Pakistan (MNN) — Pakistan’s economy is starting to revive as people emerge from COVID-19 lockdowns. This summer, Muslims working abroad sent record levels of money home because they could not travel for the Hajj.
The outlook for Pakistani Christians, however, remains bleak. Though churches stepped up to meet community needs, individual resources are now exhausted.
“Part of what people forget is when you don’t have enough to feed your family, then you begin selling your assets,” explains Jonathan*, a Gospel worker focused on Pakistan.
(Photo by Ashwini Chaudhary on Unsplash)
“Assets might be a motorcycle that you need to earn money once the lockdown lifts, or maybe they sold an animal which was their source of milk and protein for their family. [Saving] up enough to buy another asset like that is going to take a long time, so their ability to ‘bounce back’ is severely compromised.”
Building up faith-based business
As noted here, COVID-19 restrictions devastated the Christian community. To prevent further adversity, a coalition of Pakistani churches and nonprofit organizations is working on a new Kingdom-minded business initiative.
“We want to equip the Church to generate the resources [needed] for reaching that country (Pakistan), rather than always being dependent on the West for those resources,” Jonathan explains.
“Typically, the Christian community in Pakistan has not participated in business. We would love to see a new generation of Pakistani business leaders emerge; people who are Kingdom-minded.”
Pray Jonathan and other coalition leaders will have wisdom and favor as they plan this initiative. Jonathan hopes to launch the project in 2021. Ask God to raise innovative business leaders from among the Christian community, and pray their efforts will further Gospel growth in Pakistan.
*–Name withheld for security purposes.
Header image is a representative stock photo by Ravi Sharma on Unsplash.
