A memorial service held to honour the Christian martyrs killed in the terror attack in Peshawar, Pakistan, was recently held in an Anglican church in Sydney.
St Saviour’s Church in Punchbowl hosted many members of the Sydney Pakistani Christian community on Friday, who gathered together to worship, pray and mourn over the attack that left hundreds dead after a service at All Saints Anglican Church, in Peshawar.
The night included a sermon by pastor Siddique Paul, prayers from both out the front and from the group, songs and hymns sung in Urdu, as well as addresses by various persons from within and without the Pakistani Christian community.
The Community Welfare attache to the Pakistani Consulate-General in Sydney, Mr Sandar Balakh Sher Khosa, attended the meeting in his capacity as a diplomatic consul, and strongly condemned the attacks against the Christian minority, describing people who would commit such an attack as ‘less than human’.
“No human can take life, whether it is of a Hindu, whether it is a Muslim, whether it is a Christian,” said Mr Khosa in English when speaking to the floor. “Nobody dares take life, nobody in the world. We strongly condemn them, and since the creation of Pakistan, Pakistan has suffered to the maximum. Pakistan is the victim of terrorism.”
Prayers, conducted mostly in Urdu, were said for the survivors and those who are grieving, as well as for those who would commit terrorist acts, that they would know the truth and change their lives.
Also in attendance were members of the NSW chapter of Tehreek-e-Insaf, the Pakistani political party founded by former Test cricketer Imran Khan, as well as NSW Legislative Council Member and leader of the Christian Democratic Party, the Rev Hon Fred Nile.
“It’s terrible, shocking what’s happening,” says Mr Nile. “The other night I was at a big Coptic meeting, similar to this, about what’s happening in Egypt. It's a tragedy when the Christian community, peaceful, loving and kind, have suicide bombers walk amongst hundreds of people and kill men, women and children."
Former CMS Federal Secretary and missionary in Pakistan, the Rev Canon John Thew, was also at the event, and has been working with Pakistani church planter Mr Siddique Paul while in Sydney. He says there are practical things any Christian can do to support Pakistani Christians at this time.
“Right now, the average person could support the Archbishop’s Anglican Aid appeal,” says Mr Thew. “That’s a very practical thing right now. Another very practical thing is that if there is a Pakistani family, or indeed any Christian, any foreign family living close by, to just make a one on one friendship. It’s a long slow process, but it’s a life changer.”
Since the bombing at All Saint’s Anglican church, further attacks, believed to also have been carried out by the Taliban, have occurred in the Peshawar area against civil servants and public spaces. Bombs on a bus and in a marketplace are believed to have killed at least another 50 people in total.
