Simon Peter Kaleem is training native missionaries to reach the lost in Pakistan. We also talk about setting modern day slaves free from working in the scorching hot brick klilns. You will be blessed as you listen to his testimony about serving the Lord in Pakistan.
Connect with Simon Peter on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simon.peter.kaleem/
Transcript:
Evangelist Daniel King (00:17):
Welcome to the Evangelism Podcast. I’m Daniel King. I’m excited about telling people about Jesus. Today I have a very special guest with me, Pastor Simon Peter from Pakistan. Thank you for being on the Evangelism Podcast.
Simon Peter Kaleem (00:32):
Thank you so much, my dear brother, Daniel King. I’m so excited to be here with you in this podcast.
Evangelist Daniel King (00:39):
Well, it is good to have you here. You and I met in Europe. We’ve been together in Amsterdam. We’ve been together in Finland. And now you are here in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I met your daughter. She is going to Oral Roberts University right now. And you are ministering in the nation of Pakistan. Tell me a little bit about what you are doing in Pakistan.
Simon Peter Kaleem (01:05):
In Pakistan, we are being used by God in different sectors. We are working on the education, we are having a salvation chapter, and we are also having a sustainability chapter. We have different schools and we are giving the biblical based education to the children. And we are also having a school of mission where we are preparing the native missionaries and we are sending them to the unrise tribes living in Pakistan. And apart from that, we are also rescuing the people who are slave on the brick factories. They are involved in the bounded labor. We rescue them and we are bringing their children into our schools and we are giving them a biblical based education.
Evangelist Daniel King (02:00):
Well, let’s walk through all those different things that you’re doing. We’ll start with the schools. Tell me, how did you start the schools and what’s happening with the schools?
Simon Peter Kaleem (02:12):
God called me to raise leaders for the future church in Pakistan. When I was in my childhood, I made a promise with God that God, as you know, life expectancy in Pakistan is about 60 to 65 years. So I made a promise with God. In my first 20 years, I will study and in the second 20 years of my life, I will work hard to make money, to settle my family. And the last years, if you give me 20 or more than 20 years, I will serve you. So this was a childhood promise with God, so I forget that. But the first 20 years when completed, I did my graduation microbiology, zoology and chemistry, and I skilled up top position in my university. So after that, I wanted to do a PhD in biotechnology, but unfortunately I could not because there was some situation arises in Krachi.
(03:18):
So I went back to Lahore. So then I started working in a pharmaceutical company and I worked in a multinational pharmaceutical for 20 years. And I was having a lot of facilities from that company, enjoying a very good salary. Everything was very fine. But when I completed the second 20 years, then God is in control and he was present there. And he put me in a situation that I lost my job and everything went down. There was no more hope for me for the future. I had an accident. All the things were taken back from me.
(04:09):
I came on the ground level. So I started asking, oh God, what happened? Why it is with me? Why it is happening with me? We are regularly going to the church. We are very good church members. We do a Bible study. My children at that time, they were very young. They are going to the Bible schools as well in Sunday schools. So what is happening to me? So I didn’t understand, but one day I was studying Bible in my bedroom and normally I use Urdu language Bible. I study a Bible in Urdu, but sometimes when I see very difficult word from Urdu language, I used to consult English Bible. So on that day when I was studying English Bible, there is a scripture came in front of me and that was a John 21. It was a conversation between Jesus Christ and Simon Peter. And it was in English.
(05:22):
Jesus asked Simon Peter, son of John, do you love me? And when I read this name, Simon Peter, do you love me? And I feel a very strong anointing of the Holy Spirit that this is Jesus Christ who is talking with you. And God gave –
Evangelist Daniel King (05:41):
And is that why you have the name Simon Peter?
Simon Peter Kaleem (05:43):
Yeah, this is why, because my name is the only name in entire of my family that is a Christian name. All of my brothers and sisters, they have a Pakistani name. So in my childhood, I do not like my name because of my name, I faced so many discrimination.
Evangelist Daniel King (06:07):
Your parents named you Simon Peter?
Simon Peter Kaleem (06:09):
Yes.
Evangelist Daniel King (06:10):
And when you read this verse, it was like God was speaking directly to you.
Simon Peter Kaleem (06:15):
I mean, yes.
Evangelist Daniel King (06:16):
Wow.
