First Service Easter 2005

Cloth Tent Easter 2006

New Building Easter 2009

Fifth Anniversary Islamabad

Easter marked the fifth anniversary of our model church plant in Islamabad, Pakistan.  Beverly and I have continued to be amazed by this congregation.  We have watched it grow at a pace we never anticipated.  I always felt it would be a significant church, but I honestly did not expect it to reach such a high level of influence so quickly.

We have a solid 1,500 adults attending the Sunday services, and the congregation is now beginning to reach out to nearby communities.  I have refrained from launching additional churches in Pakistan until we had a well-established leadership base. We are reaching the level of a secure financial foundation, and I believe we can now consider launching branch churches.

Safeer and his wife Shamsha, the young pastors we have mentored to oversee this congregation, are beginning to model a maturity that encourages us in the investments we have made in them.  I arranged for Pastor Safeer to visit Bev and me in Nepal a few months ago.  We were amazed at the progress report he brought to us, but we were concerned to discover that the church had gone into significant debt.  Their overspending was for noble causes: helping the poor, school sponsorship for poverty stricken families, outreach expenses, and caring for widows in the church.  But the debt demonstrated a lack of wisdom and financial discipline.  We had a long and challenging meeting with my national leadership team and restructured the church budget, knocking out all unnecessary expenses and setting up a debt reduction plan.  Even though we made radical budget cuts, I estimated that it would take two years for the church to reach a debt free status.

I have been greatly encouraged by the way Pastor Safeer and his congregation responded.  In just five months they have reduced their debt by about 75%, and it appears that he will have a balanced budget by this summer!  It has been an amazing turnaround and most encouraging. 

I discovered long ago that a congregation will never be truly influential until it has a sound financial footing.  Our general goal for every church we establish is to see them totally self-sustaining by the end of five years.  Our Islamabad church is a little behind this goal, but they are catching up fast.  I am so grateful to the Lord for the fruit He has given us.

The political situation in Pakistan continues to worsen, and there has been an increase in violence against the tiny Christian community.  Remember to pray for the suffering believers in Pakistan, and thanks for all you have done to help us make a difference in a land that is hostile to the Gospel.

Rick & Bev

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

ChurchAsia - P.O. Box 82080 - Baton Rouge, LA 70884

changing the world...one congregation at a time