Light flight

Pakistan | Courage under fire doesn't eliminate hard choices for Christian believers | Mindy Belz

Quake survivors say the earth's rumble is easier on the nerves than the quiet just after. Terrorism survivors in Pakistan felt the same way in the days following attacks on a Christian school and a Presbyterian hospital near Islamabad. Murree Christian School officials announced on Aug. 17 that they would close the school for one year rather than continue to operate under threat of another attack from Islamic militants. Masked gunmen stormed the school earlier this month, killing six Pakistanis and wounding four others.

For many Christians, trying to persevere in the face of terrorism apparently aimed at Westerners and Christians in Pakistan has become too costly. That sad fact is clear in this resort city in the Himalayan foothills 25 miles northeast of Islamabad. The decision to close, said school officials, "reflects grave concern that the presence of the school not attract further tragedy or trouble for our Pakistani employees, neighbors, and friends who have been so devastated by this attack."