Pakistan Updates
Over 80% of the poorest of the poor live in the 10/40 Window, surviving on less than $1 a day. Yet only 3.3% of Christian missionaries work among them. At E4 Project, we began praying over five years for God to open doors for us to a country in this area as we read about the need for more believers to serve here. About a year and a half ago, the doors started to open. We are currently working with three partner organizations in Pakistan as God has clarified that this is where our additional focus should be. Founder Eric Schmidt will be traveling to two different regions in Pakistan in early fall, and we cannot wait to update you on all that God is leading us to.
“The 10/40 Window is the rectangular area of North Africa, the Middle East and Asia approximately between 10 degrees north and 40 degrees north latitude. The 10/40 Window is often called "The Resistant Belt" and includes the majority of the world's Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists…The 10/40 Window is home to the majority of the world's unevangelized countries. The "unevangelized" are people who have a minimal knowledge of the gospel, but have no valid opportunity to respond to it. While it constitutes only one-third of earth's total land area, nearly two-thirds of the world's people reside in the 10/40 Window”
- The Joshua Project
Our largest partnership is with Messiah Ministries in Youngsonabad, Pakistan. We have held two sewing trainings for Christian and Muslim young women, assisted a persecuted Christian village whose homes were burned down due to Muslim persecution, and most recently launched a livelihood program and career training seminars. This past week, the second graduation ceremony was held for the 20 women who passed the six-month training program, and they receive a machine now to sew at home to save money for their families and earn income in their communities through tailoring.
The most recent programs came from an in-depth asset-based community development assessment conducted by one of our team partners, who has significant experience in community development. We learned so much about the villages we serve in, and the assessment led to the following programs for us to start with. All programs have a Gospel message and prayer that takes place, usually given by the village’s Christian pastor. The village chief also attends most of the program events.
In June, we held the first goat distribution for women selected by Messiah Ministries who live in poverty and need income to help support their families. The program allows for the women to milk their goats to provide for their families, and to sell in their community. The stipulations of the program state that, in return, each family will donate a goat kid back to the program once they breed. The team has done their first home visits since the distribution to check in on the care and health of the goats, and everything is going very well so far.
The first career guidance workshop for young adults (both men and women) was held in early July. A follow-up workshop just took place and they had another great turn out! The team was hoping for 40 participants, but 70 showed up and were actively involved in the training! One of the leaders gave an overview of career guidance and collected expectations from the participants. Further training and educational opportunities were communicated to the participants. Information handouts were also distributed among participants as well. It is such a blessing to see young women, as well as men be included in such training in Pakistan. Most women do not have this benefit in the majority Muslim country.
We have also started a partnership with another Christian NGO that is led by Pakistani people. We are beginning a program for women’s literacy in a more remote area of Pakistan. The program is led by a small Christian church and country leaders from this NGO. We cannot disclose much information about this program as it is run by Christian nationals in the country, and their lives are always at risk when sharing the Gospel message. We will share what we can with some photos as the program progresses this next year.
We ask that you pray alongside us as we plan for Eric’s trip to Pakistan this fall and for how we continue with many ministry opportunities. We are so thankful that God has allowed us to be a part of the movement we are seeing happening for the Kingdom in Pakistan. We also need funding to further the partnerships we have started and to continue programs and create new ones. You can give here.
