We have a unique opportunity on Sunday, June 12, 2016. The sermon will be given by Mrs. Veda Gill, the Executive Director of the Presbyterian Education Board of Pakistan (PEB), a position she has held since 1998. The mission of the PEB is to provide quality educational opportunities to the poor masses, without regard for caste, color or creed. Veda oversees all the activities of the PEB office in Lahore and 14 schools throughout the Punjab province of Pakistan. She also supervises the SHE (Struggle – Hope – Empowerment) project for at-risk women and girls with community development programs of literacy, vocational training, and personal development.
Hope Church member Sam Martin traveled to Pakistan last November with a small group that was hosted by the PEB. He obviously met Veda and had a firsthand opportunity to see the work of the PEB, including visits to PEB schools in 4 locations near Lahore as well as SHE project sites. He came back extremely impressed with both the quality of education provided by the PEB and the extreme challenge and need to do more.
Christians have recently become significantly more at risk in the Islamic State of Pakistan as the Taliban have stepped their attacks. The park where the Easter bombing took place is only a 5-minute walk from Veda’s home. She often walked there with her husband, children and grandchildren; fortunately, they were not in the park during the bombing but many other families were.
There will be an opportunity to meet Veda prior to the service in the Gathering Area and to learn more about the SHE project. You are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity to meet and hear from a remarkably gifted and dedicated educational leader from a country where education is desperately needed. Please invite friends who may be interested.
You can review more information on the PEB at their website, www.peb.edu.pk as well as a US-based support group, the Friends of the PEB, at www.friendsofpeb.org.