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Christians worry as parliamentary elections seek change in Pakistan

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf's party received a resounding defeat in Parliamentary elections this week. His opponents are likely to fall short of the numbers needed to seek his ouster, reports MNN. Pakistan Peoples Party, which won the most seats in the new Parliament, said it would not move against Mr. Musharraf if it could not muster the two-thirds majority needed to remove him or change the Constitution. As these political winds blow, Christians believe the Pakistani government will become more radical, causing problems for Christians.

Tom Doyle with E3 Partners just returned from the region and says all of Central Asia is difficult for Christians. "You look at Afghanistan and Pakistan and India, and Iran is in that mix, too. Those are just four really volatile nations. One of my friends said recently, 'We're just one car bomb away from Bin Laden taking over the country, if he's still alive."

According to Doyle, this doesn't bode well for Christians. "It's a symbol of the West. It's democracy and all of that seems to be in peril. And that's going to be difficult for the Christians because they're always linked to America."

While the church has been oppressed, Doyle says, "There's been a lot of evangelism, a lot of discipleship, [and] church planting."

He says this shows that "the average person in Central Asia is very open to the Gospel. They're sick of radical Islam. There's just an openness wherever you go, but for the [Christian] leadership, it's very difficult because their life is constantly being watched, and they're constantly in danger."

Doyle says, "God is blessing. There's a lot of fruit, so the worst place to live is the best place for Christ. That's where it's fruitful and growing, and the Light shines greatest in the darkness. But it sure is difficult for the Christian leaders there."

Where oppression continues, E3 Partners is providing encouragement and training. And they're "making sure they have all the resources they need -- EvangeCube -- different things that will help them plant churches--like Bible commentaries. We bring teams in where it's appropriate and go into villages."

E3 Partners is recruiting believers to help sponsor pastors in these difficult nations. "You can team up with a pastor and church planter that's moving around the country in Central Asia and starting new congregations. And that's what's needed. That's the goal: to get a church in every village."

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[02/22/2008]

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