Many of us know Taxila Christian Hospital from the tragic terrorist event in August 2002 when four nurses died from the bomb thrown by Islamic extremists as they were leaving the morning chapel service. Now Taxila Christian Hospital is providing medical and other care to the earthquake victims in northern Pakistan.

Taxila Christian Hospital and the Memorial Hospital

in Sialkot are the two hospitals the Presbyterian Church (USA) 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.

We nearly succeeded in getting to the epicenter, until we were met by another road blockage due to a fresh landslide only four kilometers from our destination, the town of Balakot. But I have seen plenty. Although the damages to structures are similar to what I saw after the Hurricane Katrina, the loss of lives and the effects afterwards are much more severe. The earthquake came without warning, it came at a time when the children were in school and the country does not have the abundance of resources as we do, and finally many of the places are unreachable. With the winter coming up, the relief efforts and the survival will become even more difficult.

Taxila Christian Hospital staff each gave one day’s wage to the relief effort and the hospital is offering to set aside100 beds for care of the earthquake victims free of charge. 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, nearest large city to the epicenter and the northern most place for a Presbyterian church, is serving as the base for many Christian relief efforts by providing coordination and logistics support. The manse for this congregation is severely damaged to force the pastor’s family to seek shelter else where, but the pastor is leading the efforts. Members of this 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.

Being a extreme minority, they have been persecuted and discriminated against for many years, and we often wondered whether the oppressive environment forces the Church to have victim mentality and not able to reach out with the love of Christ. I saw the Spirit at work and the proof that we can all answer the call of service regardless of the challenges we face. It was a personal honor to be a part of this community even for a few days.

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 crises. 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 traditional enemies. Haejung and I will be traveling to Pakistan on the 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 the Forman Christian University which was returned to the Church after thirty years of nationalization. We will return just a few days before Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Haejung & Simon

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