Let go and Let God Islamabad Nov 2003

Let Go and Let God

I travelled to Islamabad on Thursday and had 24 hours with our CMS people there. Carol and Roger work with ICAN (Islamabad Christians Against Narcotics) and Nigel and Joan are good down to earth Yorkshire folk (he was an ambulance chief). They have just arrived and are starting language study. They will be going to Quetta Mission Hospital - mispronounced locally as Machine Hospital ! where he will be administrator and she will initially teach English to medical staff.

We visited ICAN and I enjoyed talking to addicts again. It made me feel at home and took me back to our Ibtida years in Karachi (1986-1996) – In fact IBTIDA originally helped ‘birth’ ICAN at the invitation of a CMS MP at the time Rev Graham Burton, who was vicar of St Thomas’s Islamabad.

The programme is struggling with funding, but has just managed to get an interim contract, where they do a 10-day detox for another programme - Nai Zindegi (New Life). It’s not ideal but it keeps them going. Aamir’s vision is to re-establish themselves as a Christian Drug Rehab, offering spiritual treatment based on the 12-step programme. CMS has been supporting the project through an annual grant, and personnel who can help with staff training. Aamir attended the ISAACS training programme at the Freedom Centre in Wadi Natroun, Egypt and this has encouraged his vision to ‘let go and let God’

He is a part of the ISAAC drug network and also chairman of the Pakistani Drug and Aids Workers Network (DAWN) We met most recently at the ISAAC training conference in Spain in May.

St Thomas's Church is ICAN’s spiritual base, as well as home church to a Pakistani working in Kabul. Shakeel is helping to capacity build and train the personnel there, both expat and Afghan. He is a very gentle guy and really good for this International NGO. He is their first Pakistani team member, having worked previously for another partner organisation in Pakistan - DOER Trust. DOER stands for the development of existing resources. Exactly what Shakeel is good at.

Unfortunately Rev Irfan Jamil, the new vicar of St Thomas’s (and possibly the best scrabble player in Pakistan!) was in Lahore, so we could not meet up.

There's never enough time when I visit Pakistan and I always get in trouble for not meeting some people.

From your own correspondent

Islamabad
Nov 2003