Email to Persecuted  |

Codes and Scarves but no promises Posted on 08/28/2008 12:00 AM   |  EMail to Friend   |  View Comments (0)

I just read a quote by a Madrassa leader. His name is Abdul Rashid Ghazi and its scarey that he thinks it is enough for young women to be in a madrassa and primarily receive Islamic teaching as well as some very basic maths and geography. According to him ‘Islam is a complete code for modern living’. As I looked at the pictures of beautiful little Pakistani girls who look so much like me, I tried to put myself in their position, I went back to being a 6 year old little girl with Mustard oil in my hair and two braids with green ribbons wound through them. Only if I were a member of the Jamia Hafza Madrassa, I, Maaria, would have a little black scarf covering my head, my eyes would look bigger and I would be taking smaller steps with my head lowered. I would smile, but not laugh, I would walk behind a grown up and not skip to school. I would go to a school where it was enough to be drowned in Islamic education- the complete code to modern living- and I would have been equipped with the simple rules of addition and subtraction and perhaps even taught that Pakistan was South East of Afghanistan and that we were a great Islamic Nation. Our Geography would focus on the Middle East and we would be given a very interesting slant on Palestine on the map. All this would do a complete circle back into Islamic Studies. I would have a code but is it to modern living or is it to living a cloistered Muslim woman’s life in a modern world which many of Islam’s leaders condemn for being unislamic. I look at these beautiful little girls, their little arms and legs covered in their uniform which is made to conform to that Islamic CODE. I wonder as I look into their eyes ‘Is a code enough?’. How do they even know that it is the right code. I thank God that I do not have this code they have. I thank the Lord that what my God gives me is only a mystery in terms of how God can be so gracious in light of my sin and unworthiness. What he gives me is not a mystery which will be unlocked on that final day – He gives me a certainty- a promise and a sure Hope- I am saved. I have Salvation from a God who gave Himself in order to give me life and I have abundant life, I can live it with hope and in comfort. Along with that it is right for me to have knowledge, to seek, to understand and to wonder. What a gift that is. To wonder what heaven will be like because I know I will be there one day. Pray for these beautiful little girls draped in black and draped away from knowledge that may lead them into a knowledge of Christ Jesus. However give thanks for a God who cannot be draped away. The very stones will cry out and declare His Kingship, may these little girls hear those declarations. May He speak to them through nature, in their dreams, in their waking- may the Holy Spirit come to them in spite of the thick darkness in these madrassas and bring His light and release them from their darkness and lack of knowledge. Pray that in the years to come it can be said of them 'Those who walked in darkness have seen a great light.'

Sharing a strange dream in strange times Posted on 08/26/2008 12:00 AM   |  EMail to Friend   |  View Comments (0)

Last night I had a strange dream- I do not remember much of it- but I know my mind was caught up in some kind of discussion with a friend of mine about the fact that Pakistan had lost a good man, a good leader and a man who was a symbol of hope for everyone who called themselves Pakistanis. He did not just represent the military or military power in Pakistan, he was not the symbol of nuclear power in Pakistan, nor the symbol of Pakistan's alliance with the West. He was the only ruler who in my short life has stood for Pakistan's women and Pakistan's minorities- Pakistan first was his moto. Who do we have now? Two men who are power hungry, two men who are right now not standing for anything that the people of Pakistan hold dear. They may have been elected by what the west calls 'democratic elections' but in our world things are so much more complicated, so much less black and white Even in what seems to be confusion and chaos, what seems complex and hopeless, in light of the loss of a good leader, someone the young Christians of Pakistan could look upto- we still have a good God- a powerful God, Able and Mighty - a God who can breathe order into this confusion, who can change the hearts of the power hungry and turn them to Himself, and draw their attention toward His children in this land. For that I ask you to pray.

