They heard the sound of the engine first. Turning, "Shafia" and her mother "Mariya" saw a man on motorcycle racing toward them across the field. It was "Masood". He pulled next to them and leapt off. Masood fired a pistol into the air and shoved Mariya to the ground. He struck Shafia and dragged her to the motorcycle, forcing her to sit in front of him. "If you speak, I'll shoot you," he said, pressing the pistol into her back. Before Mariya could stop him, Masood opened the throttle and sped away.
He took Shafia to his house. Inside, he flung the young Christian into a room furnished only with a mat on the floor. This room would be her prison~ and torture chamber~ for the next four months.

 

A History of Harassment

Pakistani Christians like Shafia are treated worse than second-class citizens. They are called "chora", which means "low-caste sweeper". They are the last to get jobs. Courts, the police and other authorities are often biased against Christians, who number just 2 percent of the population. Shariah law, based on the edicts of the Quran, is increasingly being applied. This Islamic law permits violence against Christians or those of other faiths. It also permits the killing of Muslims who leave Islam. So, tragically, the kidnapping and assault of Shafia in September 2007 was not out of the ordinary.
Shafia, now 20, grew up in a Christian family and was baptized in 2002. Her father died in 1990 and her family - her mother, sister and two brothers-      struggled to survive. Her older brother, "Rafi", worked in a cotton factory to support Shafia's education. Rafi led his siblings and mother in prayer each evening.
Shafia's brother, Rafi, stood up for the Christians in their community. He publicly confronted Muslims who tormented Christian young women. They threatened to kill him. Once some boys with a pistol stopped him as he passed through a sugarcane field but he escaped.
On July 3, 2004, three Muslim men who befriended Rafi came to speak with him. He went out and sat with them under a mango tree. They gave him a drink spiked with sleeping pills, and he passed out. One of the men shot Rafi in the head, killing him instantly. The three men then threw the 19-year-old's body in the bushes beside the main road. A passerby found him the next morning.

 

I Cried to the Lord

The family was devastated. They had lost their spiritual leader and their provider. Shafia was angry. "I wanted to see the killers behind bars," she said.
To seek justice Shafia would have to pay a high price. People in Pakistan must fund the prosecution of crimes against them. Corrupt officials demand money in order to do anything. The family sold their house, livestock and land for money to pay for a court case against the three men who killed Rafi.
After two years, the family was out of money. The court told them their case would be dropped if they could not pay.

 

Enter Masood. At first, Masood seemed like a knight in shining armor. Though he was Muslim, he promised to help the family with their case. He claimed to know a federal officer who would help them. Masood gave Shafia some paperwork. Telling her it was for her brother's muder case, he asked her to sign them. A few months later, Shafia and her family heard rumors circulating in the village that Shafia and Masood were married. He had used her signature to forge a marriage certificate. Village leaders pressured Masood until he signed a divorce agreement.
Three days later, on Sept. 25, 2007, Masood rode up on his motorcycle and kidnapped Shafia at gunpoint.

 

"Convert, or Die"

Masood kept Shafia on the top floor of a two-story house behind locked doors. Every night he violated her repeatedly.
Sometimes he also came in the afternoon to violate her. Afterward, he beat her. He punched her, slapped her and slammed her head against the wall.
While he attacked her, Shafia prayed constantly, crying out to the Lord to save her. "I was reciting Psalms 23, 120 and 121 in my heart. It was encouraging to me that the Lord is really my shepherd, and He was going to release me soon. So I got strength," she said.
Masood told her, "If you convert to Islam, I will stop beating you." But she stayed strong, telling him, "Christianity is my religion, not Islam. I am a Christian, and if you want to kill me then kill me, but I will not accept Islam."
"Daily, I checked the door," said Shafia. After four months in captivity on Jan. 11, 2008, Masood forgot to lock the doors. Shafia slipped out and fled to her family's house, where they shed tears of joy at her return.

 

Trusting God's Justice

Though they were reunited, the family was in a desperate situation. they borrowed a huge amount, $217, from a brick kiln owner to file a case against Masood. To pay the debt back, the whole family worked as indentured slaves at a brickyard. In these brickyards, which are all over Pakistan, many Christians, like Shafia are enslaved by debt to the wealthy owners. They toil at brick kilns making bricks by hand.
All 11 of Shafia's family members lived on the brick kiln property in a small mud room with no kitchen and no bathroom. They worked 12 hours a day. For every 1,000 bricks they made, they earned $3. Even Shafia's young nieces and nephews were forced to work.
The family's faith in God sustained them. "Daily in the evening we had a prayer meeting at home with my family. I feel strong in my faith when we read the Word," said Shafia. Every Thursday, they attended a prayer meeting at the New Apostolic Church..
The Bible helped heal Shafia's mind, too. She told a VOM worker, "Previously, when I was pursuing my court case against my brother's killers and against the person who raped me, I didn't forgive them. I wanted to take revenge... Then, I read and heard in the Word that we should forgive our persecutors. This took about a year. Now, I have forgiven those who persecuted me. The Lord can do anything. He will do justice with me."
 

Freed From the Brick Kiln

 

Our VOM team in Pakistan heard Shafia's story and interviewed her in July 2008. One month later the team paid the family's $217 debt to the brick kiln owner with money from our Families of Martyrs fund.
The VOM team also bought a rickshaw, which the family will use to start a taxi business. Shafia's younger brother, "Malik", will ferry people between the village and bus stop. He expects to earn around $50 a month, which will provide enough to pay for the family's food and living expenses.
"Prayer is everything to us," Shafia told our VOM team. "My brother Rafi always encouraged me to pray. He said we must pray in every situation... My family and I had a great experience with your actions that God never leaves His people... you step up and provide us this great help. Surely this is the answer out of prayers." The team and family shared a thanksgiving prayer.
Shafia wants to continue her education and become a doctor someday. VOM will pay Shafia's tuition costs at the Government College for Women.
"We feel it is a great honor and blessing from God that He is using us for His glory," wrote our leader in Pakistan after he met with Shafia. He has helped with the rescue of 11 other families from brick kilns.
Shafia's family is already holding a prayer meeting for friends and neighbors in their home, and Shafia wants to start a Sunday school. "It is my desire that I can preach and teach about the Jesus Christ among the people and children of our village, so they can also spread the Word of God and live in Jesus Christ with strong faith like me."
Our Pakistan team received a letter of thanks from Shafia after her rescue. She wrote,

"I am very thankful to God who gave me a new life. He saved me from all the troubles. My family and I love Jesus Christ very much, and we want that all people of my village come together and pray. We will spread the Word of God everywhere in the world."

Please remember Shafia and all those like her, suffering to share their faith in Pakistan. May we cry out to the Lord for their rescue.