Asia: Pakistan

Evangelist Ishfaq Boby
P.O.Box 644
Lahore 54000
Pakistan.
Ph#: +92-42-7068442
Mobile No. +92-344-4732517
Email: ministerboby@gmail.com

N.B. Organization Registered in Pakistan

Rev. David P. Griffiths writes:

Like so many of our Sons of God Network member ministries, this ministry has overcome tremendous persecution to proclaim the Gospel, the Church growing enormously under this persecution – the Christians being real surrendered sons of God.

Minister Boby presents his following profile:

"God Cares..... We Care"

Bio on the Founder & the Facilitator

Name: Ishfaq Boby
Born: 1979
Birth Place: Lahore, Pakistan
Current Home: Lahore , Punjab Pakistan
Favorite Verse: Psalm 37:4

A little about Ishfaq: I born in Christian family my father is Pastor but I was away from God. I was totally depressed and suicidal, full of anger and hate toward man and God. This is all changed on Oct 1997. On that day I miraculously ended up at a prayer meeting I didn't even want to go to. It was there that Jesus 'touched me' as I sat in a chair at the prayer meeting, and I accepted such a loving Savior. I became a bold witness to family and friends. Through a time of trials, hurt and growing pains, I slowly rebuilt a spiritual foundation as an active member in a local church. Since the day I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior I am obeying His great Commandment honestly. I am serving among Christians and non-Christians. I went many cities and preach the word of God. Many time people belted me and many time I went Jail for Jesus name. I personally loves one-on-one evangelism and discipleship.

Christians in Pakistan

Pakistan was established on August 14, 1947. The Founder Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah established close links with Christians; therefore minorities played a positive role in the establishment of the country. They cast their vote on favor of Pakistan in the assembly. Pakistan came into being as democratic state; it also had a religious element. Several minorities also included in the population, white color in the flag depicts minority's existences.

The Founder of Pakistan on Oct 30, 1947 at Lahore in a public rally said: Islam orders us the Muslims to protect neighbors and minorities without being prejudiced on the bases of cast or creed, but still we Christians are suffering from the blasphemy laws, Pakistan Panel Code 295-B; 295-C; 298-A; 298-B; 298-C, passed by some fundamentalist Muslims to control the country. With the implementation of a new Constitution in 1973, Pakistan is experiencing this continual Islamisation in all areas of society.

This Islamisation has resulted in blatant and intense discrimination against all non-Muslims a "legalized" form of discrimination in that the laws themselves discriminate against and lead to persecution of non-Muslims. Because Christian estimated at 1.7% of the 150 million populations are the largest majority of the minorities, Christians suffer the greatest persecution in Pakistan . Each successful persecution fuels the fire of the Islamic fundamentalists and makes them fiercer. There are many Ethnic groups in Pakistan : Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashtun, Baloch, and Muhajir.

Now I want to share with you how the rights and freedoms of religious minorities have been eroded in Pakistan's 50-year history because of the majority community's view that this land is for the Muslims, to which many would add for Muslims only. Take a simple word like 'freely." In the original constitution of Pakistan, Christians and other religious minorities were allowed to "practice their faith freely." This word was removed from the constitution more than 30 (thirty) years ago as it was deemed to be threatening the Islamic fabric of Pakistan.

As a religious minority, we live under a constant feeling of socio-economic strangulation. We are no longer a Church serving the poor, but a Church of the poor. There is massive employment discrimination, both in the public and private sector. Usually, only the most menial jobs are available to Christians. In my own city in Lahore, Pakistan, 85% of my people are severely deprived, working as "sweepers" who remove human excrement from the streets. We are being socially ostracized and economically paralyzed simply for the "sin" of being Christians. As an example, the number of Christians in employment in the federal government of Pakistan is 0.7%, and 87% of those are in the lowest three categories, the reason because this is a land for Muslims, and we are merely Christians. I think it happened because most of Christians are lack of education, lack of money and also lack of information. For these reasons our Church & Outreach Ministry is doing something for our community to upgrade Christians in a high level, that they can achieve their goals and improve their lives, because we Christians are chosen and bless people of God.