If only... Posted on 08/26/2008 12:00 AM   |  EMail to Friend   |  View Comments (0)

If only I was able to make it all better. If only tomorrow morning we could wake up and the hearts of these power mad leaders would turn to Christ and a true passion for Pakistan would awaken within them rather than a mad desire for power. If only... No one is happy. Everyone knows a son or a cousin or a nephew who is out fighting in the army. Everyone knows how losing Musharraf has added strain to the nation at this time and has stressed out our soldiers on the borders and in the tribal areas where the Taliban have inflitrated and established themselves. In all of this will you pray for the forgotten Christians, will you pray that Aleena and Saba will have justice done them that God will reach out to them and they will know that brothers and sisters around the world are praying for them and they are not forgotten. That they will know the Love of Jesus and will not be persuaded to accept Islam with their hearts. Will you pray for those brothers and sisters who are being beaten and persecuted for Jesus, who are sharing Christ with their unbeliever friends and families but but are being threatened with death for that. I know one brother Sajaad who is suffering for that. Will you pray for him. Will you pray that the injuries he has received from a fight with his family will not take his life. He is badly wounded- I do not know many details about him but Uncle Hameed brought us news that he needs prayer for healing and safety. Poor Uncle Hameed he is a father and brother to so many. Pray for his safety too. He is still concerned about his daughter. There is pressure from his family even now that he should give his daughter in marriage to a Muslim cousin. In the turmoil in this land and in the middle of all this political uncertainty and depression, let us not forget our sisters and brothers who live difficult lives for being Christians. Please do not forget the needs of the vulnerable. Do not forget us. Could I ask you to pray for me too. I am very tired and it seems the more I do what God is calling me to do and the more I try to shine for Him, the more attack I am under. This last week has been bad and I need prayer for the days ahead. Not just me but many many who are praying for the Church in the Muslim world in these days are under attack. Lets join together in Jesus name and uphold one another and those who we are called to pray for.

Musharaf gone... Posted on 08/20/2008 12:00 AM   |  EMail to Friend   |  View Comments (0)

I am going to ask you to go down on your knees and keep praying for our beloved country. In the midst of all thats going on so many people are suffering. The troublesom elements who represent a flawed and unworkable democracy has succeded in losing us a good president. Now lets see how comes in place of the good man God gave us. A man who respected Christians and gave us for the first time since 1947 (Pakistan's year of birth) the right to vote for our leaders. During his tenure there were less Blasphemy cases and the situation was beginning to shape and move toward some form of hope. Now that man is gone and in his place is what seems to us almost a circus act, play acting all to appease a few and all to line the pockets and feed the egos of those who will never even think twice of the consequences of their acts for Pakistan's Muslim poor let alone Christian population. Pray for my country I am overwhemled and lost for words and thoughts. All i know is that its all very very messed up and we feel very very helpless. It took me a while to blog on this but I am aching for my country as I write this. Stand in the gap for us and with us. Please

Research, Ramadan and Rush hour Posted on 08/19/2008 09:00 PM   |  EMail to Friend   |  View Comments (0)

It is getting closer to Ramadan or Rozay as we call them in Urdu. Very soon life will change drastically. Before that I need to get a lot of things done. Also for next year's project I am going to Kuwait to see my cousins who live there. They tell me there are Kuwaiti believers and whats really cool is that one of the art galleries there that I want to visit belongs to a believer. I just think that is so cool. It is unlikely that the owners will make their Christian faith known to me, and I dare not endager their lives by asking stupid questions. Please pray for me that this will be a blessed meeting and that IF it be God's will I will be an encouragement in some way to them. But also that it will give me precious insight into the way Secret Believers in the Arab world run businesses. Also pray for me because I have just a week to get all my questionairs and research sorted before I go. And in that time I need to get all my clothes for college sorted. I need to go and find the fabric, take it to the tailor, buy the dupatta material, take it to the dyers and also get my books and stuff for next year. If I don't do it before my trip to Kuwait, I will come back into Ramadan and then everyone is in a bad mood and no one wants to do anything for any one. Also it will be so hot and venturing out when I know I cannot drink anything is like a suicide mission- especially in this heat. Pray for me. Pray for Christians in the Muslim world at this time. Start praying for them now. During Ramadan its not easy. Especially not for the little ones. They are so tiny and yet they must be so patient when they are hungry and thirsty. Some schools do not care if the little ones eat, but some do and it becomes ever so hard. So pray us through the days ahead and for safety on the roads. With everyone suffering from the heat& hunger pangs& longing for their first cigarette after 'iftar' (opening the fast in the evening) the driving is rash and dangeours. At the best of time Pakistan's roads are not the safest places!

