It is only a few weeks since thousands of Muslims destroyed churches and houses in the Christian village of Jaranwala. Many Christians fled the village and are now bivouacked in a refugee camp. We started an emergency relief effort for them and this is already coming in! What has happened in the meantime?
Encouragement with visits and emergency aid
A team from our partner YWAY has already visited Jaranwala and the refugee camp several times. They encouraged the refugees with their visit, prayed with them gave food parcels they brought. There were many questions for example about the possibilities of the children going to school, where it is safe and how to proceed.
Arson
The team visited a burnt-down Christian school. Here, not only Christian children were studying, but also Muslim children. The team of teachers consisted of both Muslims and Christians. Education at this school was free. However, the attackers burned Bibles and Christian books as well as Islamic literature.
One man said his house was burnt, possibly by chemicals. He and his family have no other shelter. They sleep in burnt rooms and his children now have skin problems.
Photo: YWAY team visits a burnt down school
Discrimination
People complained about lack of help from Muslim shopkeepers. Parents tried to buy milk for their children from Muslim shops after the disaster, but they were refused. There is no Christian shop in that area.
The YWAY team was already able to provide help and will continue to do so in the future with our support.
