From Pakistan with Love

Dear Friends and Family,

Blessings from Pakistan! We are all fine by the grace of our Lord, and we are thankful to all of you for always praying for us! We hope and pray for all of you and your families to be fine and rejoicing in the Lord. We praise our Lord for His great love and for the eternal Hope we have in Christ Jesus our Lord! It is very, very hot here; the months of July and August are extremely hot and humid. There is too much of a load on the country’s electric grid during the summer and shortages are common. Our son Joshua has Summer Vacation, and we have come to visit my father in the village. The power condition in the villages is even worse than urban areas. It’s off many times during the day and night. It is really hard to sleep without a fan in such hot and humid conditions and there are many grass hoppers and other insects. Thanks to God that it was rainy yesterday and the night was cooler.

Religious Tension and its Consequences in Gujranwala

A family in Gujranwala was accused of burning the Qur’an in April. Muslims were enraged and came with girded waists to burn the churches, Christian’s houses and kill the Christians in the area. Christians were attacked so many times, but Praise God that He protected the Christians. We, like other Christians of the area, had a narrow escape.

Later it was found out that three Muslim clerics were behind this whole situation; they had deliberately created the trouble in the area for their personal purposes. The accused Christians have since been released and the Gill family, which were the main victims, have been moved to a safer place. They will be moving to England permanently. Many prominent Christians are now selling their properties and moving out of the area to other locations. Some are even planning to move to other countries.

We praise God that the criminal minded clerics are exposed, though nothing has been done against them, but God has saved Christians and now all those who were ready to burn and kill Christians have calmed down.

 

A mob of hundreds of Muslims in Gujranwala on Saturday (April 30) attacked Christians’ homes, a school and a Presbyterian church. At least 18 people – 15 Muslim protestors and 3 policemen – were injured and had to be hospitalized after officers used tear gas and batons to disperse the mob, police sources said. There were no reports of injured Christians.

Reaching the Tomb Worshipers of Noshehra Sansi

In April we had the privilege to arrange two youth seminars along with “Youth for Christ” in Gujranwala city. Those two seminars were very fruitful. Many young Christian leaders came from different villages. Among them were some young men and women from a village named Noshehra Sansi. We knew a little about the people who attended the seminar. Noshehra Sansi is a village near Gujranwala and all the Christians of that area are Tomb Worshipers. Please don’t be confused that I call Tomb Worshipers Christians. Actually, most of the people are Christian only by culture, because they were born into Christian families. These people cannot change their religion because of their community pressure.

They follow a man named Balay Shah (a name that always gives me the feelings of Baal mentioned in the Bible). They believe Balay Shah was a Holy man. His grave is located in their area and they have built a building over it. They worship his grave and pray to him. They also ascribe many miracles to him, like ordering a brick wall to run before him and elevating his enemies very high in space to kill them. A special miracle story was that a man killed a cat and a dog, and cooked them as food for Balay Shah. When the food was placed before him, he recognized that it was meat of a dog and cat. He simply became silent and—the animals came alive again.

In Pakistan and India most of the Christian use “Masih,” meaning Christ, as their second name. You will find about 99% Christians with Masih as their second name. But Noshehra ‘Christians’ use Shah as their second name. Instead of being called Khadim Masih or Joseph Masih they are Khadim Shah or Joseph Shah.

Shah is also a special last name used by Shia Muslims in Pakistan. I was really confused when I learned about the Christians of Noshehra Sansi; they claimed to be Christians but they worshiped tombs!  They used Qur’anic verses and quotes at their homes, and they used the Last Name of Shia Muslims. It was really astonishing for me. But later we found that these people are actually a confused Christian community!  They have a yearly celebration on the tomb like the pagan feasts where they cover the grave with new and colorful cloths and crown the grave of Balay Shah.

A few men came to our first seminar which was about Cults and Christianity, where they learned a lot about the authenticity of Christian faith.  This caused curiosity in them to know more about True Christian faith. Then they came to our second seminar which was about the Person of Jesus Christ, Historicity of Christ, Divinity of Christ, His death and Bodily Resurrection.

Thanks be to God that He worked in the hearts and minds of the people of Noshehra Sansi! They did not like any pastor or Bible teacher who had come to them in the past because all who would go to them called them and their practices Satanic and always expressed hatred towards their tomb worship and Balay Shah. This is why they were defensive and would never welcome anyone. We handled this whole situation very carefully and wisely, and instead of judging these people ourselves, we let the Word of God work in their lives. We were given great favor by God and we were really amazed to see the results.

After attending our two seminars they invited us to their area and they were very happy as we went there. We had the meeting in a sitting room of a house, and though there were only a few people, we felt very blessed and we were encouraged to see how these people are feeling more interest to know the Word of God. We used a projector for the presentation as this is very helpful for people to learn easily and this remains in the minds of people for a long time. We praise God for working in the lives of the people of Noshehra Sansi.

We hope and pray for the young generation to be equipped well with the Word of God and change the whole community in that village.  We request you to please keep people of Noshehra Sansi in your prayers.

