PAKISTAN In Faisalabad, the foundation stone of the St. Andrew’s school in a poor area

Bishop Indrias Rehmat inaugurated the construction of St. Andrew’s Middle School in Dawood Colony – a project aimed at providing education to young people from poor families in the area. Benefactor Tanvir Gulzar financially supported the project, dedicating it to the Bishop. During the ceremony, the parish priest, Fr. Khalid Rashid Asi, stressed the importance of education: “Another lamp lit for the community.”

Faisalabad () – Bishop Joseph Indrias Rehmat, bishop of Faisalabad since 2019, has begun construction work on a Catholic school to be called St. Andrew’s Middle School, located in a degraded area of ​​Faisalabad called Dawood Colony, in the parish of Holy Rosary. In this area, the inhabitants are mostly poor and do menial work for daily wages. All expenses of the school, the first Catholic school in the area, were covered by Tanvir Gulzar, a socially active benefactor living in the United States. Last week, the bishop blessed the site, laid the first stone of the school building and placed blessed spiritual objects in the foundations, such as the cross, Mother Mary and the prayers of St. Anthony.

The event was attended by members of the community with Bishop Indrias Rehmat, Parish Priest Fr. Khalid Rashid Asi and the catechists of the parish. Before the laying of the foundation stone, all the participants sang religious songs of joy, a passage from the Gospel was read and prayers were said for this new building. The parish priest also distributed sweets among the participants to show a gesture of joy and happiness. Addressing the participants at the ceremony, Bishop Indrias Rehmat stated, “Nations can progress only through education and we are trying to build schools in those areas where people cannot afford expensive education. We sincerely believe that our people, through this school, will receive an education and help build a better society in the future.” Tanvir Gulzar and his family then expressed their gratitude for the initiative to help the poor community in the area. “This is really a great project; let us entrust it to the hands of Jesus Christ, so that He may bless all those who think of the children of the poor.” I hope that this school will create other role models like Tanvir Gulzar, who in future will do everything possible for the marginalized people for their development and progress.

Tanvir Gulzar, a social activist who has been working for the betterment of the Catholic community for a long time, has already established several sewing schools and literacy centres in Jhang district and Faisalabad for the Catholic community. “I am grateful to our Lord who blessed us to be able to do something for our people,” he said. “I have named this school after St. Andrew because it is the same name as Bishop Inderias Rehmat. I have seen him making great efforts for the development of the Catholic community. My family has been insisting on me to build this school because there is not a single Catholic school in this area.” The wish to have the blessing of the same prelate came true last week. “I am very grateful to him for his blessings and wishes for this school and this community. I assure him that I will continue to work for my community and will always be available for our Catholic Church.”

Parish Priest Fr Khalid Rashid Asi also expressed his joy and said that laying the foundation stone of a school is like lighting a lamp so that the light spreads and shows the way to others. “I am very happy that there are activists like Tanvir Gulzar who enlighten and impart knowledge to others. Only education can take us on the right path.” According to the pastor, it is education that has helped improve the practices of the local community. “This is a day of celebration because through the efforts of Tanvir Gulzar, who lives in the US but still feels sorry for his Pakistani community, he has lit another lamp for the poor community, to enlighten them and bring more people out of ignorance.”