ATHENS, GREECE (ANS) -- A new Muslim-background believer from Pakistan has been brutally murdered in Athens, according to reports from AMG International.

ASSIST News has learned the young, 20-year-old Pakistani man had recently been baptized as a Christian. He attended a local Bible study in Athens, but was unable to be there regularly because he lived downtown.

Reports from the ministry say he was found with his throat slit, and that the murder was carried out by Muslim refugees who didn't like him becoming a Christian and witnessing to his newfound faith.

Funeral services were held in Athens for a new convert to Christianity. (AMG Intl. photo)

The funeral took place Sunday Oct. 25, held in the cafeteria of AMG International's Cosmovision Center (CVC), which is a one-of-a-kind multipurpose facility designed to address the holistic needs -- physical, psychological and spiritual -- of families, youth, and children of Greece and beyond.

The young convert's body was due to be returned home to Pakistan following the funeral ceremony.

Since the incident is currently under police investigation, AMG International said it could not provide further information about this incident at the moment.

According to its website, the AMG CVC, attended by the young convert, is a cultural and multipurpose sports center, which started serving as a base for the ministry efforts surrounding the 2004 Olympic Games, and providing housing for Olympic volunteers.

Today, the sports ministry continues at CVC under the direction of George Romeos, the website states. The facility's soccer field, basket and volley ball court, climbing wall, dormitories, and meeting rooms are settings for a variety of sport and music based programs, which in turn are settings for physical and spiritual transformation.

CVC conference and meeting facilities are also used throughout the year for community and families events, church groups and youth outreach ministries, and a newly completed dormitory is a regular base for short-term teams that travel and serve in Greece.

The website also says that a second CVC ministry emphasis is the Zodhiates International Center of New Testament Studies Center operated at the new Bob and Joan Mallory campus.

The Zodhiates Center has grown out of years of ministry to US college students through their institution's Bible and Missions departments.

Now, students and their professors are able to locate in Athens, Greece to study the New Testament and visit the biblical cities of Corinth, Philippi, Berea, and Thessaloniki, which are all within driving distance.

Israel, Egypt and Asia Minor (known today as Turkey) are also easily accessible in the region.

The third major emphasis at CVC includes a special Greek Christian private school in the region.

This private education initiative will be a pioneer ministry in Greece, and its objective is to influence with the Christian message the present and future generations of Greeks, and meet an urgent need for a school for children of Christian workers and foreign personnel serving in Eastern Europe, Arab countries, North Africa, and the Middle East.

** Michael Ireland, Chief Correspondent of ANS, is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a British Christian radio station. Michael has traveled to Albania,Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Israel, and Canada. He has reported for ANS from Jordan, China, Russia, Jamaica, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Michael's volunteer involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department -- Michael Ireland Media Missionary (MIMM) -- of A.C.T. International of P.O.Box 1649, Brentwood, TN 37024-1649,at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International where you can donate online to support his stated mission of 'Truth Through Christian Journalism.'