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May-June 2002
Dear Friends,
Praise Items
Praise that General Musharraf has been voted in as president
for the next five years. He has given wise, progressive leadership
to the country so far and has done much to discourage corruption
in high places.
Praise for thorough physical exams in Karachi that affirmed
our conviction that we are in good health.
Praise for the first of a series of interfaith get-togethers,
called by the Senior Superintendent of Police and held in the
Catholic Compound. He invited about 80 leaders from various sects
of Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, and the Sikh religion. He encouraged
all to live in harmony with one another and fight terrorism. The
SSP plans to have a meeting like this once a month sponsored by
a different religious sect each time. Public expression of appreciation
for one another helps all of us feel greater warmth and unity.
Praise for a responsive group of twenty who came to Group 1
in spite of the start of wheat harvest. In September Nainu, the
mother of the New Life Center cook, became quite ill after being
told by a witch doctor that she would die within three months.
We prayed with her and tried to convince her that Jesus is stronger
than such curses, but she didn=t seem convinced. When we returned
in March she met us radiant and healthy saying, AJesus has kept
me alive!@ She was a quarrelsome, unpleasant woman but has softened
appreciatively. She talked an old uncle, Bani Ram, into coming
with her to Group 1. He sat seemingly unresponsive until the last
night when we showed the death and resurrection of Jesus and invited
people to accept Him in faith. To our surprise, Bani was the first
to respond, followed by an eager teen-age boy, Puppu. The next
day Bani was full of joy. AI never could make sense of Hindu teaching,@
he said. ANor has any other Guru risen from the dead. I=m going
to bring my wife and perhaps one of my sons to the next meeting.@
Pray that he will.
Praise that we were able to make two village tours this month.
One was for the wedding of Rattan, who was raised by our evangelist
Daud and Martha. Rattan is a promising young college computer
student who desires to serve the Lord. Pray for his bride Momal
who has been raised a Hindu but is asking for teaching.
Praise for plans to visit Ruth and Mark Stoscher in Albania
in July and Sara and David Treece in China in August. An exciting
prospect!
Prayer Items
The first suicide bombing in Pakistan took place in Karachi
this week, killing 11 Frenchmen and three Pakistanis. The incident
had all the earmarks of Al-Qaida and has had disastrous effects
on the economy, as many foreign firms, airlines, and sports teams
are pulling out.
Pray for General Musharraf as he seeks to control terrorism
and stabilize the economy. Many militants have come into Pakistan
from Afghanistan spreading anti-American propaganda. However we
don't sense antagonism in this area. Keep praying!
Pray for Maryam as she goes to Multan Christian Hospital May
18th to await her baby due June 6th. After three sons who died
within a few days of birth, Samuel survived due to constant vigilance
by the nurses. Pray this new little one will also live to be a
joy to us all and a testimony to God's power through prayer.
Pray for the safety of the foreign community who gather in the
hill station of Murree for the summer months. Instead of a central
language school, teachers circulate to the homes of their students.
The Murree Christian School for missionary children is not running
its school bus, which would be an obvious target. The parents
have to make transportation arrangements. Dale's family will be
living there all summer. Paul=s is coming the end of July. We
hope to be there June 4th to 24th living close to Dale and family.
Pray against a spirit of fear in us all.
Pray that we will be given a new multiple-entry visa for Pakistan,
as ours runs out July 1st. We get it from Bahawalpur where the
church massacre took place last October—obviously a center
for militants. Pray the officer will be cooperative. He has told
us to check on it June 8th, so especially remember that day.
Pray for an important meeting George and Gail Mcbane are having
on June 6th with a committee of the ARP Mission Board to decide
when they will be allowed to return to Pakistan. Pray for renewed
faith and vision for the Board. Pray for the McBanes, who are
convinced the Lord wants them back in Pakistan, so are deeply
frustrated with the hindrances they are facing.
Pray for Lois and Kyle Scott who are leaving their ministry
at Lamb Hospital in Bangladesh at the end of May for at least
two years. Kyle plans to work on a master’s degree in management
to better prepare himself for future mission service. Pray for
good closure on their eight years at Lamb and for a happy adjustment
of the whole family to life in Minnesota.
Pray for the following programs planned for May and June:
- May 16-20 Two Timothy groups for young educated men. Both
will be studying a course on prayer.
- May 22 An interchurch prayer meeting to stimulate concern
for unreached peoples. Pray for more people to take interest
in this.
- May 23-26 Group 1 for new believers and inquirers. We anticipate
a large attendance because harvest is now over and people are
free and eager to come. Pray for open hearts and no quarrels
sparked by the heat!
- May 27-30 Workers= meeting for evangelists and literacy teachers.
We are teaching basic English to the teachers; working on writing
and simple math with the women; and stimulating evangelists
to prepare more effective messages and worship services, in
addition to our usual Bible studies and preparing of lessons
for them to teach in the villages.
- June 6 McBane=s important conference with the ARP Board members.
- June 8 The date we hope our new visas will be granted.
- June 26-29 Workers= meeting to prepare lessons for July. We
plan to return from Murree for this meeting before leaving for
Albania.
Blessings on you as you support us in prayer!
In Christ,
Fred and Margie Stock
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