The Islamic Republic of Pakistan has an estimated population of about 140 million. Of these about three million are Christians, or approximately 400,000 families. For religious, political and practical reasons Christians live in 800 neighborhoods spread widely over the whole country. The constitution of Pakistan, based on Shariat law, guarantees some religious freedom. In Islamic understanding this means that those born Christian are permitted to remain in their traditions, protected to some degree in the practice of their faith. They are always encouraged to become Muslims. On the other hand, Muslims are not allowed to become Christian. Proselytizing among Muslims is forbidden. Transgressing in these proscriptions can result in serious prosecution.
Christian missions in Pakistan, with good results among the Hindus, took root in the 1890s. Today there are 35 Christian denominations active in Pakistan. Christians are, of course, permitted to change their religious affiliation. Unfortunately, over the years mission societies have left many churches with out proper pastoral care. This has weakened their spiritual life, influence and witness.
Seventh-day Adventist work had a modest beginning in 1901. The present membership officially stands at about 7,000 adults. By way of the Pakistani count, this represents roughly 3,000 households. In reality 18,000 to 20,000 persons are affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
The evangelistic event
Over the years evangelism in Pakistan has often been conducted by short term, itinerant workers who have had success working together with a Pakistani pastor in establishing an Adventist presence in 150 of the 800 Christian neighborhoods.
In August and September 2000, three teams joined together for a five-week evangelistic thrust in the Hyderabad area. Eight national pastors were assisted by four expatriate workers from Korea, England and Denmark. These combined teams concentrated on three Christian areas. People from six other nearby Christian villages were bused in each night. At the close of the campaign baptismal services were held in four locations where 154 persons joined Christ and the church. The campaigns were run on a moderate budget. The teams were able to stay with in the budget to the extent that residual monies made it possible for four young people from the area to be sponsored to attend Pakistan Adventist Seminary.
In connection with the General Conference session in Toronto the Ministerial Association published a book by Borge Schantz, featuring evangelism in developing areas titled A Path Straight to the Hedges. All three teams used this manual as a guide. They adapted the principles set forth in the book to fit into their own situations. It was rewarding to observe how well the principles outlined in the book operated in the Pakistani "trial run." New experiences, however, were gained, which means that a few paragraphs could be added to the book. These new techniques are an important part of this article.
The campaign itself
The five-week campaign began with a deliberate demonstration of the presence and purpose of the meetings in the Christian neighborhoods. We visited many homes and invited people to the 10 sessions held sequentially each night. We spent no money for advertising or hall rental. Despite the lack of advertising, the first night of the 10 public lectures the meeting places were filled, as people crowded in to sit on mats. Sound equipment placed on surrounding roofs and poles enabled the whole neighborhood to hear the message.
We selected the topics for the meetings with three factors in mind. They had to express the uniqueness of Christianity in general and Adventism in particular, they should be relevant to the culture and religion of the area, and they should be presented so that illiterate people (up to 50 percent of the audience) would understand them. The topics included such subjects as the Bible, law and grace, the origin of evil, the Sabbath, women in the Bible, the Second Advent, heaven and hell, the nature of death, conditional immortality, baptism and church membership.
We did not use visual aids such as films, overhead transparencies or slides. Instead, we illustrated our lectures by the simple means available on the spot. (Hell, with the actual burning of straw; Conditional Immortality, with a torch light; Baptism, with a doll and a wash basin). One reason for using these simple illustrative methods is that the national pastors, who were not only partners in the venture but also students of evangelism, would not have access to the expensive electronic equipment we had.
During our visits in the homes of the people, we prayed with the families and answered questions arising from the lectures. These visits also provided opportunities for evaluating the interest level of the attendees and in the light of our evaluation, inviting people to forthcoming baptismal classes.
Baptismal classes
We conducted five baptismal classes. During these sessions we dug deeper into the Word of God and Seventh-day Adventist eschatology, lifestyle, and church structure.
