Pakistan is experiencing a monsoon flood disaster. Since mid-August heavy rains, nearly three times higher than the national 30-year average, have created a humanitarian disaster in Pakistan. The most impacted areas are near Afghanistan and south of Lahore. Travel out of the affected regions is not possible, even for those who own vehicles.

Hundreds of thousands of families have lost their means of income due to the destruction of livestock and crops. Many of the people who are affected by these floods are refugees from Afghanistan and Iran who cannot leave Pakistan. The Pakistani government does not recognize these refugees and will not support them.

John McCall — Update from Taiwan

It has been a tense weekend here. I have been on Taiwan’s east coast speaking at the Eastern Amis Presbytery and preaching at the church of former students. The Amis tribe is the largest tribe numerically among Taiwan’s indigenous people. The pastor of the San Ming Church where I preached is Lisin, a former student of mine at Taiwan Seminary. Her husband, Kadzau, is pastoring a church about fifteen minutes away. Thirteen years ago, I officiated at their wedding.

Asia, Global WorkersThe Outreach FoundationAugust 8, 2022John McCall, Taiwan

Gujranwala Theological Seminary 2022 Baccalaureate and Graduation

We are happy to share the following news from Gujranwala provided by Enna B. Lal, Accounts Manager and Administrator, and Rev. Nosheen Khan, Principal:

142nd Baccalaureate 2022

Our Baccalaureate service was held on March 27, 2022 at Swift Memorial First Presbyterian Church, Civil Line, Gujranwala , Pakistan. It was a great privilege for Gujranwala Theological Seminary (GTS) that Rev. Dr. Edwin G.Hurley, senior pastor, Highland Presbyterian Church, Birmingham, Alabama and Outreach trustee, shared the Word of God.

China Partnership - June 2022 Update

Since March 1, the government of China has been increasing pressure on Christians who were already facing many challenges in living out their faith. We hear from our friends that they are continuing on, and they ask for our prayers. We hear that seminaries are still meeting, though there is an alarming trend of government shutdowns in large cities. COVID is the official reason but these measures are contributing to increased pressure, especially against religious groups and minorities. Still, the church is finding ways to flourish even when it is in quiet ways. The Outreach Foundation is honored to stand with the church of China. Please read the following positive update from one of our friends who is located in the United States.

Pakistan Partnership

The Outreach Foundation’s Vision for Engagement in Pakistan

God is at work in many ways through various expressions of the church in Pakistan. Our intention is to provide congregations and donors with a clear understanding of the scope into which we sense the Holy Spirit calling The Outreach Foundation. This vision statement is born from over thirty years of engagement in Pakistan and especially our visit in Spring 2022. We seek to bring Christ-infused, transformative hope to Pakistanis. In so doing we will support a broad movement that strengthens Christ’s church, builds Christian faith, and changes attitudes between faith communities in Pakistan

Presbyterian Education Board - May 2022 Update

During a recent visit to Pakistan, the team from The Outreach Foundation was pleased to meet Veda Javaid, Executive Director of the Presbyterian Education Board, and PEB Board Chair Margy Trimble. We are happy to continue our partnership with the Presbyterian Education Board. They recently sent us an update with some wonderful news as well as the current state of affairs in Pakistan. Let us keep PEB and each of our friends in Pakistan in our prayers during this unsettled time in the country.

Asia, Partnership, ProjectsThe Outreach FoundationMay 18, 2022Presbyterian Education Board, Lahore, Pakistan

John McCall - May 2022 Update

Often pastors call to invite me to preach and speak in their churches or in other youth or leadership events with the words, “please come and encourage us.” In these uncertain days, we all need words of encouragement. But as I return home after visiting these churches, I often find that I have been the one who has been encouraged by the way I see God at work in churches around Taiwan.

Global Workers, Asia, MissionariesThe Outreach FoundationMay 9, 2022John McCall, Taiwan

China Partnership - February 2022 Update

Congratulations to Freda Li
She was given an “excellent” rating by her faculty at the University of Liverpool, Suzhou, China, and was recognized for being a faculty member of distinction. This is rarely attained by new faculty members. Freda earned this while taking care of her son as a single mother, volunteering as a preacher at her church, and serving as a small group leader. Freda was the main speaker for our last conversation with Chinese friends.

Presbyterian Education Board and Pakistan Christian Recording Ministries Update

The church in Pakistan holds a precious place in the heart of The Outreach Foundation. Out of all the countries where we show up, our Christian friends experience the greatest amount of persecution in Pakistan. Yet, they remain resilient and courageous and the witness of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior sings loudly. We are privileged to stand with them!

The Outreach Foundation is pleased to bring word from two of our dear friends in Pakistan, the Presbyterian Education Board, and Pakistan Christian Recording Ministries.

Gujranwala Theological Seminary - January 2022 Update

Gujranwala Theological Seminary (GTS) has been training and equipping pastors to lead churches since 1877. Originally a Presbyterian seminary, at one point it was the only seminary in South Asia. It now serves as a united (inter-denominational) seminary. There are currently 78 students studying at GTS on all three levels. Although there were many challenges and difficulties during the last year, we are thankful to God for providing wisdom and strength to achieve much. Here are two of the highlights:

China Partnership - November 2021 Update

The Outreach Foundation’s friendship with China is one of our most enduring and we are so thankful for the connections maintained through this long season of not being able to see one another face-to-face. By God’s grace, our bonds of friendship continue in tangible ways and this update highlights two.

“Telling It Like It Is,” an ongoing forum on the state of Christianity in China

“Family and the church” gave focus to our conversations during our second China Forum on Friday evening, October 29. Our primary presenter was Frida, a single mother to a four-year old son who teaches Spanish full time to Chinese students at one of China’s prestigious universities in Suzhou Province. She is also a lay assistant in a local unregistered multi-site house church, with occasional preaching duties.

