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1,000 Member Church
Believers Prayer Service |
Forming a CongregationIt is difficult to describe the experience of Pakistan. In some ways it’s like stepping back into the dark ages but there are enough reminders of the modern era to keep you guessing. Weddings are celebrated with 5,000 year old traditions but modern Ak-47 muzzle blasts light up the sky in celebration. I once picked up a spent bullet-not the casing...the bullet!- in the road outside the home I was staying in. (What goes up must come down:) Men dress as you would imagine Christ’s disciples might have dressed but carry mobile phones and wear Chinese made watches. Donkey carts jostle for space on the road with lumbering, wildly decorated trucks and taxis held together with bailing wire. Islam, intimidating and fierce, dominates the peoples’ lives. Christians are a besieged and vulnerable minority. Easter will mark the fourth year since Bev and I planted a church in Islamabad. I am so proud of our leaders and deeply respectful of their sacrificial labor. The congregation has truly become a model in Pakistan and is over 1,000 in adult attendance every Sunday. Last year we added 77 new families! We are now holding two Sunday services, something unheard of in Pakistan, and our Timothy Team of emerging young leaders are stepping up to help lead the home groups. Daily prayer goes on at the church from 1-3 PM and the congregation fasts together one day a month. We have 12 young women who have completed a six month sewing class that is self-funded by the church. They have also begun to help the widows in the congregation, are supporting poor students and giving medical assistance out of the church budget. Bev and I continue to stand amazed at the dream the Lord has allowed us to fulfill in Pakistan. It has been a challenging task but well worth the effort. The young pastor we are mentoring will be with us in the States for two weeks in May. I will be spending extensive time with him here to help deepen his leadership skills and expose him to expanding vision. I am expecting that we will be able to launch new congregations in Pakistan based on the model we have after the church has matured another year. Thanks for all you have done to help us fulfill the dream. Rick rick@rickzachary.com - bev.zachary@gmail.com - shane.zachary@gmail.comChurchAsia - P.O. Box 82080 - Baton Rouge, LA 70884changing the world...one congregation at a time |
