4/27/2008 Church Visit, National Baptist Church, Islamabad Pakistan

Today I went to the Christian sector, a very impoverished part of Islamabad, and attended a service at a Baptist church.  When we arrived the service had already begun. From where we parked the car you could hear the sound of drums and other instruments of the region along with the voices of the congregation in song.  We were welcomed at the open doorway with many handshakes and smiles after which we were escorted to the front of the small corrugated steel roofed building to take our places with the minister.  Six ceiling fans spun frantically, but the room remained hot as an oven.

After an introduction I was asked to speak about the peace museum and the reason for my visit to their country. Even in such heat the people welcomed my words of peace with smiles or maybe they just approved of my brevity.

The service then continued with what appeared to be Baptist zeal in the Urdu language.  Small children poked each other in mischievous fun during the sermon while a few of the elders' heads nodded back to sleep.

Men and Women sit on separate sides of the church as is customary in the culture. Young women adorned in colorful dresses pulled at their headscarves to keep them in place, while many of the young men appeared impatient for the service to end. Such human warmth and beauty in a place that cries with such destitution.

BACK