Issanagri is one of the villages within the parish of the Assumption, based in the village of Chak 7, in the diocese of Faisalabad. The parish as a whole has a total of 6,000 Catholic faithful, while Issanagri itself has around 300 Catholic families, or approximately 1,500 Catholics.
The village is around 6 miles (10 km) from the centre of the parish, so it is a long walk to the parish church. Issanagri already has a small chapel of its own, but it is far too small for the number of the faithful.
So now the Catholic faithful have themselves begun to build a larger church. They have made great sacrifices to do so – collecting money, although they themselves are poor, and working hard on the building site, even though they already have to work very hard simply to support their families. But despite all their efforts and hard work, they have so far only managed to build part of the church. Holy Mass is still being celebrated in the open air, between the partly built walls, where there is no shelter from the scorching sun or torrential rain, or indeed the biting cold that can still be felt in winter, even in Pakistan.
The parish priest, Father Waseem Walter, has written to ACN for help so that they can finally complete their church. He writes, „It is urgently necessary to build this church.“ We have promised him our help, and his people were overjoyed to learn that we are willing to support them. Now we need your help to raise the 11,000 Euros we have already promised them…
Code: 328-01-19
