Fr. Austine, MHM, who has been working in Sargodha, northern Pakistan, for the past two years, shared the news of the arrival of Fr. John Peter Othieno, MHM, on October 9th. Originally from Uganda, Fr. John Peter was recently ordained and has now taken up his first missionary appointment in the Diocese of Islamabad-Rawalpindi. His arrival marks a strengthening of the Mill Hill Missionaries’ presence in Pakistan as they continue their mission of service and evangelization.
In 1947 British rule in the Indian subcontinent came to an end, British India was divided and the Mill Hill Missionaries in the north, except those in the disputed region of Kashmir, found themselves in the new country of Pakistan. While the work of evangelization and pastoral care continued among the country’s Punjabi inhabitants, among the Muslim majority the Mill Hill mission became increasingly one of witness, centred on education and the medical apostolate. In both fields the Society relied to a great degree on the dedication and professionalism of religious Sisters and lay collaborators. Mill Hillers in Pakistan became involved in inter-religious dialogue, while others were inspired to minister to the terminally ill and to men suffering from drug addiction.
In 1977 the Society’s long history in the territory of present-day Pakistan entered a new phase with an outreach to the nonÂMuslim tribal population of Sindh Province. An international team of Mill Hillers is at work in the diocese of Hyderabad among the Kohli people, mostly landless families bonded to feudal landlords. The parish teams are responsible for the evangelization and pastoral care of desperately poor tribal families in hundred of villages where the dominant culture puts pressure on their fragile faith. A main pillar of the Kohli apostolate is the provision of primary and secondary education and of boarding schools for both boys and girls. In education, as well as in the medical ministry and the uplift of tribal women, the Mill Hillers benefit from the dedicated collaboration of the Presentation Sisters and others. A central aspect of the mission in Sindh is to deepen the faith of the people, to encourage the emergence among them of Christian leaders and to foster local vocations to the priesthood.
In Mill Hill’s traditional Pakistani mission-field work goes on among the Punjabi population in the diocese of Islamabad-Rawalpindi. The land the Society provided for refugees during the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war has become Rawalpindi’s Satellite Town. Mill Hillers continue to devote themselves to the pastoral care and social uplift of the people. The Islamic character of religious instruction in public schools means that here a great share of missionary energy is devoted to the provision of Sunday Schools and instructors, and to ministry among Punjabi youth. cf. MHM History in Pakistan
