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Grace and Beauty for Ashes Posted on 01/24/2009 12:00 AM   |  EMail to Friend   |  View Comments (2)

I wonder what time it is where you are? Here in my city it is about 7 pm. We just got back from a trip to the capital city Islamabad where I had a consultation with a doctor. I praise God that we are able to see doctors. When I think of Hannah our sister who is waiting patiently for her little baby to be born I think of how hard it has been in their tribal region where it has been forbidden for years for women to see doctors. I think of the struggle and the battle for Hannah's husband trying to find a doctor first to treat her and find her a kidney and then to find her a doctor who would treat her in secret. It is hard enough living a nomadic life and then to boot it is illegal for a male doctor to treat a female patient and till very recently in that region it was forbidden for women to go to school or take up a profession therefore bringing lady doctors down to zero in a matter of days. So I thank God for the blessing of being able to go to a doctor and the blessing of education and above all His Grace. I am reminded of the words of the song we sing in Church 'Only by grace can we enter only by grace can we stand not by our human endevour but by the blood of the lamb'. Remember your sister Hannah and the kind doctor who is taking care of her that God will keep them both safe and that through the life of Hannah and her husband and their witness the doctors too will come to know Jesus. Oh to be a fly on the wall of those places where these amazing miracles happen. Then I could tell you so much more. I long to be there- there is a chance for me to be with Hannah and spend time praying for her so please pray for us as we make arrangements for some ladies to go and fellowship with her. It was a tiring but beautiful drive. Driving through the villages of the Punjab, the beautiful lush green and the beautiful sun setting over the villages, women with their gharhas (water jars) walking in strings of sillhouettes against the orange horizon. It really makes you catch your breath. One sight of the yellow vibrancy of the mustard flowers against that lush green and you cannot but help praising the Lord for his beuatiful creation. And then we entered Islamabad- faced with the sad tragedy of how human beings can be manipulated and brainwashed into detroying life. There in the middle of the city where the Marriot hotel has just had its grand opening 3 months after the horrific explosion which brought it down, there are miles and miles of debris. A reminder of what happened in that beautiful city just miles from the breathtaking villages and orange orchards of the Punjab. Tears streamed down my face. It happened some months ago and was in some ways forgotten but looking at the debris was a reminder of how much prayer my nation needs and the promise that I heard whispered into my ear was this 'Beauty for Ashes and the Oil of joy for mourning'. I leave this for you and for your prayers.

Never Undermine the Power of Prayer Posted on 01/19/2009 12:00 AM   |  EMail to Friend   |  View Comments (2)

When there is little you can say and do there is so much to observe. I am not good at being so limited and restricted in my movements and where I can go. So to have to sit and let people do things for me has been hard. But even though one can seldom see the purpose of pain while in it, I know for a fact that God has given me this opportunity that I may be able to pray for my brothers and sisters. It is hard. Often we are tempted into thinking that we must 'do' things to help them, we are tempted to undermine the power of prayer and to think 'what can we do apart from praying?' Nothing we do or strategize is of any use unless the Lord is in it and we can only know the heart and mind of the Lord when we dwell in a holy place of intimacy with Him. Does not the Word of God tell us in Psalm 127 that unless the Lord builds a house we labour in vain. Truly in 2008 again and again we have seen that unless we are guided by the Lord in how we take care of our new family members (those who have come to Jesus and have left Islam) we could be on very dangerous territory - territory not under the cover of the Lord's protection and plan. A territory once tread it leaves the doors open for mistake and trap after trap. Today after many days Dadi and I sat in the veranda, the area behind the chicken wire door where I usually have my quiet times. The last time I sat there was when I was cleaning fruit for the Christmas cakes. The cakes seem to have vanished. The birthday parties went well. I was supposed to have an agape meal for my birthday two weeks ago but with my health being in the pits, we had to cancel. I was guilt ridden for many days that Uncle Hameed's girls were missing their only chance to celebrate Christmas on the pretence of my birthday. Instead my precious friends had to sit with their Muslim aunts and uncle and pretend it was any other day in the month of Moharram. However, I have received so many gems from Jesus in this time. Time spent praying and begging Him for mercy for my land. Everyone is misreable and disillusioned. Hardly anyone smiles, people live from one day to the next, one newspaper to the next, one crisis to the next and one high bill to the next. The power cuts are getting worse, the phone lines are tempermental as is wireless access, every day in college I am told there is a protest against Israel and chanting and Ghani called to say perhaps it is good I am not at college at the moment. We both what he means. As a Christian, in fact as one of the very very few Christians in college, I would be aligned with Israel (it is common belief here that we must invevitably support Israel and therefore hate Palestine and Islam) and would bare the brunt of their anger against the present situation in Gaza. Ghani knows that as Christians we recognize Isreal as precious to God, but we do not support inhumanity, violence or war, he knows it is a tight rope for us because we honor God's heart for the Jewish Nation but also his heart for human dignity. I have also left him in no doubt that I cannot be against the Palesitnian people because many of them are my brohters and sisters - Christian Arabs. Oh it is rather complicated. The Gaza crisis has meant churches and Chrisitan offices are on high alert. So pray for us. There is so much that needs prayer but thank God that in the midst of it we get to share the love of Jesus and the Word of God! What an awesome God! Thank you all for your prayers and love. I have received your many messages and so appreciate all the support and encouragement! Blessings to you a

