November 9, 2005

If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12:20-22

Dear Friends,

Many of us know Taxila Christian Hospital from the tragic terrorist event in August 2002 when four nurses died as they were leaving the morning chapel service from a bomb thrown by Islamic extremists. Now Taxila CH is providing medical and other care to the earthquake victims in northern Pakistan. Taxila CH and the Memorial Hospital in Sialkot are the two hospitals the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) supports through the International Health Ministries office. Both hospitals are actively helping the population directly through their medical care and through other efforts of the government.

During my recent visit to Pakistan to work with the Presbyterian Church of Pakistan, I had an opportunity to visit the earthquake sites and see the relief efforts of fellow Presbyterians.

Taxila CH staff each gave one day’s wages to the relief effort and the hospital is offering to set aside 100 beds for care free of charge to the earthquake victims. An additional challenge facing the hospital is that the victims have no place to go after their discharge from the hospital. The Presbyterian Church of Pakistan is making plans to receive the discharged patients and care for them until a permanent place is found for them. This truly is the way to “overcome evil with good.”

Many more Pakistani Presbyterians are contributing to the relief efforts. Students at the Gujranwala Seminary are working as translators for the foreign relief workers, and the Presbyterian Church in Abbotabaad, the nearest large city to the epicenter and the site of the northernmost Presbyterian church, is serving as the base for many Christian relief efforts, providing coordination and logistics support. The manse for this congregation was so severely damaged that the pastor’s family had to find shelter elsewhere, but the pastor is leading the efforts. Members of the church opened their homes for lodging for the relief workers and also serve them meals. I was a recipient of this hospitality during the visit.

I have been involved with disaster assistance for the past several months, starting with the food distribution efforts in Niger, followed by the work camp in Mississippi Gulf Coast and the earthquake in Pakistan. In between these efforts, we have had many opportunities to share the story of how God’s people responded to the enormous challenges. One amazing and encouraging fact is that people of faith are able to rise up and serve the people in distress while they themselves are suffering from the crisis. I have never seen Presbyterians so united in service and able to put aside all the issues that keep us apart.

Personally, it was a period of humility before my Creator, time to grieve with the suffering people, and to be filled with hope as I assisted people of faith to share the love of God with others, some of them traditional enemies. Haejung and I will be traveling to Pakistan on Thanksgiving Day to work with the Presbyterian Church of Pakistan as they develop their denominational office, in part to help the church in outreach ministry and to assist Forman Christian College, which was returned to the church after 30 years of nationalization. We will return a few days before Christmas.

We now have an Extra Commitment Opportunity account which supports the expenses of our mission work. We are very appreciative of your continuing prayer and financial support. The details are as follows:

The project number for “Management/Financial Consultant—Partner Capacity Building” is E051786. Individuals make checks payable to PC(USA), put the project number on the memo line of the check, and mail to:

PCUSA
Individual Remittance Processing
P O Box 643700
Pittsburgh PA 15264-3700

Or click the "give" button.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Haejung and Simon

The 2005 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 118