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A living Christ Posted on 11/28/2011 12:00 AM   |  EMail to Friend   |  View Comments (0)

As I write this to you all around me there are Mullah's calling faithful Muslims to prayer reminding them of Allah's mercy and Allah's Prophet Mohammad. I am reminded by a slightly later start by a few Mullah's that we have finally entered Muharram, the month on the Islamic calendar of mourning. Shia Muslims around the world begin the month of mourning as they remember the days on which the Prophet mohammad's grandsons were killed in Karbala. Processions will be taken out, men and women will beat themselves and some will hit themselves with tiny knives till they blead, a man who is trained to retell the story of Karbala (modern day Iraq) will tell the story every night and each telling more emotional than the next. Rania a friend at college came without her shoes today. She will walk on coals as her way of showing solidarity with millions of Shias around the world, to remember what the Prophet's grandsons went through. When we were little we went to the same school. She had confided in me something which shocked me into a week of weeping and being just plain sad- I was only 8 and did not know how to take her little secret. 'Maaria' she had said to me 'My family love Christians, in fact we try to help Christians. It was Christian nuns who brought water to the dying at Karbala'. I asked how they helped and she said that they paid poor Christians who needed money to perform some of the mourning rites for them. When I did not understand she explained that their cleaners were Christians and they paid them to wear black clothes and walk on burning coals in their stead! I had been so horrified and so confused. On one hand I thought it was nice that they were paying Christians but instantly I wanted to throw up when I thought of what one must do to be paid! It took Amma weeks and weeks to explain to me that there was nothing nice in this action and I must never think that it was an act of kindness but should instead pray for Christians who get caught into this bargain and also for the Shias who think this is necessary to please Allah and to ease the souls of Hassan and Hussain. As I have mentioned before there are boys who will take off several days this month because they will be so exhausted from their 'majlis' (gathering of mourners) in the evenings who actually beat themselves with little knives. Some of the boys compare who has more cuts and wounds on them and that is a sign of their willingness to suffer for the cause of their faith. In Pakistan this goes beyond religious ferver and while people are almost in a trance when they go to these processions, they are also showing their strength to the Sunnis who say that such behaviour is unlawful and sinful. The sects are so opposed to each other's belief and so hateful of one another that this month marks the beginning of serious sectarian violence. Last night Karachi already saw a horrific attack on a Shia camp. Please be praying for Pakistan at this time. While all Muslims observe Muharram it is a particularly a Shia observance. Over the past few years we have co incided with Christmas and this means I cannot invite Rania to our home for Christmas cake and fellowship. Please pray for us that while we are not able to have them over. Still the story of Christmas will remind them of the suffering of Jesus at Easter and how different our take is on His sufferings and that what He did was for us and our salvation while what they do is to ease the souls of dead men. Please pray our faith will testify of a living Jesus.

Come Lord Jesus Posted on 11/26/2011 12:00 AM   |  EMail to Friend   |  View Comments (1)

Another Friday! The brightness of the sunshine is finally fading into the milkiness of the winter, which seems so far away. We need rain. The air is heavy with dust and winter's fog combined with that is holding all the germs in the air. Every one is down with a horrible virus, stuffy noses, clogged lungs, horrible dry coughs, running temperatures and achey bones! We need rain. I found a spot of sunshine on the balcony of amma and baba's room today. There is this one spot where I can sit behind the creeper with mauve and pink blossoms and be hidden from prying eyes. The Mullah was giving his sermon on the loudspeaker less than a minute from our home. I looked toward the minaret and said a prayer for the Mullah as well as every one listening to him. Sometimes it becomes part of the noise in the background for me. But as I focused today the words sat heavy in my heart. He spoke so little of faith and hope and promise. Perhaps because he has the assurance of none of these. What was sad was that for the whole hour that I sat listening to him speak over the loudspeaker, his words were of condemnation against the West, against Christianity and against the leadership in Pakistan who according to him, are not Muslims at all and are an insult to Islam. Little children were running to the mosque in their starched white shalwar suits and holding their crocheted white prayer caps to their heads as they ran in. Their little minds were exposed to this shallow and fruitless teaching even as they ran in. Some of them were probably going to be in trouble for being late. The heavy air and the smokey clogged atmosphere only becomes demonstrative of the teaching being given to Pakistanis across the land today. Pray for us. We are a people who need to hear of Christ's hope. Only that will bring peace to this land. We need Him to breathe on us. Come Lord Jesus.

