PREACHING IN PAKISTAN
Stockton pastor finds unexpected
welcome
By Howard Lachtman
Record Staff
Writer
Published Saturday, May 22,
2004
The Rev.
Farris Baker was nervous when his plane arrived in
Lahore, Pakistan, late last month.
"You're
overwhelmed with uncertainties when you first arrive,
and with fears from some of the stories you've heard
about car bombings and such," said Baker, pastor of The
Father's House in Stockton.
And while
Baker and nine other Christian ministers and lay people
-- the group on a nine-day mission to deliver the
message of Jesus Christ to the predominantly Islamic
country -- did encounter some opposition to their
presence, they reported being surprised by the warmth of
hospitality they received from Pakistanis of all faiths.
One lay
member of the group, Kathleen Palmer of Los Altos, said:
"It was a great experience getting to know them as
people and speaking with them. I thought they were
beautiful people. My overwhelming impression was of
their graciousness and kindness."
She
recalled being both excited about making her first
mission and feeling pangs of anxiety when learning the
U.S. State Department "strongly suggested" that
Americans avoid visiting Pakistan.
"I went
through counting the potential cost and thinking of all
the bad things that could happen," Palmer said. "I
prayed about that, and just felt a green light to go.
After that, I just felt peace throughout the trip."
The group,
led by Portland, Ore., evangelist the Rev. Hamilton
Filmalter, were not all of one church, but shared a
charismatic Pentecostal faith. And, after leaving the
United States on April 20, Baker said the missionaries
found no lack of willing converts: an estimated 45,000
Pakistanis declared for Christ during a series of
open-air meetings.
That count
was based on the known capacity of venues where the
meetings were held and that most audience members rose
when invited to stand to declare their acceptance of
Christ.
"God opened
the door, and made it possible for us to take advantage
of the experience, so we did," Baker said.
And there
were Pakistanis, too, who helped smooth the
missionaries' path.
The man who
created the opportunity for the group -- Christian
pastor Anwar Fazal -- was a former security officer with
Pakistani police, Baker said, and handled the
arrangements for this sensitive mission.
"He
organized it, put up the posters and publicized it,"
Baker said.
Security
was tight and restrictions on their movements firm.
Nothing was left to chance.
"We were
escorted by Pakistani police with full automatic weapons
everywhere we went," Baker said. "In the second city of
Sahiwal, a hundred miles south of Lahore, we were
guarded by the Punjab elite police force."
Also,
meeting locations in Sahiwal were changed several times
for security reasons.
Baker
believes the mission was also aided by Mualana Syed, the
imam or spiritual leader of the Badshahi Mosque of
Lahore, capital of the Punjab province.
"We had
dinner with Syed on our return," Baker said. "He seemed
to me to be more of a political than spiritual leader,
but I didn't hear the reason in his conversation as to
why he gave us his approval."
Unfamiliar
customs, security restrictions and curried dishes all
took a bit of getting used to, Baker said, but the
travelers were respectful and wanted to take in all that
Pakistan might offer.
"You just
wanted to see every aspect of it you could," Baker said.
"I was engrossed as we drove from one city to another,
looking at farmlands, herds of cattle, goats and sheep,
and some of the same crops we grow here -- corn, wheat
and tomatoes. In the marketplace, you saw all kinds of
melons, fruits and vegetables. It looked like an
abundance."
Palmer said
the visit was a social, cultural and spiritual
exploration.
"I really
wanted to get the perspective of a developing country,"
she said. "I wanted to go someplace people have
radically less than I do."
Baker said
he gained a better understanding of Christianity's role
among Pakistan's populace. Christ is acknowledged as a
prophet in Islam, he said. But many Pakistanis associate
Christianity with Western culture -- especially American
pop culture -- which is seen as immoral.
"When they
observe things like MTV, movies filled with promiscuity
and other things that even devout Christians reject,
they think that Christians in America approve them,"
Baker said. "They do not want those behaviors as part of
their society."
Baker and
the others did what they could to be positive
representatives, modeling modest behavior, during their
visit.
"We were
ambassadors of good will as well as ambassadors of
faith," he said.
They had
many chances to fulfill that role, as Baker said the
missionaries were unprepared for the crowds attracted to
their Billy Graham-style rallies.
"None of us
had experienced anything of this magnitude before," he
said.
The
experience has led Baker and Filmalter, who has preached
in the United Kingdom, France, Africa and Indonesia, to
plan a second mission later this year.
"The hunger
of people in Pakistan to encounter the power of God and
meet Jesus was at a level I've never experienced
before," Filmalter said. "It was very exciting and
humbling."
And
illuminating, too, Palmer added.
"I don't
think about Pakistan in the abstract any more," she
said. "I had a personal experience with the people. I'd
go back in a minute. I didn't know that a mission trip
would be that much fun."
Baker said
that the great lesson he learned in Pakistan was gaining
power over his fears.
It helped
to be courageous, for example, when venturing into
traffic. It wasn't unusual, he said, to see pedestrians,
horses, donkeys, forklifts, cars and trucks sharing the
same roadway -- with predictable results.
"If you're
a squeamish driver, you would have a heart attack before
the first block," Baker said.
As for
making a return visit, Baker said it means a "great
opportunity" to continue what he and his team started.
"It seems
to be very promising for the Christian faith," Baker
said. "What we shared was a message of hope and love."
* To reach
reporter Howard Lachtman, phone (209) 546-8269 or
e-mail lachtman@recordnet.com
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