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 larger 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 a 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 during a BACA’s trip to Bollabalau, Sialkot on 18th February 2020:
Today, we visited the small village of Bollabalau, (I hope the spelling is correct) which is about 30 minutes drive from Sialkot. It was a punishing
journey and took us all of 5 plus hours to get there. This was because of the highway between Sialkot and Lahore being incomplete. Therefore, we had
to take a back road which resembled more a track, leaving me to count the broken down vehicles on the roadside. It is insufferably dusty and we have
to wear masks, but praise God, we do get there at 9pm in the evening.
Our host is Pastor Mark Henry; he is from Sialkot and has a good setup here. He is doing outreaches to the local villages and is hoping to his open
own bible school. They are, to all intents and purposes self sufficient, so we are not harassed for money.
There is a good turnout for our meeting. This despite it being so late and here’s a thing, we have an all male choir who serenade us with Psalms. Very
unusually for Pakistan, there are as many men in the meeting, as there are women, very encouraging. It is not often we see that here, or anywhere for
that matter.
Our message is from 1 Corinthians chapter 3, the title being that “All is yours in Christ.” The theme being, we firstly belong to Christ, and then
to each other. There are many false preachers today, preaching false Gospels, who are attracting huge cult followings, where they are worshipped more
than God. This has created huge divisions within the Church, where people seek their own glory and not that of Christ. This is not just a huge problem
within Pakistan, but all over the world. Also, success can bring vanity and too much self sufficiency, believing we have done all the work, when really
the planter and builder is God. Our foundation is Christ and there is none better, or no other. We do not belong to Associations or clubs, we belong
to Christ and all is ours through him. So, we must understand the world is not enough, Christ is enough and Christ is actually all we will ever need.
Thanks to the excellent translation of Sister Mehwish Bhatti, the congregation understands the meaning well and we conclude the meeting. Interestingly,
this village is a mixed village and relations are very cordial between the Christians and their Muslim cousins. The local Muslim elder was quite happy
for me to come and indeed asked me to pray for the wider village as a whole. That is encouraging, so let us pray that these relations continue to grow
and praise God for the excellent work of Mark Henry, so the glory of Christ may be made more manifest in the days to come.
Brother Leighton