URGENT Posted on 11/18/2011 12:00 AM   |  EMail to Friend   |  View Comments (8)

Please pray for us! There is reason for us to believe that Pakistani Telecommunication have been under pressure and have finally relented to consider whether to ban 'Jesus Christ' from tele and digital communications. We do not know if we will even hear when this goes through. We know nothing more than what I am sharing with you in this message. Please pray that this will not happen. This will mean all our communication will be disrupted, including how I blog to you. I feel sad that the name of my Jesus may be banned in an sms and an email. To ban it they have to be pretty sure they can read all communication. Today it is sms and email - what will they ban next and in what context?

A walk Posted on 11/16/2011 12:00 AM   |  EMail to Friend   |  View Comments (0)

It is a long time since we have been out for a walk in the park behind our home. Daada and I used to go for long walks in the evening & Abraham would cycle along with us. People would be rushing home from work to say their evening prayers. As Christians our timetable was always a little different from theirs. When we missed prayer time or when the days turned into winter evenings like now, prayer times changed, the sun set later so the walks coincided with evening cricket matches& cheers&shouts across fields&mothers leaning out of their windows to call their children in for home work. When I turned 14, daada made excuses&the home work load was so great I stopped going with him. It was more because I was a girl&the responsibility was too great for him, especially as he was using a stick by then¬ so sure on his legs. He did not think he could rescue me if anything happened. Christian girls were at that time in constant risk of being abducted&forced to convert, like today. The walk was beautiful. Is this the lull before the storm? It is a while since we have dared this. If we want to go for a walk or even just sit somewhere pretty it is normal to look for a park or a walkers’ track far away from their home where they are not known and are least likely to be followed home and held up at gunpoint. Abraham has been going for these walks the last couple of days with Musa bhai and so they felt confident to let me join them today. The red earth of the walkers track and the cold air joined in calling out for rain. I almost felt they could have been animated Narnia style, to say, ‘if only it would rain’. I longed to break into running but that would be most inappropriate for a young lady. I was glad for the walk. The cold blue sky broke into a warm pink hue that spread across the horizon and brightened the red earth we walked on. A little boy ran across the track to get his cricket ball. I dared to look over at the cricket. There were three games going on in the ground. There was a cricket match for the older group from 18- 35ish and then there was the cute little game going on with bare foot little toddlers and kids upto 7 who were messing around with a safe ball, not the regular leather and cork that can smash skulls, and then, the football match. For those of you who live in England you will understand what I saw. There were young men from their 20s to their mid 30s, wearing football gear; their football pants pulled up in Islamic style (copying the Prophet Mohammad). They bore beards, long and shaped with no moustache. I asked Abraham in a low voice and he confirmed to me that the coach was from Birmingham and that he was running this group for Islamic students. The ball came in our direction and I expected Abraham to kick it back. But he did not, he picked it up and went and handed it over respectfully. ‘I know what you are thinking Maaria. I do not want to risk it. They could see it as an act of aggression. Lets not move too fast. I have been walking here a couple of days. They have seen my swing with the cricket ball. No one has asked me to play. No point hurting ourselves. Let us just pray for them in our hearts’. As we chatted about this in low tones we shuddered that a friendly football kick could become a fiendish fight and defeat the purpose of just wanting to be like Jesus. And that, Musa Bhai reminded, is not as simple as it seems! ‘That could turn everything on its head, for us and for them’ he said. So pray that we would remain in HIM and HE in us, and the world will see that.