Dearest Friends,
England
I am no longer in Scotland, but have travelled on to England. Though I am not doing shows in this area, I came here for a very special reason. I have long wanted to find a way to reach the children in Pakistan with the good news of God’s great rescue plan for them. This is not an area that I will ever be able to work in because of the high visibility that is required to do the kind of programs I do.
However, I have a very dear friend who does work in Pakistan and is going to enable me to supply national workers there with the tools that they need. Some of you will remember David who travelled with us for many years in the puppet ministry. Mike and I considered him a son and loved him so much that we had both he and his father speak at Mike’s going home celebration.
David’s father, Ian Thomson, is the Director of Bringing Good News, an English charity. He has been doing an incredible work in a very difficult place. It is my hope that you will read the following stories and see the desperate need of the children in Pakistan. I will be supplying Ian with personal tools for child evangelism as well as materials for the Sunday school teachers. There are other projects that I would love to see supported.
WARNING – PLEASE READ THESE STORIES YOURSELF BEFORE YOU SHARE THEM WITH THE CHILDREN
Persecution
Pakistan is a Muslim country where the Christians have very little rights. As a result, they are often the poorest in society and live under constant fear. Two weeks ago a Christian community called Joseph Colony was attacked by Muslim extremists and burned. 258 families are without a place to live. Many of them were already sharing a home and now they have no place to go. 178 homes were burned, along with two churches. They also destroyed 350 Bibles. During the entire event, the police stood by and did nothing. Unfortunately this is not an isolated incident in Pakistan. These are your brothers and sisters, who suffer greatly for only one reason…they love Jesus.
I have identified two projects that I would ask you to pray about supporting. One is the support of Sunday schools and the other involves supplying sowing machines for young Christian women. I will explain both in the next paragraphs. Let me say that I whole heartedly recommend to you the work of Bringing Good News. If you are interested in any of these projects, you need to contact Ian Thomson directly at irthomson10@googlemail.com. Though Bringing Good News is an English charity, it also holds non-profit status in the United States.
The Sunday School Project
Ian works with families in the brick kilns. These Sunday Schools are run for the children of the brick kiln workers. Let me describe to you what their lives are like. Usually, a very poor family will have an emergency and borrow money from a brick kiln owner. Though they hope to pay it back, the interest is added up so quickly that it is never possible to pay the debt. So, before long, they and their children are forced into bonded servitude in the brick kilns. The reality is that they are made slaves. The children do not have the opportunity to go to school and often the slavery continues from generation to generation.
$100 will run a Sunday School for a month. This is not a Sunday School program like you are accustom to in your churches. The school would meet for several hours, teaching the children reading and using the Bible as the text book. Most importantly, they tell them about Jesus. They give them the hope that does not exist in their lives. This is a very special opportunity to comfort children and love children that you will not see until you are the other side of heaven.
The Sewing Machine Project
Ian is working with a local Pastor who is running small schools to teach Christian girls how to sew. This is a very important project because of the way this training can change the lives of these young women. In the school they are not only learning to sew but they are also learning to read. They are using the Bible for all of their lessons.
I want you to understand what life is like for Christian girl in Pakistan. If they have no job skills, then the only jobs that are available to them are working as maids in Muslim homes. Always, they are physically, sexually and mentally abused.
Consider the story of one very young Christian girl who went to work in a Muslim home. She was raped by the owner’s son and became pregnant. She demanded that he marry her because of the terrible shame that she would face. He asked her to come up on the roof and she thought he was about to propose. However, his mother was there waiting for them and together they poured petrol all over her. Then they set her on fire. She survived long enough to tell her story to other believers at the hospital. She was burned all over her body and did not survive.
Now she is in heaven, but you are here and you have an opportunity to help other girls avoid situations like this. When each girl graduates from the school, she receives a sewing machine. Bringing Good News is seeking to raise funds for 50 machines. They cost only $50 each; so little to change a life in such a big way.
Thank You
I thank you for taking the time to read these stories. When I heard them, they made me cry. Again, please contact Ian directly. He is very willing to send photographs of the children and the young girls at the sewing center.
In Jesus,
Linda
