Pastors’ and Lay leaders’ Training for Literacy Enhancement
Pakistan is a predominantly a Muslim country with a population of nearly 200 million, while Christians population is between 2-3%, including Catholics. However, we have a very small number of evangelical congregations in Pakistan. Currently, Pakistani Christians are living in dire conditions because of their faith. Sadly enough, Pakistan has been placed on 6th rank in the world for extreme persecution for the Christians (Open Doors 2016). From 1980 to 1986, the Pakistani government has amended and intensified the draconian blasphemy laws which pose a potential death sentence for anyone who insults Islam or even accuse by this law from a Muslim neighbor. Though, the blasphemy laws have been misused by Islamic
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As a result, it may have hampered the evangelistic enterprise because it is indispensable for local Christians to know the Word of God and share the Gospel with the Muslims. Unfortunately, it’s all happening at the time, when Western missionaries had to leave Pakistan because of terrorism, extremism, and a rigorous Pakistani visa policy for Western nationals. After missionaries’ expulsion, they left a vacuum, which was sadly filled with new unbiblical movements such as: Prosperity gospel, Mormonism, and Jehovah Witness. And, an average Pakistani Christian, who could not read the Word of God, has somehow allured by those unbiblical movements. Even some of the Christians have renounced their loyalty with Jesus, in order to escape persecution. Unfortunately, Pakistani evangelical pastors and lay leaders, who are trained to be theologians, are ill-equipped to eradicate slavery, child labor, and illiteracy among the persecuted body of Christ.
...iew religion and how to use it. They have definitely made it more community oriented on a larger, more influential scale. However, the general direction of the book did not seem straight forward and had much unwanted detail. I appreciate the general layout but some examples were better left as are instead adding copious amounts of supporting detail. It generally got me very confused when trying to understand the topic. Aikman writes in a sense that makes me perceive China to have this notion to want to be the best, using religion as a tool. Aikman seems to have a positive outlook on the development of Christianity in China. Though he may know the struggles that are experience, he may not see how other people in the world perceive it. The Islamic nation must feel threatened by such forceful missionary work. I would be afraid that they do not take no for an answer.
These approaches by European Americans were thought to be more socially acceptable means to acquiring more land and expansion of their new world. The missionaries were successful at baptizing hundreds of Native Americans. They used the bible, sermons and Christian beliefs in God to influence tribal members to give up their cultural beliefs. The bible was translated into their native language in order to provide instruction and commitment to the word of God. In this culture, the way to a better life and forgiveness for savage acts, would be offered to all who believe in one God and become Christians. Heaven was introduced to the American Indians as well as a new belief in Hell, as an alternative demise. In all, many Christians came about from the missionaries’ efforts. Catherine Tegahkouita was one of the most celebrated Mohawk convert. There would be no other as devoted to God as she was during this crusade. “Nothing could be more beautiful, but with that beauty which inspires the love of virtue. The people were never weary gazing on her, and each left with his heart full of the desire to become a saint”.5 As more and more time went on, villages grew in Christian numbers. Still the missionaries continued to venture on to new unexplored lands to bring God’s word to them. Their objective, to save them from their barbaric
...all, W. The Sources of Islam. Edinburgh, Scotland: T & T Clark Sivan, Emmanuel. Radical Islam: Medieval Theology and Modern Politics. Enlarged Edition. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2001 Spencer, H. Islam and the Gospel of God: A Comparison of the Central Doctrines of Christianity and Islam, Prepared for the Use of Christian Workers Among Muslims. Delhi, India: S.P.C.K., 1998 Stott, John R. & Coote, Robert, editors. Down to Earth: Studies in Christianity and Culture. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2000 Sweetman, J. Windrow. Islam and Christian Theology. Part II Volume II. London: Lutterworth Press, 1999 Vander Werff, Lyle L. Christian Missions to Muslims. S. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2002 Zwemer, Samuel M. Heirs of the Prophets: An Account of the Clergy and Priests of Islam, the Personnel of the Mosque and 'Holy Men'. Chicago: Moody Press, 2002
In the late eighteenth century, the United States government wanted to acculturate and assimilate Native American people as opposed to instituting reservations. The officials endorsed the practice of education for Indian children in the customs of white people. To help in bringing this to life, the Civilization Fund Act of 1819 provided financing to mostly religious societies who worked on educating Indians, often at schools. Schools were founded by missionaries next to Indian settlements, which later became reservations. As time went on, schools were built with boarding facilities, to provide accommodations for students who lived too far to be there on a daily basis (Lajimodiere 8). The Civilization Fund Act was immoral and had tremendous negative impact because it assisted in funding the Indian boarding schools, which resulted in abuse of Native children, supported the loss of their own culture and language, and lead to forced separation from families and tribes.
