Leaders at the Seventh-day Adventist Church world headquarters have issued a caution to church employees about travel to India and Pakistan in the face of increasing military tension over the disputed Kashmir region.
Expatriate church employees operating in areas close to the Kashmir hot spot are being asked to leave; two missionaries working in Jalandhar, Punjab, have already been recalled. There are some 15 other expatriates--volunteers, employees, and their families--located further away from the immediate area of conflict, and some of these are making arrangements to temporarily leave the region.
“We are monitoring this situation carefully, and additional personnel will be asked to leave if necessary,” says Pastor Larry Colburn, assistant to the world church president.
All travel to India and Pakistan by staff at the Adventist world headquarters, in Maryland, United States, has been suspended until a clearer picture of the situation emerges, says Colburn. “And we have requested that all division headquarters follow suit with a similar travel moratorium.”
“We pray that God will have His hand over the situation in Kashmir, that peace may prevail,” says Colburn.
Sporadic military violence in the Kashmir border area has caused international concern since December last year. But the stand-off has become increasingly tense in recent weeks as both India and Pakistan continue to push their claims.
There are more than 530,000 Adventists in India worshiping in some 1,400 churches. The church in India operates a number of schools and clinics near the Kashmir border area, including the Adventist College of Professional Studies, located in Gujarat. In Pakistan, there are some 7,500 Adventist church members. In Punjab, the region nearest the Kashmir border, the church operates the Pakistan Adventist Seminary and a secondary school.
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