The Church of the King of Kings, financed in part by the Christian NGO Angel Welfare Trust, was inaugurated on January 3 in the Malir prison, in the Sindh province in southern Pakistan. It's a first for the region.
"We pray that the lives of Christian prisoners in this house of prayer will change and that the prisoners in this facility will find peace in their hearts," Kazi Nazir Ahmed, Inspector General of prisons in the Sindh province, told the Fides agency on the day of the inauguration.
Christians -- 1.6% of the population
"When prisoners go to pray, they get in touch with God, they feel peace of mind and for a short time they forget that they are prisoners," he said. "In prison they are alone and it is an opportune time to get closer to God. The time they spend in prayer will change their hearts. We police officers hope that prisoners will get into the habit of living a life of prayer and abandon the path of crime after their release.”
Samina Nawab, a Christian social worker in Pakistan, recalled that there are currently 150 Christian prisoners in the prison. "This church in prison will have a positive impact on [their] lives," she said. Christians are the second largest religious minority in the country, representing 1.6% of the population.
