BILL WARREN, President Mid-Atlantic Baptist Network
Buy a Book, Lift a Burden!
At the time of her arrest, Asia (pronounced, “AH-see-ah”) Bibi was 37 years old. At home were a husband and two daughters, one of them with special needs. Her family was only one of three Christian families in a village of 1,500 families. Asia worked on a local farm with Muslim women many of whom pressured her to renounce Christianity and accept Islam.
On Friday, June 19, 2009, the women engaged in an intense discussion about their faith. The Muslim women told Asia about Islam. She responded by:
• Telling them about her faith in Christ,
• Asking them what Mohammed had done for them,
• Proclaiming that Jesus is alive, but Mohammed is dead; and
• Reportedly stating that “Our Christ is the true prophet of God, and yours is not true.”
Upon hearing this, the Muslim women became angry and began to beat Asia. Some men then took her and locked her in a room. Later she was transferred to a local jail and seventeen months later convicted of committing blasphemy. She was sentenced to death. In July, 2015, the Pakistani Supreme Court overturned her death sentence and ordered a full review of her case. Twelve months later no further progress has been made. Asia continues to languish in a Pakistani prison. Her husband and two daughters continue to languish socially and economically under the whip of persecution.
You can help them, however, by purchasing a copy of my book, JAM: Sweets for the Soul. This book is a compilation of some of the radio spots I have delivered for the last twenty years. The cost is $12.95. Since the publication of the book in 2014, every penny of the profits has been given to free slave children in Pakistan and to assist persecuted Christian families in that nation. As of today, however, all the profits will be used to assist the family of Asia Bibi.
You can buy copies of JAM online at www.sweetsforthesoul.org. Below is a sample of the entries.
Can’t Run Away
In the summer of 1861, Wilmer McLean had experienced all of the Civil War he wanted. The two combating armies had fought their first major battle all across his farm in Manassas, Virginia. A Union shell had even ripped through his summer kitchen.
So, McLean moved his family out of harm’s way to a dusty little crossroads town called, Appomattox Court House. There in his living room three-and-a–half years later, Lee surrendered to Grant. McLean correctly said, “The war began in my front yard and ended in my front parlor.”
Some things you just cannot run away from—like the deep need in your heart to know the love of God. You can try to ignore that need by filling your life with busyness, but it will always follow you.
Please…buy a book and lift a burden. Thank you.
Bill Warren is Senior Pastor of Allen Memorial Baptist Church, Salisbury, Md.