From ACNS-
Pakistan's first and only female Anglican priest Revd Jane Shaw has warned that persecution of Christians in the country is prompting talented potential future church leaders to settle abroad.
Jane, who four years ago accepted an invitation to act as the Church of Pakistan's only female Presbyter-in-Charge, said she knew of four young pastors sent overseas for training who decided not to return to Pakistan.
She said that while there have been incidents of Christians being attacked and killed, the majority of persecution was more insidious. "It’s largely low-level harassment," she said, "not being short-listed for jobs because you’re a Christian, or, if you do get the job, your colleagues making you so miserable that you have to leave. Also, in some cases Christian businessmen have been told that they’ll only get the most lucrative contracts if they convert to Islam."
Other harassment includes Christian children being teased or bullied at school, Christian workers being assigned excessive work loads, Christians being evicted from accommodation without notice, and influential community members occupying Christians' land with impunity.
Jane said that after the anti-Christian riots in Gojra in 2009 (resulting in the death of eight Christians), she found families in nearby Korian living in a graveyard after being evicted from their homes. She was also told that Christians in the area who had been kicked out of their jobs during the riots were never reinstated.
One significant result of such harassment is that those families with the resources to do so are either moving abroad themselves or sending their children overseas to study. Too few of her former congregation can see a future for their children in Pakistan; most already have relatives in the UK, New Zealand, Canada, or the United States.
More here-
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/news.cfm/2010/12/2/ACNS4757
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