One freed in Pakistan – others remain confined ... so pray

As freedom for Aasia Bibi has been confirmed, her fellow believers are now being reminded to pray for the safety of other Christians in Pakistan.

The celebration continues now that the Christian mother accused of blasphemy has had her acquittal confirmed by Pakistan's Supreme Court. Bibi was on death row and had been imprisoned for years, but is now finally free to leave the country. Todd Nettleton with Voice of the Martyrs says it's an answered prayer – but he reminds the Christian community that there are a lot of their brothers and sisters still under threat in the country.

"So they are saying, Hey, pray for us because Aasia Bibi is free, Aasia Bibi is going to be out of the country. We're still here and we're in danger," he shares. "So please don't forget to pray for Christians in Pakistan because they are expecting some unrest after the verdict."

Following Bibi's acquittal, "radical religious parties took to the streets to protest, calling for the killing of the judges behind the ruling and for the overthrow of Prime Minister Imran Khan's government," according to The Associated Press.

Nettleton shares the status of one particular Christian in Pakistan was imprisoned.

"There is another Pakistani Christian, a man named Imran Ghafur, who was arrested literally just a couple of weeks after Aasia Bibi back in 2009 – and he was not sentenced to death, he was sentenced to life in prison and he is still in prison all these years later."

So while the release of Bibi is to be celebrated, Nettleton says there are still "many more" who are in need of prayer – "and we hope to get to celebrate with them sometime soon as well."