Father of the Desert
What one person
started
Kim Seung-nam Pastor
He first went to Pakistan in 2006 and has lived in Lahore since 2008, together with Cheongdam Beautiful Church in Seoul.
What began at an orphanage and a free school in the city has widened to the desert villages and the brick-kiln villages. Today, with some forty local co-workers, he looks after seventeen churches, four schools and a vocational training centre.
The children from the desert call him Father.
The work
Four strands
01
Children of the desert
Children from eight villages in the Cholistan Desert live together in a home in Lahore and go to school. In the holidays they visit their home villages together.
02
Village schools
Four small schools for children who could not otherwise attend. Books, supplies and uniforms are provided. In the evenings, adults learn to read.
03
Kiln families
Families bound to the kilns by debt pay it off, find a home and start again. Every month we visit the kilns and share a meal.
04
Vocational training
Barbering, sewing, English and caregiving: skills that lead to work. Those who have trained go back to the kiln villages themselves.
Some two thousand people gather every Sunday across seventeen churches. Each church is also the village's school and its living room.
Partner church · Cheongdam Beautiful Church
Press and video
Stories told by others
Records left by newspapers, partner churches and visitors. Links open in a new tab.
