| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
05425
August 19, 2005
Presbyterian school in Pakistan
is being restored to former glory
Historic Forman College has been
refurbished, renewed, re-Christianized
by Jerry L. Van Marter
LOUISVILLE — Two years after Pakistan’s government returned it to private |
|
| |
ownership, Forman |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Christian College — the flagship institution of Presbyterian educational mission in Pakistan — is experiencing a robust resurrection.
Enrollment has grown to 3,130, including 223 Christian students, up from just 20. There are now 65 Christians (up from four) on a faculty that numbers 165.
“The past year at Forman Christian College
|
|
 |
|
| |
provides much evidence of God’s goodness,” said Peter Armacost, a former president of Eckerd |
|
The campus at Forman Christian College, which had deteriorated during 30 years of government management, is being rehabilitated.
FCC photos |
|
| |
College in Florida who |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
went to Forman’s Lahore campus two years ago to help restore the historic college to its place among the country’s finest institutions of learning.
Forman was the premier college in Pakistan until 1971, when a socialist takeover of the government resulted in the nationalization of all religious schools — Christian and Islamic. Over the ensuing 30 years, the college deteriorated, both in its physical plant and in the quality of education it provided.
In the summer of 2003, when the government returned the school to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Armacost estimated that it would take at least $10 million to restore it to its former status.
He and a group of other dedicated Presbyterians — “Friends of Presbyterian Education in Pakistan,” led by former General Assembly Council Executive Director David Stoner and his wife, Jenny — have led a determined and urgent campaign to raise the needed funds.
More than 120 individuals and churches contributed more than $418,000 to Forman between spring 2004 and spring 2005, including major gifts (of more than $25,000) from Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, First Presbyterian Church in Dunedin, FL, and La Canada (CA) Presbyterian Church.
In addition, USAID has provided a $5 million grant over five years for faculty development and campus restoration, and the government of Punjab Province has committed $3.3 million for campus reconstruction.
|
|
|
The exteriors of all of |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Forman’s academic buildings have been refurbished, the student center has been modernized and expanded, and 16 new classrooms have been built since denationalization.
Armacost said the top |
|
 |
|
| |
priorities for the next two years are the |
|
The exteriors of all campus buildings have been refurbished and 16 classrooms have been added. |
|
|
establishment of a new |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
four-year Bachelor’s Degree program based on the U.S. semester system — a radical innovation in Pakistani higher education; a new state-of-the-art classroom building with advanced information technology; and a new science building with modern labs.
The increasing number of Christian students and faculty are contributing to renewed spiritual life on campus, where Bible study and worship are routine. Leadership development and community service programs also are becoming prominent aspects of the Forman culture.
PC(USA) volunteers are playing a vital role in FCC’s transformation, Armacost said. During the past academic year, Carl Wheeless, 86, who taught at Forman from 1957 to 1971, came out of retirement to teach one more class of students. Manzur Gill, an FCC alumnus who lived in the San Francisco bay area and worked for Intel, returned to Pakistan for the first time in more than 30 years to take charge of alumni relations.
Two members of Peachtree church — Cheryl Burke, an educator, and Ken Port, a lawyer and physics teacher — also are on campus. Burke is taking part in teacher training and aiding in the transition to the semester system; Port is teaching physics and dealing with tax and property issues for the college, and overseeing some of the technology upgrades. Numerous volunteers from Peachtree have journeyed to Lahore to lend a hand.
Elaine Markuson, an educator and administrator from Iowa City, IA, has accepted a position as FCC’s director of marketing and communications.
“Volunteers are guaranteed positions full of challenges, and the chance to be partners in a truly exciting endeavor,” Armacost said.
To learn more about the rebirth of FCC, contact Dave and Jenny Stoner by phone at (802) 586-6913, or by email at davestoner@direcway.com.
To make a tax-deductible contribution, send a check payable to the Presbyterian Church (USA) to: Allison Barker, Forman Christian College, 3434 Roswell Road NW, Atlanta, GA 30305. On the memo line, write: “ECO #0518169 FCC.” For more information about giving opportunities, contact Allison Barker by phone at (404) 842-2193, or by email at abarker@peachtreepres.org. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
