Pakistani Christians Bring Help, Healing, Hope to Kashmiri Quake Victims
by Allie Martin
July 5, 2006
(AgapePress) - - An international Christian organization that supports persecuted believers around the world is now involved in long-term efforts to assist recovery in an area of South Asia that was rocked by a major earthquake on October 8, 2005. The epicenter of that 7.6 quake was the region of Kashmir.Open Doors USA is working with Christian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to open a hospital and schools in Azad Kashmir, a northwestern, Pakistani-controlled portion of the region. The area is operated by Muslim extremists and has traditionally been closed to Christians; however, Open Doors president Carl Moeller says last year's earthquake gave Pakistani Christians a chance to enter the region and offer help to quake victims.
"Our belief is that the church there in Pakistan is the means through which hope and healing can flow to these devastated people," Moeller notes. "Most of these children, almost all of them that we work with there, have lost an immediate family member in this horrible tragedy," he says.
Christian NGOs also set up a makeshift tent hospital that initially treated 100 patients each day. Last year's earthquake left 88,000 people dead and more than 100,000 injured. While the situation has created an opportunity for Christians to offer compassionate aid to those affected, Dr. Moeller notes that the disaster is also allowing them to make a big impact on the predominantly Islamic populace of Azad Kashmir.
"One thing we have found is that our co-workers there tell us the Muslim community has been super-receptive to our efforts there," the Open Doors spokesman says. "It's absolutely important to know that this is a vital time to be involved in this area, to rebuild the infrastructure there."
Moeller says Muslim-backed terror groups are also involved in relief efforts throughout the area in hopes of recruiting more troops for jihad. Nevertheless, he asserts, countless people in this shaken region are hungry for the gospel.
The hope of these quake victims and other unsaved people in Azad Kashmir "has got to be centered on something greater than this world," Moeller observes. "We have to bring them the love and the hope of Jesus Christ," he says.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
