COVID-19 Appeal Pakistan
The Outreach Foundation is in regular contact with partners around the world, many of whom are sharing with us the upheaval that they are experiencing as the COVID-19 virus and the response to it burdens their ministries of medical outreach and compassionate service. We recently received the following COVID Appeal update from our partners in Pakistan and we were able to quickly release $5,000 from our COVID-19 Appeal because of your generous gifts!
Friends of Forman Launches COVID Relief Assistance
The effects of COVID-19 have been felt in many different ways all over our world. For some, it was the swift loss of a job in a shutdown. For others, it was the devastating news of the passing of a beloved relative. There was even the loss of touch with a church family that stopped meeting in person or enduring school from home with faulty internet service. Every change was a challenge, every loss was magnified by this pandemic.
In Pakistan, it was no different except one must throw in the challenges of extreme poverty. When the shutdown in Pakistan happened, 70% of all Christians were day laborers who immediately lost their only income. Sixty percent of Christian families report that they have exhausted all savings. Churches saw their revenues drop by 80%. COVID-19 has not been as severe in spread or death tolls as in the U.S., but it has certainly been devastating to the personal finances of the poorest populations including the majority of Christians in Pakistan. The price of a vaccine, when it is more widely available, will be out of the reach of most day laborers. Where we see the threat of COVID-19 receding in the U.S. in 2021, the battle is far from over for our friends in Pakistan.
This is why Friends of Forman is announcing a new COVID-19 relief and assistance fund for Forman Christian College. Our goal is to raise $15,000 for masks, sanitizer, plexiglass barriers, and vaccines for low-income campus workers. This will enable our staff and students to carry on and allow the school to operate safely when the campus can reopen this spring (another national shutdown of all higher education institutions is in place from March 15-29, 2021).
Thank you and God Bless,
Sam Schreiner
Executive Director
Friends of Forman Christian College, Lahore, Pakistan
www.friendsofforman.org
Click HERE to learn more about Outreach’s COVID-19 Emergency Appeal and HERE to learn about the use of funds already sent to other places and partners around the world because of your generosity.
THE NEED
The Outreach Foundation is seeking gifts to support the COVID-19 Emergency Appeal. You may make a gift HERE or by sending a check to our office.