"Many extremists assume Christians will be natural supporters and allies of the West, and therefore consider them legitimate targets for brutal intimidation and violent revenge attacks."

It is worth noting that until the introduction of section 295-C, hardly any cases under the Blasphemy Law surfaced during the previous 50 years in the life of Pakistan. I pray for wisdom, grace, and boldness in carrying out the Great Commission in the midst of persecution in Pakistan.

TENETS OF FAITH

We believe:

• The Bible to be the inspired and only infallible and authoritative Word of God.
• There is one God, eternally existent in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and the God and the Holy Ghost.
• In the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal, future return to this earth in power and glory to rule over the nations.
• In the blessed hope: the rapture of the Church at Christian's coming.
• The only means of being cleansed from sin is through repentance and faith in the precious blood of Christ.
• Regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential for personal salvation.
• In water baptism by immersion, this should be done in obedience to Word of God, and is to follow a confession of Jesus as Lord and Savior.
• In the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a holy life.
• In the resurrection of both the saved and the lost, the one to everlasting life and the other to everlasting damnation.

Our Outreach Ministries have three main Purpose and Objectives:

Firstly, we are here to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ throughout the Nations. (Mark 16:15 "Go into the entire world and preach the good news to all creation.")

Secondly, we are here to share the 'Word of God' with everyone across all Denominational, Religious, Ethnic and Social barriers, and sharing the love of God (Acts 1:8 "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.")

Thirdly, we are here to have Fellowship with everyone and share the love of God (Acts 2:42 "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.")

Ministries and Future Vision Plans

Our ministry will lead in individual and ministry support and growth; providing a solid biblical foundation for smaller ministries to grow upon. Our goal is to be technically advanced in the mission field, which will allow missionaries to cross borders without bibles and provide the development of making disciples of all nations .

Our vision is to reach every available person at every available time, by every available means with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Visionary Goals

How we will go about accomplishing the mission statement over the next three to five years.

In the Area of Evangelism

1. To relentlessly pursue evangelism for Jesus Christ in every aspect of ministry.
2. To create a community that is welcoming and friendly to all people.
3. To provide excellent facilities, infrastructure, parking and traffic flow for every one.
4. To continually improve the quality of every aspect of worship teaching and preaching for adults, youth and children.

In the Area of Education

1. To create an environment where the congregation and leadership are focused on daily prayer and Bible study.
2. To create an environment where every one belongs to a group that provides a caring place.
3. To provide for the spiritual development of our children and youth in safe, caring and nurturing environment.
4. To create an environment in which all individuals use their God given gifts in service to Christ.

In the Area of Leadership

1. To build and nurture highly competent responsive and accessible leadership.
2. To become more international church through a process of strategic planning.
3. To enlist leaders to a high level of discipline.
4. To create a relationship of clear and open communication between elders and staff regarding rules and expectations.
5. To develop a succession plan for key leadership.

In the Area of Ministering to Those in Need and the Community

1. To understand and respond to community needs in every area of Ministry.

In the Area of Church Growth

1. Our goal is to grow and become a great international local congregation, which has both local and international impact.
2. In the first five years, we intend to grow up to become a fellowship of two thousand people, and after ten years of our existence as a local church to reach up to the number of between 15,000 to 20,000 people.

