Update from BHW Pakistan Partnership Facilitator

Key person:  Edward Qasar

I had a long Zoom call with Edward and three of their team on Thursday the 29th August. This report covers several partnership codes and is a general catchup of sorts. After the meeting Edward sent me recent photos and more written information about the various programmes.

They are all doing well there. Edward’s father, pastor Manzoor Jalal, has fully retired from work in the clothing factory now and is very active visiting the various locations/projects and is doing it like a young man!  

They continue to be under constant scrutiny from the community. They are particularly careful in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the province alongside Afghanistan where they have been running sewing programmes. 

Recent Events

Brilliant Students Scholarship Programme (PAK07)

This programme continues to go well and is of great benefit to the students. They have decided to be stricter on the grades required of the students and enforce these. The enforcement had slipped a little and they realized they had become too lenient with students. Edward sends through regular updates with photos. 

Meerub Aslam (right) is a student of BS nursing. She achieved an A+ grade, 1088/1100 marks in Fsc premedical and scored the highest grade in the district of Faisalabad. She waited two years for admission into a nursing college because she could not get admission into a government nursing college because of her Christian faith. She requested EGM for a scholarship and got admission into a private nursing college in Lahore. Her father is a factory worker in Lahore and her other family members live in Faisalabad. 

Arooba Naeem is a student of BS nursing and was the top scorer in her medical college. She got very high grades in her 4th semester and came in fifth position across all nursing colleges in Lahore. They are proud to support her studies and are very happy to see her achieving so well. 

Ezikial Nathinal (right) is a student of BS nursing. He is the son of Pastor Nathinal Bhatti who lives near Faisalabad and who oversees the EGM work in his district 2007. He got A grades in Matric and Intermediate exams and applied for assistance. 

Seth Ramond is a student of BS Nursing in Ali Garh Nursing College, Kahore. He got A+ marks in Matric and A+ in Intermediate. His father was a property dealer but during the Covid-19 period he lost his job and was hospitalised for many months due to a heart attack. His mother is teaching in a school, but life is very hard for them. He could not afford to study without a scholarship. 

Faisalabad Sewing (PAK09a) 

The fourth sewing course in this cohort started on April 24th and will finish on the 15th of September. EGM is requesting to do another batch of four courses in different villages around Faisalabad. I recommend that we do this.  

Youhanabad Sewing (PAK09b)

The fourth course started on April 24th and will finish on the 10th of September. EGM would like to continue sewing programmes in various areas of Youhanabad and do another cohort of four courses over two years. Here are some photos from the group that graduated in April 2024. I recommend that we do this.  

IBS Printing (PAK10)

Every year they print materials for this Bible Study course. It is mostly used in the schools and with the people who come to the sewing programmes and other programmes they run. About 600 people at any one time are using the materials. They would like to reprint again in February. I recommend we fund this again.  

Kasur Women’s Empowerment (PAK11a)

EGM has done several courses in and around Kasur. More funds are due to be sent in September. I am waiting to hear from Edward about this as they have a plan to finish at some time with the sewing here and put funds into an embroidery business we visited last time we were there.  

Kasur Brick Kiln Schools (PAK11b) 

The two brick kiln schools have been operating well for three years and EGM is committed to continuing with them. Funds have just been sent to begin the fourth year. Some of the students are into the 6th grade and already there are changes happening. In the past, most of the children in 6th grade would have been working already but they are still at school. EGM is convinced that this is the only way to get the families out of poverty permanently. The parents also see the difference in the children that are in school and those who aren’t. They are better behaved and more respectful. They love to read, and their books are well used. Parents say that some of the children spend the whole weekend reading their books and also doing the Bible lessons they are given at school.

Mrs Akhtar Sandhu is a key leader of EGM Pakistan in Kasur and Okara. She regularly visits the brick kiln villages and helps families to manage their finances and deal with their debts. This is hugely important. If a family has their debts paid off, they then have nothing to do and no source of income so, they will often go back into debt with a different brick kiln. A holistic approach must be developed. She helps them understand all the implications of getting out of debt and becoming educated so they do not have to return to debt. She is working for the women’s empowerment projects, helping to start and manage sewing programmes in different communities where there is the most need. She is often accompanied by her son and other family members. 

In May 2024 a medical camp was held in the brick kiln schools. A nurse came and they took medicines to help the families. They suffer a lot as they do not eat well, and they work hard. They dispensed medicines, had stories for the children and prayed with those who wanted prayer.  

