How Pakistani families are fueling a mission movement in the midst of a pandemic.
Covid-19 pandemic swept across the city of Lahore, Pakistan and brought everyone’s jobs, projects and ministries to a standstill. Churches closed. Mission workers were confined to their homes. Families were in enforced lockdowns. And yet, God was orchestrating mission momentum in the midst of this global crisis among the believers of Pakistan.
*Andrew, a Pakistani believer and a global affiliate of the CMM, chose to follow Jesus as a young man and dreamed he would take the gospel to all of Pakistan in one year by himself. After laboring in missions for a season, he realized that his dream was impossible. There was no way he alone could reach that many people with the gospel, no matter how earnest he was. Andrew became a pastor and not even his church, though his congregation was full of vision, could feasibly carry the gospel to the 512 different unreached peoples in Pakistan. He realized, “Mission needs to be all believers working together because the task is so big. No one person or one church can do this alone.” This truth became one of Andrew’s greatest motivations. God impressed on Andrew, “If you meet a believer, mobilize them. If you meet a non-believer, share the gospel with them. Teach others to do the same.” Andrew put forth his efforts toward mobilization.
“Mission needs to be all believers working together because the task is so big. No one person or church can do this alone.”
The Idea
Andrew’s community was hit hard by Covid-19 and families experienced firsthand the harsh realities of the physical, mental and financial effects of the pandemic. Andrew challenged his church to continue doing ministry, even if it was from within their homes. He helped his ministry team move all their discipleship and mobilization training to an online format. They started seeing a unique opportunity: mobilizing families in their local church communities toward missions.
Because of the enforced lockdowns and many working from home, parents had more time with their children than ever before. Parents had been given a rare and unexpected gift of time and influence and Andrew wanted the families in local churches to seize this opportunity. He sought help from the CMM Weave team help him begin the work of mobilizing families through Weave’s Big Story training. Big Story is an interactive, in-person training designed to connect parents, children and children’s ministry leaders to their most strategic role in missions. The training equips participants with the tools they need to live a World Christian lifestyle and influence others to do the same. He needed Weave’s Big Story training in an online format as soon as possible.
For nearly three years, Andrew and the Weave team had been wanting to do a Big Story training in Lahore. Despite their eagerness, the timing and logistics for hosting a training in Pakistan never seemed to come together. Could it be that God was creating a perfect setting for the Big Story training in the most unlikely timing: a global pandemic?
Could it be that God was creating a perfect setting for the Big Story training in the most unlikely timing: a global pandemic?
Pastor Andrew sensed that this was indeed what God was doing. Andrew asked for Weave’s help in mobilizing families to that end. The Weave team had never done an online Big Story training before. The current training they offered was highly interactive and heavily based on activities. With Andrew’s belief and encouragement, the team was able to convert the entire training to an online format. It required a lot of creativity, but within a short time, the first Big Story virtual training was launched!
Growing Together
Over the next four weeks, 30 families from church communities scattered across Pakistan gathered around computers in their homes to participate in Big Story. They learned about God’s redemptive plan for all the nations and how their own family can play a vital role in reaching the 2.7 billion people who live without access to the gospel. The Big Story training inspired these participating families to begin adopting a World Christian lifestyle.
Andrew spoke to the all participants after the training was finished, “We need to learn how to give our children lives with deep purpose. Children don’t often choose a purpose for themselves. We as parents, and as a Church, often forget that we are tasked with giving them that purpose and getting them involved in the big plans of God.” These families have met several times as virtual missional community, sharing their lives, praying for each other, and discipling their children towards the nations. community also “adopted” the Kashmiri people and are praying for them faithfully. Each time they meet, parents and children learn together about a new unreached people group and an unreached people group living within Pakistan. This gives the community a deeper context of how to pray and builds compassion for each unique people group and culture.
Building a Legacy of Mission
A beautiful example of family mobilization is seen in Pastor Andrew’s own home. Andrew and his wife have a tradition of hosting a special gathering where they make Kashmiri chai and invite the local Kashmiri families to join them for tea and conversation. Andrew and his wife also support a mission worker among the Kashmiri and plan to support the first believer who goes to labor among the Makrani, an unreached people group in Pakistan.
“Just these simple acts make our children eager to be part of God’s mission; sometimes they want to give up everything they own to support Pakistani believers working among the unreached. Often, our kids are the ones reminding us to pray for the unreached. They ask us how they can help mobilize.”
Andrew said, “Just these simple, practical acts make our children eager to be part of God’s mission; sometimes they want to give up everything they own to support Pakistani believers working among the unreached. Often, our kids are the ones who now remind us to pray for the unreached. They ask us how they can help mobilize.”
We believe that examples like this, what is happening in Andrew’s family, is only the beginning of a mission movement in Pakistan. God is working through these families and their communities to mobilize the next generation of believers: children who will grow into faithful women and men. It will be these individuals, working together, who will take the gospel to the 512 unreached people groups of Pakistan. God’s loving redemption is unhindered and it is changing lives – one family at a time.
*Names have been changed for security purposes