Sunday Service Main Floor

Overflow on Roof

Islamabad Church Growing Steadily

Four years ago, Bev and I spent three months in Islamabad, Pakistan, launching our first church plant in that country.  I’ll never forget the first time I visited Iqbal town, the place we eventually chose to begin our work.  Though it’s a poverty stricken ghetto, with open sewers in the street gutters and muddy narrow roads, I knew in my heart that the Lord was calling us to plant a work here. We have gone through many unanticipated trials, including personal threats of violence, but the Lord has been faithful and has given us much fruit.  The church has become a role model in Pakistan of innovative ministry and rapid growth through small groups and leadership development.

Overflow Crowds

Pastor Safeer, the young man we are mentoring, is growing as a leader and we are so proud of him and of all the Lord is doing through his life.  He and his wife, Shamsa, are like a son and daughter to us. Sunday services have the feel of a special event with people rushing into the building to find a place to sit.  For the past month we have had to place a tent on the roof of the building to accommodate the overflow of people.  We are holding a second service Sunday evening but we’re having a difficult time training the believers to come to an evening meeting.

1,200 In Sunday Services

The congregation has grown to over 1,200 people attending the Sunday services and over 1,500 active church members.  We can pack about 1,000 in our building but only because we sit on the floor.  I am hoping to purchase a video projector so we can install a big screen on the roof which will double our seating capacity.

Expansion

We have 48 home groups and they are packed with enthusiastic believers. Because the church grew so rapidly, we’ve had difficulty finding mature leaders but now that we are in our fourth year the leadership training is beginning to show fruit. I want to help the church to purchase some property that adjoins the front side of our building.  We constructed our building in anticipation of growth and our intention has always been to purchase the three shops that are adjacent to our front wall.  With these properties we can expand the building out to the street and increase our total seating capacity to about 2,500.  I’m believing the Lord for $50,000 for these three properties.

Vigilance

On August 1st, eight Christians were killed in eastern Pakistan by Moslem fundamentalists.  The Pakistani military believes they were al-Qaida linked militants who were pushed out of west Pakistan by the recent offensive into the Swat Valley. They feel that insurgents may be shifting their emphasis away from bombings and more to stirring up religious violence to destabilize the country. We are continuing to be careful but not fearful.

Thanks - Rick

rick@rickzachary.com - bev.zachary@gmail.com - shane.zachary@gmail.com

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