During the public lectures we had presented the Sabbath as an important command in the center of God's Law, but we had not been able to cover some of the eschatological aspects related to the Sabbath question. If one wishes to make matters such as Sabbath keeping genuinely significant in a society with high unemployment and limited social amenities, one must move beyond an initial public proclamation of such verities. We had opportunity to do this in the baptismal classes. We focused on the Seven Seals in Revelation 5 to 8, a prophecy that is easy to understand. With the four horsemen the historical development of false doctrines and the consequences of it are obvious. We drew the conclusion that at the time of end there would be a church that would "obey God's commandments and remain faithful to Jesus." In other words, Sabbath is more than resting on Saturday instead of Sunday. It is a test and a sign.
In both the public lectures and the baptismal classes we put special emphasis on the biblical truth about conditional immortality. Such an emphasis is especially needed in various religions in the world, including many Christian traditions. Worship in almost all world religions is centered in one way or the other on the veneration of ancestors, reincarnation, immortality of human souls and spiritualism. These beliefs are perhaps the greatest obstacles for the biblical teaching of what happens after death.
"An SDA Confession of Faith"
During our Pakistan meetings we also tried an approach that proved successful. We wrote a 10-point Seventh-day Adventist confession of faith which was translated into Urdu. The confession was based on the baptismal vows. At the beginning of each baptismal class session everyone in attendance recited these points in unison.
The "Confession" reads:
1. I believe in God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
2. I believe in the Bible as the Word of God.
3. I believe in Jesus Christ as the only Savior from sin.
4. I believe in the Ten Commandments as a rule for Christian life.
5. I believe in the seventh-day as the Sabbath.
6. I believe that only God has immortality.
7. I believe in the Second Coming of Christ.
8. I believe that my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and will honor God by taking care of my body.
9. I believe in the ordinances of the Seventh-day Adventist church.
10. I believe that as a member of the SDA church I shall support it with my attendance, personal witness and financial means.
Praise be to God the Father, God the Son , and God the Holy Spirit.
The introduction of the "SDA Confession" (that no doubt still needs some refinement) went over well. Initially we had in mind that it would help the illiterate people in the audience to memorize, give an account of and understand what they believe. We discovered, however, that all participants in the baptismal class es—literate as well as illiterate— enjoyed the recitals. Quite a few could say it by heart on the last evening. Some of the pastors decided they were going to have church members recite it each Sabbath at the beginning of the divine service.
Baptismal services
From the onset of the campaigns, we conducted Sabbath School and church services. At the first public meeting, we announced that on Saturday morning there would be a special service, and invited all to come. Surprisingly, many attended.
On the last weekend after four weeks' intensive work we conducted the baptismal services. Whenever possible, baptismal services were con ducted in the neighborhood where the new convert lived. This made the baptismal event itself a witness to family, neighbors and friends.
At the baptisms we asked photographers to take pictures of each baptismal candidate at the moment the pastor, who wore a special gown for the occasion, lifted his hand to baptize the candidate. During a visit following the baptismal service the picture was handed to each candidate. They became a visible sign to bring the baptism into memory and prompted the new members to con firm their sacred covenant with God. These pictures were often framed and placed in prominent locations in the homes of the baptized.
Stealing or feeding?
We have mentioned that in Islamic nations Christians have the privilege of direct witness only to non-Muslims. And as non-Muslims in this case were Christians from various traditions our public campaigns were conducted in Christian neighborhoods.
In all lectures we presented Seventh-day Adventist-Christian doctrines, and were careful not to berate other Christian traditions.
As noted, some of the pioneering mission societies have neglected their daughter churches, so members often were left without meaningful leadership, weekly programs, or even pastoral care. Because of this our organized activities seemed to draw people to our places of meeting more than did the preaching of the biblical message per se. We hoped that as the audience listened it would be Jesus and Him crucified who became the main attraction.
It is obvious that many of those we baptized or accepted into church fellowship, were persons who officially belonged to other Christian denominations. For this reason we were accused of "sheep-stealing." We did not take this allegation too seriously. We concluded among ourselves that when sheep are neglected and left largely unfed, it is only right to feed those who are spiritually starving and who are seeking. As an interesting and positive side effect of our campaigns we found that unenterprising pastors from some surrounding Christian churches suddenly became active in home visitations and meetings.
To bring people into a meaningful and dependable relationship with Jesus Christ and into active church membership is the greatest task entrusted to human beings. This is also the most complex and difficult enterprise in which we could be involved. It means hard work, man power, finances, faithfulness to truth, and an understanding and ability to adapt to cultures and customs.
