Praise God for this woman’s courage and for her Gospel testimony. I have sometime thought this latest push by the jihadis was in reality a nervous reaction to the remarkable advance of the Gospel happening in many Islamic countries. They are becoming desperate, but they don’t understand Who it is they oppose.
I am reminded of something I heard many years ago on the radio. There was a Baptist minister working in Mogadishu (back in the 90’s, I believe), trying to evangelize but having no success. He started a conversation with a local Shiite imam and curiously the imam agreed to let him give a talk at the mosque, because, as he said, “my people have many problems,” so what could it hurt to hear from a Christian.
Well, the group congregated and the pastor gave his little talk, and at the end of the meeting a man carrying a little girl came up to him and said, “Can Jesus heal my daughter?” Her legs were withered and she couldn’t walk. The preacher gave the usual Baptist response, “Yes, he can, but we don’t know whether he will.” The man thanked the pastor and began walking away, but the little girl looked steadfastly at the pastor, and she began asking her father to put her down. To everyone’s amazement, he put her down and she was able to walk. Now try to imagine a mosque full of Shiite Muslims all shouting the praises of Issa (the Arabic form of “Jesus”), because that is what happened.
After this event, needless to say, the conversation intensified. Eventually, the imam himself became willing to commit publically to being a follower of Issa. At one point he told the pastor his only regret was that he was not able to back to his family in Iran and share with them his newfound faith in Christ. Not long after, the imam went missing, and the pastor was approached by some men who proudly informed him they had removed the imam to a place where the Christian message could no longer influence him, for they had sent him back to Iran. God has such a sense of humor.
All this I heard on a Christian radio station one day, and it has never left my mind, as I consider all that has happened since then. I may have my timing off, but I think this all occurred before the dreadful events of “Blackhawk Down.” It all suggests to me that we know only a tiny fraction of what is really going on in the plan of God, who is relentlessly gathering a people to Himself, even in the most Gospel-hating places on earth, and no one can stay his hand, or challenge what He is doing. He is always to be praised, even when we cannot see all that he is doing, because he has already told us, all things are working together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to His purpose. Amen.
Peace,
SR
VOM was started by Richard Wurmbrand. He and his wife were missionaries in the underground church in Romania back in WW2. I am reading his story in his book “Tortured for Christ”. Incredible stories about the extreme torture followers of Christ went through, how many communists, including their torturers converted to Christ.
VOM provides money to care for the families when one of their members is imprisoned. They also send Bibles, literature, etc. I have donated to them for years. It’s a good organization.