John McCall - November 2021 Update

Dear friends,

It is interesting in life how one experience prepares one for a future experience without even knowing it. When I was 30, I was called as pastor of the Black Mountain Presbyterian Church in North Carolina. When I arrived, that church had about 35 retired pastors and their spouses. When I left that church to come to Taiwan, there were 50 pastors and their spouses. I learned during my time there how to be a pastor to pastors.

During my time in Taiwan, in addition to teaching seminary students how to serve as pastors, I also spend a great deal of my time each week accompanying pastors. In weekly pastor spiritual formation groups, retreats, and one-on-one conversations over meals, I listen to pastors here sharing both the challenges and joys of their lives and ministries.

Asia, Global Workers, MissionariesThe Outreach FoundationNovember 8, 2021John McCall, Taiwan

Gujranwala Theological Seminary Update

Gujranwala Theological Seminary (GTS) has been serving congregations, parachurch ministries, theological institutions, and their leaders throughout Pakistan for 145 years. As we prepare to celebrate with them, we want to highlight three of their recent graduates. God is doing great things in this very difficult part of the Christian world.

Khashia completed her MDiv in 2018. She serves as a youth coordinator at Open Theological Seminary in Lahore. She was one of only a few women to earn an MDiv but reports that she sees more women receiving advanced theological education. Women play an integral, if not formal, role in building up God’s church in this part of the world. She writes, “I am grateful to my Lord and GTS for enabling me to strengthen women’s groups in Pakistani churches.”

Pakistan Bible Correspondence School - October 2021 Update

God is on the move! As Adeel Samuel, director of the Pakistan Bible Correspondence School (PBCS), reminds us, “Our God is a God of nations, all nations will bow before the Lord (Psalm 86:9). In the recent political change in Afghanistan, many people have fled to Pakistan; some are Christian.

People like Abdul. He was a driver for an American officer who showed him movies about Jesus. The concept that Jesus “took away all his sins" was new. And as so often happens among Muslims, he wanted to know more and read the Bible in secret. That reading led him to believe in Jesus. Abdul fled to where Adeel Samuel, lives and is now being nurtured there through the PBCS.

Presbyterian Education Board - August 2021 Update

Zerafshan Yousaf: Bearing Christ’s light in Pakistan

Recently we heard from Zerafshan Yousaf. She is the Principal of Presbyterian Education Board’s Higher Secondary Girls’ School in Pasrur and is a great example of PEB’s vision to provide high-quality education that equips girls and boys to become leaders in Pakistan who are guided by Christian values.

Zerafshan’s journey as a student at the girls’ school in Pasrur began in 1997. It was there that she learned to face with courage the many challenges that meet every Christian girl and boy in Pakistan. She recalls how inspirational and meaningful her Christian teachers were and that because of her experience she was able to attend university, earning a degree in psychology and a master’s in political science. Now she is following her heart’s desire to give back to the Christian community by inspiring young girls just as her teachers inspired her.

Asia, Partnership, Projects, Theological EducationThe Outreach FoundationAugust 30, 2021Pakistan

China Partnership - August 2021 Update

Yes, the challenges are increasing. No, we have not lost our hope in Jesus Christ. This was the message we heard during our first limited-audience forum on China, “Telling it like it is: the church in China now.”

Challenges are reminiscent of what we witnessed years ago. In July, the government passed a law that states what is prosecutable in mainland China will now be prosecuted in Hong Kong, which is causing the flight of many Chinese Christians. We saw pictures of registered churches being dismantled and turned into cultural centers such as the one pictured here from Jiangsu Province. If they resist, church leaders are sent to re-education camps. Tragically, one pastor committed suicide because of pressure to conform.

China Partnership - Update

It seems so long ago that we were able to visit our friends in China. So, it is encouraging to hear from churches and individuals that with COVID-19 God has pruned many things, but the Spirit has only strengthened the resolve to deepen the bonds of friendship with our brothers and sisters in China. Though we do not envision a visit in the immediate future, we know that God’s timing is perfect and we look forward to the day He opens the way. Until then we follow friendship’s multi-faceted pathways.

First, we commit our resources and energy to the relationship. Thus we celebrate that with the hiring of Rev. Dr. Thomas Boone, The Outreach Foundation is investing deeply for China. In addition to him having been in China, Tom’s own family has had a favored relationship with many in China for over twenty years. His father, Dr. Thomas J Boone, Jr., was considered a foreign expert and taught economic law in several universities throughout China (Tianjin, Beijing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Changchun, and Wuhan). His mother, Susan, taught English to some of our dear friends who have themselves become pastors, elders, and professors. Building on the good work of Jeff Ritchie, Peter Lim, Choon Lim, and Juan Sarmiento, Tom is committed to seeing The Outreach Foundation’s long-standing friendship with Christians in China continue and flourish to include new relationships.

John McCall - April 2021 Update

Dear friends,

As I am writing this, it is already Maundy Thursday afternoon here in Taiwan. I had the privilege of designing a Holy Week worship service with the Worship Committee of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan. We began the service at the headquarters in downtown Taipei on the roof of the GA building at ten this morning. The theme was "Following Jesus' Road of Love," so we slowly descended the stairs and stopped on each floor where we experienced something of Jesus' road during this week.

The church here reflects the diversity of the larger culture, so we had women and men, older folks and younger folks, indigenous, Hakka, and folks from the larger population. At each station, we read scripture in a variety of different languages and sang in different tongues.

Asia, Global Workers, MissionariesThe Outreach FoundationApril 7, 2021John McCall, Taiwan

Partner Updates