God's been so good to Hannah Posted on 08/16/2008 10:00 PM   |  EMail to Friend   |  View Comments (0)

Praise God! Do you remember I shared with you about our sister Hannah? Oh God is so good, not only did her sister's kidney match, they were able to go into hospital without anyone asking any questions. It was really the case of God making seeing eyes blind! What an awsome God we serve! The surgery though long and tiring was a success. God was present. She is now recovering. Please pray for protection from secondary infections. Pray also for things like clean drinking water and medication that there would be no complications with accessing these. She belongs to a nomad tribe which is always on the move, either looking for new pastures for their livestock or on the run because their apostasy (conversion to Christianity) has been discovered yet again! As you pray Hannah and her husband through this would you also praise God for him. He has been such a wonderful example of Christ. He has really been a Christlike husband. Men from their tribe are not known to put their wives first and be demonstrative. However this man in particular has really shown us all how God transforms the most resistent of hearts and characters- no matter how hard and unable to show love - Christ is able to change anyone. Her husband did the unthinkable he went and presented himself to the doctors and asked to be tested so his kidney could be given to his wife. However it did not match but what an awsome act of love even the doctors were amazed that a Northern tribesman brought his barren wife to the hospital, that he offered his own kidney for her. Praise God because this seems to be the testimony of many wives in the Pakistani/tribal/Muslim world. Many have echoed the words of Asha another northern sister 'When I saw my husband change and stop hitting me and start to acknowledge my presence and be thankful for what I did in the house, I knew Isa had to be God and the biggest God at that'. Smile with me for what God is doing in these marriages!

The Moon Posted on 08/14/2008 08:30 PM   |  EMail to Friend   |  View Comments (0)

It was another of those hot sticky nights- no electricity,fan or air conditioning, just a Sunday Magazine to swish the air around me. I crept down into the garden& sat in my favourite cane chair hoping dad would not wake up. I would be in trouble for going out at 2 am even though I knew I was not seen when I sat behind the silk cotton tree. Even if a thief did climb over the wall, I was actually safer on the cane chair outside than they were inside. But dad is right to worry- things are not safe. It’s not acceptable for young girls to be out like that – especially without my dupatta (scarf), but there is no light& its too hot for one any way. I was still inside the house boundaries! I filled a glass with 1000 ice cubes (slight exaggeration) water from the freezer, snuck out& sat cross legged on the chair. As I prayed for various things that came to mind, a gust of cool breeze blew through the garden making leaves rub against each other. I heard the neighbour’s watchman yawn loudly& could almost see him stretch on his char pai (wooden bed frame which holds together woven jute strings)- a loud ‘Bismallah’ (meaning 'in the name of God')& then he turned over and was soon snoring again. The clouds parted& in the sky a beautiful full moon shone in all her splendour. It was truly amazing& had such a cooling affect in the hot stickiness of the night. Soon, this same moon would be but a thin light fracture in the navy sky. Probably around the end of the month. As the moon grew smaller it would indicate how close Ramadan was- the Muslim month of fasting. Looking at the sky I became aware that we were on a tight timetable. Any work I needed to get done, any clothes to be made before the new college year began – all had to be done soon. Soon fabric shops& dyers& all the shops would start to open late& close early& the Eid rush would begin. With fasting mandatory for every Muslim once they reached puberty I could see a month of craziness coming up. In the heat everyone would be irritable, no one would talk to you properly. Even if you were a Christian – you were not allowed to moisten your lips& mouth with water in public. I was relieved that for the best part of Ramadan college would be closed& I would be home, free to eat& drink as I pleased. In college last year I had without thinking popped some gum into my mouth. As I did it I realised what I had done. Within seconds the Islamic Students Council leader Asad Saddiqui came& asked me to apologise in writing for making it difficult for my friends. Poor Reena she was so embarrassed& tried to explain to them that she was in no difficulty at all& that I had spat it out immediately. Since then I have not been Mr Saddiqi’s favourite person. In fact during Lent (which I was not even observing at the time) he came& sat at the table next to mine& ate a keema paratha (flat naan type bread made with wholemeal flour stuffed with mince). That was the first time I had seen him in weeks. I (naughtily) asked him if he would like me to bring him some water or tea from the shop. He refused& Reema reminded me that he probably thought food from my hands was defiled. Well that’s what the last full moon before Ramadan signified. From one crescent to the next there was a month of challenges before Eid-Ul-Fitr - the festival marking the end of fasting. Fitr literally means ‘to break the fast’. However in spite of the challenges this month brings with it, especially when it falls in the summer- it brings with it challenges that Christians must think through. Pray for us as we prepare for the month ahead.

