Partnership Overview

Faisalabad city is very famous for it's clothing businesses with mostly local people working in these garment factories. This region is not as old as Lahore and other cities in Pakistan and most of the population is uneducated, working in factories near to their houses. Parents prefer their children to work instead of study so many young boys and girls are sent to work at an early age due to poverty. Christians are less than 10% in the whole district of Faisalabad. Chak no 74 is a small village in this district with approximately 5,000 families living there, only 300 of whom are Christians. 

In this village a big issue is college study for girls. Boys can get to colleges and universities but for girls it is very difficult as often they would have to travel 30 km daily from their village. Parents are not sending girls to college after school because of a lack of finances and transport issues so girls stay home and wait to be married. Any sort of skill is therefore a great blessing for them, e.g. computer training, sewing training, adult education for those not attending school. EGM has given education scholarships to 25 students in this district (PAK07), predominantly girls because of the lack of opportunities for them. 

A sewing course can have a great impact in a girl’s life. They can sew clothes for their own family members and earn professional work. The sewing teacher also follows up with their families and shares the word of God with these girls and their families, church families grow and people come to Christ. Many Muslim girls are also interested in attending which provides a good opportunity to share the love of Christ with them. The sewing program therefore not only impacts the lives of the 10 girls being trained but also their families and many others.

Pastor Nathaniel has been serving in the Faisalabad region since 1994 along with a faithful team. Many young boys and girls are part of his team there and a further 15 pastors are serving under his leadership. Nathaniel joined EGM Pakistan in March 2010 and serves with them in different parts of the Faisalabad region. They have almost reached every village, town and chak of this region and are helping people to become faithful Christians and bringing non-believers to Christ.  

Pastor Nathaniel's wife, Nasreen, is serving with him and she is the sewing centre teacher. She has been running the sewing centre since 2015 with their own support. They currently have 10 sewing machines although many are in need of repair.  

History of Partnership

In 2007 BHW was contacted by a group of people in Lahore. EGM (Evangelistic Gospel Ministries) have a great understanding of holistic ministry and seek to tell people about the Christian message and at the same time to help the poor and vulnerable.

In October 2008, the Bright Hope World Field Director visited Youhannabad, Lahore and discovered these people had a clear vision and a great plan for development. They had already commenced a number of sewing centres to assist women to train and to learn skills that would give them opportunities for employment. At that stage a decision was made to commence a computer centre as a first point of engagement for BHW (PAK02). Later, in 2013, a scholarship fund was established for exceptional students (PAK07) and then in 2016 we commenced the funding of sewing courses in Khaliq Nagar (PAK09). 

While there in 2016 BHW's New Partnership Facilitator visited Chak no 74 village, met the scholarship students from there and visited the sewing centre. In 2018 EGM contacted us in regard to providing funds to assist this sewing centre and funding was commenced in December 2018. 

Beneficiaries

The immediate beneficiaries are the 10 girls being trained in each village but this has a flow-on effect to their families and the wider community. 

What We Like About The Partnership

Pastor Nathaniel and his wife are already running this course and seeing results. However their personal investment in this is not sustainable and it is a very worthwhile contribution to the community. 

There is a clear vision to see this work grow and they are committed to making it happen. 

It meets a real need in the community. Our experience in other villages near to Faisalabad is that those who do well at this will definitely get employment if they want to. 

These are people we know well and have worked with them in a number of projects. 

Key People

Leadership Profile

Pastor Nathaniel belongs to Chak 74 Khuranwala, Faisalabad. He studied in Chak no 74 and has done his Matric certificate. He accepted the Lord Jesus Christ in 1996, was baptized and joined Pakistan Gospel Bible College in 1997, graduating in 2000. He has been preaching in Faisalabad division since 1998 and reaches more than 100 villages every year. He is leading 12 churches in this region and serving in different villages. He joined EGM Pakistan in 2010 and is serving with them in different parts of Punjab.  

Other People Involved

Pastor Nathaniel is married to Nasreen and they have four children (two boys and two girls). Nasreen is a nurse although currently is not doing this work but is helping her husband. She has previously been trained in sewing and computer skills programs and is now helping many girls both in the sewing program and adult education. She is also leading the Sunday school children and helping her husband in weekly visiting of church families. 

Vision And Annual Strategy

The plan is to run the sewing course for two years in this region (Chak No 74, 75 and 78 Faisalabad). There are more than 1,500 Christian families living in these three chaks (villages) and they will change the location of the sewing program every 6-month course. The program impacts not only young girls' spiritual lives but also encourages their families and many others. 

The idea is that initially they will train 10 girls from each of the three villages over an 18-month period (three 6-month courses).

Annual Budget

The budget for the initial 6-month course is US$1,903 as this includes the purchase of two irons with stands and two desks that will be reused for subsequent courses. For subsequent courses the amount required will be US$1,518. Each girl who completes the course will be given a sewing machine so new machines will be purchased for each course.

Sewing Machines x 10            US$1,023
Scissors and cutters x 10       US$154
Iron x2                                        US$132
Desk & Iron stand x 2               US$99
Teacher (6 months)                  US$495