Due to their involvement in helping build churches for impoverished Christian communities in Pakistan, Javed David, head of Hope for the Light Ministries in Lahore, and his associates, have been receiving death threats since February of this year.
The latest incident occurred on April 4 (though it became public knowledge in May). According to David:
I had been to church in Sheikhupura to attend a meeting with colleagues. It was 8 o’clock in the evening when we left to return to Lahore. We were about to reach the main road when a motorbike drove up and blocked the way. Maybe they were following us. The two bikers were wearing a helmet. One of them came up to my window and spoke to me. “We know what you are doing here,” he said. “Stop building churches. Convert to Islam, which is the true religion. Otherwise we will make a horrible example of you.”
On February 22, a similar incident occurred after he visited another church under construction.
On that occasion too, I was going home when a motorcycle stopped in front of me. The driver knocked on the window and threw in a piece of paper. I did not open it before I got home. It said, ‘This is an Islamic nation. We cannot allow church building. Either you convert to Islam or you leave this country! Stop building churches or you’ll pay the consequences!”
Leave a Reply