Every Inch of Progess is Contested – Our Story continued, #30

During the late 70’s, political tensions seethed beneath the surface. During a military coup, the left-leaning but elected leader of the country was arrested leading to riots. Cars and buildings were burnt and shops were often shuttered. Police clashed with demonstrators all over the country. Martial law was established and a program of Islamization began. Public lashings for crimes such as bribery were introduced. It became more common for women to wear coverings. The sale of alcohol was banned—except for Christians!

Sign showing cancellation of alcohol

From this period, we can count the movement away from a more open society towards a social order much more intolerant of non-Islamic mores and other religions. Friday replaced Sunday as the weekly day off, although Christians were allowed Sunday off to go to their worship services. Paul’s statement in 1 Cor. 16:9 described the situation. “For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.” We all intensified our prayers that the freedom we had enjoyed to share the gospel would continue. The opportunities were vast!

A bus full of political demonstrators

We now had 20 missionaries on the field. I was pulled in two directions, on the one hand to encourage our team and on the other to see the TEE promoted. What a great group of missionaries they were. It was a privilege to be part of their team.

Our ICF missionaries during the visit of the General Director, Mr. Hemming

As a reading of the New Testament asserts, Christians face not only challenges from society at large, but from within their churches. While such Satanic attacks should not surprise us, they are always disappointing. Serious divisions began to appear within the RYK area churches, requiring me to frequently visit.  

For some time our mission had been encouraging Pastor Hidayat and others in the RYK area to organize a network of churches working together under a simple biblical constitution. It was to be called, the Pakistan Christian Fellowship (PCF). There had been considerable progress. Local pastors and church leaders took on more and more responsibility for settling church disputes, ordaining pastors, and setting a vision—always the goal of indigenous missionary work. But Satan was not happy.   

The ordination of pastor Iqbal during a convention; Hidayat and Umar leading

A pastor who had been in fellowship with us for many years, suddenly separated from the fellowship over a matter of personal pride. He formed a schismatic group in Rahim Yar Khan in competition with the PCF churches. He had to be de-frocked and stricken from the membership. (I think fellowship was restored years later, but my memory is poor on this issue.)

Then the PCF leadership dissolved the Sadiqabad Church board due to dereliction of duty and serious divisions. Hurt pride led two men to reject any attempt at resolving problems. Instead, they also formed a separate church group.

New followers of Christ among the Marwari Hindu tribals had greatly encouraged all of us. But just when we were rejoicing at this progress, a complete breakdown in relationships between Marwari and Punjabi workers occurred. Why? Punjabi Christians from the Punjab province comprised the majority in congregations all over Pakistan including those in our PCF churches. The earliest Christians in this part of the Indo-Pak subcontinent had been Punjabi. As a result, they had a tradition of running things their way. But their approach irked the new Christians from the Marwari tribe.

Rival cultural practices also added tension between Punjabis and Marwaris. For example, Punjabis believed that men must doff their headgear before entering a church service. The Marwari men, however, were required by their culture to keep their turbans on in the presence of women from their tribe.

John Ranah speaking to a group of his Marvari tribe

Although Punjabi, himself, Pastor Hidayat knew enough about the importance of harmony among Christians to become the main peace-maker. He bore the brunt of the Marwari’s discontent while also being the one expected to resolve the problems in the Sadiqabad and RYK Churches. Appeals to Scripture, to love and forgiveness, seemed unavailing. Our RYK area missionaries did all they could to support Hidayat and pray for resolution, which would come, but after a sad delay.

The ingrown stubbornness of some believers was not surprising. Division and disunity had been the bane of the Pakistani Church for some time. Christian groups and denominations in different parts of the country continued to divide and haul each other into court. (We are not immune from this in the west.)

I began to visit the RYK area every two weeks to demonstrate solidarity with our missionary team and to restart extension classes. In the late summer of 1977, the field conference had elected Roger Pomeroy as field leader. This  freed me up to concentrate on TEE ministry. With relative freedom still allowed in Pakistan and multiplied opportunities before our mission, we adopted a prayer goal to see 18 new missionaries volunteering by 1980; 18 by 80.

About that time, we took a quick three-month furlough to connect with supporters and co-ordinate our schedule with Stephen’s approaching graduation from High School. While in Toronto, I was finally able to evict the tenant from our family home. He owed us a year’s rent which we never received. When we returned to Lahore, having given up our house in Model Town, we moved into a spare home on Forman Christian College.

However, we soon realized that progress would be contested on many fronts. RYK TEE centres were closed again due to lack of teachers. The missionary who had been supervising the centres was called home to the bedside of his sick father. The field leadership fell vacant and I was required to assume this responsibility. That would mean less time for TEE and much more time involved in local and international mission administration.

