Dear Friends,

Have you ever heard a story that is so compelling you can’t wait to share it? During a recent trip to campus, I had the chance to not only hear such a story, but to experience it when I met a young student named Haroon. He is one of the students you have helped this year.

His story is so compelling.

Haroon lives in a remote rural village several hours north of Lahore. His home is down a narrow dirt alley with open sewage channels on either side.

Haroon’s father used to work in the nearby brick kilns until a motorcycle accident left him with a broken leg that never healed correctly. During the year when his father could not work, Haroon and his brothers worked in the nearby rice fields with their mother, simply trying to earn enough to feed the family.

Haroon’s dad never attended even one day of school. Haroon’s mother completed her education in third grade. Haroon, however, has excelled in school and is the only person from his village to ever go to a university.

The family ushered us inside their one-room home. They served us tea, and we talked together while the rest of the neighbors tried valiantly to get a glimpse inside through the crowded doorway.

Thanks to the scholarships you provide through Friends of Forman, Haroon’s prospects are infinitely better than they would have been otherwise. Not only are Haroon’s and his family’s prospects better, but he is a living symbol of hope and opportunity for his entire village. And there are thousands of villages like his in Pakistan, each with a Haroon.

After more fellowship and praying for Haroon and his family, we departed – humbled by the hospitality but compelled to share his story and do all we could to help more like him.

Enclosed is our Spring Newsletter celebrating last month’s dedication of the Jim Tebbe Campus Center and the renaming of Hope Tower to Cheryl Burke Hope Tower. These honors are well-deserved, as both Jim and Cheryl made multiple contributions to the life of Forman and its students.

Your generous gifts to Friends of Forman are helping students just like Haroon, offering hope and making God’s love visible in Pakistan.

Click here or on the photo to download your digital copy of the 2023 Spring Newsletter.

With appreciation,

Rev. Dr. Roger A. Dermody
Executive Director
Friends of Forman
Christian College

DR. JONATHAN ADDLETON

Click on the photo below to read Dr. Jonathan Addleton’s article in Academia: Pakistan‘s Premier Education Magazine:

“By love serve one another” in the name of the Risen Savior! Happy Easter from Friends of Forman Christian College

Happy New Year, dear Friend of Forman Christian College!

Executive Director Roger Dermody shares this 60-second video with a look at what you made happen this year.

(PLEASE WATCH THIS 60 SECOND VIDEO)

Merry Christmas from Friends of Forman Christian College and the students from campus! 

Dear Friends,

It has been a joy to meet so many of you during the first twelve weeks of my tenure with Friends. And, in the year ahead, I hope to meet many more of you – our faithful and generous partners.

As you receive this letter, I am on the Forman Christian College (FCCU) campus in Pakistan. It is a wonderful experience speaking with students and staff, exploring the buildings, classrooms, and grounds, and becoming immersed in the rhythms of this University. It is awesome to see first-hand how FCCU is making God’s love visible in the world’s fifth most populous and second largest Muslim country, living true to its motto, “by love serve one another.”

I plan to return just before Thanksgiving with specific stories of how your generosity is providing a far more hopeful future especially for young women and for some of Pakistan’s poorest people. These young adults have the greatest potential yet the least economic means to pursue their dreams. Your gifts to Friends provide scholarships to these aspiring future leaders. You are providing exceptional leadership for the University. And you are helping to build world-class facilities for Forman, adding to its 158-year legacy of graduating many of the region’s top leaders.

As 2022 draws to a close, I particularly want to call your attention to our soon-to-be-completed Campus Center (the only one of its kind in Pakistan). During the uncomfortably hot spring and summer months, over 6,000 commuter students must seek whatever shade they can find under a tree or a bush. Once open, this centerpiece of the campus will provide students a safe, secure, and climate-controlled place to study, socialize, eat, rest, and purchase needed school supplies.

While a very successful capital campaign has enabled us to construct this 177,000-square-foot facility, ongoing supply chain challenges and global economic conditions have added extra costs. Your end-of-year gift of any size to Friends of Forman will help FCCU fully finish and furnish the campus center, allowing for an opening celebration this spring.

Thank you in advance for your continued generosity. Shortly, you will receive two emails from me showing pictures of the progress so far and a video of several students expressing their joy and gratitude for the imminent completion of this project.

From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you again for supporting this incredible mission, brightly shining God’s love in a country that is too often forgotten. Your donations offer hope and light. Thank you!

Click here or on the photo to download your digital copy of the 2022 Fall Newsletter.

With appreciation,

Rev. Dr. Roger A. Dermody
Executive Director
Friends of Forman
Christian College

Please click on a picture to download the corresponding document.

2022-2023

2021-2022

2020-2021

2019-2020

2018-2019

2017-2018

2016-2017

REV. DR. ROGER A. DERMODY JR.

“The Friends of Forman board is delighted to call Dr. Roger Dermody to be our next Executive Director,”  Chair Gaylen Baxter has announced.  “We believe that the future of Friends and Forman Christian College will thrive under his capable leadership.”

Dr. Dermody is a passionate Christ-follower, a Presbyterian minister, a husband, and a father of three daughters.  He has traveled extensively in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East on short-term mission trips. 

Tom Taylor, CEO of the Presbyterian Foundation, said, “Roger Dermody is an outstanding choice to lead Friends of Forman in its unique mission of supporting higher education for Pakistani women and men of all faiths at Forman Christian College.”

Roger will begin his work with Friends on August 1, 2022 and Sam Schreiner will retire in October 2022. For more information about Dr. Dermody, please click here to read his bio. We look forward to introducing Roger to our donors, churches, and foundation partners.