October 10, 2005

Dear Friends,

We have already heard from several of you asking about how the earthquake has affected our family and co-workers. As most of you know there was a terrible 7.6 earthquake yesterday morning, October 8, followed by numerous hard aftershocks. It was widespread from Afghanistan to Delhi in India, but the epicenter was in the part of Kashmir under Pakistani rule. It seems to have followed a path through the foothills of the Himalayas, east-west not north-south. We and our son Paul are in the southern half of Pakistan so did not feel any tremors. However, our daughter-in-law, Nicky, her brother, Symen, and her two children Esther and Luke plus two of Paul’s children, Elisha and Ashley, were all at Murree Christian School (MCS) in the Himalayas, not far from the epicenter. They felt tremendous shocks and the buildings swayed and shook but praise God there was only very minor damage. Nobody in the area was hurt. Only a few poorly built houses in Murree lower bazaar collapsed. Bach Hospital in Qalandarabad, run by TEAM, lost a portion of their compound wall. We have heard of no other damage to mission property.

Dr. and Mrs. Lal Din, a fine Pakistani family whose children are studying in MCS are doing home mission work, running a clinic in the town of Balakot right at the epicenter of the quake. We have heard that Balakot sustained much damage but we have no word from the Lal Din family as yet. We have since heard that they are well and very busy treating the injured. The clinic only suffered minor damage. Roads are blocked by landslides and communications are down in many places. We pray that no news is good news, but keep that family in your prayers. We know that the tremors did damage as far south as Sialkot and Gujranwala, but have no word of anyone we know who may have been hurt. However the estimate at present is that at least 18,000 Pakistanis have been killed. Many are in remote places where it is difficult to obtain relief. Pray for them.

Some political leaders (“pundits”) and religious leaders (“bhagats”) of one tribe, the Kutchi Kohlis, are trying to incite opposition to these. Paul writes:

The opposition continues. This month has had its challenges but also many victories. A meeting has been scheduled for October 20 to decide once and for all to kick Christians out of their tribe and out of their villages. The opposition have been everywhere distributing invitations to this meeting, trying to get villagers to agree to close down Christian schools in their villages and kick the Christians out. So far three or four schools have closed, but most are still open. Two different villages, after the bhagats visited them, have asked us to come and tell them about Christianity. They want to understand why the bhagats are so against us! Nilo is one of our workers. A bhagat living nearby had been given an earful against Christians from one of the opposition bhagats. He went to Nilo’s village very angry. Nilo asked him to stay for worship that evening and see for himself if there is anything wrong with the Christian faith. The bhagat stayed and liked it so much he asked Nilo if he would come sometime and have worship in his village! The Christians have really been encouraged and strengthened as they watch God working and caring for them.

Our singing team has had some amazing opportunities as well. We’ve been invited to several villages each week and at three places in particular the people were interested to know about Jesus more than ever before! The young people are especially interested to know what the big deal is about. They asked for Christian cassettes and books afterwards. Many people are now disillusioned with their religious leaders and are tired of their angry speeches. Others, though, believe the lies the bhagats are spreading and are turning against the Christians. This is spiritual warfare, and we are trusting Jesus to do miracles and convince the bhagats and the people that He is God! Pray that there would be such a negative reaction among the public against the bhagats that the October 20 meeting will be cancelled or boycotted.

Pray for Subel, the wife of one of our best lay leaders, Prem. She injured her eye about ten days ago while picking cotton. Now she has come to have the infection treated. Pray her vision will be completely restored. She is also expecting her fifth child. After four girls they would love to have a boy, though they have been very loving toward all their girls.

Thanks again for your love and concern.

In Christ,

Fred and Margie Stock

The 2005 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 112