Witnessing in Pakistan

My name is Shahzad Gill, and I’m from Lahore, Pakistan. The most difficult life in the world is a refugee's life...

I’ve been persecuted in Pakistan in the name of Jesus Christ. I was forced to flee my country in October 2018 to save my life from Islamic extremists.

Christian people in Pakistan have no freedom to speak openly about their faith “in Christ.” Some Muslims have burned our houses and churches in Pakistan over the past decade. I know this personally because I was an eyewitness of the Joseph Colony Incident on March 9, 2013, where the mob attacked about 100 houses because of the alleged blasphemy of a Christian man (Sawan Maish). After all this, these Islamic extremists falsely accused me of blasphemy in 2018. Because of this, I was forced to flee my home country. Many Christians are not safe in Pakistan. In Pakistan, many Muslim people insult us, persecute us, and say all kinds of evil things against us falsely because of Jesus Christ. They hate Jesus Christ so much because they do not believe that He is the Son of the Most High God.

My Experience After I Fled My Homeland

First, we’re all very thankful to the LORD God who kept us safe here in Sri Lanka. Second, we’re all very thankful to our Australian Christadelphian brothers and sisters who have helped us spiritually here in Sri Lanka.

I highly appreciated our worldwide efforts of the brothers and sisters, which helped us to understand the Most High God accurately, just as they had helped many others before our baptism.In Sri Lanka, in the Indian Ocean, through being exposed to the Christadelphian doctrine, we understood God’s purpose that men should stop being selfish and start loving one another. This means that people should stop doing many of the things which they do now: hating each other, hurting each other, trying to push themselves forward ahead of others and wanting more and more for themselves.

After coming to the Christadelphians, we read the Bible for ourselves to find the Truth. The Bible teaches us that there is only one God, and He will care for the poor and needy. The Christadelphian Daily Bible Readings helped us to learn more about God and what He wants.

I highly appreciated our worldwide efforts of the brothers and sisters, which helped us to understand the Most High God accurately, just as they had helped many others before our baptism. After being baptized, our life, paths and ways of talking changed through the Scriptures. This is our testimony, and whenever we meet with anyone, we share our faith with them and describe to them just how our lives changed. Then some ask us “How is it possible?” We answer, “Try it yourself, to read the Scriptures, because the greatest proof that the Scriptures are true is in your own experience—if you try the things that it asks of you. Find out what is written in it, do what God has asked and then discover for yourself that the promises that God has made are true. The worldly things have indeed a show of wisdom but are not of any value against the indulgence of the flesh. We have the mind of Christ, which leads us to the Father and tells us how to overcome fleshly desires.”

Some then realize that they also want peace, just as we had and have “in Christ.” They start to ask us “How can I/we get this peace?” We tell them, “Come to our Christadelphian ecclesia. We welcome you in our ecclesia, and we will reveal every mystery to you, which will lead you to the one God the Father.” We then pass along a true confession of our faith and help them to understand the true doctrine taken directly from the Bible. When they get the knowledge of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, then their knowledge alone is not enough, because when you learn the will of God for us, then you must be baptized to live a new life “in Christ.” After baptism they recognize that they’ll also be “in Christ” and their sins will be forgiven, and they’ll be free to make a new start. These above said things we learned from our Australian brothers and sisters here in Sri Lanka in the Christadelphian Refugee Ecclesia.

All Christadelphian Pakistani asylum seekers face many problems in Sri Lanka, but our Australian brothers and sisters have helped us greatly. All Christadelphian Pakistani asylum seekers face many problems in Sri Lanka, but our Australian brothers and sisters have helped us greatly. We are very grateful to our brothers and sisters who continue to teach us from time to time in the knowledge of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the great mysteries continue to be revealed to us in incredibly beautiful ways. Through the understanding of these mysteries, we love our LORD God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind and with all our strength. We meet God through the Bible and understand how He wants us to be.

Now, we know by learning how to live in a way that will please God. Before joining the Christadelphians, I didn’t exactly know about God properly. I believed that I knew Him, but paradoxically I really didn’t. I am thankful for Bro. Tim Galbraith, Bro. Ken Chalmers, Bro. Greg Hurn, Bro. Karl Balloch and Bro. Chris Carmody (and others) who revealed Bible truth to me. I had felt very sorry about all the wrong things that I had done, but God revealed Himself to me through His Scriptures, and I realized that I want to do everything that I can to obey God and show love to everyone.

I’m also very grateful to all my Sri Lankan brethren and sisters, for we worship God the Father wholeheartedly here in Sri Lanka.

I just want to quote one verse:

I pray that the LORD, God who is the truth, may give us all wisdom in the knowledge of Him and help us to not just read His Word, but to put what it teaches into practice. This way we can all serve God for His purpose in one body in Christ, and we honor Him in every area of our lives. We’ll shine before men in the knowledge of God, so that they may by our “good works which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.” (1 Pet 2:12). May we all worship Him wholeheartedly, everywhere. He always keeps us safe in His hands. God, the Almighty Father, we want our lives to make You known to the people around us. Give us the courage to live generously and let our actions be filled with humility and love, so that they bring You glory and draw others close to You. All this I ask and receive in the name of Your begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. (Amen)

God bless you all.

Shahzad and Jonthia Gill,
(Sri Lanka Refugee Ecclesia)