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Engulfed Posted on 10/28/2011 12:00 AM   |  EMail to Friend   |  View Comments (8)

I do hope my last blog did not disturb you. I am conscious of how different our worlds are but the truth of the battle between light and dark is the same.We seperate ourselves so much, sometimes, from the occult etc...because they are evil, we forget although we are not of the world- we are IN the world&there is blackness and darkness where the enemy takes cover & is in fact ruler! When we start to advance the work of Christ's Kingdom the enemy will come at us out of the darkness & make himself a very distinct reality. It suffices to him that we do not 'remain in Christ'. The minute we start to try doing that - get ready for the all the stops to get pulled out. I have already more or less lost my friends.They are trying desperately to mark me the outcaste. All of a sudden it suits them to go demonstrate base behaviour & treat me like an untouchable. All 'tolerance' & nicities like 'at the end of the day we are human beings' and 'of course you are a Pakistani' poured down the drain. Our spontaneous laughter&jokes & chats of the newest fashions has ceased. I am left with one good friend who treats me with respect - GHANNI, the student with the beard&trouser legs rolled up, who calls me his little sister. Rumour has it as a Christian, I am a spiritual liability as well as the fact that our morals are different and so I am 'loose'. Ghanni is in many ways putting his reputation on the line by watching out for me. I think it is also curiosity, wanting to see where this will go for the relentless Christian girl'. Ghanni has been nasty in the past about Christianity. They are all as Paul or even Thomas before their revelation of Christ. 1 Timothy 1:12-13 “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.” So I am praying for the mercy of the Lord and his ultimate grace to be upon them and me, that I would act out of the perfect love of Christ&their fear be cast out. While this happens at college, outside, they seem to forget that their energies could be feeding the hungry and their donation of coldrons of lentil soup and rice would be better off given to the poor who live around the campus rather than to the greedy Holy Men and 'pretend' mystics at the shrine! They forget that if they focused on their studies and writing up those policy papers and keeping their hand from other corrupt practices like bribes they would actually help people like Hajira more. Hajira's art and writing had her so focused on the corruption of society that it affected her mind. Why not tackle the problems they can. Our nation is at the brink of a disaster we cannot even imagine. Osama Bin Laden's successor has waged a new war of unmeritted proportions on Pakistan and said that what we will experience we have never thought of before. We live in such treacherous times and only the prayers of the believers in the Triune God, will pull us through at this time and help us lead others to Jesus. Join with even 1 other Christian,& as scripture promises believe Jesus will be there & His stronghold of love will be on this land and will bring down every hold the enemy has on these people. I want more to come to Jesus- my only prayer for my nation&the nations around us: Jesus' name be lifted high, His banner be raised&greater things be seen in Pakistan, Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Afghanistan, across the Muslim world- to the glory of the Father.

The Fragrance of Christ in the stench of our land Posted on 10/27/2011 12:00 AM   |  EMail to Friend   |  View Comments (2)

1,600 Pakistanis have committed suicide in the last 10 months and 800 have been unsuccessful but could die because they were not rushed to the hospital in time. What an aching people we are! My heart aches as I think of those who may be breathing but are on a journey which is no different as yet from those in hospital dying from self inflicted attempts to end it all! They do not know Jesus. I wept and cried before the Lord and asked Him when my people would be able to breathe again, stand with their backs unbent and their necks and shoulders be relieved of their tiredness, I asked why the tears do not wash out the weariness of so many people, I asked why there is no mercy for so many and why they do not all have dreams and visions of Jesus and come to Him that their yoke be replaced for a light and easy one. I went to the evening meeting at Church with a heavy heart. We have been having a meeting every evening and will continue through November for all the Christian gatherings taking place across the country. Times are bad. We cannot stop our meetings and teaching seminars where Christians travel for miles from surrounding villages to meet in cities and worship. The numbers have dwindled over the years because while the rest of the world is developing its infrastructure and improving accessibility to cities, we have so many problms that Christians are finding it harder to get to the cities without attracting attention to a bus full of people. As a little girl I remember truck loads of believers driving into camp sites singing Psalms loudly and clapping and yelling at the top of their lungs 'Jesus is Lord' and dancing to the beat of the drum in the drive way. Now they come in small groups, they sing only a little and try not to attract any attention on the way. Pray that as these groups meet and collect in the name of Jesus, the fragrance of their worship would rise and dispell the stench of the nation's pain and disease. The joy of the Lord would dwell in the hearts of people and strengthen them. God is good and He is faithful. Stand with us in prayer that our lives would inspire life and show Jesus that no one may want to take their own lives. Nothing is more life altering that the touch of Christ and we cannot keep waiting for dreams and visions, we have to be the bearers of Christ to our neighbours. We are called. Pray for us as we do for you.

