national border—the typical charge given by Chinese police for Christians who lead trips to Christian conferences abroad. According to her husband who was able to visit her in prison recently, Sister Li is in overall good health except for calcium deficiency and growing memory difficulties. But according to her elderly parents, Sister Li is receiving something precious in prison.

Li Yanping and her husband from the Xinzhou Baode House Church (Source: “China’s Five O’clock in the Afternoon”)

“They are grateful that their daughter is able to share the sufferings of Jesus Christ,” says Voice of the Martyrs Representative Dr Hyun Sook Foley.

Representative Foley says that while the idea of Chinese Christians viewing imprisonment and suffering for their faith as a privilege may sound unusual or extreme to Christians in other parts of the world, it has biblical backing.

“In Acts 5:40-41, after the Apostles were beaten by the Jewish ruling council, scripture says they were ‘rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name’,” says Representative Foley. “The Apostle Paul, who wrote many of his letters while in prison, said in Philippians 1:12 that his imprisonment ‘has actually served to advance the gospel’.”

Representative Foley says the gospel is advancing through Sister Li Yanping’s imprisonment.

“Sister Li’s husband, Zhao Chundan, says that even though his wife is not permitted to read the Bible in prison, and even though her memory loss has progressed to the point where she can no longer remember many scriptures, she is still preaching the gospel to her fellow prisoners,” says Represenative Foley. She says that seven or eight of Sister Li’s cellmates have now become believers.

But Representative Foley says that Christians in the rest of the world should not romanticize or minimize the pain and suffering of Christians suffering for their faith in prison. “The founding scripture verse of Voice of the Martyrs is Hebrews 13:3: ‘Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering’,” says Representative Foley. “When Paul was in prison, he asked Timothy to come quickly and to bring his coat and his scrolls. Everyone had left him, and no one was present to care for him. Even today, Christian prisoners and their families are primarily dependent on the body of Christ to care for them.” 

Representative Foley says that in the case of Sister Li Yanping, her husband says she has particular concern for her parents.

“Sister Li’s parents are in their 80’s,” says Representative Foley. “She hopes that the members of her church and her family will take on the roles she would normally fill as their daughter in caring for them,” says Representative Foley.

Representative Foley says that Christians around the world can help care for Christians in prison by praying for them as according to the scriptures, by writing them letters when their prison addresses are known and they are able to receive mail, and by providing aid to them and their families through reputable organizations.

Voice of the Martyrs Korea offers a free resource on ten biblical ways to pray for persecuted and imprisoned questions at www.vomkorea.com/en/prayer. It lists prisoners of faith who can currently receive letters, as well as instructions on how to write them, at https://vomkorea.com/en/prisoner-profiles/. Representative Foley says that while Sister Li is not currently able to be listed, five other Chinese Christian prisoners are included, as well as Christian prisoners from Iran, Eritrea, and North Korea. Information on how to donate to support families of martyrs and prisoners can be found at https://vomkorea.com/en/donation/.

Individuals interested in learning about Voice of the Martyrs Korea’s work in partnership with the house church Christians of China can visit https://vomkorea.com/en/china/.

Posted in China | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment