WRITTEN IN MY HEART
17) Gariel And the Bridging of Two Cultures – Pastor Vicky
In the winter of 2015, God reached across the ocean and established an on-going connection, an un-ending bond, between Pastor Vicky and me. Then called an evangelist, he was serving the Brick Kiln Factory villages around Lahore, Pakistan. We met on Facebook. I would like to introduce you to Pastor Ashiq Masih Vicky and his beautiful family and ministry.
His legal name, on his national identification card, is Ashiq Masih. There are many who use the surname Masih in Pakistan. Basically, the name is often used by those who identify as Christian. In Pakistan, your national ID card, will identify you as Muslim, Christian, Hindu, etc. On the back of a Christian ID card, it states that you are Not allowed to apply for a VISA to visit Israel. Sad.
There are nine brothers and sisters in Pastor Vicky’s family. He indicates his father was a laborer. I know that his family lived in one of the poor bonded servant brick-making villages.
Pastor Vicky did attend college, was involved in Bible Studies, and earned several certificates. He was mentored and worked under Pastor Rashid Masih, who was then the lead pastor of Logos Ministries of Pakistan. Pastor Vicky was given the name Vicky by Pastor Rashid. And, now he is always lovingly referred to as Pastor Vicky.
In the area there had been several missionary groups operating. The three I know of are Baptist, Lutheran and Assemblies of God (which had its main headquarters in Lahore). What I know about the beliefs and content of what is being taught and preached, I believe Baptist and Assemblies of God have had the greatest influence. Pastor Rashid was mentored by a Baptist missionary and Pastor Rashid has prepared and ordained a good number of people to serve as pastors in area churches.
Most missionaries have left Pakistan and there has been a freeze on missionaries being allowed back into the country. I was then a member of the Assemblies of God Fellowship. In 2015, when I was checking out the work of our Fellowship there, I was told this: “Please know that Pakistan has long been considered by our mission as a “sensitive” nation. “Sensitive” implies that our pastors, missionaries and churches working in Pakistan accept considerable risk in living, working and ministering to the Pakistani people.“ By 2015, all but one missionary had been pulled out of Pakistan and the headquarters in Lahore had been closed down.
Arranged marriages are still a pretty common practice in Pakistan. The mothers make the arrangements. The man and woman may barely know each other. They do not go out on dates. A dowry is offered by the bride’s family. Pastor Vicky and his wife are the product of an arranged marriage. I do believe in their case, God brought them together for His purpose! They make for a good ministry team. Ashiq married Sonia on October 10, 2014 in a Christian ceremony.
I almost forgot to mention this interesting fact. In 1947-48, the country of Pakistan was formed. Pakistan was once part of India. In an attempt to separate Muslims and Hindus, two countries were formed. An interesting fact is that many who had been Hindu but decided to stay in Pakistan, changed their identity status to Christian. So, many, perhaps most, of the Christian villages in Pakistan were at one time Hindu. This does help to explain why there is still a lot of Indian customs and traditions practiced in the Christian villages. Examples: the clothes Christian women wear, and the emphasis on dancing at children’s Sunday School programs.
An emphasis is placed on having children in your marriage. And, pretty quickly. Sonia was worried about not becoming pregnant in a year’s time. She asked me to pray for her. The couple had their first-born son, Abner on August 2, 2016. She had a rough delivery and there was much concern for her life and the baby’s life. Pastor Vicky had to sign a paper stating which life to save, his wife’s or his baby’s, if problems arose. An emergency C-Section had to be done. Both lived. It always brings tears to my eyes. Praise God. Thank you Jesus.
The Vicky family (Ashiq, Sonia and baby Abner) were still living in a one room apartment and were riding a motorcycle traveling about 22 miles over some rough dirt roads to the newly built Gariel Church to serve their congregation. The one room apartment had a small area where a hose type spray on the wall served as a shower and with a floor type toilet. With a cook stove that looks more like a camp stove was used. A scrub board and wash tub for washing clothes. A fan to circulate the air. And in the winter, a fire was started in a bowl like container and set in the center of the room.
The family needed to move to Raiwind where the little brick church was built. Next posts about the building of Gariel Church.
You are invited to visit Gariel’s website: http://www.garielministries.org
Testimony of
Dorothy von Lehe
2024