Simon Peter Kaleem (06:17):
So in my childhood, when I was in school because of my name, the people, I faced so many discrimination persecution from my class fellows because they called me with a very bad pronunciation. So in my childhood, I hate this name. I do not like this name. But when I read this scripture from John 21, Jesus asked me, “Simon Peter, do you love me?” So I started thinking that, “Oh my God, this is the name that Jesus Christ spoke with his own mouth.” So when I started reading that scripture, he called me and he said, “Simon Peter, do you love me? Take care of my sheep.” Then second time, Jesus asked again, “Simon Peter, do you love me?” And he gave the second commandment. He said, “Take care of my lamb.” And when he asked third time, “Simon Peter, son of John, do you really love me?” And at that time, the Bible says that Simon Peter was very grieved.
(07:35):
He was very sad because he denied three times Jesus Christ before this conversation. And my condition at that time was same. I was crying.
(07:47):
I was crying and I was asking myself, “Oh, it’s very sad that I always hate this name in my childhood. I was hating this name.” So I was crying and suddenly I hear the audible voice of Jesus Christ. He said to me, “Simon Peter, do you know you had a promise with me?” Then he reminded me that because the promise I made in my childhood, it was forgetten promise. I forget that, but God didn’t. He reminded me, “You had a promise and your first 20 years are passed and I was there when I put you from ground to the top level of your education.” Then on the second 20 years I was there and when I was in a pharmaceutical, I joined pharmaceutical company from a very ground, very basic position, but God bring me up to the second line of –
Evangelist Daniel King (08:58):
So God was there with you for the first 20 years, for the second 20 years, and now he’s asking you to fulfill your promise
Simon Peter Kaleem (09:07):
To come back. I said to God, “Okay, I’m here to obey. Let me know, but how can I serve?” Because I do not have any biblical education. I haven’t been in a seminary. So God spoke me again and he said, “Don’t worry. I will lead you.” So he instructed me that go to lead the little children, teach the little children. The little children who are studying, who are living in the villages of Pakistan, who do not have any hope for their future, they are looking for someone to come and teach my ways, share the love of Jesus Christ. So I obeyed since 2009 till 2015, I worked as a Sunday school teacher in different villages. So at that time there was more than 1,000 children that we are taking care about. And in some villages we have 50 children. In some villages we have 150, 100 children.
(10:15):
And all together we have more than 1,000 children. And in 2015, we sent six boys from Pakistan to Zambia and most of them, they were the students that we raised in our Sunday schools.
Evangelist Daniel King (10:34):
Wow.
Simon Peter Kaleem (10:35):
So they went to Zambia and they did a two year seminary. And when they came back in 2018, we planted our first school in Pakistan. This school that we planted, we give a biblical based education to the children who belongs to a very poor Christian community living in the villages. Their parents are working on the brick factories. We rescue people, we rescue families and we bring them into our schools. And now in 2018, then we started our school of missions. In school of missions, with the help of these six boys that completed their seminary from Zambia, we started school of mission and we started giving training to the native missionaries. So after completing their missionary training, we send them into the unreached tribes living in Pakistan.
Evangelist Daniel King (11:36):
So how many students have graduated from the mission school? So
Simon Peter Kaleem (11:39):
Far we have graduate more than 40 students because in every badge we only take 10 to 12 students, not more than 10 to 12.
Evangelist Daniel King (11:52):
Because you have to give them a stipend as they study. And then after these mission students graduate, what type of ministry are they doing in Pakistan?
Simon Peter Kaleem (12:06):
There are five fold ministries and most of the students that we prepare, they plant churches. They also go for the evangelism. They also go for the outreaches. They are also having the Bible teachers. So most of them, they’re having church planting and evangelism in the unreached tribes living in Pakistan. We have different ways and means. And you know last year one of our friend from Brazil, he came to Pakistan and we reached very unreached, six very
Evangelist Daniel King (12:42):
Unreached tribes. You’re talking about my friend Rubens Cuna?
Simon Peter Kaleem (12:45):
Yes.
Evangelist Daniel King (12:45):
And he is a great missionary evangelist from Brazil, has a great ministry there in Brazil, but is also reaching out to other parts of the world.
Simon Peter Kaleem (12:55):
Yeah. We are so thankful and grateful to God as well that he is doing a wonderful job in Pakistan and we are so happy. We are working together for the last 10 years and he’s helping us in school of missions. And sometimes he’s able to teach our students online in our school of missions and we are also arranging his crusades. In last crusades, we arranged that cruisers only for the unreached tribes living in Pakistan. It was in the south of Pakistan and there were more than 15,000 people. It was a big cruiser and there are so many people. They were blessed by this good news and many science wonders and miracles happened. Many people, they were delivered, many people got healing. There was a young boy from Muslim background, very young boy, and he was listening the word of God and he came on the stage.