 

Bible and Archeology Seminar in Sheikupura

Sheikhupura is a city near Lahore where we are invited frequently. We received a request to teach there, as they wanted to learn about the Authenticity of the Bible. After praying and discussing with friends, I prepared a presentation about “the Bible and Archaeology”.

The program was held in the evening after all the people were free from their work.  It was arranged in a village about 17 Kilometers west of Sheikhupura. The Christian community of the city hired a bus for themselves to reach in the village to learn about the Word of God along with villagers.

It was wonderful outdoor meeting in a village, it was windy and the projector screen was wavering. Two young men held the screen throughout the meeting and we praise God that people were so blessed to know the authenticity of the Bible. After the dinner at Sheikhupura we reached home at 3:20 am in early morning. We praise God for the protection and fruitfulness of the meeting at Sheikhupura. Ì

 

Bible Distribution in the Villages

Although there has been much trouble in the area, we have kept on serving and reaching the villages. So many villages are receiving Urdu Bibles. We are thankful to all of you who are supporting this Bible project. People are thankful for the most wonderful gift. The situation in Pakistan is tougher than before and Christian persecution is increasing. We need to share the Word of God with people and we praise God for the provision of His Word.

 

Trials to Triumph

"Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us
 diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place."
 2 Corinthians 2:14

Last month I was able to complete my on-line Calvary Chapel Bible College semester with very good grades. My final result for the semester was 98.95% A Grade. I praise God for encouraging me and helping me to do so well. He was so Good to grant me time and peace to complete my studies in the midst of religious tension and persecution.

As you know, there was a very serious problem in our area of Pakistan during the month of April. Some Christians were accused of “blasphemous” acts and our colony was attacked by mobs of angry Muslims. All Christians in the area were in danger, but the risk for me and my household was very high because I am known there as a Christian Minister . No one was safe, and we were forced to flee our homes along with many other families. It was a very frightening ordeal for everyone. After our escape, I took my family to safety in the village of my father. There, we regrouped for a time. But we needed to find a home of our own and we needed one that was away from where the Muslims were ranting and rioting; and, we needed one that had heavy security and was located in a peaceful area. We found a house in such an area and moved in. It was a lot of effort to change homes under the trying circumstances, and I was exhausted. It turned out, however, that the house, although safe, was too far from our working areas and from our son Joshua’s school, and it has been expensive to live there as I have had to drive for two hours a day to take him to and from his school.

But praise be to God, despite the trials of the past months, God has been faithful and His grace has been sufficient for our every need. I really praise Him for encouraging me and helping me with my studies and helping to keep my family safe from harm. Praise the Lord, he gave us strength to triumph over adversity!

I am now happy to tell you that we will be moving back into our area. We had been praying for a house in town, and we’d looked at many, but we did not feel peaceful about any that we saw. Finally, after much prayer, we made the decision to return to our previous home. The situation is much better there now. Christians in the community still have some fear in their hearts and minds, but we are believing the Lord for protection of His people as He has done in the past. By the time you receive this July Newsletter, we will have moved.

We praise God for His faithfulness and ask you continue to pray for us and all Christians of Pakistan.  Please pray:

• For us as we are moving back to our previous home. Pray for peace and security to prevail in that area and there be harmony among Muslims and Christians.
• For us to work continually and effectively as long as we are able to serve God to share the Word of God with all those are un-reached in the remote areas.
• For our Urdu Bible’s need for the villages, the situation gets harder for Pakistani Christians every day and there are yet so many who need to know the Lord Jesus Christ personally.
• For our Sunday School project as we are going to use first Sunday School book with the systematic and proper Sunday School books. Please pray for the support to extend this project to many villages.
• For my Studies and teachings, for our team to be always under God’s mighty and powerful hand.

Heading back ‘home’

 

 

 

Joshua will celebrate his 5th birthday on the 22nd of July. He is growing so quickly and is very bright. He is in summer vacation for about three months; his school will re-open on September 5th. He is working hard to complete his summer vacation home work and he is also enjoying his free days at home. We’ve come to the village to my father’s house. There is much power problem here and it’s very hot and humid but the children are enjoying being with the family and other cousins. Rachael enjoys playing with the water and all of the children have great fun.

We are soon moving back to our previous house and hope that all goes well. We are so thankful to you for your prayers and support of our family and ministry. We always pray for you and your families and we love you all. God Bless you!

In Christ, Nadeem Massey

E-Mail: Jsm.pak@gmail.com

Webpage: http://sgwm.com/massey

Phone: +92 300-800-2872

 

 

So Many Ways to Help

You can pray!

You can give to the Bible fund.

You can give to the Children’s Fund for Children’s Bibles & Sunday School Materials.

You can give to the Support of the Massey Family.

All donations go to the work of Calvary Chapel Pakistan and are tax deductible.

 

TO SUPPORT US BY MAIL:

Send your check to:

Saving Grace World Missions, 17451 Bastanchury Rd., Ste 203, Yorba Linda, CA 92886

Make check payable to “SGWM”.

In Memo line please specify: (1) Urdu Bibles (2) Massey Family Support (3) Children’s Fund

 

TO SUPPORT US BY INTERNET:

http://sgwm.com/massey/

Look for the “Become a Financial Partner” dark blue/green selection button on the upper right of the page, click on it.