Category: -Updates-

Rev. Dr. Art Cribbs Executive Director of the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity is currently participating in an Interfaith Delegation in Pakistan. Below is a journal of his experience.

A walk through Kachi Abadi, also known as F-6 Sector in Islamabad, is a short, tight journey to a community of people whose eyes reflect hope and their voices echo the songs of faith.  An invitation into the home of a proud resident who cheerfully welcomed her international guests inside her one room abode was generous hospitality not easily understood.  The experience prompted multiple levels of human response and speculation.  For her affluent American visitors, the step into this private world of a distant culture may have provoked a sincere expression of concern and compassion.  Yet, from the heart of the hospitable hostess, it was an authentic embrace of the complex human family.  She was pleased to receive and welcome all of us into her home and asked us to sit down.  Our compliance was the height of respect and dignity.

Kachi Abadi is home to more than 500 Christian Pujabi families.  Although they are part of the largest ethnic majority in Pakistan, members of this community are reduced to an outcast, impoverished people relegated to the margins of society.  That is because of their unyielding dedication to their faith.  They are strengthen by their unapologetic devotion to Jesus Christ.
Our delegation was taken from her home to one of the local churches for a special service held in our honor.  Hand-crafted leis made from local roses were placed around each of our necks by the young pastor and women from his ecumenical congregation.  They are joined as one body across denominational identities of Baptists, Catholics, Evangelicals, Methodists, and Mormons.  They are a church for all Christians.  Although they are not allowed to prostylize, they attract new members by conducting healing services.

The pastor explained to be a Christian means to endure indignity and poverty in accordance with the suffering Christ.  It is a source of personal purpose and faithful living.  Amid the conditions of governmental neglect and insult a resolved community was formed and solidified by neighbors who support and care for each other.

On the day of our visit, we were greeted by a group of young mothers and their small children.  They talked about their plans to attend college and see their visions of a different future for their toddlers.  They are encouraged by the pastor and his wife who expounded a message of new life in Christ.  Despite social and economic injustice, the women reflect a determination that defines their lives as meaningful with profound awareness that fills them with undaunted joy.  They are witnesses of God’s grace and possess a detectable sense of self worth.

Our visiting eyes perceived living conditions smothered under repression and discrimination.  Our hearts and souls experienced the Beloved Community that puts faith into action, welcomes the stranger, and embodies the high tradition of faithfulness.

Although their living environment is evidence of societal discard, the community of a Christian minority in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a testimony to make the symbolic display of inclusion and compassion represented in the national flag, a true reality for every person, including citizens, refugees, and religious minorities throughout the country.

Our walk through Kachi Abadi took us to the center of true Christian practice against a tsunami of disappointment and heartbreaking disparity buffered by inexplicable possibility.  This was an intersection that connected our interfaith delegation to the wider world.

This past Tuesday, Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity brought a dozen people from faith communities to join the 150 + immigrant, students and community activists taking part in a statewide action front of the ICE federal building in San Francisco, denouncing the recent immigration raids that are bringing terror and division to our communities.

Participants of the rally holding faith signs

As we arrived at the federal building, we saw a group of protesters already busy in action. Some courageous undocumented young people, along with other supporters, had chained themselves and blocked both ends of the street. Traffic was stopped at a standstill and drivers got out of their cars confused, trying to make sense of what was happening. We divided ourselves into two groups and joined the undocumented youth on both end of the streets, surrounding them,marching in a circle as a sign of support.

Antonio Medrano, a faith lay leader from the East Bay, was one of those who participated in the civil disobedience. “I came from a long history of radical activism, UFW” he shared later of his experience, “I was jailed for the first in 1965 as a Dominican Monk, continued this kind of work with Apartheid, Vietnam war, Guatemala (where I was incarcerated for 3 months). You have to stand even if you are alone. No one can silence the human voice”

Francisco Herrera, guitar in hand, started singing and playing music and chants to keep our spirits alive. As the cries and chants, full of emotion and passion, echoed against the buildings of the busy financial district, crowds of curious bystanders surrounded us.

Pr. Pablo Morataya of Primera Iglesia Presbiteriana of Oakland came with us to join the rally and offer spiritual support. He stopped on both ends of the street, offering prayers of blessing to the ones engaged in civil disobedience, along with some encouraging words, congratulating them on their bravery and assuring them of the supportive presence of faith leaders in this cause.

Our faith delegation from East Bay

A couple of valiant Central American woman shared their poignant testimonies of a raid they experienced. One woman, who came with us from Oakland, shared the horrors of immigration raids where her husband and her two sisters and one brother were detained in an ICE raid in Atlanta, Georgia. Both of her sisters were deported, and she had to take care of 2 nieces. Her brother was deported twice. She told this testimony for the first time, and despite her fears of sharing her story, she decided to open up for the benefit of other people who needed to hear it. She told us how much harsher the situation is for immigrants in Georgia, and for that reason, she decided to move to the Bay Area where immigrants have more rights and protections. She shared in tears the horrible predicament her family went through as they lost the breadwinner and many supporting members of the family. Her testimony, like countless others, is a painful reminder of why we needed to be there in opposition to these heartbreaking and inhumane immigration raids.

In the end, 16 people were arrested. We were done with our action, but not before making clear our demands: we won’t stop demonstrating and organizing until we finally see the too long delayed light of our freedom. We will return time and time again, putting our bodies on the line if necessary, until this nation is able to hear our cries and restore us as rightful citizens of this place we call home.