Speakers at a program organized to honor five Christians for their dedicated community service stressed the theme "someone has built you, you build someone."
The theme is the guiding inspiration for Graduates Christian Fellowship (GCF), the ecumenical service group that organized the Khiraj-e-Tahseen (paying tribute) program Jan. 27 at the Salvation Army Church Hall in Karachi.
Begun in 1987, GCF is an ecumenical association of Christian college and university graduates that helps provide post-secondary financial support, career guidance and job placement for Christian students.
It also promotes the ongoing development of its members.
Five Christians, a Franciscan priest and four laymen, received gold rings at the recent program as tokens of appreciation for exemplary lives of service.
Franciscan Father Louis Mascarenhas has taught Church history, missiology and pedagogy of the oppressed in the country and abroad.
Father Mascarenhas also helps Abdul Sattar Edhi, a Muslim social worker in Karachi, Pakistan´s largest city, and visits Karachi Central Jail to provide medical and spiritual assistance.
His order´s first Pakistani provincial superior, from 1985 to 1994, the 60-year-old priest in his acceptance speech advised others to serve actively to keep growing. One gets old the moment he or she stops growing, he said.
Professor Inayat, dean of Karachi University, recalled that his family could not afford his education. It was made possible, he said, by the helping hands of many missioners and working hard to earn money himself.
Poet Mustaq Inami, 88, is well known for his Zamzama-e-Daud (psalms of David), an Urdu-language translation of the Psalms.
Vinton Dass, 66, honored as a radio and TV personality and social worker, said the task of the Church is not to abandon the world but to transform it, without becoming worldly in the process.
One awardee, Sohail Samuel, was cited for his dedication to GCF, helping it to faithfully contribute services to Pakistani graduates and students.
Emmanuel Mumtaz, GCF secretary general, observed that such services are very much needed in Pakistan, where the Christian community is scattered about.
GCF´s provision of tuition, books and some general financial assistance for academic studies is important in helping Christian youth, who have little opportunity to get education beyond the secondary level, he said.
Mumtaz urged GCF members to keep up their Christian identity.
Maqbool Indrias, GCF president, said GCF is planning to build a hostel for Christian post-secondary students in Karachi. A hostel is a great need for students coming to this southern port city for higher studies, he said.
GCF programs cover a wide socio-religious range. Lecture topics in 1994 included "Fasting," "The role of Christian teachers in an Islamic society," "The role of women" and "Career guidance and banking."
Presenters included Father Inayat Bernard, rector of Christ the King Seminary, and Parvez Bhatti, president of the National Bank of Pakistan.
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