As you see these many faces pray for the Christians of Pakistan and pray that the gospel will go forth in the power of the Holy Spirit and prevail. – Dr. Draper

Pakistan is one of the most diverse nations in the world with more than sixty languages and dialects. The population ranks eighth in the world with 168 million people living in a landmass twice the size of California. Pakistan was formed in 1947 as a Muslim state partitioned off from British India. In the civil war of 1971 East Pakistan left Pakistan to form Bangladesh. Pakistan historically has been under military rule that deposed elected governments at will. The constitution establishes Islam as the state religion. Evangelism among Muslims is banned and in some cases is punishable by death. In 1998, Sharia law was adopted in Pakistan. Under Sharia law Christians have very limited rights.

Many Pakistani Christians are serving the Lord at great sacrifice. Christians in Pakistan face severe opposition from militant Islamic groups, including imprisonment, torture and even death. Many Pakistani Christians have been falsely accused under Law 295c of blaspheming Mohammed or the Quran, a crime punishable by death. Courtrooms packed with militants have often pressured judges into returning a guilty verdict or continuing the trials indefinitely.

Christians are regularly barred from jobs or face troubles from their employers and co-workers. Christian merchants are often harassed. The war in Afghanistan has intensified these problems as Pakistani Christians are seen as being a part of an attack on Islam. In court, a Christian man’s testimony is worth only half that of a Muslim man’s testimony. A Christian woman’s testimony is worth only a quarter, so Christian women and young girls are easy targets for rape and justice for them is elusive.

One of the best sources of information concerning the work of the gospel in Pakistan is Voice of the Martyrs. Tom Nettleton with Voice of the Martyrs said recently that even though Christians are facing incredible persecution, the church is growing. “Depending on the area of the country where you are, it can grow openly above ground. In other areas, particularly the areas that have recently gotten under the control of the Taliban, the church is forced to grow in a sort of quiet way.” Many Christians have left the Taliban-held areas for fear of their own safety but there is still a Christian witness there. Nettleton reported that there are still some solid believers committed to reaching Muslims for Christ who have elected to stay in the area. Nettle said, “They don’t do this lightly. They face incredible risk, literally risking their lives to be in that area, to be a follower of Jesus Christ in a place that’s controlled by the Taliban. The Taliban believe that any Muslim who follows Jesus is an infidel and should be killed.”

Please pray that the Lord will be pleased to bless the work in Pakistan. Pray for the ministry of the pastors who are laboring in the cities of Lahore, Islamabad, Faisalabad, Narowal, Sangla Hill, Chichawatni, and Peshawar, Dorogawala, Sahokimalian, Sheikhpura, Saleem Kot, Jodu, Kacha Paka, and Kasur. Pray for the Christians who are faithfully serving the Lord in the midst of grave opposition and persecution. Pray that the gospel of Christ will go forth in the power of God. When Paul took the gospel into Ephesus, there were many who opposed him and the witness of the gospel itself. But God blessed the preaching of Paul and turned the hearts of the people so that the Bible records, “Many that believed came and confessed.” So mightily did God bless the preaching of the Word that in the three years Paul was in Ephesus, the Bible tells us that all Asia heard the message of Christ. That is amazing. The only explanation the Bible gives us for the powerful ministry Paul had there is recorded in these words: “So mightily grew the Word of God and prevailed” (Acts 19:18,20). The gospel triumphs for it is still the “power of God unto salvation to all who believe. Pray that even in Pakistan the Word of God will continue to grow and continue to prevail over all its enemies.

This year we faced a great frustration which I believe was a spiritual warfare. I was to leave for Pakistan on April 11 and to be there through May 3. I was assured that the Pakistan visa should be issued by March 27. The visa did not come. We were in contact with Travisa and with the embassy on a daily basis. I am grateful for several Pakistani brethren including the consulate in New York who personally urged the embassy in Washington to issue the visa. Every day we expected the visa to be granted and we had to make sure on a daily basis that there was a seat available on the plane the next day. When the visa was not issued we had to start all over the next day. I was concerned that the visa might be denied which would make it even more difficult to obtain a visa in the future. On Tuesday night, April 18, I received a call telling me the visa would be issued the next morning. We immediately made plane reservations for the following day. But, again, the visa was not issued. This continued until Saturday, April 21, when the visa was granted. When the visa did arrive the Pastor’s conference had already taken place and the crusade was already under way.

I said earlier that I see this as a spiritual warfare. Several people have reminded me that God is sovereign and that He was probably protecting me by not allowing me to go at this time. One Pakistani pastor said to me, “Perhaps there was a danger we do not know about.” I certainly believe God is sovereign and that He protects His servants. But God could protect me in Pakistan just as easily as He could protect me in Rome, Georgia. I see this as a spiritual warfare. We are making our plans to continue our work in Pakistan and I still believe God has set before us an effectual open door that no man can close. Pray that God will give us wisdom as we seek to serve Him and that door will remain open.

