a state of emergency...
Monday, November 05, 2007
Regular visitors to this blog will be aware of my connections to Pakistan and the frequent postings over the last few years highlighting some of the tensions in that country. The events of this weekend have had widespread media coverage and so there's little I can add here except to say that I am praying for a country that once again finds itself in turmoil (as it has so many times before). It's easy for the West to come up with platitudes about democracy and so on without a clear understanding of the issues at stake. I must admit to my own views being clouded by the fact that when I was last in Pakistan I spoke to several people belonging to Pakistan's minority communities (i.e. non-Muslim) who spoke about how things were better for them under the Musharraf regime than had previously been the case under 'democratically elected' governments.
In short, things are seldom black and white but various shades of grey, and I simply have to throw myself on the mercy and wisdom of God, that he might bring clarity, peace and justice to a nation that has suffered so much in its relatively short history. Can I urge you to do the same?...
To keep up to date with the events in Pakistan as they unfold, see the BBC and the Guardian special sections.
I'm Malcolm Chamberlain
from Liverpool, United Kingdom
. I'm married with two young children and, in addition to Liverpool, have lived in Leicester (for the first 18 years of my life), York, Peshawar (Pakistan), Oxford and Walsall. I've been actively involved in the emerging church since 2001, as a founding member of Dream in Liverpool City, and coordinator of the Dream network. I'm currently engaged in research into emerging missional communities, and work as a parish priest and pioneer minister.