(13:57):
He was about 10 or 11 years old boy and he said that today God spoke with me and he said that you will preach the gospel like this man is preaching on
Evangelist Daniel King (14:09):
That stuff.
Simon Peter Kaleem (14:11):
So he came with his mother and his mother started crying in a louder. So there are so many things are happening in Pakistan and we are so grateful once again to Brother Ruben. We are also broadcasting his sermons on the TV channels. So we do the translations –
Evangelist Daniel King (14:35):
Into Urdu.
Simon Peter Kaleem (14:36):
Into Urdu
Evangelist Daniel King (14:37):
And we
Simon Peter Kaleem (14:37):
Dubbed it on the sermons he’s sending to us and through media, we are also reaching the very, very closed areas of Pakistan.
Evangelist Daniel King (14:52):
Wow. Praise God. What a great report. I really love what you’re doing, training mission students and sending them out as native missionaries because Pakistan is full of people that need to hear about Jesus. And there are so many villages that we need to train up many, many more native missionaries that will go from village to village talking to people about Jesus. Let’s talk a little bit about the brick factories because I’ve heard that the people that work in these brick factories, they’re often referred to as modern day slaves. And tell us a little bit about how they get into this situation of being modern day slaves and then how you’re able to rescue
Simon Peter Kaleem (15:43):
Them.This is the modern type of bonded labor. You can see it as slavery because in Pakistan, most of the Christians, they are very poor. They do not have education. They do not have opportunities to go and find a good job. So this is an easy access to the poor people to go and find the money. For example, if someone is having some emergency like medical emergency, they will go to the brick factory owner and they will ask some loan, some money so they can fulfill their requirement or their needs. But in return of that, they have to work on the brick factory. So when they are working on the brick factories, they are paying very less money. For example, if they make 1,000 bricks a day, then they will hardly get five or six dollars after working 10 to 15 hours.
Evangelist Daniel King (16:51):
And it’s very difficult work. It’s very hot to fire the bricks.
Simon Peter Kaleem (16:57):
Yes. Not only on the brick factories – And dangerous. Not only the brick factories, it’s a high temperature, but in Pakistan, in summer it is around 50 degrees Celsius temperature and they have to work under. And the whole family works. The whole family works about 10 to 15 hours every day. And it doesn’t mean that one member can make the 1,000 bricks. The whole family, like five, six people, including their children, they work and they hardly make 1,000 bricks.
Evangelist Daniel King (17:31):
And so then they’re trying to pay off their debt and they cannot do it with their low wages.
Simon Peter Kaleem (17:38):
Yeah. So there are so many people who are not able to pay back their debts and they are suffering by many generations. Generation by generation, they are under the slavery and they do not have hope. They are not able to send their children to the schools because most of the factory owners, they said that you have to complete your target. So it reminds me the days of Israelites when they were in the slavery in
Evangelist Daniel King (18:13):
Ajit. Under Pharaoh. Pharaoh made them make bricks and then they were complaining so he took away the straw. Now you have to gather your own straw.
Simon Peter Kaleem (18:23):
And sometimes it happened in Pakistan as well when they were not able to make their target. They face a lot of persecution, a lot of hardship from the owners.
Evangelist Daniel King (18:35):
So you’re able to rescue them. You help them to pay off their debt
Simon Peter Kaleem (18:38):
And set them free? There are some friends who are helping us and we rescue them after paying their debt and we set them free. We bring their children into our school and we are teaching them a biblical based education.
Evangelist Daniel King (18:56):
Wow.
Simon Peter Kaleem (18:57):
And what we do with the rest of the families, sometimes we give them some support for the first six months, we bring into a rented house, we arrange for their grocery and some living stuff and we help them to establish some small business. Sometimes we give them for the transportation of the passengers. So in this way, we help them to stand on their feet.
Evangelist Daniel King (19:31):
Wow. As people are listening and thinking about Pakistan, what are some ways that we can pray for Pakistan? What areas does Pakistan have the most need right now?
Simon Peter Kaleem (19:49):
Since I connected with everyone movement, my heart is for the unreached tribes living in Pakistan.
