Security becomes a ministry

Pakistan in South Asia

In Pakistan, Christian security guards are opening up new opportunities in ministry for SIM.

“The Lord had laid a small town on our heart over many years,” explains one of SIM Pakistan’s team leaders. “It’s in a remote area with no missionaries for miles around. 

“We have asked many people, and as far as we can understand there is just one church in the whole district of over a million people. The church was asking us to come and help them. One of our experienced couples had just sent their youngest off to university and felt that the Lord was calling them to minister in and around the town.”

The move was a challenging one, even for a couple who had been in a major Pakistan city for many years. They were swapping their bustling, megacity life of relative freedom for a sleepy, dusty town on the edge of a desert, living under 24-hour armed guard.

“The opportunities for ministry are enormous in interior Pakistan,” says Andrew*, who oversees security arrangements for the team. “Our churches, our neighbours and the authorities were all welcoming. Local authorities wanted to ensure that our people were safe, but it was becoming a stretch on resources for the police to provide the security coverage that they wanted to.

“That’s when we had the idea of launching the Security Project. It opens doors for ministry, yes, but it is also a ministry in itself. We take on local Christians as guards, and the police train them up. With good quality security provision at home and as we travel, the authorities are happy for us to visit the different areas where God has opened doors for ministry.

“Sitting in the car with a guard or ... with him in the guard-hut at the front of the house, gives wonderful opportunities for discipleship. And sometimes, when we visit areas where our language skills aren’t so great, we find that the guards are able to communicate our message even more clearly than we can!”

The Security Project currently provides guards to several SIM Pakistan projects, ministries and partner churches. It is aiming to raise funds to make it easier for mission workers to answer requests for partnership from churches in the town and other areas that are remote and under-served. To give towards this goal, please visit our donation portal, select your nearest country, and use project number 98176.

Pray

• For protection for security guards and those they create safe environments for.

• For ministry to other guards, that Christian workers can point their colleagues to Jesus.

*Names have been changed.