Pastor Ted Wilson, beloved president of the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church, pays a visit to the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Pakistan, a country where the Adventist faith was first planted in the fifty’s and blossomed to become a 13, 000 Seventh-day Adventist Church at present. Pakistan is a country of more than two hundred million people where 98% are devoted to Islamic faith and culture and where three million Christians are living in this predominantly Muslim country. It was a quarter of a century ago that the president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church has visited Pakistan.
Accompanied by his wife, Pastor Ted & Nancy spend the first leg of their visit at the Pakistan Union headquarters, in Adventpura, Lahore, where they are welcomed by the leaders of Southern Asia-Pacific Division lead by Dr. Samuel Saw, and by the leaders of the Pakistan Union, led by Pastor Michael Ditta. Also present in that occasion are the members of the Rwadari Movement, a movement of about 50 thousand members all over Pakistan, whose advocacy is to promote and respect diversity, remind the state of its responsibility to protect the minority, and to bridge the gap between Muslims and the minority. Elder Wilson was also welcomed by a representative of the King’s Mosque, the largest mosque in Pakistan.
Elder Wilson’s arrival coincides with the culmination of the evaluation of the Pakistan Union which was initiated by the Southern Asia-Pacific Division officers and directors. Pakistan Union has two sections (mission offices), the northern and the southern sections. It operates a seminary in the city of Lahore, a hospital in the city of Karachi, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), a publishing house, and several elementary and secondary schools. The evaluation was done to strengthen all departments and institutions to align to the mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Pakistan Union has two sections (mission offices), the northern and the southern sections
Pastor Ted spends the Sabbath in Pakistan Adventist Seminary and College (PASC), in Lahore, where four thousand church members listen to his appeal to get involved in the mission for others. Pastor Gee Sung Bae, president of PASC, give Pastor Wilson and his entourage a tour of the college in the afternoon. Early morning of the next day, Pastor Ted and Nancy Wilson are warmly welcomed into the ornate residence of Chief Syed Murad Ali Shah, the chief minister of the Sindh Province in the city of Karachi, in the southern part of Pakistan. Later in the day, the group is given a tour of the southern section of the Seventh-day Adventist headquarters and at the Karachi Adventist Hospital. On the evening, Elder Wilson speaks to about three thousand church members who came to listen to the beloved leader of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, exhorting the members to be the best sermon that can be preached in all of Pakistan.
Pastor Ted’s visit strengthens the bond of unity among church leaders and members in Pakistan. The leadership of Pakistan Union express their profound gratitude of the leader’s visit. They take note of his humility to reach out and shake hands with all the Adventist brethren in Pakistan, and his spirituality by praying and sharing God’s word to all Adventist believers in Pakistan.
Mamerto Guingguing II