Despite all of this, I am pleased to report that we were able, because of the faithfulness of so many Christians who have supported this ministry, to send ahead 10,000 dollars to finance the crusade and the pastor’s conference. That work has gone right on and God has been pleased to bless it in a mighty way. We serve a God who will never leave Himself without a witness. Pastor Younis Farhat has been used of God to step into the gap and make up the hedge. He has preached in the crusade and also in the Pastor’s Conference in my absence. Younis Farhat is pastor of the only Pakistani Baptist Church in Atlanta: The First Asian Indian Baptist Church of Metro Atlanta. He came from Pakistan in 1992 at the invitation of the Georgia Baptist Convention and the Southern Baptist International Mission Board. He is a courageous and effective servant of God and I am pleased to be working with him in these days.

Pastor Farhat tells me that there were 115 baptisms in the city of Saleem Kot Thursday night and another 40 baptisms on Tuesday night in Kusar. This is so important. Those who are baptized in the crusades are people who have been reached by the Pakistani churches. These are small house churches meeting all over Pakistan. When former Muslims are saved it is very difficult and dangerous to baptize them. Many times the Muslim community does not realize a church is meeting there. To baptize in a pubic canal would be very dangerous. We are able to provide a safe place for them to be baptized and when they are baptized publicly there is great rejoicing on the part of the church. It is a blessed thing to behold. I believe there will probably be another three or four baptismal services and that there may be well over two hundred to be baptized. I think that is one of the clearest signs of the ministry of the Pakistani church. I believe the New Testament profession of faith was baptism. I rejoice that the Lord is raising up the church in Pakistan and faithful pastors to proclaim His grace to a graceless world.

In the next few days I hope to share with you, my readers, more of what God is doing in Pakistan and especially what is happening in the crusade. Please pray for the Christians of Pakistan and for the faithful pastors who preach the gospel and who feed the flock of God in these most trying times.

In the past, going into places like Russia and Ukraine I was able to take others with me.  We could share the expenses, and it was not a hardship on anyone.  The last time we did a medical mission in Ukraine it was very expensive, but there were fifty-two people traveling together and several churches were involved. The expenses were shared by a great number of people.

When I go into places like Pakistan and Siberia I need to travel alone.  It would be very difficult for the people there to provide security for several Americans traveling together but it is not a problem if there is only one.  Consequently, there is no one there who can share the expenses.

The expenses in Pakistan are indeed great.  In Lahore we had almost three hundred pastors from all over Pakistan.  We had to provide food and lodging for them as well as a safe place to meet. When we went out into the country side we had to provide tents to meet in and security guards to protect the people from attack.  That many unarmed Christians meeting together would be an inviting target.  The people who came went through metal detectors to insure there were no suicide bombers present.  When we put them on buses to send them home at night it was late.  Many of them had not eaten.  Jesus said on a similar occasion, “Ye need not send them away: feed them.”  So we did.  We were in a different place under the tents every night and the crowds ranged from 900 to 1500.  We could feed a hundred people for less than a hundred dollars but if you are trying to feed fifteen hundred people it is still a challenge.

The Pakistani mission is the most expensive mission trip we have ever had.  Last year, I spent twenty-three thousand dollars.  Almost all of that was for lodging, travel in Pakistan, security for the pastor’s conference, and for the people who came to the services.  I did not see where we could cut back anywhere.

I was in the pastorate for thirty two years.  Whenever there was a need in the church life, whether financial or otherwise, I sought to do two things:  trust the Lord and tell the people.  That is what I am doing now.

In the next few days I am going to be posting to the website and Facebook pictures from our last mission to Pakistan, and I will also be sharing some of the reports from last year.  Many of you read those reports and followed us daily.  I will also be posting films documenting much of what we did last year to Youtube, and these will be linked to the website (trumpet.org) and to Facebook.

Please pray with us as we prepare for the mission this year.  Also pray about whether you should partner with us not only through your prayers, but also financially.  Let the Lord lead you.  There are many who tithe to their church and additionally give sacrificially to this ministry.  I thank God for them.  I do not ask them to give more.  But I pray that our sovereign Lord will place it on the hearts of others to want to give.   If you wish to write to us, our address is Post Office Box 2459, Rome, Georgia, 30165.  Also, you can give directly from the website.

Over the next few days, look for the reports from last year, and rejoice with us at what the Lord is doing through this work, and especially rejoice that the gospel is preached in Pakistan.

The Psalmist said, “Our GOd is in the heavens: He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased” (Ps.  115:3).  He is the God who always does what he pleases and is always pleased with what He does.  I am “confident of this very thing that He which hath begun a good work in His people will continue to perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”  (Phil 1:6).