The Gospel from Pakistan!

Help to share the Gospel fróm Pakistan…!

Context
Pakistan, an Islamic country sandwiched between India and Afghanistan. The country has 216 million inhabitants, 98% of whom are Muslim. Many Christians are oppressed. There is not much missionary work because of the difficult conditions.Until 1947, Pakistan was together with India a British colony. Later in 1970, East Pakistan split off and has since been called Bangladesh. In West Pakistan (nowadays Pakistan), the main language is Urdu (government language) and there are also important languages such as Pashtoe (Taliban) and Sindhi (central Pakistan). There are also a dozen smaller languages including Farsi. Many languages cross borders with India and Afghanistan and most of the areas are difficult to reach. Therefore the use of Satellite TV is a sublime way to reach the various groups in the whole region with the Gospel!

Projectpartners
In this project Gawai television and City Bibles are joining forces in sharing the Gospel from Pakistan!

Gawahi Television is a satellite station, communicating the Gospel of Jesus Christ through visual media. It was founded by Pastor Sarfraz William in 2008. Initially we began broadcasting locally in Karachi city to the population of 25 Million people. On the 24th of November 2015 their office was attacked by radical terrorists and was turned to ashes. Everything which was built in years was destroyed, but God strengthened them to remain standing strong in faith. In the midst of great persecution and distress, Gawahi Television continued its operations in Karachi and outreaches all over in Pakistan. In 2017, Gawahi Television moved to a big satellite, called ‘ASIA SAT 7’ broadcasting towards Pakistan, Arab, Middle East totaling about 73 countries across the globe! Millions and millions of people watching their programs! Some details for Gawahi TV on ASIA SAT7 – Frequency: 3880 | Symbol rate: 27500 | Polarity: Horizontal.

City Bibles, started in 2009, is convinced that only the Gospel can save lives in this dark world. The most effective instrument for this is mentioned in the Bible: Isaiah 55:11. The Word of God never returns empty. The New Testament contains all the information on how one can get to know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. That is why City Bibles prints modern looking New Testaments, and also complete Bibles (OT/NT), and distributes them worldwide. People can personalize their City Bibles by a customizable cover. Furthermore, each New Testament bible contains a brief introduction on how to reconcile with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. City Bibles is independent of every denomination. More than 7 million City Bibles have been printed and distributed worldwide in more than 50 languages. Waseem, a former Muslim, is now supporting City Bibles in helping translations of Bible materials into the multiple Pakistan languages.

‘I am Waseem from Pakistan. I was born and have been raised in a slum in Karachi; in the nineties a place full of violence, underworld fights, shooting etc. I am thankful to a Christian school, because otherwise I would have died on taking drugs or may be in a street fight. Through this school a seed has been planted in my little heart to grow in Christ. By the grace of God I am now a Bible Translation consultant. Unfortunately, the situation in my homeland is not good, but I request you to keep sowing and I want to remind you Acts 16:9.’

Vision and mission
Through broadcasting the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ we want to reach out to the lost souls of Pakistan and surrounding countries. As answer to their request for New Testaments or Bibles we want to share with them City Bibles or keychains.

The range of the station is large and the broadcasting is in several languages. Gawahi Television is reaching out to listeners in Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States. Only 2 % of Pakistanis profess Christianity, which means 4,3 million out of 216 million. This percentage is a great challenge and it’s our desire to share the Gospel with as many people in Pakistan as possible. The spread of the gospel is through City Bibles and keychains. We pray for the distribution of at least 1 million City Bibles and keychains. There is also GREAT NEED for City Bibles among the AFGHANS who have fled into Pakistan. The Pakistan Bible Society has run out of Bibles since Covid-19: there is no Bible available in Pakistan today!

Innovative concept
The world is changing and new generations need a new approach. That is why City Bibles has developed an Interactive Bible in which one can read, listen and see the Gospel. All this via the free City Bible app. Our partners in this project are YouVersion, Faith Comes By Hearing, Bible Project and Superbook. Beside that City Bible creates new carriers for the Bible like keychains with QR-code, Yoyo with NFC tag and bracelets with NFC tag. All these carriers contain the full Bible in 1.700 languages, audio’s and video’s.

Implementation
City Bibles works through a growing network of churches, organizations and missionaries. City Bibles has now established a network of 12 partners worldwide from which City Bibles are distributed on 5 continents. City Bibles also uses a website and a webshop. City Bibles works with local projects that are carried out in collaboration with organizations all over the world.

Funding
Starting the project in 2022 the most pressing issue was establishing a smooth partnership between City Bibles and Gawahi Television. They spent quite some time selecting a reliable printing shop based upon criteria like: high quality, affordable pricing and timely delivery. In the second half of 2022, the first print run of several thousand Bibles was printed. Meanwhile, distribution is in full swing and we would like to scale up the project further.

Our goal is to distribute a total of 50,000 City Bibles and 100,000 keychains with QR code during the period 2022-2023. The QR-code at the keychain provides access to the Bible-app, including YouVersion! The costs associated with printing 50,000 City Bibles are $85,000. The 100,000 keychains can be produced for $25,000. The total funding need is $110,000 to share the Gospel with 150,000 beneficiaries. This means only $0,75 per individual..!

MissionInvest The Netherlands has already raised $75,000 for this project in 2022 and 2023. We are looking for donors who like to support this project with the remaining $35,000 in 2023.

Impact
With this project 150,000 people will receive either a City Bible or the keychain. The broadcasting and the following requests for Bibles will not only be limited to Pakistan. Also Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states can receive the programs and there is an increase of demands for Bibles from these regions. Through listening and reading the Word of God people in Pakistan and surrounding countries will gather in new planted local churches and glorify our Lord Jesus Christ. They will be a lightning witness amidst the Muslim world.