Hot, humid, sticky sleepless nights. Posted on 08/12/2008 08:00 PM   |  EMail to Friend   |  View Comments (0)

The monsoons bring horrendous humidity with them. After the first romantic rain hitting hot terracotta earth and cups of tea and pakora or samosas the honeymoon is over. You have a shower, you step out of the bath and you are in another shower. Clothes take longer to dry and sometimes need a second wash because they begin to smell if the electricity cuts off and they are not dried in front of the fan. Tuck biscuits (a thin light cracker) and Candy (a caramel cookie) turn to soggy sticky mush& just do not taste right. The bread goes bad faster, paint takes longer to dry, dampness seeps into the walls, potato crisps just taste like soggy strips of spud mash. Its not very nice at all. It takes half the time for food to go bad, you leave the house and all you can smell is dampness and if you are in an air conditioned room, the second you walk out you hit a wall of humidity and can hardly breathe. I am not exaggerating. It’s horrendous. While it rains its nice but before and after the rain are nightmare times. Today as I sat thinking of what to write I knew I need to mention to you what life is like on our end. However there was one more thing I need to share with you. Last night when we had a power cut and the humidity was at its worst I tossed and turned in bed, perspiration trickled down my forehead and neck and when I stood my night clothes clung to my back. While everyone was probably tossing and turning in their beds I crept out and stood looking out at the neighbours garden from the mesh door in the back of the house. Somewhere in the distance a truck was playing high pitched Punjabi movie numbers and hooting its ridiculous horn. Somewhere there was the whistle of a chawkidar (a night watchman) cycling around telling the city he was awake and watchful. In the middle of that I know God wanted me to pray for you. To pray for those who read these blogs and then faithfully go on their knees for me- You. I prayed and I asked God to bless you, to make His face shine on you, to hear your prayers and your cries, to protect you from the dangers and challenges that put your faith and your Christian walk at risk. And as I prayed for you, through the mesh a cool breeze blew in cooling and drying the moisture on my face and neck. A light shone and an incomplete moon shone through the navy night sky. God is with you as He is with us. Let us never forget to commit one another to Him.

Gup Shup Posted on 08/06/2008 12:00 AM   |  EMail to Friend   |  View Comments (0)

Gup Shup (‘conversation’ or ‘chatting’) is a favourite coffee shop with everyone. Their banoffee muffins, corn dogs& iced latte are yummm. I always order Lipton tea&cheesecake or a chocolate fudge brownie- my brothers always attack a huge slice of cheesy chicken pizzas with big black olives scattered over the top. That’s a real treat – we used to go there so often but prices have escalated so much that it is real rare treat. Everyone knows how I like my tea with a big rounded teaspoon of Every Day powder (milk powder by Nestle). It makes it lovely& creamy. Even in the hot summer months a nice big mug of tea is refreshing. No coffee for me in the summer months. A bunch of us after Church decided to break the monotony of the summer days. Its so tiring the heat actually paralyses us& makes it impossible to do stuff& the humidity drains you of any desire for anything at all. The kitchen is the last place you want to be and the four of us have been known to sit on a sofa after Church and not move because we just do not know what to do that would not kill us if we moved from under the fan! Sometimes I find it hard to breathe. It is much better before and after a rain because we have a clean clear breeze that blows through but otherwise it can be closed and so clammy. Woops I need to sign out I just heard a loud bang which means the electric transformer has blown and we are in for a night of loadshedding (power cut starting any minute now) I need to save this and send it off to you before I lose it. Bless you

