From our contact in Pakistan…

On September 22, 2013, approximately five hundred people gathered for Sunday service. There was an additional sixty-four who were present in the Sunday school on the Church compound. Two suicide bombers entered the compound and exploded themselves while the worshipers were coming out at the end of Service at All Saints Church, Kohati Gate in Peshawar.

This city is the Provincial head and a main town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which has taken the brunt of a bloody Islamist insurgency in recent years.

This bloody blast took almost one hundred thirty lives and injured another one hundred sixty-nine people. Twenty are still being treated in a hospital. Twelve women become widows, eighteen children became orphans (losing both parents) and an additional six children lost at least one parent.

Humphrey Peters: Bishop of Peshawar has some explaining to do.

What is even more tragic and disturbing is the reaction or lack thereof from the local Anglican Church of Pakistan. We found that the Anglican Peshawar Diocese was unwilling to help their own injured Church members. Not even their own injured employees – one of which died of his injuries because he could not get basic medical treatment – received help from them.

The Local Church members stated that:

“Bishop and their priests were busy only with the funerals of their loved ones whereas the rest of the funerals were conducted by Roman Catholic and Salvation Army Pastors without considering that the dead belonged to the Church of Pakistan.”

The Bishop and his clergy did not make any condolence visits to their church members, but Bishop Humphrey, the Bishop of Peshawar, went to Europe for fundraising in the name of helping his diocese.

Here is a statement from Albert Shohail, who is clearly disheartened by the exploitation of the suicide bombing victims by various NGOs and ministries:

According to our sources right after the blast in Church, International Churches and NGOs did send aid of £2,000 ($3180) to the Peshawar Church courtesy of the “Diocese of Wakefield”. This money was sent for the medical treatment of those victims who lost their feet, ankles, arms and legs or for those who are in serious need of medical attention. We know without any doubt that not one penny was given in aid to the victims.

Similarly, “Titus Presler”, who has been appointed as a Principal of Edwardes College in Peshawar, has also been running a campaign for funds.

In another fundraising campaign, additional monies have been collected, one example is Episcopal Relief and Development, which sent a $15,000 grant. According to the Titus on Mission blog, which links to the Episcopal Relief page:

“Other initiatives are being developed in the Episcopal Church and may be announced soon. Meanwhile, the Edwardes College Compassion Appeal has already begun receiving donations for victims and their families from concerned people in the USA as well as in Pakistan…”

Where is this money being used? The Church has not provided any help to any of the victims of the blast for their medical treatment. No funds have been distributed to the people affected by this tragic terror attack.

Here is a video of Hanif Masih, who lost his son in the attack. After he is done speaking, another man explains the treatment poorer members of the church received:

Australian Anglican Aid has also contributed, sending $5000 to Bishop Humphrey Peters after their meeting on September 27th at St. Saviour’s Church Punchbowl.

Again, none of these funds have been distributed to the victims. This situation is a disgarace and Bishop Humphrey has much to answer for what appears to be fraudulent behavior. Apart from our partners on the ground in Pakistan and one other NGO, there is no real support for the victims’ medical treatment, whereas the Church – even after receiving funds from the international Community – stands by idly as some of the victims die. The church failed to provide the medical treatment to one of their own employees – Mr. Robin Bhatti (Robin Morris).

It was midnight when he called us for help; we were on the way back to our base. We promised him that we would help him with his medical treatment. The day after we spoke to him on 4th Oct, 2013, he passed away. If the diocese of Peshawar is unwilling to help its own staff, how can they be trusted to help the poor members of their own Church?

We have other very disturbing information on the Bishop of Peshawar which we will release later. We are trying to possibly use this information to leverage the release of funds (nearly $2 million) that has been given by donors and the provincial government in Pakistan to this Bishop. The money given to him has been earmarked specifically for the victims of the bombing. Yet, to this day, three weeks after the terror attack, not one penny has been given or used to help the victims.

Here is the video testimony of Musharraf Qazi, who explains how neither Bishop nor priest tended to the grieving families and money appropriated to help those families, never did:

We would request the international community to please not send anymore money to The Diocese of Peshawar or institutions that continue to send money to organizations who send money to the Diocese.

Rescue Christians has kept records of all the hospital bills used to help the victims in Peshawar to prove that your donors’ money has been appropriated correctly and honestly. They are being sent to us and we will publish the receipts online when we receive them shortly from our partners.