Nasim Ahmed Din (July 5, 1937 - March 14, 1997)
“A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value…She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy…Her children arise and call her blessed…” (Proverb 31:1, 20, 28)
On July 5, 1937, in a part of India that was later to become Pakistan, Nasim was born to Rev. Sadiq and Grace Masih. Her great grandfather, the first in the family to become a follower of Jesus, was martyred for his faith soon after renouncing Sikhism. Her grandfather and father were Anglican ministers. The oldest of six siblings, Nasim often rode in the front of her father on his bicycle as he made preaching trips to other towns.
Nasim married Sardar Ahmed Din on April 28, 1962 and God gave them three children: Philip, John, and Farida. In the nearly 35 years they had together, Sardar and Nasim sought to strengthen the Christian church in Pakistan. Sardar worked for the American consulate, the Fulbright Foundation, and in various family businesses, but his love for Jesus led him to spend more and more time preaching and teaching. This led eventually to full time work as a pastor and seminary teacher. The Din house always had visitors, and Nasim served her family and others faithfully, welcoming a continual stream of guests to her table and giving generously to others, once even selling her jewelry to supply the needs of poor pastors and their families.
Nasim’s desire was for adults and children to read the Word of God, to come to know Jesus as their Savior from their sins, and to for them to receive God’s gift of eternal life. To this end, she tackled the problem of illiteracy among Christians in Pakistan. Adapting a government program for adult literacy. She held seminars to train pastors and their wives how to be literacy teachers for the people of their villages. A teacher by training, she founded Calvin’s Academy in 1992, a Christian school for the poor children in her neighborhood which she directed for five years. Approximately one thousand students now attend two schools.
After coming to the United States in 1987 for their children’s education, the Dins continued to return to work in Presbyterian Theological Seminary and Calvin’s Academy in Pakistan. On January 3, 1997, three days after returning to St. Louis from Pakistan, Nasim suffered a cerebral hemorrhage. For two and a half months, she steadily recovered. She was eagerly looking forward to going home and back to Pakistan. But in the early morning hours of March 14, Nasim quietly slipped away to be with Jesus.
“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’
‘Yes, Lord,’ she told Him, ‘I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who was come into the world.’” (John 11:25-27)
“Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” (Proverbs 31:31)
Posted on April 1st, 1997 by Rev. Earl Pinckney
Filed under: Biographies, Pakistan
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