Our last Christmas Outreach Programme took place in one of the villages near Kasur, where our aim was to reach those who are living
on extreme margins in communities rejected by society. Christmas is a time for all Christians to rejoice and celebrate, but every year so many
Christians in Pakistan struggle to even hold church due to a total lack of resources and those in Kasur are a paradigm for such suffering. When
the BPCA team reached the village, we were given an extremely warm welcome by local Christians, this of course was because of the intense flood rehabilitation
programme we enacted in the area.
Local Pastor Rehan and the church administration helped to conduct the programme and the BPCA greatly appreciated their efforts. Our aim in holding the outreach was to increase the knowledge of God and His love amongst the villagers of whom 80 were in attendance. We began
the meeting with a time of worship and the community participated enthusiastically praising God for His goodness. Pastor Rehan’s sermon highlighted
how we can walk in God’s blessing and in the knowledge of Him. The bible says in Hosea 4:6: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge”,
they are not destroyed for lack of material possessions or for lack of money, and it was important to proclaim the word of God in order that people
received understanding and knowledge of Him who is the source of all blessings.
We were heartened and encouraged to see how passionate the villagers were to know more of the word of God and following the sermon there was an altar
call where people were asked to come forward for prayer about any issues and to receive the blessing of God in their lives. The BPCA team was happy
to see 40 people respond with those who remained in the congregation also receiving blessings. 12 people reported they had been healed and many were
observed to be filled with joy after having listened to the word and receiving prayer.
After worship and the sermon, BPCA team members distributed gifts among the women, men and children who were overjoyed to receive them. One woman said:
‘’I am so happy to receive this gift of a shawl. It will keep me warm during this chill winter we are suffering, but most of all it is so nice to be remembered and cared for. We thank God for the love he places in the hearts of His people.” Others
who received gifts gave special thanks and asked that we share these sentiments with our donors and supporters.
As with other programmes, we were very pleased to be able to distribute audio bibles, ten in total (a limit we placed on all events as our total stock
was 60). The villagers showed great interest in them due to the fact that almost entirely this community is illiterate. With these new radios villagers
can now hear God’s word, be edified and receive the blessing of God in their lives, where previously they only learnt particular verses and chapters
by rote. The people were hungry for God’s word and the demand greatly outstripped the supply but we will return with further audio bibles. Imtiaz Masih
(62 years), a local resident said:
“I am extremely pleased with these bibles it is a very exciting and precious gift for me. I never thought I would ever be able to learn the bible in such a personal manner. I have learnt all I know about God from visiting pastors and what my parents and elders shared with us and I have passed down the same learning to the next generation. I have a very basic knowledge but this has been my hope for so many years, I want to learn more about our wonderful God who created us and loves me so much.”
At the close of the meeting we distributed food to all those in attendance, which was very gratefully and joyfully received, and we would like to thank
all of our generous and faithful partners who assisted us to make these outreaches possible.
If you would like to contribute towards our ongoing work for Christians in Pakistan and would like the name of Jesus proclaimed throughout the Islamic nation, then our bank details and paypal/visa payment facility can be found here: (click here)
