The churches in the Crickhowell area are delighted that the Reverend Rana Youab Khan has accepted the position of Ministry Area Leader and Rector of the Crickhowell Parishes and will be joining us very soon.
Rana, was born and raised in Vehari, a small town in Southern Punjab, Pakistan. Although Pakistan is a predominantly Muslim country, Rana comes from a Christian family – his great-grandfather became a Christian through the work of Church Missionary Society missionaries. After graduation, he moved to Lahore to enhance his career opportunities and it was there that he developed the conviction that God was calling him to serve the church as a priest. He was ordained in September 1999. While he was a curate at St Andrew’s, Lahore, the age-old story of “dashing young curate meets beautiful Sunday-school teacher” was once again played out so that he now has a wife, Moseena, and three sons Ayub (15), Youbab (13) and Moosa (10).
As a priest in Pakistan, having served in rural and urban settings, Rana was invited to the UK by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, to work at Lambeth Palace assisting the Archbishop and the Anglican Communion on their dialogues with representatives of other faiths. You may well wonder “Why does he want to come here?” Although Rana and his family visited Wales in 2011, they had no idea that one day they would be coming here to live and work. Rana’s first incumbency was in a rural area, so after working for some time in a central city environment he felt the need to get back to his roots in parish ministry in a settled rural community. On his Facebook page, Rana says: “Moseena and I are looking forward to get involved in the next phase of our ministry in an area of outstanding natural beauty, full of challenges and opportunity for mission following the footsteps of St Catwg.” We look forward to their imminent arrival in Crickhowell.
Rosalind Matty
