Author: Simon Bartz, 3 November 2022
Beena is a 76-year-old Christian woman living at the mouth of the Khyber region of Pakistan. She is a cheerful lady with eight children and 27 grandchildren, but until recently she lived in terrible fear.
Gun-toting Islamists controlled and terrorised the area her family lives in just 20 miles from the border with Afghanistan. The kidnapping and killing of children and young people was common and women were banned from leaving the home alone.
The Pakistani Army wrested control of the region from the Islamist extremists in 2014 and now, thanks to the kind giving of Bible Society supporters, Beena and 11 women from her family are not only able to read Scriptures but are holding Bible study classes.
The women began attending Bible-based literacy classes to learn to read and write in February this year. The classes, open to all women, are now flourishing thanks to your support, and more and more illiterate women from villages and slums are receiving education for the first time.
‘Before, there was not a single school for girls in this region. Education for girls was considered immoral,’ said Beena, a former hospital cleaner.
She said there are few Christians in the area but a pastor who visits once a month told them that Bible Society were starting the classes at a church. The pastor’s wife was the teacher.
‘Now we have started a Bible study group in the family and every day we read two or three chapters. We started with the New Testament and we hope very soon we will be able to read Old Testament.’
The literacy rate in Pakistan is 58 per cent, but among Christian women it is estimated to be just 34 per cent. The plan of this Bible Society literacy programme, supported by you, is to educate 3,500 women, which will develop their leadership skills and help them become active and confident members of society.
After being interviewed for this story, Beena prayed and thanked the Lord for the generosity of Bible Society supporters who made these classes possible.
This story showing the amazing impact of your generosity first appeared in our Bible a Month prayer letter. By joining Bible a Month with a regular monthly gift of £10 or more you give access to the Bible to women in Pakistan as well as others all around the world.
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