A PAKISTANI PERSPECTIVE

To better appreciate the freedoms we take for granted as Americans, you might want to talk to Brother and Sister King, the first Mormon converts in Pakistan. Here are some of the things I learned from them when I visited with them in Salt Lake City. They had come to Utah to visit their first grandbaby and were invited to share their experiences (as Mormons in Pakistan, not as new grandparents) with some employees in the Church Office Building. Since Tracey and I were tagging along with Patti that day, we had the unique opportunity to attend their lecture. Afterwards, we met them by chance in the hall upstairs, had a lovely chat, and bonded as family in Christ.

*To attend church, you must travel at least an hour one way, standing in a very hot, smelly bus; then you get to do it all over again to go home. And of course, you pay for the rides, no small sacrifice in a country this poor.

*The church is guarded by two armed security officers, who stand outside the doors and monitor everyone who enters.

*There are two main religious groups in Pakistan: Christians and Muslims, and increasingly, the Taliban faction. The Christians are in general the poorer class of people. It is a capital offense for a Muslim to change their religion, so Mormon missionaries, as well as other Christian missionaries (I suppose) do not proselytize amongst the Muslims.

*Despite this circumstance, there are now 10 branches of the Mormon church in Pakistan. The area is part of the New Delhi Mission, which poses a lot of problems whenever Pakistan is at odds (read: war) with India, which is usually.

*The Bible and the Book of Mormon are translated into Urdu, but very little else, so only those with a command of English can teach lessons, which must be translated from the English manuals by the teacher and communicated to the members in Urdu.

*The economy in Pakistan is especially grim. There is no work for the young, even the educated and able.

*The Perpetual Education Fund, a humanitarian fund administered by the LDS Church that loans money to those who could not otherwise obtain higher education, is not yet operational in Pakistan.

Stay tuned tomorrow for how you can help.