Receiving and Sharing

One of the villages Shakeel and Rustam have been ministering in regularly is Shah G Machine. Of the 24 families in the village, 12 attend the services that Shakeel and Rustam hold, so they took 12 packages of food for those families. One of those families is pictured above.

The rest of the story: The 12 families who received food have agreed together that they will share the rice, beans, lentils, flour, oil, tea, and soap they received so the entire village will be helped. All will be fed, though to a limited degree. Pray with us that God will perform a loaves and fishes miracle and there will be enough for all!

" . . . for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord . . . " - 2 Corinthians 8:2-3

Food: Physical and Spiritual

While Mehboob and his team have been busy delivering food in Punjab (northern part of Pakistan), Shakeel, Rustam, and volunteers have been doing the same in Sindh (to the south and west in Pakistan).

In the picture above, Shakeel is talking to people in the area of Kumb who have come for food packages that will feed their families in the coming weeks. The purpose of meeting was two-fold: First, to give thanks to God for His provision and second, to acknowledge that physical food is important for today, but spiritual food, gained through the Word of God, is eternal.

Rustam (on the left) is shown with one family for whom food was provided. Many Pakistani women, especially of Muslim or Hindu backgrounds, cover themselves completely when photographs are taken. She's not hiding, just being appropriate in her culture.

These men are taking the groceries home to their families. Pray that soon the people in Kumb, Khairpur, and other villages in Sindh will be able to be back at their jobs and supporting their families.

"Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up." - Romans 15:2

Gaining Strength

Last month we told you of the Reach the Nations team arriving at a village near Sialkot only to find a young woman lying weakly in bed having been diagnosed as malnourished. The advice was to get her to a hospital or she would die. The hospital is far away, she was weak, and there was no transportation, so that seemed like an impossible request.

But, as hope was being lost, Mehboob, Adnan, and Irfan came with bags of food - enough to feed this girl and her family for a month. Hope was restored as she began to take in sustenance. This picture above is of the same girl taken upon the RTN team's return visit in May. She is up, dressed, and able to move around freely, though she is still quite weak. Here our men pray for full restoration of her health.

Other children are suffering, too, from lack of food. The family shown above asked for prayers for their young ones who are beginning to show weakness and other signs of malnutrition.

The RTN team in Punjab delivered food this month to 50 families; 40 are Christian and 10 are Muslim. By their efforts and the gifts of many, these deliveries have provided food for a month for 227 people in Punjab villages. The food supply they now have will be good medicine.

Keep these families in your prayers as we join them in giving thanks to God for his gracious and merciful provision.