Evangelist Daniel King (19:58):
Yeah. The Everyone movement was really started by Dr. Billy Wilson at Oral Roberts University. And it is a vision to preach the gospel to everyone on earth before 2033, the 2000 year anniversary of the resurrection of Jesus in the first Pentecost. And so we want to reach everyone so that they can have an authentic encounter with Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. And when you think about the population of Pakistan, if we are going to reach everyone on earth, there’s a lot of work to be done in Pakistan.
Simon Peter Kaleem (20:39):
So in 2023, I was the only one from Pakistan who was one of the speakers in the Amsterdam 23. So since that, I have a very special calling and feeling for the unreached tribes living in Pakistan. So one of the things that I’m coming back to your question, one of the things that I ask the audience to please pray for the people so that we can reach the unreached tribes living in Pakistan. We want you pray that we can raise more missionaries, more evangelists so they can go and share the good news for the people living in Pakistan.
Evangelist Daniel King (21:23):
How many different people groups or tribes are there in Pakistan?
Simon Peter Kaleem (21:26):
There are more than 400 people’s group.
Evangelist Daniel King (21:29):
So when you say that unreached people groups, there is a lot of work to be done.
Simon Peter Kaleem (21:34):
Yes, sir. Yes sir. So we are supporting some of the missionaries with only very little amount, that is 350 US dollars per month. So if somebody wants to help us to reach these people and we can send some of the people, some of the missionaries from central part of Pakistan to the southern part of Pakistan, they can send, they can pray for the people. They can send, they can go. As you know some of the people who are coming to Pakistan and they are also having a very special calling for the Andish tribes living in Pakistan, we can help them. We can help them to take them to the southern part of Pakistan so they can also see and feel the need of the Anish tribes living in Pakistan.
Evangelist Daniel King (22:25):
Supporting native missionaries is dollar for dollar one of the best investments that someone can make in missions. When you think about sending a missionary from the West, just to get there, they have to buy an expensive plane ticket and then they usually spend a lot of money on hotel and eating at restaurants because their stomachs are not used to the normal food there. But with a native missionary, they can go for much less and they are already used to eating the food, they know the language, and if they’re well trained, they can be very effective at leading people to Jesus, speaking in their own language in a way that culturally can be understood.
Simon Peter Kaleem (23:12):
Yeah. I fully agree with you. Let me share with one of the experience that we had last year. Last year we reached the very unreached, six unreached tribes living in south of the Pakistan. Even they have never ever hear the name of Jesus Christ and we share the good news. We leave them for a few weeks. And when we were leaving, they made a request to us. They said, “Pastor, can you help us, our children, because we are not able to send our children to school. Can you start a small school here?” We said, “Okay.” And we send one native missionary in that area. He’s running one of the school. We have 35 students in that school and they are learning from the Bible as well. We are giving them the biblical based education over there.
Evangelist Daniel King (24:09):
Wow. Praise God. Well, if someone wants to know more about your ministry or maybe wants to support one of the native missionaries or help to rescue someone from the making bricks slavery, how can they find out more information about you? Do you have a website or are you on Facebook?
Simon Peter Kaleem (24:27):
Yeah, I’m available on the Facebook. I’m available on the Instagram. On Instagram, my account is simon.peter.kaleem. Kaleem is K-A-L-E-E-M. And on Facebook is the same name, Simon Peter Kaleem. And we also have the website that is mercyangelspk.org.
Evangelist Daniel King (24:55):
Mercy Angels. What a great name for your ministry and you are coming like angels of mercy to help people that desperately need help. Well, let’s finish today by praying for Pakistan. Would you take a moment to pray for Pakistan, but instead of praying in English, why don’t you pray in Urdu and let’s pray for Pakistan.
Simon Peter Kaleem (25:20):
Okay. Let’s pray, sir. Thank you, Father. Amen.
Evangelist Daniel King (27:11):
Amen. I don’t understand Urdu, but I can know that that was a very anointed prayer. Thank you so much. So Brother Simon Peter, thank you so much for being on the Evangelism Podcast. Thank you for sharing your testimony. We love you. We love the nation of Pakistan, and I hope that I can come and see you in Pakistan someday very soon. You are
Simon Peter Kaleem (27:33):
Most welcome. Pakistan is your home. You have been in Pakistan many times, and we love to serve you in Pakistan, sir.
Evangelist Daniel King (27:41):
Thank you. God bless you.
Simon Peter Kaleem (27:42):
God bless you, sir.
Evangelist Daniel King (27:44):
Okay. Very nice. You have done a good job.
