The trip to Pakistan proved to
be a step of faith, which the
Lord honoured. I was up-graded
to business class for London to
Dubai, as was Brian when he
travelled later to join me. This
was real provision, which would
be easy to get used to! I
arrived at Lahore tired, but
meeting Rasheed for the first
time was like meeting an old
friend; we established quickly a
good rapport. Events over the
next few days were to revolve
around what God wanted to do
with Rasheed and then the wider
community of villages which he
serves.
RASHEED
We
arrived at Rasheed’s home after a very long journey via Faislabad. I
greeted his family friends and neighbours and was amazed, when 4
people became Christians. Later in the trip we baptised eight from
the same community, two of whom professed Christ that night. It came
to light during our stay that though Rasheed had a group of people
around him, they had never been properly founded as a church and
though in every sense he was pastoring and leading them, he had not
been formally set aside with that role. Brian and I prayerfully
reflected on this and felt that we could only acknowledge what God
had done and so we had a memorable evening, ordaining Rasheed and as
if further confirmation were needed 7 more professed faith in Christ
that night. Two local pastors shared in the occasion and the people
responded very well. Since returning to the UK, Rasheed has had his
first Sunday with the church. I have a picture of him instructing
the flock and it was great to hear of another new convert on that
Sunday. How easy it is to work with God and how hard to try to make
things happen
Rasheed has a great vision in a country hostile to the gospel. His
community is under threat in different ways and he is a very brave
brother. Please pray for him. He would love to use some of his land
to build a place, which could be a church and also a centre for
training pastors. This would cost about £2,700. There is also a
desperate need for Bibles.
It was
also very encouraging to see Rehana's support for Rasheed. She sold
some of her jewellery to help provide for some of the trip expenses.
She had given birth to a child who had died in the womb some months
earlier and it was clearly a tough time for them.
THE
VILLAGES AROUND TOBA TEK SING
During
the trip we were taken to several villages and where we were
welcomed with an abundance of flowers and given the opportunity to
proclaim Christ. The villages were all very poor but the people were
very generous, giving us what they could A village is known as a
Chak hence Rasheed’s frequent mention of them in his programme.
Everywhere we went the opportunity to proclaim Christ and to pray
for the sick was given. It was a great joy to see about 100 profess
faith in Christ during these days. Every effort was made to ensure
these were first time responses and we can only pray that the Lord
will keep them in His care. Before and after each meeting we had
fellowship with local pastors. A lot of the people professing faith
were not Muslims but had never heard the true gospel of repentance
from sin and faith in Jesus as Saviour, God and Lord. There were
testimonies of healings and very clearly many experienced the Holy
Spirit in new ways. The Pastor’s conference went very well
and a good number of leaders gathered. Similarly to Africa, there is
a thriving work of God in the remote places, which needs
encouragement. These places are where terrorism can be fostered
because of the appalling poverty but where Gods servants are boldly
proclaiming Christ.
Faislabad. This is the third major
city in Pakistan. Rasheed has good contacts here and one family in
particular provided excellent hospitality for us. God
willing we plan to have a Pastors Centre here, then who knows, every
city in the nation.
Key pastors we met: Pastor Rasheed Masih, Pastor Marcus
Razzaq, Pastor Ashfeq Shukat Gojra, Pastor Mahmood Sadaq
Gojra,Pastor Sadiq. Faislabad, Pastor Sardar. Faisalabad, Pastor
Arif Sadaq Gojra, Pastor Suleman Kartar
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