Please Pray Posted on 01/07/2009 11:00 AM   |  EMail to Friend   |  View Comments (9)

Friends, please could I ask you to pray for Church safety for our fellowship group here in my city. We had some strange people come into Church on Sunday and everyone felt they were surveying our premises and our congregation. We would like prayer that the services be protected and that whatever they found, they did not leave without a breath of the Lord’s own breath of life and that they may be changed and renewed. Pray for our pastor and his family who live on premises. I was not in Church but Jonny told me when he came home. Amma was cross with him for telling me as they are trying to keep me stress free at the moment but I am glad he did because now I can tell you about this and ask you to be praying. I am spending a lot of my time in bed praying and so I ask you to please be praying for your sister Hannah. Thus far we hear the pregnancy is going well. Its getting closer! Let us keep praying. There is a possibility that if I am better, I may just be able to be with her after she delivers. That’s one of the things I would love to do. But again it is not essential and if the Lord chooses to let me be with her, I will give her big hugs from all of you. Thank you for your faithfulness.

Moharram Posted on 01/06/2009 10:00 PM   |  EMail to Friend   |  View Comments (2)

I have a sore throat which I picked up in the hospital & my tonsils are pretty much swollen as are my eyes & ears! I find it hard to talk and be involved in stuff and if it were not for my faithful friends I would have been miserable. The Church family has as usual rallied around me & been there for me and Amma & Abba. You ought to have seen my little hospital room. God was good I was able to move in next door to the room of a friend from another Church. Zari is dying of cancer & would have spent a very lonely Christmas in the hospital, but we were able to put a Christmas tree up & a little nativity set made by my friend who I blogged about a few weeks ago. The lady whose husband was wounded defending his church- it was her decorations that adorned the room. While I was in procedure my Church family were having a Christmas party with Zari. She was thrilled. The Sunday School who had done a small nativity show at the Church Carol Service re did it for her & she was moved to tears. Now I am home and just so tired. Again a loved one is typing for me so I can share some of my thoughts with you. My room faces the garden & where I sit I see a weeping willow which is my favourite tree of all time! But these days I drift in & out of sleep, waking to the persistent sound of crying, like masses of people mourning & weeping. It is most depressing. Not being able to go to Church these days makes it really hard. It is the sound of the Zakir, telling the story of Moharrum. The month in the Muslim Calendar called Moharram is the commemoration of the death of the Prophet Mohammad’s great grandsons in Karbala in Iraq. Moharram or Ashura is a solemn time when Muslims refrain from listening to music or celebrating, even having weddings is forbidden. However it is by the Shia sect that Moharram is taken most seriously. A groomed horse of special lineage is led out with a procession of devout shias & this is called the Zuljana procession. Not only do Zakirs, specially trained teachers who recount the story of Karbala’s battle, tell the story, they are trained to do it to stir up the people at these gatherings. These gatherings are called Majlis. And within moments of commencing the Zakir is able to get the masses to weep and wail loudly. So loudly that the loudspeaker of the mosque picks up the weeping and I get to hear it. At college when we get back after the two main days of Ashura, the 8th & 9th of Moharram, some of the Shia guys will not return & some will come back sporting marks on their backs and chest where as part of their processions they would beat themselves until they bled with chains & little knives as a sign of their mourning for the deaths of Hassan & Hussain. The more marks they could show off the more faithful they thought they appeared. This was a regular feature among the Shia students not only to weigh up their faithfulness among their community but also to show the Sunni students that they were Shias & that they were not afraid of their actions. All this because Sunnis are desperately against these violent actions, labeling it almost as idolatry. They believe that the body is created by Allah & must not be violated in this way. I can understand that but the theological battle goes on making this the one of the most dangerous time of the year. Well, I am a little tired. I've been trying to write this blog since Sunday afternoon when I sat in my room, while everyone was at Church & Abba stayed with me to pray. While we were praying the sound of weeping & mourning filled the air. Bless you all.