Leighton Medley our BPCA Outreach Minister has returned to Pakistan to reach new communities with the true Gospel of Christ and to continue discipling those who have been already been reached through our previous campaigns. Leighton’s remit for this work is quite simple, he is to bolster the faith of Christians who have little access to regular church services setting up bible study leaders who will one day become ministers of the Gospel in rural communities, he is to bring revival and better understanding to Christian churches in Pakistan many of which have adopted a very legalistic theology and have forgotten the need for repentance, faith in Christ and the need to place our trust in Him. Leighton has also been reaching out to Muslims and we hope that soon his work will provide a dividend by bringing others to the family of God.
He has been having great success with many believers expressing revival, churchgoers committing their lives to Christ, and Muslims taking an interest in the Gospel though yet to commit to Christ. We hope with further donations to make Leighton’s role a permanent one in two years time. For this we will need the help and support of those who was to see Christ’s gospel flourishing in Pakistan and seek you help to finance this important ministry. One of our costs is the purchase of bibles at £4 each. If you would like to help please donate by clicking (here).
Below is one of Leighton’s recent accounts of a trip to, Sarghoda, near Faisalabad:
Today, after a long wait we set off at 4pm for the township of Sargodha, near Faisalabad and just down the road from Gojra, where 8 Christians were burnt alive including 4 women and 1 child during the riots there in 2009. The township is fairly well developed and the Church seems well to do, with many of the Christian populace holding jobs. The welcoming Pastor is called Nasir, and he seems to care a great deal about his community and I find out that he has had some difficulty with overseas preachers in the past.
This is hardly surprising, given the spiritual state of many churches over here, where all too often the emphasis is on the supernatural, leading to super spiritual churches having no biblical basis whatsoever. So actually I am encouraged by that and Sister Mehwish assuages his fear, that this will not be the case here.
The worship here is vibrant, which is what I have come to expect from those churches belonging to the Full Gospel Assemblies Group. In fact, much to my surprise it is the men who sing and praise the loudest, which is not usually my experience, which I inform them of at the start of my sermon.
The Way of the Cross and the issue of forgiveness from Matthew 18:21-35, is my subject for today. Pride is a huge problem in South Asian culture, and all too often families and communities break down due to grudge bearing and tit for tat rebellion. I address the fact that forgiveness is a matter of life and death, if we are forgiven, then we should forgive also.
Forgiveness is also costly, it may cost us much, it cost God, His only begotten son and we do well to remember that. Also, if we don’t forgive, then there is nowhere to hide, there was none for the unforgiving servant as he was was delivered to the tormentors by the king who forgave him initially of his debt. So we see, forgiveness is a matter of life and death, the question is not one of life eternal, but where we will go for our eternity, forgiveness is everything. Jesus paid the price, “it is finished”, those immortal words from John 19:5, meaning paid in full from the New Testament Greek. Therefore, we have been bought as a particular people to be made Holy, through God’s Holy Spirit, how marvellous, how wonderful.
The Pastor is very happy after the service, which encourages me greatly. I told him it was not me but the Spirit of God speaking and my prayer is that this fellowship may be blessed by this message and pass it on. One special mention to Sister Rajia who did a great job of translating despite the cold she was carrying. You would not have noticed the difference. My prayer is that this community may be a light on the hill within this community, especially since the dark days of 2009, which are still raw here at the moment. So forgiveness here in this part of the world is really a matter of life and death, if these people are to move on. That’s the way of the cross, let it be our way also.
God bless you all
Brother Leighton