Afghan Sewing Courses – Peshawar (PAK12)

Four courses have now been completed over two years with about 50 women trained to sew and given sewing machines. It is not possible to take photos of them sewing like in other places, they have to be careful. However, this work has helped the local churches build bridges into the community and they have been able to give away Bibles, Bible studies, electronic Bibles and have many conversations. This programme has encouraged the churches and built resilience among the Christian people there who are a very small minority. They have had several baptisms which has further encouraged them. Pastor Manzoor Jalal visits there several times a year to check on the project and liaise with the local pastors. 

There was a period of great hunger in the area. The majority of people are refugees and are struggling to survive so EGM organised some food packages to assist about 70 families. 

Ideas for the Future

Peshawar

EGM thinks that they have done enough sewing classes in this area near to Peshawar and would like to shift the work in this part of Pakistan to the area around Malakand, further to the north. This is a strategic area with very few, small churches and a lot of Christians who are not involved in church. This area also has a lot of Hindus and tens of thousands of Afghan refugees. It is a stronghold of the Taliban, and they must be careful what they do and say. They would like to do four courses over a two-year period as they have done in other places. 

As well as this they want to commence a school there along the lines of the brick kiln schools they are running in Kasur and Faisalabad. It would be informal education particularly for those who cannot afford to send their children to school. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province is more strict than other areas and they will have to be more careful about how they teach. They want assistance for the establishment of the school for 2–3 years and after that expect it to be self-sustaining. They will charge fees and expect to have between 150–200 students. Building rents are cheap in this area. 

This is a very poor area, and many school age kids roam the streets with nothing to do. There are refugee camps in the area where refugees are registered, however, there are thousands who are not registered, and the government is forcing them to the border but the Taliban do not want them back in Afghanistan. They have no papers or legal status; they cannot work, and their children cannot go to schools. EGM has done relief in the area and wants to help in a more permanent way. There are also about 30–40,000 Hindus living in the area as a very disadvantaged minority. 

I am in the information gathering phase but if there was ever a good case for supporting a school, this might be it. 

Computer Training Programme

For several years BHW supported a computer training programme in Youhanabad. It was the first project BHW did with EGM (PAK02) and it began in the house of the Qasar family. It was later shifted to Kaliq Naga, an adjoining area, as the family grew. EGM had a building in this area and had sewing courses and a preschool. 

One of the reasons for closing it down was that the Catholics opened the Don Bosco Centre nearby and began training in computers. However, they have now stopped that programme and many people are requesting for another one to start. EGM want to start one in the building they use for their Paul Primary School. I am gathering information.

Nursing College

For several years EGM has wanted to start their own nursing college. Many of the young people in the scholarship programme train as nurses. To do this they will have to get the appropriate papers to do it which can be time-consuming and expensive. They will have to find a university they would operate under and pay so much per student for the privilege. They are in talks about this already and it won’t be an issue. They also have to have a good relationship and agreement with more than one hospital for practical experience for their students. 

They plan to take in about 100 students per year in rental buildings. They will offer diploma and degree courses; all students will study for 4 years and get a Bachelor of Science and Nursing degree. 

There are several compelling reasons for doing this in their minds:
- As mentioned above, many of those on the scholarship programme are doing nursing already.
- Nursing is a great career to get into, there are many employment opportunities
- It is very difficult for Christian students to get into government universities for training, it is not difficult to get jobs once trained and there are many private clinics.
- There will be a good profit after 4 years. I have not seen the calculations yet and will be asking for this, but Edward estimates the profit to be US$15,000–$20,000 per year. This could mean cutting back BHW's ongoing support for the ministry, however, this will need to be ascertained from the business case. 

Grace Church from Miami, Florida who gives them some support for pastors has agreed to get involved. EGM would like us to be involved too of course but we will have to see what the proposal looks like, the size of the budget and if we are interested or not.  

Current Issues and Challenges

- This is a hard place to do ministry. These guys have chosen a hard pathway and are under constant scrutiny from the community.
- The poverty is real in every way. They live in the midst of it and are confronted by it every day.
- The team members are often sick, mainly from the conditions they live in

Prayer and Praise Points

1) The sewing courses have been doing well and many women have been blessed through them. 
2) Pray for safety for the team members, especially those travelling. This is mainly Edward’s father, pastor Manzoor Jalal.
3) For wisdom as they are very involved and there are a lot of decisions to make every day
4) That the church work and evangelism would continue to grow. They are baptizing many people every year.
5) For the pastors and churches in their network who often work in very hard places including on the Afghan border

Comments

These are good people with a lot invested in the ministry they are developing. They are hardworking, courageous and innovative. Whether we can keep up with their vision will be an interesting thing to see as time goes on. 

Someone from BHW will be visiting Pakistan in the middle of 2025 to see what is happening on the ground.