Our Plan

By the grace of God we will accomplish our mission by:

1. Strengthening our faith through the daily meditation of the word of God and developing an intimate relationship with Jesus.
2. Committing us to other believers in cell groups.
3. Praying to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers in into harvest fields; locally, nationally and internationally.
4. Encouraging every believer to be involved in prayer, reaching the lost, and making disciples.
5. Helping each believer to learn to serve and discover gifts and calling within his/her life.
6. Teaching the word of God with power and authority in a way that is practical and applicable to everyday life.
7. Realizing Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers to equip the saint for the work of ministry and build up the body of Christ.
8. Training and equipping leadership in home cell groups and congregations to minister to others and to plant new churches.
9. Planting and multiplying home cell groups and congregations locally, nationally and internationally
10. Sending laborers to the harvest field, house to house, city to city and nation to nation.
11. Caring for loving, healing and restoring those who are wounded and need deliverance, healing and restoration.
12. Promoting unity by supporting networking together and laboring with other churches and ministries locally, nationally and internationally.
13. Mobilizing and challenging adults, youth and children to be radically committed laborers for harvest.
14. Utilizing all forms of media to proclaim the gospel.
15. Resourcing each believer through the ministry of helps, administration and communication.
16. Ministering to poor and needy.
17. Encouraging each child, young person and adult to be a worshiper.
18. Giving of tithes offerings, material possessions and our time to the building of the Kingdom of God.
19. Exemplifying a style of accountability, integrity and purity in every level of leadership and through out every area of church life.
20. Supporting and encouraging the spiritual leaders that the Lord raises up among us.
21. Edifying one another daily through encouragement and speaking the truth in love.
22. Celebrating Jesus as we come together in various locations to worship together, pray together and receive the word of God together. Receiving the infilling of the Holy Spirit to minister Jesus to our generation through the demonstration of His super natural power and gifts.
23. Establishing a big Christian library to help our church members grow up in the knowledge of God's word.
24. Establishing HIV/AIDS counseling center in order to help the society in the fight against Aids pandemic.
25. Establishing a youth center which will bring together young people from different religious groups for games, advice, counseling and a variety of short courses so as to train the youth society and prepare them for a bright future.
26. Establishing a Christian newspaper, Radio and Television stations which will have an impact both locally and internationally.
27. Establishing a healing and prayer center for sick people and the people who are oppressed by the Devil with different forms of oppression.

Our Ministry Plan is as under

1) Church Planting

We have vision to build the churches in urban and rural areas because still many places in Pakistan don't have Church and Pastor to serve the people of God, and they have strong desire to praise God, but lack of leaders they can't achieve the spiritual food on their daily life. God gave us strong desire for the church planting all over the Pakistan, especially in Punjab province because our mother language is Punjabi and it's easy to communicate the people. Most of villages have many believers but they have no place and shepherd. But they are having worship in House Churches. At the present moment SMC have no building and having worship and fellowship in the House Base Churches in different place, because of lack of finance and supporters.

2) Outreach Evangelism

Our vision is that the un-reached people of Pakistan come to Christ and un-churched people become committed Christians and part of the life and worship of the church. We want to Start Jesus Film Project. Its easy way to evangelize non Christians.

3) Home Cell Groups

Making cell groups are the ways to worship God without church building. In this way the believers gather every evening in the church members' houses to worship God and have a fellowship, sometime dinner, tea times and share their problems and also invite new comers. It's good to have them a close relationship with each other as a body of the Christ.

4) Healing Crusades

This is one of the effective ways to having personal fellowship with believers and non-believers to gather people in one place and share the Good News without any barrier or denomination to glorify the name of our Savior Jesus Christ. In Healing Crusades even believers come but sometimes unbelievers also come and have a good experience through Holy Spirit and get healing and confess their sins and believe that Jesus is the Christ and Savior of all nations.

5) Education

Our vision, and prayer, is that all Christian can get the education and be raised to that status in Pakistan, to the glory of God and to the strengthening of His church among my nation. Our first and foremost aim is to eradicate illiteracy from the country by making education accessible to all, irrespective of the gender, caste and social status and to provide quality education in little time and money but especially to the believers.

Works and enables the poor to improve their lives and to develop their capacity and community strengths. For this reason we think we need biblical and secular education. That's why God gave us a vision to build the Mission School for the students and also Bible School for the adults to train them and send them out into full-time evangelism and church planting for the extension of God's Kingdom.

