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Who are Friends of Forman?
Founded by Presbyterian missionaries in 1864, Forman Christian College has educated leaders in government, education, the arts, medicine, law, and leaders of the Pakistan Christian church.
Nationalized under a failed socialist experiment by the government in Pakistan in 1972, the college’s mission began to fall apart. Academic standards were lowered. Fundamentalist influences disregarded excellence in curriculum and teaching. Christians were systematically removed. Buildings were trashed and the campus fell into complete disrepair. Continue Reading…
Announcing Our New Executive Director!
Dear Friends,
I am pleased to introduce to you Dr. Robert Johnson, the newly appointed Executive Director for Friends of Forman Christian College, the organization set up in the US in support of Forman Christian College.
Robert comes highly qualified, having lived at Forman with his wife Marianne and two sons, Nathan and Peter, from 2005-2008 where he was Dean of the Chapel and Associate Professor for Religious Studies. He also taught historical theology at Gujranwala Seminary during his time there. In his tenure as Dean of the Chapel, Robert instituted a very large Christian Life program for Christian students, who are a small minority in Pakistan. The program included a well-attended Chapel as well as weekly Bible Studies, prayer groups and leadership committees. This program is still going strong today where students’ lives continue to be transformed.
Heading For The Exits
From Dr. Robert Johnson, Executive Director for Friends of Forman Christian College.
On the night Bin Laden was killed, I watched the Pakistani newspaper sites, and the Facebook postings of my many Pakistani friends begin to fill with worry about what would happen next. In a country that has borne earthquakes, floods and typhoons in the past decade, the greatest fear still is of someone in a oversized coat standing near you in the bazaar, or at jumah prayers with a gut full of resentment and cultivated anger.
I don’t want to minimize what will happen in Pakistan, or in the world, over the next couple of years. We know there are intensely angry people who will try to make OBL’s death the reason for indiscriminate violence. Unfortunately, some of that violence will be in Pakistan, directed at targets the haters believe stand against their cramped and skewed view of the world. What hope can there be for a place like Forman Christian College in a place like that? Should we fear, and make a strategic retreat in order to be safe?
A Christian College in Pakistan?
Yes! Forman Christian College has been in the city of Lahore since 1864. Founded by an American Presbyterian missionary, Charles Forman, the College has been at the forefront of higher education in the subcontinent for most of its history. After a period of Pakistani government control, FCC was returned to the Presbyterian Church, with an apology for ruining what had been one of the real bright spots in Pakistani education.
Prior to the partition of India in 1947, Forman was known as the “Harvard of the Subcontinent,” and educated a large number of government ministers, military figures, educators and business leaders from Hindu, Muslim and Sikh families. After partition, Forman continued its tradition of high-quality education for future leaders, and continued producing governors, ministers, generals and prime ministers for Pakistan.
Forman Christian College offers This Christian college is alive and well in Pakistan, and is a point of real pride for the nation and the Pakistani church!