Gup Shup Continued... Posted on 08/06/2008 12:00 AM   |  EMail to Friend   |  View Comments (0)

Sorry for that last blog - we were without electricty for two days. It was horrible! I was telling you about our time at the coffee shop. As we settled down Mini one of the sisters drew my attention to the conversation at the next table. ‘Gilani will be in Washington soon lets see how many bombs he earns us…’ said the guy to a girl in an airy sleeveless short kameez (shirt) and white crop pants. Girl: That’s all we’re good for I guess- look at me I look like a terrorist because I am Paksitani- come bomb my country’ Guy: (laughing lightly) Yeah I wonder if they will send us ‘Cheesecake, Corndogs and Chocolates in food parcels if they do bomb us! That should transform our Taliban instincts’. Mini& I looked at each other. Us Christians dared not air our opinions so openly. We ached about our nation. Just that morning our pastor had prayed especially for our situation& that God would protect us from the already flourishing problem of extremism and the presence of a ‘Pakistani Taliban’ in our midst. The truth is we never felt as threatened by this group of people before the war in Afghanistan. They were so much more an Afghan problem than a Pakistani problem- they existed on Pakistani soil but we did not own them – now those with extremist tendencies& Pakistani passports have also owned a Taliban identity & are not afraid of declaring that. They were not always ‘taliban'. But more a‘hidden’ presence in the masses. They were the guys at college who wore turbans& a long beard,& turned off the music in the common room for being unislamic. They were the ones who rebuked young ladies for a neckline that was lower than their collar bone or fabric that was thin or a head that was uncovered or wrists and ankles that were visible. They were the ones whose mothers, sisters, wives& daughters walked behind them with their bodies draped in heavy black synthetics even in the heat& humidity of August. These were the ones who came across as decent simple folk but all the while hatred against all things unislamic was festering. Now that hatred has a name&an identity. A lot of it dwells on the soil of my country. But do not think it is far removed from me& those at the table next to ours. Their world enters into the cool air conditioned space of Gup Shup, the world of cheesecake and chai is mixing more readily. But behind those heavy black outfits& long beards, hatred is festering& now has a name – ‘Pakistan’s Taliban’(that’s what the BBC documentary called it). Please pray things will not escalate between the west and my country. There are still beautiful people and things here. There is still hope that we can slip a Bible under a table and bring hope where there seems none, where Churches can pray every morning on this soil and turn the situation around, where God’s image is still in the people He created. There is hope, even though there were many sighs and questions over slices of cheesecake and cups of tea. Gup Shup had become the place we came to pretend that everything was ok – St Martins was the place where we went to declare that we know everything is ok – because God is with His people and there at a table with our ‘feel good’ plates in front of us – were a bunch of His people and we had just declared with countless others that we ‘believe in God the Father Almighty…and in Jesus Christ His son Our Lord’ and that was our hope, is our hope and will always be our unchanging and unshakable Hope.

pray for missionaries in Pakistan Posted on 08/05/2008 12:00 AM   |  EMail to Friend   |  View Comments (0)