We hope everyone in the society will use their full potential and lives a life of equality and dignity. To introduce such curriculum this is in line with our moral, religious and cultural values and to concentrate on moral development and character building.

6) Audio Visual Programs

Audio Visual programs are very important to start in Pakistan, because many Christians are not educated and lack of the education, we need to do some audio and visual programs that if they can't read then they can listen the Audio Bible, Messages on different topics and Gospel Music. And also they can see the religious movies and documentaries to get the knowledge to glorify the name of God. We want to provide them freely because they are not very strong in economic condition and we don't want to put more burdens on their shoulders. We also want to arrange musical concert in different places from the different churches choir teams to having a get together fellowship with each other.

7) Prayer Warriors Ministry

"And pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kind of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keeps on praying for all the saints" (Ephesians.6:18)

Prayer worries ministry is working in different communities and guiding people for worship meeting and group prayers. Prayer was at the heart of Jesus ministry during his time on earth. His life was characterized by continual communion with his Father through prayer. By his example, Christians are compelled to strive toward this unity of heart and mind with God. One of the primary messages of the Scriptures is that God desires his people to seek him in prayer. As they do, he will reveal himself and his will.

8) Ministering hope to the underprivileged - widows, orphans

VISION

The vision of our Ministries is to change all 'life's negatives to positives'. This is called Restoration and the process is described in our motto Bible verse above.

We would like to see these widows; orphans live normal lives and treated justly and with respect and love within the community. This is to improve their well being in all aspects.

It is our challenge to see our vision become a reality, offering an atmosphere that is inviting and open. This will manifest God's love for his children and restore man into his family.

MISSION

It is our mission to empower these widows; orphans by helping them identify, develop and exploit skills necessary to negotiate support for self-reliance through creation of facilities and frameworks to promote the same .

Widows and orphans are close to the heart of Jesus . We believe that the perhaps the most important ministry that we can be involved in, is the outreach ministry to those who are least able to help themselves. That would be the widows, the orphans and the elderly... This has long been a focal point of our ministry. In fact we really try to seek them out. We feel it's what God expects, and scripture mandates

Widow is a woman whose husband died. She is like a bird with a broken wing that will never fly again. From the very beginning God had a special focus on this category of people. In the Book of Exodus 22:22 He said: " You shall not afflict any widow or orphan".

In Isaiah God says: "Defend the orphan, plead for the widow" (1:17). Blameless and upright man Job was a rich person. He witnessed about himself saying: "I made a widow's heart sing for joy" (29:13) and later in Job 31:16: "Have I caused the eyes of the widow fail?" No, he has not. He would always leave a sheaf on the field for widows and orphans. The New Testament also commands us through the words of James 1:27: " Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God is this: visit orphans and widows in their distress. "

This ministry seeks to honor the "widows indeed" (1 Tim. 5:3) and their children by praying for them, encouraging them from the Word of God and financially supporting them. We conduct Widows and Orphans monthly prayer support groups meetings in the homes and local churches, which attract both Christian and non-believers widows. They should know the promise of God that belongs to all of them: "A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows is God in His Holy habitation." (Ps. 68:5).

Presently our outreach is touching the lives of 20 widow, somewhere around 40 orphans and many elderly people, on down in to the interior. We are running Orphans School on a self support basis.

"I made the widow's heart sing for joy." Job 29:14

Ministry Needs

Prayer Requests

1. Prayer is our # 1 need.

2. Above everything else we need prayer. We are asking for prayer for the people who are leading this ministry especially in the following areas:

• Humility - So the leaders of the ministry are focused on what God wants and not what they want.
• Wisdom - For the leaders to guide the ministry in the direction that God is calling them.
• Patience - Some of the projects require time and patience

We also ask for prayer to guide the ministry to use the resources given to us in a way that will only grow God's Kingdom and glorify Him.

3. We ask each of you from around the world to join us in praying for Christians and people of other religions being persecuted, raped, and killed simply because of what they believe!

Please contact with your prayer requests and donations.

• Wikipedia information about Pakistan