Thank you to all who prayed for my January mission to Lahore, Pakistan. It was an intense time of teaching, healing prayer ministry and visiting for 11 days. 4% of Pakistan includes Christians of many denominations, including Anglican. The land is 95% Muslim, so women dress very modestly from head to foot, whether in a kaftan dress or the popular shalwar kameez trouser-tunic combination. I tried to be as prepared as possible before this trip with various talks and reading up on the culture, but I still found that what awaited me was a land of intensity. The ever-present smog and dust is referred to as “Lahore Dust,” which eventually caused a constant cough, and drivers do not drive within lanes in traffic – they drive with their horn, a lot of confidence, and continual darting in and out of traffic. Trucks are painted dark blue and have ornamental designs and chains all over their bodies. When I asked about this from a friend, I was told, “Yes, we decorate our trucks beautifully, like a bride.” The painted trucks share the road with cars, buses, three wheeled auto-rickshaws, bicycles, scooters with drivers using cell-phones, motorcycles, donkeys with carts and sometimes camels. Most of the people here are very poor, although there is clearly money in certain areas of the city. The Christian minority here are lively in their faith, but don’t seem to be allowed good education or good jobs so many are poor.
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I was asked to speak at weekly interdenominational healing meetings with a group called Eternal Life Ministries of Pakistan International, located in west Lahore. I lived in their sitting room, where meals were served late at night, ministry went on all day, and I slept only six hours nightly due to my own preparations for morning prayer meetings. The first healing meeting was exciting in speaking to 15,000 people who had a very high level of faith and expectation from the Lord. I overcame any nervousness by being filled with a supernatural joy, which spilled over into my talk on Christian Unity and my prayers over the people. |
The second week I wore a yellow shalwar kameez I had purchased in Toronto. What I didn’t know is that yellow is the colour Pakistani brides wear the day before they get married! What further contributed to this confirmation of my mission, was that I was to speak on holiness and what I believe is a prophetic call to the Christians of Pakistan to become pure in preparation for Jesus’ return, based on the name of their country (Paki-stan - land of the pure). The leader of this ministry asked me if I might combine the holiness prophecy with a teaching on the end times – something that I had been teaching about in morning prayer meetings. I was inspired to talk on the Bride of Christ and the Bridegroom’s return… and I did not know the meaning of the yellow outfit until shortly before I was to teach. I found this timing incredibly profound!
I also taught at their morning-prayer meetings, where I was given opportunity to minister in healing prayer. There were many spectacular healings and even deliverances, and I give praise to the Lord for His faithfulness. Muslims would often come visit the prayer centre and ask for healing – they recognize that Jesus heals. I was told that 30 per cent of the attendance at the big meetings are Muslims who are curious about our faith and need physical healing.
I was also invited to be part of NEWS Outreach, the social, mercy and church planting arm of the United Methodist Church in Pakistan. This group treated me like royalty when I spoke in two of their churches, and visited free medical clinics, homes being built for refugees, sewing centres for girls that can’t get jobs, adult education centres, quiet chapels for seekers, a daycare centre and an orphanage. Within two days I was showered by opportunities to bless and pray for many individuals, homes, businesses, schools and churches. I befriended Bishop Younnis Haroon and was deputized to work on his behalf in raising awareness of the ministry that NEWS Outreach is doing in Pakistan, including building steel homes up in Balakot – the epicentre of the October 2005 earthquake.
When the people in these churches greeted me, they sang a welcoming song and threw rose petals while I walked through their line towards the church. Before I stood up to preach/teach, they put a garland necklace on me and give me all honour. After the teaching and prayer ministry, I was taken to homes to drink milky tea and was asked how I like the Pakistani people. Many times I was given spicy food that I tried to eat carefully. There were two things that I had to learn: first, when women pray, they cover their heads with a shawl; and the second is that whenever I would go into a prayer meeting, or to pray for someone, I was supposed to take off my shoes. Unfortunately I brought the wrong shoes for Pakistan! (I had brought ankle boots for support and they were difficult to put back on again).
During my time with both ministries, many people were encouraged, healed and brought closer to Jesus. I am incredibly thankful to the Lord for being faithful during this time – He answered many of my prayers for others, and helped me through intense culture shock, misunderstandings that arise with a first trip to a different country and an unfortunate theft from my suitcase.
See web for a more detailed account, and photos.
Laurie-Ann Zachar Copple has an MDiv from Tyndale Seminary, and attends St. Paul's Kanata ON. She works as secretary in the ARM national office.
This article was published in Anglicans for Renewal magazine, Summer 2006.
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