Leighton Medley our BPCA Outreach Minister has returned to Pakistan to reach new communities with the true Gospel of Christ and to continue discipling those who have been already been reached through our previous campaigns.
Leighton’s remit for this work is quite simple, he is to bolster the faith of Christians who have little access to regular church services setting up bible study leaders who will one day become ministers of the Gospel in rural communities, he is to bring revival and better understanding to larger Christian churches in Pakistan many of which have adopted a very legalistic theology and have forgotten the need for repentance, faith in Christ and the need to place our trust in Him.
Leighton has also been reaching out to Muslims and we hope that soon his work will provide a dividend by bringing others to the family of God.
He has been having great success with many believers expressing revival, churchgoers committing their lives to Christ, and Muslims taking an interest in the Gospel though yet to commit to Christ. We hope with further donations to make Leighton’s role a permanent one in a years time. For this we will need the help and support of those who was to see Christ’s gospel flourishing in Pakistan and seek you help to finance this important ministry. One of our costs is the purchase of bibles at £4 each. If you would like to help please donate by clicking (here).
Below is one of Leighton’s recent accounts during a BACA’s trip to Essa Nagri on 8th February 2020 our team visited Brother Mukhtiar’s house. and the following evening they went to Essa Nagri again as a guest to Pastor Razaq’s home. At both locations they had the opportunity to share the word of God with invited families:
“No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks Back is fit for service in the Kingdom of God.” Luke 9:62
On the 8th February, we visited Essa Nagri, a small community of believers in Quetta. This is a community scarred by the effects of persecution and murder. In fact, just after our last visit, they lost a young boy of 17 years of age, Rahab Masih, who was fatally shot in April 2018 during the Easter period, by Taliban Gunmen riding bikes. You can read his story and that of other Quetta victims (here).
Many of the Christians here, meet in house churches, largely because of fear. This very similar to the early church in the New Testament where we read of people meeting in houses, Acts 11 and 16. Their gatherings are small, but they are hungry for the word and unlike us in the West, they have learnt to live by faith and not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7) One of our main patrons, said that the gift of faith is a great blessing and that in the West, affluence had sent us to sleep because our reliance upon God had gone and we were relying on our own efforts. We live the easy life and have forgotten what hardships are.
These people are awake, and we must ask ourselves are we. Our message is from Luke 9:57-62, where we discuss what hinders us from following Jesus. One point, is that all too often, we seek a life of comfort, whereas Jesus had nowhere to lay his head. He died with nothing, soldiers cast lots for his clothes, yet in this passage we have men who seek Jesus for comfort, or are only willing to follow him once things are in place. That is hesitation and doubt, and one cannot hesitate or doubt when it comes to following Jesus, nor can we live in the past as so many are doing today.
What was encouraging, was that after the meeting, Mukhtiar who was the owner of the house we were living in, asked me specifically to pray for him to be a better follower of Jesus, for him and his family. I tell you, that is faith coming from the hearing of the word, and that is growth. You see, these people are looking forward, not behind, they are grasping the plough, they are straining towards the prize to which God has called them heavenwards in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14)
So do we look forward, or do we live in the past cleaving to those idols which we love the most. Are we asleep, or are we awake, the people here in Essa Nagri are alert and ready,. They are awake, they have to be, because following Jesus here is a matter of life and death, as we see so often here in Pakistan. So, Let us pray for these poor souls, these brave warriors of the cross and let us stand guard with them, looking forward to our future in heaven.
Brother Leighton
