Awake America

     Awake, America.  That is the message Pastor Moses (not his real name) came to tell us last night at a meeting at our church.  We don't usually have a church meeting on Tuesday night so a special meeting was arranged because he was passing through the area and our pastor thought we needed to hear first hand how Christians were treated in Pakistan.
     Pastor Moses said he had come to America, fleeing Pakistan, because he found out the Taliban were trying to kill him and had put a bounty on his life.  He was not using his real name because his life would be in even more danger if someone put his name on the internet, such as on Facebook.  He showed photos of his friend Bhatti's funeral.  Bhatti was the only Christian member of Pakistan's federal cabinet.  He was assassinated March 2.  See article here.
    Because Pastor Moses loves Jesus and feels called to help the Christians in Pakistan, he will be returning soon.  He asked for our prayers for protection.  He has a wife and three little children, but said he is ready to die for Jesus if it must be.
     He said that America and the West are asleep to what is happening all over the world.  Islamic extremists put to death 200,000 Christians every year, and yet we are allowing them to make inroads into our country and our lives.  He said he has studied the Koran, and then he proceeded to quote several verses that say Muslims are to persecute and kill Christians and Jews, the infidels.   Yet we continue to believe the publicity that Islam is peace loving and to invite them into our communities to build mosques and attempt to change our laws to implement sharia.
    He said he was grateful that Usama Bin Ladin had been killed, but that there are thousands of Bin Ladins in Islamic countries.
    His message was that we must wake up before it is too late.  We must pray for our brothers and sisters who are being persecuted and killed.  We must teach the Bible to our children so that they have a foundation to stand on when persecution comes to us.  He pointed out that Muslims pray 5 time a day.  Their children study the Koran from the time they can read.  This indoctrinates them into being ready and willing to live and die for their religion.  We, too, must be prepared.
     It was a very sobering meeting.  He mentioned the freedom he felt in the U.S.  I found myself feeling embarrassed for the way we Americans take freedom for granted and how we abuse it.  I left the meeting thinking how trivial so much of our lives have become because of the freedoms we enjoy.  I found myself praying that we will wake up before it is too late.