Health problems began to dog the missionary community. I began to experience indifferent health. One of our missionaries was in the hospital with acute hepatitis. A couple with another mission, who were going to help us establish more TEE centres, had to return to the US due to cancer. Three other sick missionaries had to leave Pakistan. Two Presbyterian missionaries were ordered out of the country. During the summer, an American Baptist missionary went missing. After a massive search, he was found dead, possibly due to a fall while jogging or some unknown accident. The cause of his death was never solved.

In Lahore, a kerosene explosion badly burned the leader of the Operation Mobilization team. He spent long, painful days in hospital before his wife could arrange a flight. Mary Helen sought to encourage them by visiting with tempting foods and cold water.

Then rabies struck. The evangelist working with a German missionary contracted rabies from his dog. That meant a long course of uncomfortable shots. The evangelist visited our home every morning for ten days to allow Mary Helen to administer the shots.

Next came Zafar’s mother being admitted to hospital with breast cancer. As a loving son, and according to custom, Zafar spent every night in hospital with his mother. This meant shelving his PACTEE responsibilities.

Meanwhile the voices of ultra-orthodox Muslims became more strident demanding the wholesale imposition of Islamic law. The government called in experts from Saudi Arabia and Sudan to assist in this process. Oil money began to flow into the country. Headlines appeared in newspapers:

Islamic law to solve Pakistan’s ills

Interest-free banking to be announced soon

Thief to have hand cut off

Crowd in stadium watches sentence of lashings carried out.

Unrest spread, with serious clashes between opposing groups; orthodox Muslim students on one side and left-leaning students on the other. The nominally Christian president of Forman Christian College was attacked at his office and home by AK-47 wielding students demanding his ouster and the installation of a Muslim president. Christian students were caught in the middle. Unfortunately, most Christian denominational leaders were preoccupied with their own problems caused by disunity within the community at large.

Islamization would not come easily. The Pakistan constitution still guaranteed freedom to profess and share one’s faith. The influence of the West and other secularizing trends had rendered vast numbers of the Pakistani elite and middle class adverse to accepting a narrow Islamic interpretation of life. At that time, commonwealth missionaries still did not need visas to come to Pakistan.

On a personal level, in September of 1979 we were on our way to Murree when tragedy struck. A young girl suddenly dashed in front of our car to avoid a bus coming down the hill on the other side of the road. I jammed on the brakes slewing the car almost sideways onto the shoulder, but to no avail. We hit the girl injuring her terribly. The girl’s mother who had been beside the road began to shriek in grief. The bus stopped and several passengers, including a member of the MCS staff got out. All testified that there was nothing we could have done to avoid the child. Their witness kept the situation from becoming a riot against foreigners. But that hardly assuaged our agony at seeing a little life near death, one which we learned later was the only daughter of the family.

We rushed her to the hospital but she died there. We tried to comfort the parents and gave them money to cover funeral costs. But how could we deal with our own anguish in being the source of this grief. The Muslim hospital staff, police officers, and a business man sought to comfort us with the fact that there was nothing we could have done. Another missionary also comforted us by sharing a similar experience.

We retreated to the quiet of a Murree cottage. In that quietness, the Lord brought comfort through His Word but the sting and anguish of being the instrumental cause of a death lingered for a long time.

Shortly afterward, Mary Helen received a telegram that her mother had died. She immediately arranged a flight to South Carolina to be with her father and sisters.

Throughout this period, we were forcibly reminded that every step of Gospel progress would be contested.

Nevertheless, he could not stop the spread of Christ’s gospel-love. The sales of Christian books and Bibles, and enrolment in Bible correspondence courses continued to climb. We heard from different parts of the country of men and women becoming followers of Christ. Church growth among the half-million Hindu tribals—Marwaris and Mengwals—also grew apace.

For the next two years PACTEE made steady progress. TEE centres in Lahore grew to five. New centres were also opened in Karachi, Bahawalpur, Rawalpindi, and Larkana. Russ Irwin finished his course on Genesis. I enjoyed immensely working on two courses that led students on a survey of the Old Testament. (Just recently I learned that after 40 years they are still in use in Pakistan!)

A TEE class at FC College

We often saw encouraging spiritual growth among TEE students. For example, on the last day of a Lahore TEE centre where the course was, “Talking With God,” we gathered in a circle and rehearsed the specific prayers and answers we had seen. What a joy that was!

There is nothing new in this missionary saga. Every inch of gospel progress is contested whether in west or east. But through it all God will not be thwarted. His Church will be established. And His work in us, His servants, will continue.