“Literacy—the ability to access, evaluate, and integrate information from a wide range of textual sources—is a prerequisite not only for individual educational success but for upward mobility both socially and economically,” states Sean Reardon (18). Literacy plays a significant role in civilized society. As Reardon mentioned, literacy is an important part of social and economic progression; therefore, it is unsurprising that thousands of dollars are poured into the education system each year to ensure that students can be considered literate. Reardon continues on to claim, “by third grade virtually all students can “read” in the procedural sense—they can sound out words and recognize simple words in context” (20). However,
...). 'Our faith was also hijacked by those people': reclaiming Muslim identity in Canada in a post-9/11 Era. Journal of Ethnic & Migration Studies. 37 (3), 425-441. 17. doi: 10.1080/1369183X.2011.526781
...bans'. The type of submissive women suggested in your article equates to nothing more than domestic violence, which is as common in America as it is in Afgahnistan, so can we blame Christianity, Judaism, or Buddhism for these acts of violence towards women. Sure the Talibanns' take their beliefs to the extreme but as I mentioned before they are in no way connected to the true Islamic faith. I feel that if weed out the negative aspects attributed to any religion and focus on the positive each person would realize the end result is a closer relationship with God. If I were to go through time and bring about the negative history of Christianity what purpose would it serve? I feel that focusing our attentions on loving one another instead of providing misleading information will help to create an environment of harmony between each culture or religious background.
The textbook definition of “literacy”, is the ability to read and write. However, in my opinion, the true definition of the word depends on what literacy means to an individual. In today's society, being literate is almost always required to get any type of decent job. Literacy is definitely the first step of many to be successful in today's society. However, that is not the only means of importance that literacy holds. The fact that literacy has different definitions ties into the fact that literacy has had different effects on certain people throughout their lives. Most people in today's society seem to take literacy for granted because they view it as a hassle or obligation. I do not view literacy as that because of how it has helped me get through the toughest times in my life. In reality, you should love to read no matter what genre it is, and you should write until your hands go numb. Throughout my life, literacy has been a backbone of sorts throughout the struggles I've been through. By using literacy as a form of support, it has allowed me to grow a strong connection to reading and writing and truly appreciate it. To me, literacy means hope. Literacy has helped me heal and has helped me connect with people from all over the country who have changed my life forever.
Missionaries were a contradiction, one that is not easily sorted. The goals and objectives of the missionary themselves were often purest of heart. Missionaries’ goals were to spread of the gospel, the convert heathens to Christianity and enrich the communities they work in by providing education and medical assistance. On the contrary missionaries were also often “agents of cultural change.” (Stipe p.1) They carried with them American ideals, democracy, individual rights, free enterprise, universal education, and delayed gratification. (Clifford Putney p.7)
“While it is true that more books are sold today than ever, recent statistics show that only about 15% of books bought today are read. Evidently, they are of more use as furniture—coffee-table books—than as a source of information or aesthetic buzz. The statistics continue; of those that are read, less than 20% are read all the way through. The unfinished book symbolizes the state of attention spans today”. Eric McLuhan opens up his 2010 argument against technology with this quote. He seems to believe that literacy is only fully achieved through limited technology and hard copies of books. He fails to realize there is more to literacy that picking up a book defined as a ‘classic’ and reading it cover to cover. Literacy covers all spans of artistic
The clash between Muslims and Christians persists today. On September 22, 2013, a Christian congregation of about 500 people was violently infringed upon by two Taliban suicide bombers. As the church had been filled with innocent women and children, this devastating att...
There are some theoreticians who view literacy in a form of social practice. In their view, social issues are also important components, as well as linguistic competence and understanding cognitive processes in language studies. Freire (1974) views literacy not only as a process of knowledge transformation, but also as a relationship of learners to the world. Vygotsky (1978) suggests two stages of development at social and individual level. In his view, literacy is a phenomenon that is created, shared, and changed by the members of a society. Gee (1996) similarly argues that becoming literate means apprenticeship with texts and apprenticeships in particular ways of being. In summary, literacy practices are not just about language, but about their interrelation with social practices.
Literacy is a powerful and important skill that every person should have the chance to learn. Literacy allows a person to have a successful career and education, communicate with other people, and form and express educated opinions and thoughts. The struggles of an illiterate person are shown in an excerpt from “Learning to Read and Write,” which was written by a former slave, Fredrick Douglas. Throughout the excerpt, Douglas describes the many obstacles and hardships he faced while learning to read and write. In one instance, he shows how literacy plays an important role in having and keeping a job.
Pakistan is the basis in the international fight against terrorism to this day. Many Pakistani terrorist groups have made many terrorist attacks around the world. Pakistan faced the choice siding with or staying against the United States during the aftermath of 9/11. Violence in Pakistan has increased for many years as terrorist groups have targeted many political leaders, tribal leaders, the military, and also schools. Pakistan is divided into people who see the country as modern and/o...
In July 1974 the Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization put a focus on how culture can have an effect on evangelization. With this focus in January 1978 the Lausanne Committee’s Theology and Education convened, and those who attended included form all six continents 33 linguist, missionaries, anthropologist and pastors to tackle this topic on culture and evangelism.