Strengthening faith in Pakistan
Pastor Javeed * contemplated the small, leafy green sprig growing through a thin crack in the vast concrete slab.
He’d been asked to think about what this fragile sign of life in a hard place could symbolize. After a long pause, he responded:
“It’s a bit like how it is for us as God’s people in this (Muslim)-majority culture in Pakistan. . . It is just so hard here, but maybe God can still bring some growth.”
The Struggle to Grow in Hard Soil
In Pakistan, Christians are a tiny minority whose faith leaves them vulnerable to the bombing of their churches, the imprisonment of their leaders, and the marginalization of their communities.
Pastor Javeed, like many leaders, witnesses these traumas firsthand and is challenged to grow faith among his people. (As many as 80% of pastors lack formal training to faithfully and relevantly bring God’s Word to their people.) One local church leader warns: “The Christians in Pakistan must be firmly grounded in the Word of God so they have the strength to persevere. We must build on the firm foundation of the Word to withstand the storms we are experiencing.”
Signs of Life
Since 2005, your generosity has helped more than 2,000 pastors and leaders like Javeed receive training on how to understand and teach God’s Word in a volatile region. Qadar* , a local pastor who coordinates the teaching, shared that in the aftermath of the church bombings in Lahore (2015) and Peshawar (2016), training helped the pastors affected apply the balm of God’s Word to the wounds of God’s people. He said, “It helped them understand their identity in Christ and (how to) suffer for the Lord. It was a great encouragement to see them restored in their faith.”
After training, they multiply all they have learned when they return to their communities, plugging into local “Preaching Clubs” and sharing with nearby pastors.
Today, the training is almost entirely indigenously led. It’s a testament that pastors are growing in their understanding and passion for Scripture—even in hard soil.
By God’s grace, leaders like Sam* are strengthened. He says that though he feels insecure as a Christian in Pakistan, “I know that in Christ I am secure.” After being trained by Langham, he shared, “I love the Word, and it is what people need to hear . . . People come to me now and say, ‘I have been blessed by the text you have preached.’”
May we hear more reports like this throughout the Muslim world of faith and hope growing in a hard place.
*Names have been changed to protect those serving in a sensitive region.
PARVEEZ – ENCOURAGING HIS CONGREGATION WITH GOD’S WORD
“(Scripture) is a great comfort … to remember that our present sufferings are nothing compared to the glory that will be revealed in us. We are groaning together with all creation, as we endure the sorrow of this world, but we have a great hope in our great God.”
ESTHER – MENTORS UNIVERSITY STUDENTS TO SERVE MUSLIM NEIGHBORS
“Plants grow under sunlight, not shade. Langham has been that sunlight for me. My students are living and serving among Muslims; I am helping them serve as salt and light.”
NARGUS – TEACHING WOMEN ABOUT THEIR IDENTITY IN CHRIST
“There are so many pressures pulling people … away from the Lord. (After I teach) I am told, ‘Sister, you are preaching in a different way and we are learning.”
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