Pakistan is a country in turmoil. The spread of religious extremism has led to almost daily acts of terror – many of them targeting Christians and other religious minorities.

The UN’s Refugee Agency says that ‘The Christian minority in Pakistan is subject to recurrent discrimination and harassment, as well as acts of religiously motivated violence, at the hands of militant groups and fundamentalist elements…’ On 11 August, Pakistan marks its National Minorities Day.

Last year Pakistan’s Supreme Court ruled that President Nawaz Sharif’s government should set up a framework to protect religious minorities. Yet the government hasn’t been able to do this yet, with the result that Pakistan’s Christians continue to suffer daily. We’re working with our partners in Pakistan to tackle this problem at the root – including campaigning for the use of unbiased textbooks in schools, instead of the current ones which promote discrimination and tolerance toward hate minorities. And our Retune campaign, challenging voices of religious hatred, is gaining momentum!

• Thank God for CSW’s partners in Pakistan, who face daily danger themselves while bravely fighting for a fairer future;
• Pray that the project to provide unbiased textbooks to school would grow quickly, and that any opposition would not be successful;
• Praise God for the recognition by the Supreme Court that religious minorities need official protection – this could be a vital step;
• Pray that the government would comply with the ruling, and would take concrete steps to put a protection mechanism in place;
• Thank God for the thousands of people who are already supporting the Retune campaign;
• Pray for the Holy Spirit to guide and be at the heart of government discussions as they review the blasphemy laws;
• Ask God to comfort the families of victims of violence.

>>Join our Retune campaign to challenge hate speech! Sign up at www.csw.org.uk/retune