The decision to send a group of Sisters to Pakistan followed our 1987 Chapter and an invitation from Bishop Patrick Paul Bonaventure OFM of Hyderabad. Volunteers were sought. A condition of our missionary visa was the signing of an agreement that we would work among the Christian Community of Hyderabad and we would not proselytise Muslims.
After many months of preparation for this predominantly Muslim country the precious visas were eventually granted. Five Sisters departed for Karachi. They were ‘seasoned missionaries,’ having spent years in Peru, Philippines, Korea or Hong Kong. They had the assurance that many prayers were being offered for them. They arrived in Pakistan at a time when there was a change in our approach to mission from administering institutions such as schools and hospitals to reaching out more and more to the poor and those on the margins of society such as women and tribal people.
After studying Urdu, the official language of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Sisters moved into a rented house in Hyderabad. They wore the traditional clothes of the women, shalwar/kameez, trousers and tunic to the knees. They covered their heads when outdoors and as far as possible, in accordance with the local custom, they never went out alone. Their house was just one in a row of homes of Muslims in our street, in an area of Mohajar (refugees from the Partition with India in 1947). They were fervent Muslim families who had fled from India to the safety of Pakistan which was for all Muslims. As the Sisters gradually got to know their neighbours, they found these neighbours very kind and helpful. When they had sadness or difficulties, they came to tell the Sisters and ask them to pray for them.
After three years working in Hyderabad, the Sisters received an invitation to work in Kunri parish, about four hours by road east of the city and bordering the India Gujerat Province. Here they became involved in serving both Punjabi and Parkari Kholi Catholics, all of whom were struggling for survival and recognition. Living on the margins because of mechanisation which reduced the need for labour, most of the people here, especially the women, were harvesting crops such as cotton, chilli, sugar cane and fruit. Through the support of the Sisters in providing basic education for the children, several women gradually began teaching in local schools or other parishes.
After working for sixteen years in Kunri, the Columban Sisters were able to hand over our responsibilities in the area to a group of Pakistani Sisters of the Daughters of the Cross – bringing to life the message in the Scriptures, ‘One sows the seed, another waters it and God gives the increase’. Today, in Karachi, Sr. Yoon Mi Kim and Sr. Julietta Choi continue to serve on mission in Pakistan. Before being missioned to Pakistan, Sr. Yoon Mi lived in places where most people were Christians, and Christianity was a big part of the culture and society. In Pakistan, she was aware that Muslims are in the majority and Christians are a very small minority – only about 1.37% of the population. Even though the Christian Church in Pakistan has contributed a lot to education and healthcare in Pakistan, many Christian families remain very poor and do not have access to good education.
Our Columban mission today, as it did when we first arrived in Pakistan in 1990, continues to help and support the Christian community who are still the poorest and weakest in Pakistan society. We focus on different ways to make their lives better and help them stand on their own. There are many private Christian schools in Pakistan, but sadly, many Christian children cannot attend because they cannot afford it. In St. Anthony parish in Karachi, where Sr. Yoon Mi works, many Christian children have never gone to school or they have had to leave because of money problems. These children then often spend their days on the streets instead of in school.
To help them, she started the St John Study Centre in Hijrat Colony, one of the poorest communities in the parish where she lives. Currently, there are 48 children preparing to go back to school. Since last year, about 30 children took their exams and re-enrolled in Catholic Schools. The others are preparing to do the same next year. Many parents of these children expressed great joy that their dream has come true. It means a lot to the Christian parents to be able to send their children to Catholic schools knowing that they can get a good education and feel easy and accepted as Christians.
Sr. Yoon Mi’s companion in mission, Sr. Julietta’s current experience in Pakistan is that due to poverty and an oppressive culture, many of the local children have forgotten how to smile and express their feelings freely. What has hardened their hearts and made them so rigid? Like Pope Francis, Sr. Julietta believes that one of our most important roles as missionaries is to guide oppressed people to encounter the living God on their faith journey. Her hope is that through introducing young girls to liturgical dance and creating mandalas, they will indeed encounter the Divine.
Sr. Ann Gray worked as a teacher and spent a year as a lay missionary in Sierra Leone before she joined the Columban Sisters. She has served on mission in Hong Kong. Now based in Ireland, she is Assistant Editor of the Far East magazine. Sr. Joan McDermott has served on mission in Korea and Pakistan. She is currently based in Ballymun, Dublin. Sr. Yoon Mi Kim has served on mission in Peru and she is currently in Pakistan. Sr. Julietta Choi has served on mission in Philippines and is currently in Pakistan.