I did my first draft for this blog sitting in a cane chair on the veranda in the garden. It is raining and thats been a tremendous blessing in breaking the heat. We just had some young people over and we were praying for James a brother from a Western country who has come to do some scouting around to understand Pakistan better. His father was a Pakistani and his mother is french. He would like very much to understand his roots better. He bcame a Christian at college and his little to do with his father who then disowned him. James has a beautiful young family who are praying for him. He is a Christian and plans to spend the week talking to Muslims and Christians especially with lawyers and doctors. He is not alligning himself with any Church as he does not want to endager the lives of Christians here. But he is travelling across the country meeting some very influencial people and talking to them about politics and religion. He is just a young student as his wife. But here is a wonderful example of Christians can communicate with Muslims. He stopped by for tea and pakoras (savoury snacks- vegeies in a light cripsy batter fried). The yellow light of the monsoon sun streaming through violet- almost periwinkle clouds and the odd rainbow that strays across the horizon- its not complete without pakoras and tea. James was introduced to us at Church some weeks ago and we asked him to come over for tea. He shared with us how he wants to meet with these people and discuss his University paper with them. Could you pray that Christ will shine out of him when he meets with these people and that he would speak with wisdom and would speak words that will be guarded and yet clearly pointing to Jesus. Pray for protection for him and that no one would harm him in any way. Pray for his wife and kids who are missing him and worried that he may be harmed. There are horrible memories in their minds of Danny Pearl. I assure you not everyone is like that. We have warned James to be careful but he is only meeting people in the open and with another Pakistani Muslim friend. Although we are praying for his safety we are also thanking the Lord for this opportunity and those like James who will bring Jesus to the many who would otherwise have no clue. Stand in the gap for him. Thats what our youth group is doing.

Why does everyone keep picking on us? Posted on 08/01/2008 12:00 AM   |  EMail to Friend   |  View Comments (0)

Have you ever felt like that ever? As though the world is out to get you and no matter what you do you are always the bad guy? That is what us Pakistanis feel like sometimes. Tired of always being the bad guys. Sometimes I think people have forgotten how to spell and identify difference- or then have been forgotten how to recognise ourselves have we lost our identity in the attempt to please everyone else. Have we stopped being a Pakistan on a journey toward developing as a nation with a distinctive identity? We are a young nation by far. We have had only 60 years of Pakistaniness, before which we were India. There are those who had to learn to call themselves Pakistani and those who always called themselves Pakistani are relatively young- (all the 60 year olds will be pleased by my calling them young :) ). But think about it. Think about the development of a nation and think about the fact that in that 60 years the accusations have always come freely in our direction. We are corrupt, we are poor, we are slow, we are held back by our low literacy skills, employment and poor nutrition. We are a fanatical nation with extremist and terrorist elements. Actually hang on - thats NOT TRUE. I feel like going to the top of a mountain and screaming out to the world , 'I am not a terrorist, neither is my neighbour, Ghazi was not a fanatic till 2002, my brothers do not want to cause danger to fellow passengers on an international flight'. Tall, dark hair and dark eyes, slight beards and callouses on the insides of hands is not synonomous with terrorist or Muslim. You knwo Jesus was a jew, he probably had dark hair and dark eyes, he probably had a beard and guess what- he was a carpenter's son- which meant he had many many callouses inside his hand (though my brothers' are from kite flying and cricket). Sometimes I wonder at my own identity. Sometimes at an airport I try to hide my passport from the people behind me because I do not want to alarm them. I feel guilty for my identity - and thats when I was convicted. God made me a Pakistani, he gave me this identity and put me in this country to serve Him, to be His child, a child of light in a dark dark dark land. We are not all intelligence agents and not all of our policemen, or soldiers of intelligence agents are mixed up with the Taliban. Most of us genuinely love our country, most of us genuinely want to make it work and live peacefully and some of us even wear crosses around our necks and have the flag of Christ flying high from the castle of our hearts because the King is in residence there. So do not forget that for every terrorist that you hear about there is someone who is living for JEsus and is being noticed and someone is at a crossroads where they walk the road of terror or follow Jesus. I know there is danger but instead of being pre occupied and afraid by those who want to harm the world, pray for them, pray that they will come in contact with a Christian and will accept Jesus. Pray for all those at Crossroads that the Holy Spirit will move and they will choose Jesus instead. Start looking at the Muslims around you as potential Christians, potential followers of Jesus. If that won't change the course of history nothing will.