Sunday, October 12, 2008

New District Created in Pakistan?

The reason why I pose this as a question is because I don't know if the district which is already in Pakistan was just renamed (from Islamabad to Karachi) or this is a new district (which would be the second in the country).

According to the Church's official website for the Hong Kong China Temple District http://www.lds.org/temples/district/0,11217,1915-1-84-2,00.html, the Karachi Pakistan District is now listed. There has been a district functioning in Pakistan since the mid 1990s and has been named the Pakistan District and later the Islamabad Pakistan District. In 2001 five of the six branches at the time where in the northern part of Pakistan and under the name of the Islamabad Pakistan District. The district was listed under the temple district for the Hong Kong China Temple and was removed a couple years ago (as were other Church units in areas of the world which are not so tolerant to the Church). Considering the majority of the branches in Pakistan are in the northern part of the country, the Karachi Pakistan District seems to be a new district created considering the city of Karachi is about 500 miles away from the closest branch in the north. However, as of 2001 only one branch was in the city. Districts have at least two branches. Another bit of information which supports the fact that this could be a new district is that other Church units in other places in the world which were taken off temple district listings a couple years ago were not put back on the temple district lists.

The Church only has Pakistani missionaries in Pakistan and they meet only with Christian Pakistanis. Pakistan is under the recently created India New Delhi Mission.

If anyone has any information about whether this is a new district of the Church, please leave your commit.

9 comments:

TempleRick said...

According to the official Church directory of organizations, the creation date for the Karachi Pakistan District is September 3, 2008. It appears to be new.

JScottW said...

My son is an Assistant to the President in the India New Delhi Mission. He travels with the President to Pakistan every six weeks. Last month, May 2009, they spent 10 days there attending District Conferences in Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi. Elder Watkins from the Area Presidency spoke at the conferences. There are approximately four branches each clustered around Lahore and Islamabad. All eight branches are in the same District, but they had conferences in both Lahore and Islamabad so the members in those areas would not have to travel so far. There are two branches in Karachi that make up the new District there. btw, there is also a branch in Dhaka, Bangladesh. They just got their first permanent building. The branch is small but growing. They have a Swedish ex-pat for a Branch President, who my Son says is doing a great job growing the branch. Every time the President and Assistants visit the branch, they teach and baptize. There are no missionaries there. These are people who have come to investigate the Church through the local members. By the time the President and Assistants arrive for a visit, these people have been attending Church for weeks (Sacrament Meeting is held on Friday Evenings) and they want to hear the lessons so they can be baptized. Since become an Assistant to the President, my Son has also twice visited the branches of the church in Katmandu, Nepal and Kolkata (Calcutta), India. Since the India, New Delhi Mission was formed in November 2008, the full time elders have only been assigned to serve in the New Delhi area and surrounding communities (plus the Pakistani native missionaries). So, it is up to the President and his Assistants to visit the outlying branches where missionaries are not yet serving. It seems like every time they visit, there are investigators ready to be taught and anxious to join the Church. Keep an eye on this part of the world. Given the numbers involved, it is only a matter of time before church growth absolutely explodes over there. My Son loves these people with all his heart and would not trade his mission experiences for the world.

Matt said...

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing the information about your son's mission. I have heard that the branch in Nepal is doing very well and has at least 10 young men serving missions currently. I am glad to hear the Church is laying a foundation for some impressive growth in the future. We don't get to hear much about the Church in this area of the world and Church unit information is not made public by the Church. Hopefully we'll see a third district organized in Lahore in the near future. Thanks again for the information!

jeriberri said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Noman John said...

hi this is Noman John from Pakistan is there any church of mormons in karachi? if it is please send me its address or phone because i really want to know about mormons thank you

Matt said...

Norman,

Contact the India New Delhi Mission office for more information as this mission administers India. The telephone contact number is provided below:

91 11-4602-6153

If you are still encountering difficulties, try contacting the mission president on his blog at:

http://indianewdelhimission.blogspot.com/

Best of luck to you in finding the Church!

Jasper Zion said...

well now we have 3 district in Pakistan. Lahore district, Islamabad district and Karachi District.

i am in Islamabad.if you have any difficulty reaching Islamabad branch. you can contact me. cell 0092-300-726-8463 or 0300-726-8463.

Jacob Mubarik

Unknown said...

great work in Pakistan

Unknown said...

@ Nisha Ilyas what is the mission president's email? my email is danstosich@gmail.com I am trying to contact him.