News / Thoughts

“Fear of ISIS will not prevent me”

Saif* is a young Christian who leads a small community of Christian families in Gujranwala District, Pakistan.

“I had no training, but they needed a pastor so I took the lead to serve my people,” he says. “I soon realised that I was ill-equipped.” Saif started attending the ALIVE Bible School, a training institute sponsored by Open Doors, for Christians who have no formal biblical training. “As my knowledge of God’s Word grows, so does my passion to be a good shepherd to my people,” Saif says.

The people in Saif’s town are illiterate. His goal is to educate them in the word of God.

“I can partner with ALIVE to bring literacy courses to my people. I can teach literacy skills while also teaching them about God.”

‘We do not have much time’

ALIVE prepares Christians for ministry in places of persecution and hardship. Rehana* runs Sunday Schools in Quetta – a province bordering Afghanistan and Iran.

“We do not have much time,” she says. “We have been warned by the police that ISIS (Islamic State) is in Quetta. If we must suffer, I want to share the gospel as much as possible so that we will die for Christ.” The ALIVE Bible school gives her courage.

“I am not a victim, but a victor,” she shared. “I will not let fear of ISIS prevent me from encouraging my students to glorify God and look like Jesus. I prefer the Jesus story to the ISIS story.”

Thanks

Open Doors trains Christians and church leaders so that they can stand strong for Jesus. Thanks to your support, during 2014, Open Doors trained over 308,000 Christians facing persecution or discrimination. Courses included theological training, dealing with persecution and trauma counselling.

* All names changed for security reasons.

Source: Open Doors

Please pray…

• For the work of the ALIVE Bible school in equipping Christians to serve their communities
• For protection for Open Doors training projects around the world
• For people like Rehana and Saif, serving God in areas where being a Christian is dangerous.

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