(HT: Justin Taylor)

Pakistani Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti has been shot dead by gunmen who ambushed his car in broad daylight in the capital, Islamabad.

He was travelling to work through a residential district when his vehicle was sprayed with bullets, police said.

Mr Bhatti, the cabinet’s only Christian minister, had received death threats for urging reform to blasphemy laws.

Later in this same article…

Pakistan’s blasphemy law has been in the spotlight since a Christian, Asia Bibi, was sentenced to hang in Punjab last November.

She denies claims she insulted the Prophet Muhammad during a row with Muslim women villagers about sharing water.

Although no-one convicted under the law has been executed, more than 30 accused have been killed by lynch mobs.

Critics say that convictions under the law hinge on witness testimony, which is often linked to grudges.

Please read the entire article from the BBC – here.    Also please check out Mr. Bhatti’s video on the BBC site (embedded below); it’s a stirring testimony of strength and faithfulness.  But above all, please pray for Pakistan!

Partnering with both local and international churches, Helping Hands (a Greek NGO) and International Teams (an international missions organization) work together to share the love of Jesus with refugees in Greece.  The vision of our ministry is to see the lives of refugees transformed by Jesus: “to plant gospel seeds in the lives of refugees that take root and bear the fruit of life transformation in Jesus Christ.” We seek to share Christ through acts of gospel demonstration (e.g. feeding, clothing, and shelter ministries) and words of gospel proclamation (e.g. preaching, teaching, and discipleship ministries).

God is at work in Athens.  As many refugees in Greece come from nations with little or no Christian witness (e.g. Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Somalia and Sudan), through our ministry hundreds of refugees each year hear the gospel and meet practicing Christians for the first time.  New disciples are being baptized.  Lives are being changed! And as these new believers leave Athens (whether they continue further into Europe or return to their homeland) they take the gospel with them – sharing Christ with others and starting fellowship groups throughout Europe and the Middle East. Indeed, God is reaching the nations through Athens!

What an opportunity to join God’s global work!  I love Athens!

The International Association for Refugees (IAFR) just posted the 2010 world map of the refugee highway.  It’s a great visual of where refugees come from, where they’re going, and some of the stops along the way.  You can see that Athens is a major path for those coming into Europe from Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and Palestine (in addition we see a fair number of Africans – from Moroccans to Somalians, and everything in between).  Download a copy for yourself – Refugee Highway Map 2010 – and thanks for your continued prayers!

I and Somalia against the world.

I and my clan against Somalia.

I and my family against the clan.

I and my brother against the family.

I against my brother.

Please pray for Somalia.  What other hope does it have? Pray that the gospel will penetrate deeply into this broken nation – transforming hearts and homes, villages and cities, broken systems and broken people across this desperate land.

(ht: Tim and Rachel)

Poverty is not new in Afghanistan, of course. The country was one of the world’s poorest even before it was decimated by nearly 30 years of successive civil conflict. Today, more than 25,000 Afghan women die yearly during pregnancy, childbirth or after delivery. Average life expectancy is 44. One in four children will die before age 5. Seventy percent of the country does not have access to clean water, and half live on less than $1 per day.

Read the entire article HERE and continue to pray for Afghanistan!

We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.  Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.

2 Thes. 1:3-4 (ESV)

Could we pray that during this period of persecution the faith of the Farsi-speaking church would grow abundantly, and their love increase?