Jesus rules in this place Posted on 10/25/2011 12:00 AM   |  EMail to Friend   |  View Comments (3)

I was relieved for the Holiday today. Mrs Bhutto died and for some reason her son in law, our president thought fit to give us the day off! While some hissed and others threw paper balls in despair and others cursed at his name, I was relieved. The day had held so much for me. I did not know how I was going to cope with tests and papers. A day off did not sound at first like the nation going down the pan to me! I was struggling a little with the hostility from some of our friends at school toward my closeness with Hajira. They rather I have less to do with her. We have all been friends but suddenly even more than Hajira, they are aware of the spiritual dynamic that surrounds her trust in my counsel. Some have advised her family not to talk to me about her problems, her husband and mother have refused to entertain their advice in fact warning them that if they insist on planting discord it will be them who are asked to stop visiting. One or two have visited shrines&holy men since then and are since wearing huge black leather amulets around their necks and wrists. The Lord has been reminding me to clothe myself in Him as I minister to Hajira and some of the others God is bringing to me to love. Ghanni asked for a private word at lunch today. He is entirely against this kind of thing and so he told me the sole purpose of my friends' visits to the Holy man was that I stop visiting Hajira and to receive from him prayers to pray over my water before I drink it and prayers to pray against me. He asked me if I was afraid and that he could go and talk to the Holy Man. Ghanni (a very fanatical Muslim friend from college with a ferocious looking beard) has issues with Christians, however belongs to a sect that absolute detest drawing on black magic and the occult. (However, I must add, if someone were to use it against them, there would be some aunt or other who could rise to return the favour with a potion or two) I wonder if this even makes sense to some of you in a world where it is so different and so far away. While it made my gut sink, I was not shocked. Just to hear Ghanni say it was uncomfortable. 'No' I said like a sharp knife into the crips sunny October morning. Louder than the rest of what we were speaking of in low tones. I sensed the Holy Spirit with me and spoke boldly once again with voice lowered, 'Ghanni, you know how much I love Jesus. I know you do not agree with what I believe, but I love Him and if I love Hajira it is because He pours His love into me for those around me, if they chose not to see it as love and coat it in their fears I can do nothing. But if the Love of Jesus flows through me, I can trust Him to protect me and there is no greater protection I can call on'. What Ghanni did not know was that Baba laid hands on me before I left for college that morning. He had dreamt of a woman with black beads in her hands praying against me. What Ghanni did not know was, our God was preparing us any way and we were safe already by the blood of the Lamb. What Ghanni does know is that I love Jesus. God placed a new prayer in my heart that as His name was given glory and the eyes of unbelievers witnessed His love at work their hearts would burn as on the way to Emmaus. Christ have mercy on every Maaria and ever Christian in Pakistan who is called to reach a Hajira or an Akeesh or a Ghanni.

Exciting, busy times, pray for us! Posted on 10/18/2011 12:00 AM   |  EMail to Friend   |  View Comments (8)

I am sorry for the silence. My eyes are closing as I write this. But i do not want to delay an update to you my precious friends and I am so excited by what God is doing. Believe me life has been far from quiet! Shocking and sad things have happened. While once again thousands are suffering from the floods in the South and Christians continue to face discrimination, God is at work. While these lands seem ravaged, I believe the Middle East is experiencing a whole new flooding of God's grace and love. I started a little project a few weeks ago. While I sat and chatted with Dadi or Amma or while I watched the news, or while I had my prayer time, I started stringing beads and making bracelets. I would pray while doing this and asked God to show me who to give them to. So I have been wearing, like Hajira, a whole bunch of beads. It started as a way to challenge her and get her to start thinking outside of her own world. But before I knew it I quite enjoyed it and was finding that these bracelets will be a point of contact between the person who wears them and the prayers that have gone into them. Already I have been able to give them away to several people and quietly say to them I am a Christian and I will be praying to Jesus for them. One girl who was begging outside a coffee shop walked up to me and wanted some money. I tend to talk to the little ones and hear their stories. She was telling me about her life. As she walked away I gave her one of the red beaded bracelets on my wrist and told her, that I want her to look at it and remember that Maaria is praying to Jesus for her. Another time I gave one to a friend of mine at college. She may not wear it but she may just keep it in her bag and when she sees it she will remember she is prayed for and Jesus loves her. I know it is a risk but there is nothing more important than for someone to know they are loved and prayed for. Think about it- perhaps you could do something like that. It is not a religious symbol. It is just plain beads, nothing fancy. But I know Muslims appreciate a little gesture of love. Do not make much of it but do pray God will use those beads to remind them of beauty and Christian love. One of the young people I have given a brown bracelet to is a young man who wants to serve the Lord. He is only 15 but wants nothing more than to be a pastor. He is not able to go to Church and has been forbidden from having fellowship with other believers. Another young man is the only Christian in his home. He needs a pastor who will draw alongside him in a safe and quiet way without attracting attention. As a girl there is only so much I can disciple him. Please pray for him. His name is Asher. Please pray for him to come to Jesus. His dad was a Christian but turned his back on Jesus and went with the other faith. It breaks my heart. But at least Asher is asking questions. Please pray for us. These are exciting times.